Advice on Repotting for a newbie

[ACrawl]

Hi everyone. I’m glad to have found this community - I see all the wisdom and willing to share here. Hopefully, I’ll reach the point to sharing rather than asking only, one day.

I have a Ficus microcarpa. I bought it a few months ago, Sept ‘25. Seems like it’s due to be repotted next year (I lifted the tree, and not very hard, and all the soil came up with it). I have tropical mix soil with clay, lava rocks, pumice and pine bark.

Please see the picture below. It’s in a 5 inch pot, I bought 6 inch rectangular pot and an 8 inch round. Does anyone have any suggestions on which is a better idea, considering root health and size (and the many other things I don’t know to ask)? This tree is roughly 9.5”, or slightly below. Thank you for any insight you may offer.

 

[darzuo]

Either pot would be fine. A larger pot will allow more growth and thickening if that's what you're looking for, but both look large enough to work. When repotting, do it when you see the tree actively growing, sometime in Spring or early Summer. Exact timing depends on where you're located (you can add this to your profile to make it easier), but most ficus are very tolerant of work regardless. Also, make sure to get as much of the old soil out as possible when repotting and tease the roots outward so they sit in the new soil. Otherwise, it can become very difficult to saturate the rootball if the new soil mix drains much faster than the current one. Good Luck!

 

[rockm]

Please fill out your geographic location (country/state etc). Important since freezing weather will kill a ficus

The optimal time to repot ficus is midsummer when it is hot and humid. Ficus love heat and humidity and don’t like the low sunlight and cold dry air of winter

So basically if you’re someplace where it’s winter best to wait until summer for best repotting results. If you repot in winter the tree won’t do much but sulk (drop leaves etc) until spring summer arrives

Also. Tropicals like ficus do best by being outside in the sun from mid spring until late summer. Keeping them indoors al the time complicates their care tenfold

 

[ACrawl]

Please fill out your geographic location (country/state etc). Important since freezing weather will kill a ficus

The optimal time to repot ficus is midsummer when it is hot and humid. Ficus love heat and humidity and don’t like the low sunlight and cold dry air of winter

So basically if you’re someplace where it’s winter best to wait until summer for best repotting results. If you repot in winter the tree won’t do much but sulk (drop leaves etc) until spring summer arrives

Also. Tropicals like ficus do best by being outside in the sun from mid spring until late summer. Keeping them indoors al the time complicates their care tenfold

Great. Thank you. I've added location. It's hitting about 30-35 degrees during the night lately. It's indoors now, southwest facing window. I'll put it back out in the Spring.

 

[ACrawl]

...make sure to get as much of the old soil out as possible when repotting and tease the roots outward so they sit in the new soil.

Thank you!

 

[Shibui]

Both pots are probably bigger than necessary but that's usually good for a newbie as it allows space to grow and insurance against forgetting to water.
The large pot might be a bit too big. There's more chance of the soil staying a bit too wet, especially indoors.
I think I'd opt for the rectangle initially. The round pot seems just a bit too big.
Just because the root mass came out of the pot in one piece does not mean it needs repotting. Ficus can go for many years without new soil or more space. Test for repotting by pressing on the soil. If it compresses a little there's still plenty of space in the soil. Rock hard soil that cannot be compressed is an indication that repotting is required. Lighting is not great in teh photos but the root mass does not appear really root bound.

Take note of advice re timing of repotting. Most bonsai repotting is scheduled for late winter and early Spring but tropicals don't do well when repotted in cool. Late Spring through to mid Summer is far better.

Healthy trees cope much better with repotting. The 2 photos don't have great lighting and clarity but my feeling is that this Ficus is not particularly strong. You have not had it very long so may not be all your doing. Ficus love plenty of water in Summer and plenty of fertiliser. I'd certainly be trying to improve growing conditions through your Winter to boost tree strength before repotting next season. Maybe describe Summer location, where you plan to keep it over winter, your fertiliser program and watering schedule to get some tips on improving conditions.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

tropicals don't do well when repotted in cool. Late Spring through to mid Summer is far better.

^^^ This is a very important point, particularly because your tree is pretty root-bound. Normally in the SE US I would wait until June to repot a tropical. Unlike most other trees, tropicals do best when repotted in warm weather - as long as they have plenty of warm season left to recover in. In SoCal, even without cold winters, I would still repot my tropicals much later than my other trees. I used to repot my pines in December

Focus on getting the tree repotted into good soil, and do not remove any foliage until the tree is showing signs it is recovering (ie popping new buds everywhere).

 

[ACrawl]

Thanks @Shibui and @Bonsai Nut. Here are some better images of the root system so far.

Summer and Winter: In the summer, I plan to keep it on my back porch (south east facing), which gets full sun, unobstructed, from sunrise until about 3:30 - 4pm depending on how closely I place it next to the wall, roughly 8. Summers here are generally low to mid 70s over night and high 80s (occasion low 90s) during the day.

Over the winter, I have a group of south-west windows which get the most light exposure this time of year (brightest of the three sides from 10am - sunset). I think I hit a jackpot with the orientation of my house and window / wall layouts downstairs. I get bright light from 3 directions most of the day all year. I know this is a tree and not a house plant, but all the plant life I have in here does really good all year. People come over and are surprised at how much light is pouring in. I don't turn a light on until sunset and I'm trying to cook lol.

I will focus on the soil... repotting mid-summer. Thanks a lot, everyone - I've been feeling like a fish out of water.



Care Schedule: I've been using my finger to test watering. I check at a bit over half an inch and press the soil a little. Last watering was about two weeks ago. I got it, September 21, I had given it liquid fertilizer (small dose) then, and again about 2 weeks later. It had one dose early - almost mid November - and none since.
.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Last watering was about two weeks ago

That’s probably not enough. I’m watering my ficus every 3 days or so keeping it in the sunroom. I repot it in late June.

 

[ACrawl]

That’s probably not enough. I’m watering my ficus every 3 days or so keeping it in the sunroom. I repot it in late June.

I wonder if there's something different about our soils or environment - I'm just spitballing here. I had been watering more frequently, and a week or so or weeks ago I had about 6 or 7 leaves curl and turn yellow over 4 or 5 days. I removed them and haven't waterer since - and the leaves have been good, no more yellow. Maybe the effects of having a deep pot, retaining moisture? How deep is yours? In the pics above when I pulled it out of the pot, the soil is firm - but not hard enough to crack, my hand is very slightly moist if I give it a little squeeze. What do you think?

I just saw your blog - wow! Great progress pics. That's Pretty Fly!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I wonder if there's something different about our soils or environment - I'm just spitballing here. I had been watering more frequently, and a week or so or weeks ago I had about 6 or 7 leaves curl and turn yellow over 4 or 5 days. I removed them and haven't waterer since - and the leaves have been good, no more yellow. Maybe the effects of having a deep pot, retaining moisture? How deep is yours? In the pics above when I pulled it out of the pot, the soil is firm - but not hard enough to crack, my hand is very slightly moist if I give it a little squeeze. What do you think?

I just saw your blog - wow! Great progress pics. That's Pretty Fly!

Always best to water based on the needs of the plant vs. a schedule, it just seems to me that watering every 2 weeks is really infrequent.
Here is a resource from years ago that discusses watering, might be helpful:

https://www.bonsainut.com/resources/watering-bonsai-trees.10/

 

[ACrawl]

Here is a resource from years ago that discusses watering, might be helpful:

Thanks a lot, for the insight and link.

 

[Shibui]

Your winter position sounds good. I was just checking that it was not too dark. The fact your other house plants do well should mean the Ficus will too.
A few yellow leaves is normal. All leaves reach end of life eventually then turn yellow and fall. It's when younger leaves begin to fall off we need to work out what the problem is. Most problems caused by watering (not enough / too much) or lack of light or nutrients.
Watering every 2 weeks seems a long time to me too but watering by soil finger test is good. Soil type, tree species, tree size, pot size, local conditions and other factors all influence how often to water so your watering could be very different from someone else and still be OK.
My Ficus can go several months without water in Winter (cold greenhouse) but need daily watering in Summer.

I think I can see white mineral residue on the soil surface which usually means not enough water each time to flush minerals out of the pot. When you do water, make sure you really wet the soil and plenty of water runs out the bottom to take away residual minerals. Residual minerals in the soil may be causing problems for root growth so try to flush soil when you do water.

3 light feeds in 3 months is not much, esp for a hungry species like Ficus.

Try to get watering right over winter. Try to include regular fert to encourage growth before repot next Summer. Hopefully, the change of soil will also help with growth.

 

[ACrawl]

I think I can see white mineral residue on the soil surface which usually means not enough water each time to flush minerals out of the pot.
3 light feeds in 3 months is not much, esp for a hungry species like Ficus.
Try to get watering right over winter. Try to include regular fert to encourage growth before repot next Summer. Hopefully, the change of soil will also help with growth.

Thank you. This is very helpful. Will do!