Sometimes roots grow in wayward fashion w/o a lot of root congestion. The way to determine if your plant will benefit from a repot is to lift the plant and root mass from the pot. If soil and roots come out intact, it will benefit from a repot. Root congestion beyond the point described slows growth, reduces vitality, and causes other physiological responses like smaller leaves, shedding of interior foliage so plants end up with a 'poodle' look, and reduces branch/stem extension. Often, even conscientious growers are willing to live with the negative effects to some degree in exchange for not having to go through the inconvenience of a full repot. That doesn't change the fact the plant is suffering the stress of tight roots, but eventually the loss in vitality is going to weaken the plant. I often let plants grow beyond the point where they should be repotted, but never more than a year - that's just me.

Don't be in a hurry to repot. I suggest that if anyone suggests that you repot in the spring or winter, that you ask them specifically WHY. If they cannot explain the reason, think twice. Repotting houseplants in winter & early spring is not good practice because the plant is at the lowest energy levels of the growth period. Recovery will be much slower than if you do your repots in Early summer. Basically, you want your plants to have enjoyed the benefits of longer days and brighter light in late spring, so they are better able to tolerate the effects of repotting and heavy pruning. Potting up can be done at any time, but is still better in the summer months when roots will quickly colonize the added soil mass and over-watering a less likely problem. It's repotting, which includes bare-rooting and root pruning that is best done when the plant is growing robustly.

Your plant shouldn't sit in the effluent that drains from the pot because it allows the salts you're flushing from the soil to find their way back into the soil. The level of salts in the soil solution and the effluent equalize VERY quickly, so the effectiveness of removing the effluent after the pot has stopped draining is very significantly reduced if the level of salts in pot/saucer is able to reach isotonicity (equalization). I have all my plants resting on plastic blocks so the pot is always above the effluent in the saucer. I can also use the collection saucer as a humidity tray using that approach. If you have a number of plants in the same room, it can be enough to make a difference.

I do hope you found that helpful.

Al

If you are talking about the 'rubber tree' that has the big thick fat leaves, not the 'Ficus Benjimina',...the tiny thin leaf plant, that also grows like a weed, they are both fast growers and have invasive root systems. In a container is the only place for them. Here in south Fla, they grow to massive size in no time at all,and can pull up the pipes in the yard,crack pools,crack house foundations. Their roots can take a lot of 'abuse'. You could cut those roots off, put some soil on top of them, push them into the soil if they bother you, you almost cant kill either of those Ficus.

The bigger the pot, the more light you give it, the bigger it will get and the faster it will grow. When it stops growing or it drops its leaves and looks 'thin', like it doesnt have enough leaves on the plant, then it needs to be re-potted. I dont know if it grows outside up in your area,if you wanted it to be out in your yard. If you put it in the yard, put it far away from the house/pool or anything important. It will grow huge and its roots will find your plumbing pipes and grow into them,and crack them,clog them up, and do a lot of damage. Keep it in a pot as long as possible, cut it back if you need to make it 'bushy' or thick. Good luck.

Well it is just fact about ficus....when you see them overturned after a windstorm or a hurricane, you see the roots all intertwined with the sprinkler systems,and yet they are only about 3 feet deep,even on gigantic trees! But they are enormous root systems, but so invasive! And pools being repaired from roots from a tree up to 3 yards away, that have grown that far away from the ficus, and cracked cement.

Not my favorite tree. Even as a hedge,its roots just keep growing FAR away from the plant. But it is cheap and fast growing, so landscapers love it. Now that that white fly has nearly killed every ficus in Ft.Laud. and Miami,or severely damaged every one,something is finally keeping them in check:). But in a pot, ficus varieties are nice.

Oh, you don't have to sell me on what you said - I agree completely. I wasn't trying to diminish what you said or disagree, only trying to add some sinister ambiance. ;-)

In fact, you'll find this in the link I left upthread:

"The roots of some Ficus species are so powerful they can destroy concrete buildings or buckle roads, and can be measured in fractions of miles as they extend underground in search of water." (Technically, roots don't really 'search' for water, but they grow where conditions are favorable WHEN they're favorable, which makes it SEEM like they search for water.)

Take care.

Al

Al, thank you so much. You definately answered all my questions about my Potted ficus "rubber Tree". :-)
I will wait till summer to repot it as right now it looks really healthy and I don't want to "fix what aint broke" lol.
Sharon

Lol - You're welcome. I think any time we can safely put off a chore like repotting, it comes as good news. Best luck!

Al

I have or should I say had a beautiful ficus. We recently had a veranda installed out the back. My ficus is in quite a big pot and we had noticed the pot had a lean on it. Well no wonder it looked so good it had found its way out the bottom of the pot through the crack in the pavers. The boys that built the veranda had to shift it so shift it they did and basically ripped the roots from the tree. As you can imagine it is very stressed and looks very sad. I have watered and fed it and bought a plate to sit under the pot. What else should I do to help the poor thing? Is there any hope?

The tree should recover, even if it loses it's leaves first. Don't feed it again until it starts pushing new growth, and be very careful not to over-water. As soon as it has flushed out, you might consider repotting it. I'm not referring to simply potting up, but to a repotting, during which the tree is bare-rooted and root pruned. You'd be amazed at the level of reinvigoration (actually, it does nothing more than restore the plant's ability to grow normally, which is probably significantly different than how well it's growing under its present limitations.

Al

"I suggest that if anyone suggests that you repot in the spring or winter, that you ask them specifically WHY."

This guy says spring https://youtu.be/2PrQlLAoYWw?t=389 He gives his reasons. Do you think he is wrong? Seems to be lot of conflicting advice

Hi, Scotty. First, I'll be talking mostly about repotting. What the person in the video did was not a repot. He very simply potted up, which means no part of the root congestion you saw went away, it simply remained hidden in the center of the root mass where it continues to rob the plant of a great deal of it's potential in terms of growth, vitality, and likely appearance. If I was repotting that plant, the first things I would have done is snip the bottom 1/3-1/2 of the root mass off and bare-rooted the plant before finishing the root-pruning and returning the plant to the same pot in a fresh medium.

Potting up) can actually be done at any time of the year with little in the way of consequences unless the root system of the plant being repotted is sickly and the step up in pot size is appropriate, but June is the best month for both potting-up and repotting, even though potting up is a half measure. I would guess, over the course of the next year, the plant he potted up will be denied well over half of its potential for growth/vitality because he didn't remedy the root congestion.

Repotting in early spring after a plant's winter of suffering low light and often low humidity conditions (increases the rate of respiration) means the plant's stored energy reserves are, practically speaking, nil. Houseplants for the most part don't go "dormant" in winter, they are unable to grow because they are usually hovering somewhere just above or below their LCP. The light compensation point occurs when the amount of energy consumed during respiration is equal to the amount created during photosynthesis. When a plant is using all current photosynthate/ energy production to maintain its existing viable parts, it has no energy left to grow, so repotting in early spring when length of day/night is about equal leaves the plant at a serious disadvantage from both the perspective of current energy production and it's inability to draw on depleted energy reserves. Repotting in late spring (June) will have allowed plants well taken care of to accumulate carbohydrate reserves in roots and cambial tissues; and, plants will be moving toward peak ability to create food from the sun's energy. Whereas it might take a month or more for plants repotted in March to show new growth (depending on the plant and its level of vitality and natural vigor), the tropicals I've been repotting for 40 years are typically pushing new growth before 2 weeks and in most cases, less than a week.

So, while anyone is free to do as they choose with their own plants, my experience after thousands of full repots is that almost all houseplants and a large fraction of succulents are best repotted in the weeks before the summer solstice. Those growing fruit-bearing trees (citrus, avocado, mango, coffee, ..... indoors will usually want to repot earlier.

Al

Did you mean June by late Spring or is it typo, or is that late Spring for you.He says spring is high humidity/more light. Is it different in Sweden where he is?The facts about plants seem to be opinions rather than facts because he says he has 20 years experience and he has different view..I would ask him too but he is only contactable through youtube and facebook which i don't have. Thanks for replying