Outdoor Florida Ficus Tree Size

Aerial Form

• As birds eat the tree’s figs, they leave droppings at the base of leaves of host trees, mainly cabbage palms, Sabal palmettos and oak trees. The germinating seeds send roots winding down the host trunk to the ground, forming a lattice. In time, the intertwined roots come together to form their own massive trunk. As their trunks develop, strangler figs grow broad, dense crowns that eventually overwhelm the crowns of their hosts. As the decades pass, a strangler tree’s roots and crown can smother and kill its host.

Growing from Seeds

• You can grow a strangler fig from a seed and it will develop a typical trunk and crown without a host tree. Strangler figs grow rapidly into their large size, more than 24 inches a year. Strangler figs do not have blossoms; their figs are hollow receptacles that contain tiny flowers. Minute wasps spend most of their lives inside the figs, pollinating the flowers and receiving food and shelter in return. You can easily germinate seeds yourself. They do not need soil to germinate; you can simply place them on soil either in the shade or sun. They will even germinate in cracks in stone surfaces.

Size and Maintenance Issues

• Roots trail from the broad, lower strangler fig branches. The trailing roots may look exotic, but when they touch ground, they form slender trunks. The broad crowns also drop leaves and figs, yielding a lot of litter. To maintain the appearance of your landscape and prevent a proliferation of new trees, you have to prune the branches. When you do, you have to deal with a sticky latex sap that can gum up your pruning instruments.

Root Size

• You need plenty of space to grow a strangler fig. Spreading surface roots at the bottom of a strangler fig make growing a lawn nearly impossible. The spreading roots can buckle asphalt and penetrate septic tanks and septic drainage fields.