It used to be, that just about every nursery or plant seller had a "1/2-OFF" or markdown table where the plants that were unattractive, damaged, non-sellable (at least at full price) went, as an alternative to the trash. Some places still maintain that tradition, although they don't necessarily promote it.
I stumbled across this Ficus a couple of days ago, on the "1/2-OFF" table at one of my preferred vendors while looking for "a new project"..He didn't look well..but he didn't look sick, either..just neglected.
Acquired: Dec 10, 2025 - Home & Garden Center - $7.50 + tax
Once I got him home (the patio), I was able to get a good look & what I saw reinforced my opinion that the plant has been misused
Then I started taking a closer look at the bamboo struts that were set-up like a teepee, with heavy rubber bands holding everything in place..as I started releasing the constraints, I realized that the the bamboo was not there to support the plant..he was perfectly capable of standing on his own, but they provided a framework, of sorts.
I removed the rubber bands that were cinching the upper branches together & removed the bamboo..
And uncovered a tree hiding beneath all the paraphernalia, with many side shoots (that will develop into branches) and green foliage with growing tips (buds) at the ends of the topmost branches.
Now it was apparent that this was the end result of someone attempting to make this tree into a twisted-trunk pom-pom (round shape) tree, but the attempt had failed or they gave up..at any rate, it explains how he make it to the "1/2-OFF" table.
Next step is some minor pruning.." clean-up" pruning to get rid of dead wood & deformed branches & try to bring a little symmetry & order to the overall aspect of this tree.
Time to let him rest now & recover; and time for me to spend a couple of hours researching & learning how best to take care of this plant..and where to go to from here.
Dec 15, 2025
It worked! The hard-pruning did produce back-budding..at least on 1 of the 2 branches as you can see in this blurry photo..close-up's are taxing the ability of my cell phone camera, but I think you can see the new buds..reddish in color, distributed on the left-most branch..I count 9 buds total, but it's a start..
April 16
I've been trying to come up with some sort of pithy statement or caption for this, but I think it best to just let this specimen speak for himself. He continues to back-bud, the newer leaves being the lighter yellow-tan, the whole leaves, green, while the twisted, almost painful looking trunk becomes the counterpoint, showing off a gnarly, older-than-dirt persona.
At this stage of the game, I am just an observer; there is not much to be done other than continue to feed & water this plant. The next major decision for me is whether to think about repotting or down-potting to a tray, which, of course, will require more root reduction/pruning. Looking back, I commented on the amount of pruning that was required for this training pot was a tad bit more than I was comfortable with, so maybe I should give him some more time to heal?
Decided to take the next step in this plants development & move the Creeping Fig to a tray. He has been in a training pot for 5 months, so he should be ready. Despite his gnarled & rugged appearance, this is still a young plant with his best years in front of him. What his role might be, however, is up for grabs & will depend on how well he takes to down-potting..can he live in 2-3 inches of soil? Can he handle 2 root-reductions in 6 months? Well, we're gonna find out.
to be continued