Complete collection defoliation

[amcoffeegirl]

Well here in Iowa it’s officially summer.
I have been working on my trees.
In spring the ones that needed it got repotted. About 3 weeks ago everything went outside. It rained a lot.
Everything was defoliated and some were cut back hard.
I no longer want leggy ficus.
My Burt davyi was the first to respond by pushing all new growth.
Leaves are back about half normal size right now. The willow leaf ficus are starting to sprout buds everywhere.
I will be excited to update some pots in a couple more weeks.
There is one tree that i am still afraid to put outside. It is the Suthin tree. Such a small pot to weather the elements. It is perfect weather hot and sticky. So I guess I should stop worrying and get it out there.
I have been advised to place the pot in a bigger pot filled with sand but I’m still nervous about it.
Will post updates soon.

 

[Forsoothe!]

I always over-pot everything. I am a lot less interested in impressing people with relatively too-little pots that put my trees in jeopardy than I am interested in my trees growing well in the the heat of summer. Trees will grow like weeds in hot, sunny conditions when well-watered.

 

[0soyoung]

I always over-pot everything.

I've killed more trees this way than any other.

 

[Silentrunning]

I've killed more trees this way than any other.

Do you have any reason as to the cause? I would like to prevent any future deaths.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I've killed more trees this way than any other.

Over potting slightly is not terrible. It depends on the shape of the pot and the soil you are using.
With this particular tree it is a solid mass and I haven’t done any root work to it. It drains slowly and I don’t think raking out the roots is an option. I’m a little nervous to dig in there but it does need to be done.
What are my options- rake out what I can without damaging the rootball.
Do v shaped cuts around the rootball.
Or saw off the bottom.
What is the best thing to do?

 

[0soyoung]

Do you have any reason as to the cause? I would like to prevent any future deaths.

I think it is tied to the volume of water in the saturation layer versus the quantity of roots to remove it so that they (the roots) don't drown. With overpotting, it seems that one must carefully refrain from watering --> catch-22.
It doesn't happen if somewhat underpotted OR with deep pots, or maybe I should say that I haven't had problems in these circumstances (which is not to say that I haven't found other ways to execute trees).

 

[0soyoung]

With this particular tree it is a solid mass and I haven’t done any root work to it. It drains slowly and I don’t think raking out the roots is an option. I’m a little nervous to dig in there but it does need to be done.
What are my options

IMHO, give it about a month and do 'dig in there' --> repot it!
Trees figure out the summer solstice has passed withing roughly 3 weeks of the solstice and change their growth habits --> resources are available for root recovery. When growth is pushing out, lots of water is required to pump up cells, and resources are devoted to making that new, above ground, growth. I see from Adam Levign's blog that tropicals can be defoliated, pruned, and repotted simultaneously in Aug.

Cutting wedges is something we do with azaleas because of the architecture of their roots. Generally, combing out and pruning the periphery does the job most effectively.
Sawing off the bottom doesn't really do much but get it into a shallower pot.

I understand the fear, but until you get informedly brave or you will be petrified by it. Get some junk plants and experiment if need be. Life will be so much easier when you know from experience.

 

[penumbra]

I've killed more trees this way than any other.

Has not been the case with me. Over-potting in and of itself is not going to harm a tree unless the soil mix is off. Think about it, we generally over-pot to encourage new growth and trunk development. Many of mine are over-potted (I mean like dozens of them) and they are doing very very well. This is particularly true of species that resent root work.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

IMHO, give it about a month and do 'dig in there' --> repot it!
Trees figure out the summer solstice has passed withing roughly 3 weeks of the solstice and change their growth habits --> resources are available for root recovery. When growth is pushing out, lots of water is required to pump up cells, and resources are devoted to making that new, above ground, growth. I see from Adam Levign's blog that tropicals can be defoliated, pruned, and repotted simultaneously in Aug.

Cutting wedges is something we do with azaleas because of the architecture of their roots. Generally, combing out and pruning the periphery does the job most effectively.
Sawing off the bottom doesn't really do much but get it into a shallower pot.

I understand the fear, but until you get informedly brave or you will be petrified by it. Get some junk plants and experiment if need be. Life will be so much easier when you know from experience.

I’m not afraid of repotting ficus in general- just this one because of how solid it is. It is literally a mass. I have repotted maybe 30 ficus since spring. Lol
I will give it a go. Thanks for the pep talk!

 

[Carol 83]

Well here in Iowa it’s officially summer.
I have been working on my trees.
In spring the ones that needed it got repotted. About 3 weeks ago everything went outside. It rained a lot.
Everything was defoliated and some were cut back hard.
I no longer want leggy ficus.
My Burt davyi was the first to respond by pushing all new growth.
Leaves are back about half normal size right now. The willow leaf ficus are starting to sprout buds everywhere.
I will be excited to update some pots in a couple more weeks.
There is one tree that i am still afraid to put outside. It is the Suthin tree. Such a small pot to weather the elements. It is perfect weather hot and sticky. So I guess I should stop worrying and get it out there.
I have been advised to place the pot in a bigger pot filled with sand but I’m still nervous about it.
Will post updates soon.

Just curious, do you feel defoliation is necessary? I'm not a huge ficus fan, but I have a few. My one willow leaf sat like the dead from November until May, so I'm not inclined to defoliate now that it is finally exploding with growth.

 

[0soyoung]

Has not been the case with me. Over-potting in and of itself is not going to harm a tree unless the soil mix is off. Think about it, we generally over-pot to encourage new growth and trunk development. Many of mine are over-potted (I mean like dozens of them) and they are doing very very well. This is particularly true of species that resent root work.

I guess it is just another of those things that I am uniquely able to do.

What is the mix to be 'on' so that the notion of 'overpotting' not meaningful?

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Just curious, do you feel defoliation is necessary? I'm not a huge ficus fan, but I have a few. My one willow leaf sat like the dead from November until May, so I'm not inclined to defoliate now that it is finally exploding with growth.

I do not feel it is necessary all the time.
My ficus have grown long and leggy.
I chose at this time to defoliate the trees that needed light to get inside the canopy.
I don’t remove every leaf on every tree usually.
This year I removed leggy growth all growing tips on some trees. I went hard on them.
This pic is from March.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Regrowth in March
I will post full updates on my threads as growth returns. It will be fun.

 

[sorce]

Wait wait wait.....

Outside?

What'd I miss!? (Did I miss it?)

Nice!

I wouldn't worry about the small pots at all.
Just Water twice a day.

Sorce

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Wait wait wait.....

Outside?

What'd I miss!? (Did I miss it?)

Nice!

I wouldn't worry about the small pots at all.
Just Water twice a day.

Sorce

Yeah.
I just put them at my moms place a few blocks away.

 

[Housguy]

I’m not afraid of repotting ficus in general- just this one because of how solid it is. It is literally a mass

Ficus seem indestructible, at least my tree seems like that. I got it from a friend who thought it was dead and this tree was big, trash can size root ball. So it went into a plastic trash can, watered it and it started growing again. 8 months later I cut the root ball in half and this thing was a block of wood, no little roots that I can see when I was done. I thought for sure I killed it in reducing the root ball, but I watered it and the dang thing started growing again, jeez, seems really hardy. Anyway, I think it will be fine.

 

[Meh]

In spring the ones that needed it got repotted.

I also spring repot my ficus. What is your cue that it's time? Do you do anything special post repot?

 

[Forsoothe!]

I've killed more trees this way than any other.

I don't use a bunch of rocks for "bonsai mix", I use garden soil with equal parts pine bark soil conditioner. It holds a lot of water, well-distributed in the profile. It keeps a plant growing in full, all day hot sun.

 

[Sekibonsai]

You are in Iowa... Those tropical should have been outside as soon as it was consistently 50-60 degrees... If your trees are getting leggy it is likely due to poor/insufficient light. Mine sit in full blazing TX sun from February to December. From mame to trees it would take 6 people to lift. Not a one miss a beat. Water more, don't "mollycoddle". If you can't water appropriately then you could put in a shallow tray with water and let it wick and/or keep them out of the worse of the afternoon sun. Proper soil mix is "key" - don't use organics of you want high quality trees- more work but you will have better roots which equals better ramification, etc. Below is what happens when you use shit soil on a WLF. Dieback, poor ramification, scars weren't healing... It is exploding with growth now.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I also spring repot my ficus. What is your cue that it's time? Do you do anything special post repot?

I keep my plants under lights inside for most of the year. Once they start showing signs of new growth in the spring then I know it’s safe to do some root work.