Three Month Old Ficus Tree

This Ficus benjamina (Weeping Fig) with Ficus pumila (Creeping Fig) growing at the base was propagated from cuttings about 3 months ago. It’s now growing in a 3-liter recycled (repurposed) pop/soda bottle planter. The media is a mixture of 50-50 coir and expanded clay pebbles. Find step-by-step instructions for making recycled pop bottle planters here.

I read that growers in the Netherlands are testing the coir, expanded clay pebble mix. That’s good enough for me. I'll test it and see if there are any consumer benefits.

Cuttings are rooted (100% coir) in pop bottle propagators (shelf on left). This takes less than a month. The propagating hoods are removed and the plants are potted up in a 50-50 coir and Fafard potting soil mixture (shelf on the right). Plants on the right end of the shelf are growing in expanded clay pebbles.

Ask yourself why the cooperative extension program educators (and other gardening sites) are not teaching pop bottle recycling and these methods across the country. What they teach instead is analogous to finger painting, it’s that primitive.

Anyone can do what you see here. Use the same methods for decorative or edible plants. For example, various kinds of peppers are growing on the fire escape through the window (photo on the left - enlarged). The plants were started in pop bottle planters. I noticed today that there are a number of tiny peppers on the plants. Photos to come.

Comments

[Bruce Adams]

Good morning,
Glad to see the Fafard growing media with coir is working well for you! I like the pop bottle approach.
Regards,
Bruce

[Greenscaper Bob]

Thanks for stopping by Bruce. I located a Fafard supplier here in Bay Ridge from your website. I was a long time user of Supersoil back in California. I noticed that Rod Mclellan sold out to Scotts. And so it goes.

[Tom B]

Hi Bob
What type of light are you using to light your shelves with? The plants sure seem to be liking it.
Thanks again, Tom

[Greenscaper Bob]

Hi Tom, the plants are lit by 40w daylight fluorescent tubes housed in inexpensive shop light fixtures. They are on for about 16 hours/day. Propagating Ficus benjamina and F. pumila cuttings has been way beyond my expectations. I attribute a lot of the success to the repurposed pop/soda bottle sub-irrigation propagators. These cuttings drop very few, if any, leaves and I see roots within a couple of weeks. I propagate the cuttings in 100% coir.

[Chris]

This looks very interesting. For the propagation step, do you remove the "hood" occasionally to avoid mold? Any further details appreciated. I'm interested in giving this a try.

Thanks,
Chris

[Greenscaper Bob]

Hi Chris, No, I do not remove the hood and have never had a problem with mold. That's not to say that it couldn't happen. In my experience this is a maintenance free method of rooting cuttings. I've created a little indoor "Ficus farm" using these propagators.

[Chris]

I like the sound of "maintenance free". Thanks for the feedback. I am going to try some cuttings using this method. Eventually want to try with bougainvillea cuttings, which I have had very little luck propagating.

[Greenscaper]

Bougainvillea will probably take significantly longer than Ficus to root. Try using coir (coco fiber). It should be more widely available, but at the present time you'll probably have to get it from a hydroponics store. Let us know how it works.

[Ruben]

hi bob this is an excellent technique and I used and it has worked, the problem is rooted but then lose steam and dry I would like to know how long they stay covered?? and then you can go to the natural environment?