Wow, I came here with the same question about the same issue! I have a variegated ficus in a standard pot (that should have been cleaned up some years ago, but I'm doing it now). I want to keep the plant smaller through branch and root pruning; not quite bonsai, but similar. It also has four trunks that I want to bind together so they'll fuse, the largest about 1" dia.

So I took it out of the pot and just under the soil are these *huge* bulbous roots all the way to the edge of the pot. I'm not sure whether to take the bulbous parts entirely off, halfway off, or leave 'em.

I defoliated and pruned yesterday (I discovered the EVIL scale) and right now it's a bundle of twigs in a bucket of water.

Help?

Joe, after googling my best google, it seems the answer is 'that's what Ficus do, just leave them'. So I will.

Yeah, I gathered that too by a few google attempts. But, I guess my question is more of a what to do thing, because I don't think they look good at all, and will make for an ugly bonsai tree. I wonder if others have just cut them off, a couple each year, carve them down to normal looking roots, do nothing, or somthing else.

Joe

I dunno, once it gets big, the roots might look more proportional. Hopefully.

I taped my four trunks together, so in a year or two it should be one nice fat tree. (fingers crossed)