Trunk chop and root prune Ficus same time?

[Pearcy001]

Evening all,

Sorry if this appears to be a silly question, but I don't have much experience with Figs and can't find the answer I'm after.

I have a MB Fig that I need to both repot and trunk chop. Are figs able to have both done at the same time, or would it be too taxing on the tree to try regrow both root and foliage from just stored energy and minimal roots simultaneously?

Alternatively is it best to say, repot now and trunk chop in two weeks - or vice versa?

I plan to leave one very small branch as a new leader but remove the rest. It was planted over a rock 12 months ago and the roots are spilling out of the pot everywhere. At this point I'm unsure how much of the roots will be removed until I lift it out and see how well they are sitting around the rock.

The tree seems fairly healthy but it hasn't been fertalised in 2 months as I was away (normally fortnightly). I gave it a good feed this evening with powerfeed to boost it up and I plan to begin work in a couple days.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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[Kevin]

Hello Pearcy,

Good question.
Last year i swore i'd never defoliate and root prune my older F. macrophylla or any species due to basic plant physiology - healthy active roots are required to produce the hormones required for new bud development.
So recently, completely ignoring my own advice I gave a young F. macrophylla a reasonably heavy root prune, trunk chop and complete defoliation.
Well it's bounced back in no time with a bounty of healthy buds - completely opposite to the old girl.

My Conclusions:
No to plant physiology
No to older F. macrophyllas
Yes to healthy young plants

Interested in others thoughts to your question.

Kevin

[Joel]

For the species commonly used for bonsai, I'd say yes to all except go light to medium on the foliage with Ficus benjamina, particularly if further south than Brisbane. There are certainly species that don't tolerate this treatment such as Ficus religiosa so be mindful when working with more obscure species.

[Nate.bonsai]

Yes, for my healthy young PJ fig in trunk development mode, I repot, substantially root prune and trunk chop all at the same time and it reshoots vigorously without any problems. However, I have always done this just before it wakes up in the growing season i.e. Not half way through as we are now. Not sure if this would make a big difference or not, as these type of figs do seem virtually indestructible.

Treat them like Tridents. There is a thread (I think maybe from Shibui or Treeman?) showing how much he cuts back (young) Tridents when repotting.


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[anthonyW]

Only ever do it on extremely healthy young figs,outside that one or the other,but in saying that can still manage to do both in the same growing season at different times,but stress extremely heathly before attempting any of the above.

Cheers Anthony