wild_forager,

James has quite a post on the figs4fum forum about root pruning!

He pretty well covers it (as usual)

Cecil

Don't worry about your tree having a root problem as long as your potting soil drains well. Before I learned better I put newly bought fig trees into very large pots too. Some of them stayed in those pots for 4 years. Fortunately the soil I had used drained very well. This winter I repotted those trees. They were not NEARLY as rootbound as I feared. I pruned the roots, repotted them in Feb., and they are fully leafed out and growing well now.

If I understand the other issue you are concerned about I wouldn't worry about that either. I think it's generally true that with more branches there will be less distance between leaves. This is a good thing since figs form at the leaves. I guess in some cases it could be indicative of problems, but in this case it doesn't sound like that's the case.

At any rate, your tree should be fine for another year in the large pot. The small roots at the surface of the soil is completely normal, btw.

Henry

Whew! That's good news. I am aching for a taste of my first home grown fresh fig and the thought of losing my crop was not fun.

You can always throw a little mulch, compost or garden soil on top of those roots. It wont hurt at all.