Ficus in a terrarium

[TylerK]

Not really an orchid question, but it is a terrarium question.

Has anyone had any luck growing a ficus inside a tropical/cloud forest type of terrarium? Obviously if left to grow naturally it would very quickly overwhelm even the largest of terrariums, but using bonsai techniques, it should be possible to keep it miniature, and maybe even get some nice aerial roots.

If you've done this, what types of ficus have you tried? How have you arranged things to keep the plant contained?

Thanks,

Tyler

[littlefrog]

Ficus pumila is a classic... There is a dwarf Ficus benjimina ("Too Little") that is good for bonsai.

pumila will go nuts in a terrarium, but it is a small plant.

Originally Posted by TylerK

Not really an orchid question, but it is a terrarium question.

Has anyone had any luck growing a ficus inside a tropical/cloud forest type of terrarium? Obviously if left to grow naturally it would very quickly overwhelm even the largest of terrariums, but using bonsai techniques, it should be possible to keep it miniature, and maybe even get some nice aerial roots.

If you've done this, what types of ficus have you tried? How have you arranged things to keep the plant contained?

Thanks,

Tyler

[stefpix]

i put a small Ficus beniamina in a 3 inch pot and a cut plastic bottle on top as a miny greenhouse. the branches are curving as teh space is tight and started growing a lot of aerial roots. It was very cheap and worth trying [3 plants in o a 4 inch pot 3 $]. I am growing one on a brick with moss and mounted one on a coconut. I thing it can work. I have noticed no fungus nor rotting. Ficus benjamina must love lots of humidity and seems resistent to disease.

[Paul]

While I haven't tried it, I would recommend trying putting the ficus in a pot inside of a pot with no drainage holes. While you have mentioned trimming the roots, it is amazing how quickly their roots can find the smallest holes to escape through. By having its pot inside of another pot, I would think this would make it much easier to remove the ficus for root pruning without "tearing up" a section of the terrarium due to infiltrating roots.

Ficus pumila, btw has more of a vine growth habit than a tree habit so can be harder to contain.

[stefpix]

Ficus pumila does not look like most typical Ficus species.

[TylerK]

Thanks for the responses. Probably should have mentioned at the start that I have seed for Ficus bengalensis and ficus macrophylla, so I was planning to use one of those. If the leaves come out too big I'll likely look for a ficus benjamina.

I know growing from seed could take years before I get something nice enough to put in the terrarium... thinking long term here though.

The comment about the root system running rampant was a good point. I'm not planning on doing this like a typical terrarium with layers drainage, screening and substrate. Instead, I was planning to sprayfoam the whole inside of the tank and carve out areas where I could plant any terrestrial type plants (most of the plants will be epiphytic orchids and ferns). Drainage for the terrestrial type plants would be accomplished through tubing embedded in the foam, which would pipe the excess water into an accessible central 'pond'. I can see the tubing getting clogged by those roots though. I may have to tweak the idea a bit. I had never even considered mounting the ficus though...I wonder how easy it would be to keep the root system under control if I went that route.

My vision for this terrarium has the ficus as the focal point, arcing out over a pond. The rest of the terrarium will be covered in a coat of kyoto moss with 'tufts' of micro/mini orchids and ferns popping out here and there. Maybe a small waterfall feature at the back of the tank.

Tyler

[Hornemadness]

Beneghalensis get leaves that are too big to reduce though conventional bonsai means. Macrophylla will work though, as i have tried it and has great success. You could keep it in a pot within a pot, but what i have had luck with is just planting it right in the ground of a viv, or better yet mount it somewhere and let the roots grown down. I have done this before by spreading seeds along a background or planting a rooted cutting to the background of a viv. If its humid enough (which if you are doing cloud forest it will be), they will grow just fine. They look awesome when they grow this way too, giving a very old and mature look to a viv as well as providing places to plant other plants. ficus are easy to prune and shape however you want them. They also usually reduce leaf size pretty well. For the most part its easier to start out with a ficus species that naturally has smaller leaves (ficus salicifolia, nataliensis, benjamina, parasitica etc). They make great trees to have around if you have larger animals that like to climb and beat plants up. as far as the roots going everywhere, thats a good thing in my opinion. The roots will be using up water and nutrients (animal waste), and if they get allover the place in the viv, they can take care of all of that. Besides alot of rainforest plants, especially ones that grow in the understory and the forest floor, are used to growing in and around the roots of trees.