Hi everyone,

I have a fiddle-leaf fig that wants a new pot. (A few roots were already creeping under and over the pot when I got it 6 months ago and a few more have crept out since.)

This is my first plant ever, and it's stayed sublimely healthy and green so far, which makes me all the more anxious I'm about to kill something beautiful with my inexperience when I repot it.

From reading the forums I've gathered:

• It's best to repot it in early summer.
• It needs fast draining soil no matter what and likes low nutrient content like in the gritty mix.
• I have to keep the fine roots wet during repotting.
• It shouldn't be fertilised again until it starts new growth.
• It's good to trim the roots 30% or more.

However, I still have some newbie questions.

• I live in zone 10b (Malibu, USA). Should I still wait until June to repot it? I'm getting antsy to do it with roots having stuck out for so long. I'm also anxious to separate a baby tree growing out the side that is not doing as well as the main tree. The baby tree recently pushed out a leaf that didn't unfurl all the way followed by a leaf that was very oedemic. I don't know whether the old soil is a factor in this but either way I'm sure it doesn't like being on the main tree's watering plan and shrouded from light by the main tree's leaves.
• The soil. This is my biggest question. I understand gritty mix would give my tree the most potential but I highly dislike the idea of completely depending on plant food and watering as often as I've seen gritty mix users say they have to water (every 3-4 days even). Is there perhaps a different ratio or set of ingredients I could mix to give the soil only a little less potential but a lot more leniency in those areas? I wish there was a list somewhere of the detailed benefits and pitfalls of different common soil ingredients.
• Root pruning. Again, I'm new to plant care. How do you tell which roots are are healthy and which are sickly or dead beneath the soil line? Am I correct that I should prune the large roots without a lot of feeder roots? What should I look for beyond that? I've seen people straight up hack inches off the rootball. Is that much removal and abrasion very beneficial to the tree or can I just gently separate the roots and cut off obvious problem ones? I was uneasy enough with root pruning as it was and then found some even more disconcerting posts about how foliage may need pruning also to a level the new roots can support. I definitely don't want to prune my roots to a level near enough to likely need leaf pruning. It's still a short tree and every leaf is healthy.
• Keeping the roots wet. How do I do this? Should I keep a light shower on them? Should I dunk them in a bucket of water every minute? Could someone please suggest an exact method and interval to do this right?
• Watering. Should I water it right after repotting? Does the tree need to be kept in extra moist or extra dry soil before or after the report? Also, I've seen mention of people soaking their ingredients/soil before mixing/potting into it but I don't understand it. What's that part about?
• Fertilising. Should I fertilise some time before the repot? Give it more strength somehow? I bought some Foliage Pro 9-3-6 recently but haven't been fertilising at all since I got the tree; just been giving it filtered water.
• Pot size. I read these trees enjoy small pots and can even be repotted into the same pot after root pruning but I think mine is pushing it. It's over 2.5 feet tall in a 6-inch pot. I'm definitely going 8-inch minimum—but would it be better to go for a 10-inch?

Thank you everyone.

The (healthy as far as I can see) tree:

The troubled baby tree:

The roots: