Thanks for your reply Al. Yes I would like help with this plant! I read through the FLF threads and your thread on ficus in containers, a wealth of knowledge and information! From my understanding the best time to do a repot ( root pruning) would be mid June or so. I am not afraid of this procedure because I have done it with numerous plants before.

I pulled the plant out of the pot with the soil and roots staying intact, guess it’s time to repot. I am putting in a couple of pics that show each side of the pot and the bottom of the plant, can repotting wait till June In your opinion. The plant has not been watered, I have had it 6 days.

As far as the fertilizer goes, I guess I got caught up in the hype for FLF fertilize. I have been using Pro Foliage since joining this forum and you recommending it. Thanks for bringing me back to my senses and saving me some money! This is my second time replying but when I tried inserting another pic, I lost the whole thing so hopefully you at least get one pic and not a double reply!

Sorry Al, I could not get the pics to post in a reply to a comment!

Ellen,

Pls try again using the Houzz photo icon to post your pix. It takes a few attempts sometimes, so pls do try again.

Hi, Ellen. I see the images of your healthy tree in your OP. What were the other images supposed to reveal?

FP 9-3-6 is a very good choice for your plants. Because it derives 2/3 of it's N(itrogen) from nitrate sources as opposed to ammoniacal N or urea, it's easier on your plants (much less likely to suffer from ammonium toxicity if they're over-watered or the soil is compacted) and the growth will be tighter (shorter internodes) and fuller than had you been using a fertilizer that does not derive the largest fraction of its N from nitrates.

Probably a good idea, at this point, to work on a plan you can stick to insofar as ongoing care is concerned. For most of the US, mid-June is the best time to repot, if that's your plan. If you associate when to repot with Father's Day or the summer solstice, you should be good, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to share where you live. I don't mean your address, just a large city near you, this, for the sake of determining what the best timing might be for repotting (usually every 2-3 years) and heavy pruning (once per year in late spring - by the calendar), but you won't need to do that this year. Next spring, you'll likely want to remove all the long/leggy growth that occurs during the dark months of Once we figure out when the repotting will happen the rest will be easy. There are a couple of threads I posted that pertain specifically to:

Basic Good Growing Practices

and the other is about:

Caring Specifically for Ficus in Containers

I'm hoping you'll find them very helpful, and they leave you with a good foundation to build on. There is also a thread which goes into some detail re the repotting process. It focuses more broadly on:

Caring for Trees in Containers Over Extended Periods of Time

Al

I live in Tacoma,Wa. i will read the threads that you have linked again, but just to clear confusion in my mind are you suggesting to wait til next June? The pics that I was trying to post were of the plant out of the container so that you could see where the roots are. Will attempt again per KarenS suggestion. No pic, didn’t work!

Sorry Ellen, you're having trouble posting pix. When you try again, wait for some visual change to occur, either the color clarifies or the focus sharpens. Once you see that difference, then hit SUBMIT & your photo should post.

Sorry you're having trouble. I usually click on "Photo" on the task bar under the reply text box. The only time you see it is when you're replying on a thread or in the process of preparing your own original post for upload. When you click on "Photo", it should open your images file. You can navigate in your images until you find the image you want to upload. Click twice and it should be visible in your reply. I can see it's pretty rootbound from the image of the nursery can, so don't fret if you can't make the image upload work.

"..... but just to clear confusion in my mind are you suggesting to wait til next June?" No. I meant you to understand you can skip pruning this year because there is no long lanky growth that would normally appear over the course of a winter. That long winter growth pretty much destroys anyone's hope for a full and compact tree. Most growers shoot themselves in the foot because they prune in late summer before the tree comes in for the fall/winter. What they end up doing is pruning off all the compact growth and short internodes that occur in summer, all the way back to last winter's ugly growth. If you get in the habit of removing the winter growth when you move your tree outdoors or in early June, you'll be cutting back to last years summer growth. This is VERY important to any tropical tree's eye appeal. Pinch after 2 or 3 leaves in summer. Let it grow in winter. Prune back the winter growth to last year's summer growth in late spring - probably the first week of June would be best for you. I can't tell if your tree is one of the dwarf varieties ("Little Fiddle", "Bambino", etc.). If it is, pruning won't be nearly as critical as it would be for the species plant. The downward angle of the image doesn't give a good/true read of how tight the internodes are.

If it was my tree, I'd start thinking about getting everything together for a repot, and do that in the next 2-3 weeks.

Al

Ok, I will get ready for the repot. This is not a dwarf, will try again with another pic. Forgive all the questions but the pinching of leaves should not occur unless you have new growth or are you talking about what is already there?

Pic

I don't think you need to do a complete bare-rooting this time. Just cut off the bottom 1/2-2/3 of the root mass,

prune the circling roots back to where they emerge from the perimeter of the root/soil mass, then hold the tree in your palms and work your fingers up into the remaining roots. Crumble some of the soil off so there is a hollow under the trunk. Before you do that, prepare your pot by adding several inches of barely moist soil on the bottom. Try to pile it up like a volcano, then set the hollow you made over the cone. It will facilitate working soil into any voids in the roots. When you're done, water and secure the tree so it can't move relative to the pot. Example:

You might wish to use a wick to help remove any excess water that wants to take up residence in the lower reaches of the soil.

Leave the wick dangle after you water until water stops draining.

Al

Got it Al, thanks so much! I will let you know how things go with my FLF!

Al