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Fiddle Leaf Fig repot or not?

6 years ago



I just purchased this FLF at Home Depot. It’s about 6.5’ tall and has five main branches, four of which have brand new growth. This is my second FLF and I feel confident about care, but don’t know when or if to repot this one! Lots of circling roots showing at the top of the grow pot. It seems happy since being relocated to my house - no drooping or dropping leaves after one week.

Anyone have suggestions on repotting?

Dave??


Comments (2)

  • 6 years ago

    Yes, it would benefit from a bigger pot. Do it in spring.

  • 6 years ago

    It needs repotting, but doesn't/won't need a larger pot if you do indeed repot instead of potting up. There is a distinct difference betwixt the two, with repotting (includes bare-rooting, root pruning, and a change of soil) being far superior to potting up. Too, there are good times and not so good times to repot. If you're going by the calendar, early spring is NOT a good time to repot unless you live very close to the equator, where timing doesn't matter much. The further N or S of the equator you are, the greater the month to month contrast in in how strong your plant might be. In most cases, houseplants are at or near the lowest energy levels of the entire growth cycle. Since the BEST time to repot Ficus (other than the hardy fig, Ficus carica, which should be repotted in spring just before or at the initial onset of budswell) is after the plant has recovered some of it's energy reserves and is about to enter the part of the growth cycle when it's ability to produce food/energy (plants make their own food by converting the sun's energy into food during the process of photosynthesis) is about to peak. This ensures the fastest recovery and a minimum of stress/strain on the plant.

    In the same sense it's not a good idea, even if it doesn't kill ya, to run a marathon when you've had the flue and haven't eaten for a week, it's not a good idea to repot a Ficus when it's energy reserves are low and food-making ability is limited by comparatively short days and low light intensity levels. For most of the US, shooting for Father's Day or the Summer Solstice would be a good plan, avoiding winter and early spring repots. It's always the better choice to work in harmony with the plant's natural rhythms, so you're planning heavy work (like hard pruning and repotting) on the plant during the period when the plant is strongest and avoiding unnecessarily stressing the plant during the part of the growth cycle when the plant's state of vitality is in the 'meh' range.

    Al