- Scientific Name: Ficus religosa L.
- Other Names: Bo tree, Sacred Fig, Bodhi tree, pipal, peepul, Bo-tree fig
- School: Family-Moraceae, Genus-Ficus
- Cultivation Tips:
- Sunlight: Prefer full sunlight.
- Temperature: Prefer high temperature. Suitable temperature for growth: 20~32 degrees centigrade. Lowest temperature to sustain over winter is 10 degrees centigrade. Living under too low temperature will result in rotting of the root.
- Watering: Prefer high humidity, while proper drainage is required. Seedling requires sufficient watering. Water until all soil is wet and some extra water releases from the bottom of pot. Living under water continuously will result in rotting of the root.
- Wind: Bodhi Tree's root is shallow. Therefore, it is often blew down by strong wind such as typhoon. It is essential to select a place on the lee side to grow a bodhi tree. Before the stem becomes thick enough, you should have a rod to hold the tree from leaning. If you put a bodhi tree in your balcony, better choose a place with less cold wind and more sun light.
- Soil: It can grow on most soils, while it grows especially good in loam with organic components and good drainage. It does not grow as well in clay (too sticky soil). Although it grows under any PH, it grows the best in slightly acid soil (PH<7).
- Timing: Spring and summer are good for cuttage when the temperature is high. Trim can be done in the winter.
- Fertilization: Bodhi tree is very strong and doesn't need fertilizer to grow well if planted on the ground. To speed up the growth, you may use thoroughly decomposed fertilizer, putting into the soil while not too close to the main root. It is safer to use less fertilizer than more fertilizer, as plants do not die without fertilizer but can die when given too much fertilizer.
- References: 1, 2, 3
- Reproduction methods:
- Potting Tips:
- Potting: It is the best to grow bodhi tree on the ground, while it still can grow in a pot. Due to the limited space in a pot, bodhi tree won't grow big in a pot. If you have a bigger pot than needed, the tree may grow too big shortly. For example, during summer time in Taiwan, a bodhi tree in a big pot can grow from 30cm to 2 meters within 5 months. In my experience, a pot with 18cm diameter can slow down the growth of bodhi tree after it reaches about 60cm height. A pot with 27cm diameter can slow down the growth of bodhi tree after it reaches about 120cm height. To avoid the tree from growing higher, you need to prevent adding fertilizer high in N. Due to the water vaporing speed from bodhi tree's large leaves, small pot with a big tree has limited water supply and will need to water on a daily basis.
- Surviving winter: Bodhi tree is orginated in tropical zone. However, it can still live through winter in colder places. It is known that there are people growing bodhi trees in temporate zone countries such as USA (New York, New Jersey), Canada, and Japan. For sub-tropical zone countries like Taiwan, bodhi tree can survive winter outdoors.
- Domestication: To move a bodhi tree between indoor and outdoor, or between different environment, it must go through domestication to adjust well.
- Suitable environment: Bodhi tree prefers environment with strong sunlight and high humidity. Therefore, it is better not to put it indoors for too long time. Otherwise, the plant will be weak and subject to blight. If you grow it indoor through winter, do put it close to window with as much sunlight as possible. (Fluorescent lamps is of limited help.) Air conditioning makes the air very dry so you may need to increase humidinity under air conditioning. Avoid putting bodhi tree in front of the wind from air conditioner.
- Potash fertilizer: Plants need three major elements (N, P, K) to grow well. In indoor condition with insufficient sunlight, supplementing a little more potash fertilizer is helpful as K is helpful for increasing the efficiency of photosynthesis, which produces photosynthesis. However, too much K can dehydrate the plant so you should only apply some at a time.
- Water pot: It may be helpful to put a water pot under the pot. In the water pot, put some stones and then the pot. When watering, you may leave some water in the water pot. Because of the holding from the stone, the water in water doesn't reach the pot of bodhi tree.
There are two benefits of doing so: 1. Increase humidity. 2. Prevent ants from moving in.Please make sure the water level doesn't reach the bottom of the pot of bodhi tree; otherwise the root of bodhi tree may root ultimately. - Style: In general there is no need to change the style of bodhi tree. If needed, you may refer to this BLOG(Chinese), or this web site (Japanese).
- Direction of sun: Bodhi tree needs sunlight. As the direction of sun differs from season to seson, you may evaluate the sunlight of the location for all seasons to see if there will be enough sunlight.
- Strong winds: Bodhi tree is the most afraid of strong wind because its roots are shallow. If there is typhoon in the area, you may evaluate the direction of the wind. It is the best to plant the tree in the opposite side of wind of a mountain or building. You may also trim the tree before typhoon.
- Drainage: Do not plant in a location where water cannot drain well.
- Distance to building: Do not plant bodhi tree close to building or road. Otherwise, its roots may grow into building or roads and cause damage.
- Accidents: Avoid locations which may have accidents. For example, got cleaned up by workers; hit by a car; stole by thief.
- Fertilizer: It is the saftest to put the fertilizer in a circle outside of the tree (where there is no root yet)), because too much fertilizer may burn the root.
- Method 1: Put the leaf in soapsuds (alkaline) and boil it for about three hours. Put it under water and wash away the remaining mesophyll. You can then dye it with different colors.
- Method 2: Put the leaf in 50% alcohol and boil it for about two hours.
- Method 3: Put the leaf in a pot fill with water or gutter. After three weeks sprinkle the leaf to get rid of remaining flesh. When putting the leaf in the pot, make sure you soak the leaf completely under water. Otherwise the parts that are above water (e.g. leaf tip) will be faded and look bad. Any faded parts on a leaf will remain faded even after the process.