I have repotted my indoor fig tree 3 times in the last 10 years as it grew larger. However, I want it to stop growing! If I repot it again it will reach to the ceiling. It looks root-bound, though, so I am not sure what to do. Also, it is starting to lose leaves. Can I prune it to make it stop growing? Also, with what do I fertilize it? Thanks for any advice.
Probably not the best time of year to prune it, but, yeah, you can prune it. Most figs purchased from a nursery will be grafted. That means you probably don't want to prune it to the soil surface. Look for the graft probably a couple of inches above the soil. Even years later, it will be apparent if you look for it. Whatever you prune, make sure it is well above that graft line. My fig is pruned to a standard: that is a pole like trunk with a ball of branches and leaves on top. Some people will prefer lots of canes instead, especially if they are more interested in harvesting lots of figs. What you might want to do is take out most of the center top branches and leave a few laterals that you'll prune by a third before the early spring growth. Since your root ball is also pretty big, you might want to consider root pruning, too. Whatever you do, don't do it all at once, because it will stress a fig tree that needs to go dormant for the winter.
Thanks thanrose! I am pretty naive fig tree-wise. What is a cane? And I have never seen a fig on this tree; it's purely decorative. And how does one do root pruning? This might require too lengthy an answer, sorry! Can I just leave my fig in a pot that seems to be getting too small for the roots? I don't want to encourage growth. I will prune as you suggested. Emmaji
Sometimes when you see figs, you'll see a thicket of straight up branches, or at least mostly straight up. These are all sprouting from a central trunk that may have a few gnarly old branches a few inches out near the roots. All of these mostly vertical branches are canes, and all of them will have leaves and could bear fruit. That's if you are talking about an edible fig, Ficus carica. Your fig may be a Ficus benjamina, then? A fairly common houseplant that sometimes has a braided trunk? The leaves are eggshaped with a pointy end, usually glossy dark green when mature, and the size of your thumb in length? Sometimes F. benjamina will be a variegated leaf with white borders on them. There's also Ficus elastica, Ficus lyrata, and a few others. F. elastica is also known as rubber plant or rubber tree, has big very dark leathery green leaves, with a rust to red underside at times. F. lyrata also has leaves bigger than your hand, but not as leathery as F. elastica, and the leaves have a pear shape, sort of. Hence Fiddle leaf fig as the name. All of these are in the ficus genus, and all are fairly common. Fortunately all can be pruned. Figure out which one you have. F. lyrata and F. elastica may have some very lonnnng limbs if you've never pruned them. You will see latex, or milky sap, and it will drip on the floor, so put down newspaper to keep it from getting a sticky mess everywhere. You will find leafless spaces along branches closest to the trunk, so you may want to prune beyond those spots leaving a few leaves. F. benjamina will probably have a bunch of tiny thin little branches and a few that are pencil thick that you will want to cut. It will also bleed white latex sap from every tiny cut. Just make up your mind to live with it for a couple of days, wear old clothes, and cover floors and furniture. You can lop off the tops of any fig without really harming them. You should also be able to root prune any of them. Especially where you have roots going around and around the inside of the pot, you can clip off the trailing ends by several inches or more. Also will weep latex... You may not need to root prune right now, but leaving a root bound tree in a pot means it may not be able to get enough of any water or nutrients at any time. It's not a good idea if you are certain that it already is root bound. I'm probably a bit harsh with my figs because they grow so well here. If you have F. benjamina, they grow outside in South Florida, and can rip up the foundation of your house they get so big. Good luck.
I've never seen a grafted fig, can you supply a source for this information? The only reason I can see to do this is to put multiple varieties on the same plant. Commercially though the cost/labor isn't justified.
Ah, sorry, I erred. Most Ficus carica in Florida will be grafted because of the need for nematode resistance. I've had three figs at three homes; all were grafted. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG214
