Over the years, as I work on roots I work toward maintaining a fairly flat root mass, with the roots radiating from the trunk of the plant pretty much horizontally and all at the same ht level. For the ficus genus, I cut back the heaviest (chunkiest) roots the hardest because over time that helps to even out the amount of energy that goes to various areas of the plant, which helps to prevent weak areas that can die or be shed unexpectedly by the plant. I actually make a mound (cone) centered under where the trunk will exit the soil. I then sort of gently twist the plant into the mound, which helps to ensure there are no voids or air pockets under the trunk. Then. I thoroughly work the fresh soil into the roots with a tool like the white nylon one in the picture but a wood dowel sharpened in a pencil sharpener but with a slightly rounded tip also works well. I'm not being critical, only observing that a pot with no holes becomes progressively more limiting as the planting ages - true even if you were able to furnish water in volumes that would normally be perfect, which would be a task extremely difficult in a drainless container. Pots w/o drain holes are something I would encourage you to avoid if at all possible. You CAN grow healthy plants in a container w/o a drain if you play close attention to detail and everything else is perfect, but unless you're very aware of how to deal with the adversity, you put yourself at a considerable disadvantage. You can help to eliminate some of the perched water a planting CAN hold if you mix rocks or other nonabsorbent chunks into the soil that occupies the bottom of the pot, but the best results will be had when using soils that are airy enough that there is no advantage in employing that strategy. If the overturned pot in 'D' was bricks instead, the PWT would still be the same ht, but the bricks would significantly reduce the amount of soil in the portion of the pot that's CAPABLE of holding perched water, and in doing such could be helpful to plants in water-retentive soils. Understanding the concept explained explained in this thread will go a long way toward getting you over the hump when it comes to growing in containers. Roots aren't a plant's Achilles' heel, but they certainly CAN be the conduit by which soils that drain poorly and hold insufficient volumes of air limit plants from moderately to critically. You'd be very surprised at what kind of (root) treatment a healthy plant will tolerate and quickly rebound from. I took this plant from a root mass that occupied well over 1.5 gallons of soil to a volume of roots that would EASILY fit in well under a teacup with nothing in the way of any sort of adverse reaction. The key is to get your plant healthy so it will tolerate whatever work you might have in mind, do the work at a time most favorable for the plant, then let it recover fully before asking it again to rebound from necessary for its extended well-being but stressful in the immediate. Unfortunately, doing some things in the immediate that are stressful are requisite investments in the plant's future. You just can't allow nature to take its course when it comes to container culture if a healthy attractive plant for the long term is our intention. If you have the inclination, read the info at the link I offered, then ask any questions you might have, or ask for clarification of anything that might seem murky to you. Wishing the best for you ....... Al

This plant likes a LOT of humidity, so keep that in mind. I don't grow this plant, but my experience with the viney species of Ficus is that they usually have preformed root primordia at every node, making them exceptionally easy to root. I would shoot for an annual chop, prolly around Father's day. Rather than chop because the plant is top heavy, I'd stake it and take advantage of the food/energy produced by the leaves you would have removed to add girth and strength to the main stem. I have a F pumila 'Curly' that I started 15 years ago (a viney ficus), and the main trunk is only about a half inch in diameter. Most viney plants tend to focus almost all of their growth on extension instead of radial thickening. If you want it to grow full, prune all branches back to 2 leaves. As new branches form from the axils of leaves remaining, let them grow to 4 leaves, then prune back to 2 leaves. That maximizes the number of branches and leaves (ramification) and keeps your plant nice & full. After a single season, you just prune off the growth you don't think fits with whatever your vision for the plant is. Take a year to get to know the plant and learn how to keep it healthy. Tree time moves ahead much more slowly than people time - a year is nothing to a tree. Al

Insofar as how it would impact root health, there is no difference between plastic and high-fired clay/ceramic. If you can see no crazing (myriad small cracks reminiscent of a fish net with small holes) in the glaze, you can eliminate anything toxic making its way from the pot to the grow medium. If you haven't fertilized or used any type of tonics, insecticides, leaf shine, detergents, etc., it's a very good bet you have unwittingly over-watered due to the fact there is no way for water to evaporate or be used by the plant as the new medium is not colonized by roots and remains a hostile environment to roots due to lack of oxygen. My suggestion would be to lift the plant from the pot to see it the lower reaches of the soil column are saturated. If so, see figure D below. Remove the soil from the new pot, place an over-turned pot in the bottom of the pot so it fits snugly, and cover the drain hole of the over-turned pot with something that won't rot (it does not need to allow water to drain through the hole in the over-turned pot, but it's ok to use a screen if you wish). Mix enough of the soil that falls away from the roots or remains in the large pot with an equal measure of perlite and fill to the top of the over-turned pot, then reposition your plant on top of the pot. and back-fill with the remaining soil w/o the extra perlite. The shaded areas in the images above represents perched water. By comparing D to A, you can see the over-turned pot significantly reduces the amount of excess (perched) water your soil will b e able to hold, so air will return the the soil much faster. The operational words for the moisture level of a grow medium is damp/moist, never wet/soggy. After having put the pot to work as ballast, start checking moisture levels with a "tell" you can make from a wooden dowel rod. It is far superior to a finger or a "moisture meter". More about using a 'tell': Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Questions? Al

What kind of soil is it in? Virtually all containerized houseplants need regular nutritional supplementation; so YES, you should have a good fertilizer on hand and have a strategy in place that includes regular fertilizing that is adjusted in relation to the changes in growth habit as the plant makes it's way through the growth cycle. No one can tell you how to fertilize w/o knowing something about your soil and your watering habits, because those factors determine how much you use and how often you use it. If I guessed you were just getting interested in learning how to best provide for your plants' cultural needs, would I be right? In most cases, the manner in which a person addresses the issues for which you seek guidance will depend on your level of experience. I use, as do many others, and highly recommend Dyna-Gro's Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 fertilizer. There are a number of reasons for this, and I can direct you to a thread that lays out those reasons if you have interest. Your plant probably shouldn't be fertilized until you see signs of new growth. My guess is, the soil has been kept overly wet, which accounts for a very high % of the problems for which folks eventually arrive here in search of resolution. Once all the leaves fall, the amount of water your plant uses will be minuscule, so make sure you do not over-water. If you don't know how to use a wooden dowel/skewer as a tell, and want to, just ask. Many folks here use or have used that method with good results. It doesn't lie and will tell you when your plant does/doesn't need water. Al