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Question about optimum root removal during Root-Pruning..

9 years ago

Most hobby gardeners know that fruit plants productivity increases as the plant matures with age but not many gardener knows exactly which part of the plant plays major role in this productivity increase with maturity, though intuition and experience point to the plant root system. If that is the case then it leads to my main question related to a dilemma.
The dilemma for the potted figs is if I donÃ¯Â¿Â½t prune the roots enough, I may have to prune roots soon again; and if I prune roots too much then it may adversely affect the production in the next growing season.
I have read a number of posts about root pruning; some suggesting cutting off one-third of the root ball and others have pruned off one-half of the roots. My question is then Ã¯Â¿Â½how much pruning off is too much that will reduce fruit production in the next fruiting seasonÃ¯Â¿Â½. What will be the optimum root pruning off that gives enough time between next root pruning but minimum effect on the next year production.

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Comments (8)

dieseler
9 years ago
Personally i cut top /bottom /wedges - total about 1/3 along with trimming canopy and its done every 2-3 years .

Only what i been doing over the years not a rule of thumb.

Martin
dieseler
9 years ago
Here is example from my above post with picture of almost finished root pruning.
Three wedges were made along with top and bottom rootball cuts made with several inches off each, one can see were old mark was at on trunk above soil line.
Used was a recipricating saw with 9 inch pruning blade, finally finish cuts were made top to bottom straight down on outside of those wedges, those cuts not shown as they were not made yet when picture was taken.

Martin
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1. it depends on what you want to happen, going forward. If your plant has two and you only want one, you can slice off the other. If you want the entire thing gone, you can do that too. If you are only shaving the feeder roots, you can remove most of it or all of it. You can also just trim the feeders that will show above the soil line if you are raising your plant as growers normally do when they want to expose more of the caudex. 2. Personally, I leave my seedlings alone for the first six months. After that, they are fair game. Runts will have a harder time bouncing back but strong seedlings will give you faster results. Just do not disturb them until they are back in full growth. Special considerations: To avoid problems, make sure your plant will have all of the following for as long as it will take for new growth to start and take off: a. temperature of at least 25C (optimum is 30C; lower than this, it just takes too long for me and I don't have the patience); b. strong light--either very bright shade outdoors or 70k to 80k lux under artificial light (direct sun is something like 100k to 110k lux). Your rooting substrate can either be 30 percent soil and 70 percent pumice (I avoid perlite if i can) or 5:1:1 depending on how much you want to babysit the thing. After pruning, let the cut dry out overnight. If the cut is severe (i.e. whole taproot removed), drying will take days, depending on the size of the plant. As extra precaution, put wood glue on the cut after it has dried and let that dry out before potting it up. Check out this link or this. Have fun! Pagan
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radovan
9 years ago
dieseler, please try again, I can't see any photos here, thanks
dieseler
9 years ago
Radovan i used the HTML code as always here on GW the photo shows it may be something with your computer.
Good luck and hope you can see them by trying again.
Martin
radovan
9 years ago
Thanks dieseler, i guess it's me
ottawan_z5a
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks Martin, that is very explanatory and helpful picture and description.
(my 9" reciprocating saw blade got stuck in 8" thick branch while cutting storm broken branch of Russian olive tree. I left it in the branch and will recover it whever it is not cold and rainy)

Also, I am glad to see Radovan posting.

I have good memories of you both. Stay well.
eboone_gw
9 years ago
Martin,
When you prune the roots that much, is productivity decreased that next summer, or does the tree keep producing like always?
dieseler
9 years ago
Eboone (good question) when roots are pruned the canopy is also trimmed
so they stay in balance with each other so yes less production.

Some or many figs will drop if root system cannot support the topside growing in container.

Martin

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