The ficus "Benjamin" is distinguished not only by its unpretentiousness and many useful properties, but also by the fact that it can be easily propagated.
At the same time it is difficult to grow it from seeds.
Seed germination depends on their degree of aging, storage conditions, soil temperature and many other factors.
Growing Benjamin ficus from twigs or cuttings cut from the stem of a plant is no more difficult than taking care of an adult ficus in a pot.
Growing ficus
How to grow a ficus "Benjamin" at home? It is best to do this in spring or summer, during the active growth of plants.
During this period, the shoots take root well and young rubber plants grow strong and healthy.
From a sprig
How to grow the ficus "Benjamin" from the twigs? For breeding, take the twigs from the top of the plant or side shoots.
The twig should be covered with young bark, but it is not yet time to woody. Length - 12-15 cm. On a cut twig must be at least three buds.
Important! Do not multiply diseased plants! Only a healthy ficus will give good cuttings.
On the diseases and pests of ficus, as well as methods of dealing with them, read here.
Cut the twig obliquely with a very sharp knife. Be sure to sharpen the tip with a bar and polish with a soft cloth or use a stationery knife with replaceable blades. The smoother the cut, the better the twig will take root.
Tear off the bottom leaves. Leave only 2-3 leaves on top.
Rinse the twigs with cold water immediately after cutting.
Important! In place of the cut will be a rich milky juice - latex.If it is not washed off, it will turn into a kind of rubber and tightly clog the pores of the branches, preventing it from absorbing water.
Rinse the twig dry for a few minutes in air, and then put in a container with warm water.
You can dissolve a little rooting stimulator in it.
Water should be boiled, and the vessel should be darkened.
It is best to use a brown plastic bottle, which is cut in half - in the lower part you put a sprig, and cover the top so that the water does not evaporate too quickly.
You can also use any other vessel that is covered with film on top, but then you have to take care of the darkening - direct sunlight will burn the twig in a few hours.
The mini-hothouse is needed cuttings, because just in the air leaves can dry out. Leaves should not touch water, otherwise they will rot.
You can immediately put them in a wet soil - a mixture of peat, perlite, vermiculite and sand in equal parts and cover with a greenhouse.
This will help avoid a complicated and dangerous transplant procedure, but the roots will develop more slowly.
Put a greenhouse with sprigs in a warm and bright place for 2-3 weeks. Every day you need to air the greenhouse for 15 minutes.
Regularly remove dead leaves and cuttings and add water as needed.
The first sign that everything is going right is the appearance of growths in the lower part of the branch. After that, the roots will develop.
When the roots reach length 1-2 cm, it's time to replant the plant. Carefully, the roots are very fragile, they are easy to break.
Sprigs need to be planted in a special light substrate. Often, a soil mixture consisting of sand, peat, perlite and vermiculite in equal parts is used for this.
Important! If the graft is transplanted too early, then it will die from lack of moisture.And if it is too late, then from a lack of oxygen at the roots.
The soil of young ficuses should be wet, but without stagnant water. The plant still needs a greenhouse, do not remove it immediately, but the ficus now needs to be aired frequently - an hour and a half a day.
After a week or two, if rooting goes well, the greenhouse can be removed.
Do not add fertilizer to the soil. Now Ficus needs only air and water.
Important! In order for a plant to develop well, its soil must be warm. Heat it near the battery or with a heating pad.
When young leaves reach normal size, rooting can be considered valid.
From cuttings
How to grow ficus "Benjamin" from the cutting?
This process is not much different from rooting the branches, except that it allows you to get a lot of plants at once.
Cut the cuttings from the main trunk. It is enough to take a segment with one intact leaf.
The upper cut must be done in a centimeter above the kidney, located in the leaf axil. This cut must be straight.
Lower, slanting cut, make ten centimeters.
All recommendations for the choice of the knife, given in the previous part of the article, apply to this case too.
So that the young roots do not have to pierce the thick bark themselves, make vertical incisions in the lower part of the root, three centimeters long, trying not to damage the wood.
Root the cutting further with the same method as the twig. The only difference is that it is better to grow the stalk immediately in the soil, and not in the water. This will help you to avoid transplants that young figs do not tolerate well.
In conclusion, it should be said that it is easy to grow ficuses from a cutting or twig.
The main thing is to follow all instructions and the plant will be strong and healthy.
A photo
The photo shows the result of the proper cultivation of Benjamin ficus at home:
