Ficus houseplant has FIGS.

The fruiting part is certainly nothing to be concerned about. Most of my tropical figs (except F. benjamina) fruit regularly and abundantly, even though they're healthy. ;o)

I'm not picturing your plant as being as being particularly happy though, in the same soil for 9 years .....

Al

do you think I can repot it with new soil into the same pot? I just can't find anything bigger (or that will fit anywhere in my house)!

do you think I can repot it with new soil into the same pot?

Sure, but you may have to root prune. However, I recently repotted a F. benjamina that was in the same pot (and soil!) for over 15 years (long story). The top certainly showed signs of the stress, with very little foliage. The root volume was actually miniscule. I repotted it 2 weeks ago, no root pruning required. The tree is very happy now; putting on new growth all over the place.

Cheers!

Root pruning is not enough, You need to purune its canopy down because in most cases the major root pruning will not be able to hande the same canopy with less roots. A good root pruning means cutting those big carrot things and removing the "cemented" soil. The soil in the middle of the root ball will be like concrete.

James has a great illustration.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0223582815300.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Root Pruning

Of course loslunasfarms is correct to state that top pruning may be needed. But don't jump the gun (yet) on pruning the top. As my example illustrated, you may not need to root prune at all; you'll see what's up with the roots once you start removing soil.

I do agree that root pruning during the growing season may require some top pruning (as opposed to root pruning during the quiescent period, at which time top pruning is not needed). However, in my limited experience, I find that F. benjamina is very resilient in its response to root disturbance. I whacked the roots of a small F. benjamina recently that was in a small container; I did no top work. The tree completely defoliated following repotting, but soon began to put on new foliage with a vengeance. I guess what I'm saying is to be conservative with your top pruning. Certainly, I would not be conservative with other less-vigorous species of plants.

Perhaps Al will come back around to this thread and prove me wrong (or right, whatever the case may be)!

;-)

Cheers!

The tree might not be getting really anything out of the soil at this point. The soil is very hard, and the roots are surely a tangled, knotted mess. I have seen potting soil look like concrete when it gets to old. Plus, the little bitty roots absorb nutrients much better then the those carrot looking things. You also can risk the tree dying. My two cents.

I know this chain is extremely old but my ficus turned 50 (yes 50!) last year. Today and for the first time I noticed little berries growing all over it. So happy to hear that it’s nothing serious!

The "berries" are a structure called a synconium, which consists of an outer hull with many blooms growing inside the case. In a sense, it's a mass of inside out flowers. If you live where a highly specialized wasp capable of fertilizing your species of ficus calls home, it might turn into a fig after being fertilized but don't count on it being anything you'd like to eat. Most of the edible figs we see in stores are from the hardy fig, Ficus carica. BTW, the wasps that fertilize the fruits of fig trees remain inside the synconium case where they lay eggs and die. They are dissolved by enzymes and become a part of the fruit. Mmmmmm!

Al