I planted my Ficus dammaropsis

[MattyB]

Planted from a 10 gallon pot.  Leaves are about 20 inches long.

These have to go into huge containers or into the ground very quickly or they start to decline.  This one rooted out a 10 pot completely within 2 months.  It's in full, all day sun, so we'll see how it does.

[Gtlevine]

My favorite tree, you will enjoy it.

Gary

[mnorell]

Does anyone know the stem-hardiness of this tree, and it will return as a perennial after being knocked down by a freeze? Am curious if it would work as a returning foliage plant where I am in zone 9a. There are several Ficus (elastica, supposedly roxburghii--which I am trying this year--and a few others that will happily oblige after being cut to the ground). From my experience in California this tree, which was then not considered a Ficus, seemed to tolerate cold pretty well. Anyone have any experience? Perhaps someone can comment from the colder areas of California after this year's freeze, where I know it was teens for several nights in the valley-floor areas, even near the coast in the SD area.

[Fouquieria]

Matt, mine was about two feet tall when I planted it out in April.  It's since put on about 2-3 leaves a month and is presently about five feet tall.  It seems to like lots of water.  I hope it takes on a similar shape as my Ficus auriculata.  I like both of them a lot.

-Ron-

[Peter]

I've got a couple of Damms here in the valley; they both survived 20d this winter with minor damage.  I have noticed that they don't grow nearly as well for me in my inland climate as they seem to on the coast.  Jeff White has one that grows like a weed; in the meantime, both of mine are in their 3rd year in the ground and are only about 8' tall.  I think they resent the extremely hot and dry environment here, even though they get lots of water.

[mnorell]

Thanks for that info, Peter, it's encouraging to think it made it through 20F with only minor damage. How did it do compared to other Ficus in the area? I remember a huge Ficus elastica on Ventura Blvd. (at the old City National Bank as I recall, near Laurel Canyon) that was really blasted in 1990. So I wonder if other commonly planted species such as microcarpa/nitida etc. did compared to your dammaropsis. I wonder if these are high-elevation trees in their native New Guinea, which might explain why they like the cool coastal SoCal fog-desert thing (with some extra H2O, of course!). Here we have lots of rain (most of the time), nine months of warmth and humidity, and of course those nasty freezes that strike once or twice each winter. So a little different than the Valley, but I think I'll try to get my hands on one (I saw one recently and now forget where!) and test it.

[aussiearoids]

A mate collected a low land form of something that looks like dammaropsis . Have a photo somewhere of 2 people hiding behind a leaf when the tree was young .

Had to rope down this branch to take this picture .

the tree suffered heaps in a recent cyclone , hope it survives . It was 15m ++ tall easily .

[Peter]

I remember that photo from a few years ago-awesome!  Let's hope it recovers.

[doubravsky]

I had a small one that did not survive 20 degrees this winter. I'm further inland, though. My Ficus Nekbudu defoliated and came back, Rubginosa, no damage, elastica, no damage, but the dammaropsis croaked

[palmaddict]

I lost mine here in Bonita in the freezes this year where I had 29 degrees for three nights.  I am surprised to hear of instances where the tree survived into the 20's.  The tree seemed in my experience to be quite sensitive to cold.  On the  other hand I have a nice Ficus petiolaris with about 12 feet in height that just had the growth buds singed a tad but has made a full recovery.  Matt you should look at the petiolaris as it is drought tolerant and is from Baja and would look great on your slope.

Patrick

[Peter]

I should repeat that I am on a steep hill with excellent air and water drainage, and that many things survived my 20d where in other locations the same species were killed by upper 20's temps.

[LJG]

I still find it hard to believe 20 degrees did not flat out kill it - not discrediting, just AMAZED. At the very least it would have defoliated 100% like they did in most CA gardens that hit mid to high 20s. Michael, seems like an expensive plant to try in Natchez, MS.

Ron, Ficus auriculata can be shaped into a classical looking tree. Single trunk, umbrella canopy. Gary Levine has two great examples. Mine is now single and with help, I am now trying to enlarge the trunk to support the canopy.  F. dammaropsis has more of a large, leggy bush form more then a classical tree form.  

I have/had a beautiful one I got from Ron Lawyer. It was about 6 feet tall and branching. My gardener knocked a large palm over and smashed it. Broke the main stem and a smaller one. It is now trying to come back. I am hoping.

[mnorell]

I find it hard to believe 20F wouldn't do it in, at least the above-ground growth. I get the feeling that Peter's tree was not exposed to 20F and that air drainage kept it well above that temp.  But a number of Ficus are able to recover from really hard freezes by resprouting from the trunk or roots (elastica is well-documented this way, supposedly auriculata/roxburghii, and the hardier species like rubiginosa and columnaris). I'd love to test nekbudu, which is one of my favorites, I remember how a magnificent spreading specimen at Sunset & Vine in Hollywood defoliated in the 1990 freeze...and it did re-leaf, it may have a good recovery-mechanism, who knows?

Athe same time I'm surprised that three nights of 29F would kill dammaropsis outright, and I wonder if temps there weren't actually a bit lower. If 29 is indeed lethal to this tree, virtually all of the SoCal specimens would be toast. There are too many of these planted in coastal California, all the way up to the S.F. Bay area, if I'm not mistaken, and there just aren't more than a handful of spots that can claim 29+ over time, other than a few truly frostless air-drained spots in the Hollywood Hills and some perfectly sited "banana-belt" areas very close to the coast.

I still may test one in the ground next year, they're around and I've seen them for $20 or so, and I don't consider that too much for a trial. I've been surprised at what some soil-mounding/mulching can do to make a tropical plant survive a relatively brutal winter! If they can resprout and make enough top-growth in a season, they may be able to succeed long-term, if not as a tree, at least as a striking large shrubby plant.

[LJG]

(mnorell @ Sep. 02 2007,20:48)

QUOTE

I still may test one in the ground next year, they're around and I've seen them for $20 or so, and I don't consider that too much for a trial.

Are we talking about the same plant? F. dammaropsis for $20? I have never seen it lower then $100. And that was a citrus pot size. Considering there is no way to propagate the plant in the US other then air-layering, $20.00 tells me it is not Dammaropsis.

[paulgila]

i agree.

[aussiearoids]

Saw very nice 8" pot with plant over 1m high , nice big leaves , and outrageous price of Au$30  

I still have a few I have planted out from the 3 trays of seedlings i got a few years ago .

[mppalms]

Michael,

I wonder whether Ficus elastica is always root hardy.  I saw a specimen in Mountain View. CA that was about my height (6') just planted about 18 months before our Jan freeze.  While my area was mostly spared, the area near downtown Mountain View must have seen 25-26 deg. F. for a few hours.  It burned to the ground and has not yet resprouted.  On the other hand, there is a Ficus that looks a lot like auriculata that I've seen in Sunnyvale.  It was about a 15-ft. tree and was completely defoliated at probably 26 deg. F.  It looks like it has tip damage but has pretty much recovered.  It took months to do that.

So, I think a lot of Ficus are hit and miss when it comes to recovery from freezes.  I think they need to get some size to their root systems and/or thickness to the trunk.

Jason

[ruskinPalms]

In regards to F. elastica I don't know about freeze recovery yet, but I do know about chainsaw recovery. My parents, when they first moved to Venice, FL in 1997, planted a 'rubber plant' next to their fence in their backyard. It obviously started to become a tree and it started to ruin the fence so I helped my dad cut it to the ground with a chainsaw. It's back......

[Matt in SD]

The only time I've seen "Ficus dammaropsis" listed for $20 was from Caldwell Nursery in Texas.  I got a few of these plants and while they are a very cool looking Ficus, they are NOT dammaropsis.  And the Ficus that Caldwell is selling is not cold hardy at all, mine died at 33F, and the others that I traded away are all dead except one that is barely putting out leaves after dieing to the ground.  But again, if you could get it to survive, it is an awesome looking plant and a steal at $20.  I would say it is possibly better looking than dammaropsis.  And Caldwell also has the true Auriculata.

The biggest thing I've learned with Ficus in general is that they will fill a pot with roots in a ridiculously short period of time, and then they will start suffering quickly.  The first dammaropsis I had was rootbound in a 5g pot for a while before I got it.  In three years the plant only ever put out one new branch and eventually died.  Every time the weather got hot, the leaves wilted and burned no matter how much I watered it.  Basically the root system could not fully support the plant.  I killed another Ficus by not potting up soon enough and had an auriculata near death after less than a year in a 5g pot from a 4" pot (planted it and it's doing great now).  

When I got a new dammaropsis this winter, I moved it from a 4" pot directly to a 5g.  Four months (of winter) later it was rooted out and ready to plant.  It now has 10 new branches and is putting out full sized leaves after only 4 months in the ground.  After growing palms, it's really a shock to see how fast a plant can grow roots.

Matt

[mppalms]

Correction to my previous post.  I drove by the Mountain View Ficus elastica (var. decora) that had been killed to the ground.  It has a new 18" shoot coming up from the base.  It took nearly 8 months to do this, it seems!!

Jason

[mppalms]

Matt,

How long do you think I could keep a Ficus auriculata in some pot <= 15 gal. (from a 4" pot)?  I have two that I haven't figured out how to site yet, and it may be some time before I get to it..

Jason

[Matt in SD]

I kept mine in a 5g for about a year from a 4" (well rooted).  It was realliy getting stunted by the time I planted it but recovered well.  I think if you put it in a 15g, you'd probably be OK for 18 months to 2 years.

Matt

[mppalms]

Thanks, Matt.  That probably gives me enough time, given how much stuff I have yet to plant and my general inability to carve out enough time to plan...  

Jason

[epicure3]

Matty....that is going to be one sweet tree. Those leaves are gorgeous. I wonder how big it will get?