layersWith the advent of new varieties of plants, its popularity is growing, and for many flower growers the question becomes: “How to reproduce Benjamin's ficus?” All ficuses are hardy and very tenacious. Their shoots, in contact with the soil, form roots and give life to new plants. Air roots, going down to the ground, provide additional nutrition to the growing crown. Even the unusual shape of the fruit seems to be designed so that the flesh-eating birds will peck, and then seed them.
But how to multiply Benjamin's ficus at home? Are there any features and pitfalls? Plants of this species reproduce vegetatively without complications. The most common method is grafting. Most plants reproduce in this way. Among them are hibiscus, lemon.
Reproduction of ficus Benjamin cuttings
For young ficuses, it is not necessary to take only the tip parts of the shoots. The plant develops when the stem is rooted with kidneys sleeping in the leaf axils.
If there is little planting material for breeding Benjamin's ficus, even a single kidney will give life to escape.
The cuttings are cut from an adult plant so that:
- the base of the future seedling is semi-woody, that is, still flexible, but no longer green, like newly formed shoots;
- on the stem was present from 4 to 6 unfolded leaves.
Read also: Why does Ficus Benjamin not grow? We are looking for answers
On slices of stems all varieties of ficus are distinguished with milky sap. Before rooting, it is removed under running water or using a soft cloth. Lower leaves that interfere with rooting, cut off:
- Immature, green cuttings are practically impossible to root. From a long stay in the water or the substrate, they rot and die.
- If a florist has at his disposal only fragments of adult, woody branches, then there is a chance to get roots.
How to root Ficus Benjamin in the latter case? The base of the cutting is neatly cut with a very sharp knife along the stem. There may be several such cuts. So that parts of the cutting do not touch, they make a match or a toothpick between them. The original technique allows you to stimulate rooting on ordinary cuttings, and is also used by bonsai lovers to get miniature plants of the most bizarre forms.
When reproducing Ficus Benjamin, cuttings are rooted in several ways:
- in water;
- in perlite;
- in a light, loose substrate, for example, consisting of peat, crushed charcoal and sand.
When air temperature is not lower than 20 ° C and high humidity, roots are formed in 2–4 weeks. To speed up the process, use a room greenhouse or cover the container with cuttings by a bulk bag.
The roots formed during the reproduction of Benjamin's ficus are quite powerful. When they grow a few centimeters. It is time to transfer a sapling to a permanent place of "residence" in the ground. 
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For a young ficus, willingly and quickly increasing the root system, take a ready aerated, moisture-permeable substrate. Sometimes they make a soil mix on their own. An example is soil based on leaf and sod land, peat and perlite. In such a soil ficus receive proper nutrition and securely fastened.
In the first weeks of acclimatization, seedlings are covered with a package that is removed when the plant gives the first leaves of its own.
At home, Ficus Benjamin can be propagated using cuttings with just one leaf and a small section of the stem. The main thing is to have a healthy viable kidney in the sinus.
In this case, the escape through the internodes is cut into separate fragments, which are immediately dried with a napkin and planted in the substrate. The soil should reach the base of the leaf stalk, the sheet plate itself should be carefully folded and fixed in the form of a tube. This will not allow the seedling to evaporate too much moisture for the tiny plant.
Reproduction of ficus Benjamin by layering
This method is used:
- if the plant is reluctant to give young growth, but already in the abundance there are already woody ligneous shoots;
- bonsai lovers who want to receive from the ficus a lot of aerial roots that draw from the stalks.
Read also: Cultivation of ficus bonsai at home
How to root Benjamin Ficus using aerial cuttings? The method is similar to the reproduction of rubber-bearing ficus using otvodka.
On a lignified branch or trunk, without affecting the wood, make an annular cut of the bark. The exposed tissue is treated with a growth stimulator and wrapped with a wet sphagnum or a soil mixture based on it. On top of the design is fixed with a film, firmly securing its edges with scotch tape, wire or thread.
When the formed roots become visible through the film, they are released, and the resulting seedling is carefully cut off below the root system. In the future, the planting of such a plant is carried out in the traditional way, and the place of the cut on the parent plant is treated with garden pitch or ground coal.
How is Benjamin's ficus still breeding? Although seed reproduction of culture at home is practically not used because of the complexity, it is indispensable when creating new varieties and hybrids. And to obtain a large number of similar plants, for example, for landscaping or commercial use today resort to cloning. In this case, industrial reproduction of Benjamin Ficus from leaf tissue fragments is carried out.
Video about the reproduction of ficus
