How to prune Benjamin's ficus: how to form a crown

Tell me how to cut Benjamin's ficus? I have a young flower, it is three years old. It is, of course, beautiful, but it just grows somehow wrong. Some branches stick out as they please. Can they be cut and how best to form a beautiful crown?

Ficus Benjamin is distinguished not only by thick and lush foliage, but also by its rapid growth. It perfectly tolerates interference in its development, moreover, regular haircut stimulates the formation of new branches. This allows you to give the plant almost any shape, which is what flower growers use. How to prune Benjamin's ficus depends on the desire. The crop can be turned into a round bush or into a gorgeous tree with a trunk, regulating the growth of shoots and removing unnecessary branches. Depending on the desired shape, the trimming procedure also differs. However, there are general guidelines for its implementation.

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Ficus pruning rules

It is better to start the formation of ficus in early spring. This also applies to sanitary pruning - the removal of dry, diseased and improperly growing branches is carried out in March. This is the time when growth processes are activated in all plants and active sap flow begins. In the autumn-winter period, pruning is not worth doing - the ficus will “think” for a long time before it grows.

Young branches must be cut directly above the bud, in a straight line. Old thickened shoots should be cut with a slanting cut closer to the bud.

After completing the haircut, all the cut points should be blotted with a napkin, removing the juice, and sprinkled with crushed activated carbon. This is to prevent the development of infections.

We form a ficus in the form of a bush

For indoor cultivation, a bushy crown shape is often used - it looks beautiful, and such a ficus will not take much space.

It is necessary to form a bush from the first year of life, and in the future - to constantly regulate growth. This is done in this way:

1. When the stalk grows to 15 cm in height, cut off the top of the ficus. At least 5 leaves should remain on the remaining stem.
2. Upon reaching the new, side, branches of the same length, they also need to be pinched.
3. This is done with all branches. In this case, the upper kidney, over which the cut is made, should look outward.

To make the bush more lush, you can plant several cuttings in one pot at once. Over time, if the crown is too thick, a couple of shoots are cut from the inside for thinning.

Periodically turning the ficus flowerpot towards the sun will ensure uniform growth of the branches.

How to trim Benjamin's ficus to form a stem

You can get a beautiful tree from a ficus by forming a trunk. To do this, one stalk is planted in the pot and left to "build up" the height. Any lateral branches that will appear at the bottom of the plant should be removed until the trunk reaches the desired height. On the crown, only the uppermost branches are left, on the top of the ficus, with no more than 5 pieces.

For a mini-tree that can be placed on a pedestal, the height of the trunk is 20 cm. For floor-standing specimens, the trunk can be increased up to 1 m in height.

When the trunk of the ficus reaches the above values, you can start forming the crown.The technique is the same as for the bush form: cut or pinch the tops of the shoots, stimulating their branching. Moreover, if the ficus decides to grow a branch in the lower part, on trunk, it must be deleted.

The very shape of the crown can be made in the form of any geometric figure, periodically cutting off the shoots that grow beyond it. The multi-tiered stem also looks original, when after the formation of the first crown, the second stem is left and grown on the central shoot.

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