NO plant likes root congestion. There are times when root congestion might serve the grower because it has an effect on the plant the grower likes, but that isn't a clear indicator the plant will like it. Tight roots cause stress and all sorts of physiological problems for all plants. It reduces growth, branch extension, and leaf size. It limits vitality and caused the shedding of older leaves proximal (closer to the trunk) to growing branch tips (apices). If anyone tells you that a particular plant prefers to be root bound w/o explaining what they really mean is some growers like to maintain a particular plant in root bound conditions, they're wrong. If "some plants" really did prefer root bound conditions, Mother Nature would surely have arranged the plant's genetics so it grew tight little masses of roots right under the stem ..... but we know there are no plants that naturally occur that way. That said, your plant probably isn't in any immediate danger that pertains to root congestion. You're better to suffer the limitations the plant is now growing under for a while in exchange for a more opportune time to repot, which for you would be next June. Plants have natural rhythms, during which their energy levels wax and wane. For major work, like repotting (which includes root pruning), it's best to ask the plant to endure the added stress of repotting or rejuvenation pruning when its energy levels are at peak - not now when they are at or approaching their lowest levels of the entire growth cycle. If you haven't read it, the link below should be very helpful. If you are wondering about repotting and how to maintain trees in containers for the long haul, this link offers lots of guidance. Al Here is a link that might be useful: Lots more info

I always remove anything growing straight down from anywhere near the base of the trunk. I don't always do it all in 1 repotting session, but that is always my aim & I git er done over the course of as many repots as it takes. That's mostly because I'm a bonsai practitioner and a broad, fat root base is a very attractive feature that may be of no consideration to you whatsoever. Plants from cuttings really don't have taproots, but the plants are genetically smart enough to know they need anchoring, so they're programmed to send out taproot replacements in the form of roots that grow downward from near the base of the tree. These roots serve no purpose in containerized trees, and will need to be removed anyway, as soon as they hit the bottom of the pot & start circling or growing back up into the root mass, so it's better to just eliminate them as they occur. This is a maple, but pretty much how I treat figs, too: Other roots after pruning: From this to this Al

Once the roots/soil mass of a plant become congested beyond the point where the entire plant can be lifted from the container with roots and soil intact, the growth rate is reduced. It continues to become reduced as the plant becomes more congested. What the man in the video did wasn't really root-pruning and a full repot, it was much, much closer to simply potting up. Repotting, which usually includes bare-rooting, and potting up are distinctly different. Repotting ensures your plant will have at least the opportunity to grow to it's genetic potential within the limits of other cultural factors, but potting up ensures it cannot. When a plant becomes as horribly root-bound as the one in the clip, it's growth would have been negatively affected for a number of years prior, and will remain permanently affected until the condition is corrected. What the man in the video did to the tree, did not correct the problem. He returned the tree to a pot in sad shape and the tree will suffer for it. Trees that are only potted up are in continual decline, even in spite of what you the grower might look at as a growth spurt after you pot up. What you as a grower look at as a growth spurt is no spurt at all, it is only a plant suffering from depressed growth, returning to a growth rate a little closer to its genetic potential. Here is what really happens and how repotting vs potting up works: Imagine that plants can grow with a vitality level of 0-10, with 0 being a dead plant. We'll say that the best we can achieve in containers is a level of 9, for the sake of illustration. Over time, say 2-3 years, soils collapse and roots get congested, which negatively affects vitality levels. Let's say that over 3 years our plants decline to a vitality level of 5. When you bare root your plants and do a full repot, removing about half of the roots and concentrating on the larger roots, you can return your plant to a vitality level of 9, and you can do it indefinitely - every time you repot; but if you only pot up, you cannot return the plant to a vitality level of 9 - perhaps only 8 is attainable at first. Then, while both plants are again in decline over the same period, the plant that was potted up might slip to a vitality level of 4 while the repotted plant only slips to its usual 5. Potting up again only restores the potted up plant to a vitality level of 7. The plant slides again to a level of 3, and potting up restores it to 6. Then 2 restored to 5, then 1 restored to 4. This steady decline may not occur after potting up only 4-5 times, but the illustration is what actually occurs to containerized plants that are only potted up. The reason bonsai plants can remain at the peak of health for hundreds of years in tiny containers and be passed from generation to generation is primarily due to the fact they are always root-pruned and repotted and not potted up. Al

Yes! I truly can! Thank you for the quick reply. I can see that in the first picture the tree is very lanky and think and the next picture the tree is full. It makes a lot of sense that pruning is so very important in the beginning stages of fig trees because all the fig trees I saw at the big chain garden stores were very lanky and some of the trunks were even shooting straight out to the side! With my lanky BT I plan to leave it be until it goes dormant in the winter and then cut it back to half of it's size. Unless of course it is safe and better to prune it now? With my biggest fig tree I got the other day, I wanted to re-pot the plant but was afraid it was going to drop its fruit if I disturbed the plant to much. When I re-pot I bare root the tree and replace all the old soil with new soil. I could always just pot-up the plant and move it to a bigger container. It is currently in a 5gal. container and I think 10-15gal would be a nice size for now to go up too. Which brings me to another question...soil. Currently I have my lanky BT and baby Celeste in a 2:1:1 mixture of pine bark, perlite and compost. When I told the lady the other day at the nursery my mixture she seems concerned that my mixture was to sterile. She told me that fig trees needs to be in a raised bed potting mix. Basically lots of compost, with vermiculite and peat moss. I wanted a very airy soil because everything I have read on ficus trees tells me they love well drained soil. I also love that I can water my trees in the heat of the day (currently in Texas today it was up to 90 degrees in March). I guess my question to you is what do you plant your trees in? I know everyones answer will be different because we all live in different areas and water differently. Is my mixture too sterile? Or are fig trees truly that awesome that they can thrive in ANY media we put them in?