Me too, GT!! I did a double take and shouted, "Oh my GOD!!!" at least a *dozen* times... lol Whatever it is I'm doing made the last water bill over $300 :O (Someday, someday, I'll have shade out front... and well-established plants!) You can visit trees and birds anytime you like! Ya' don't even have to call first :)

There is a liquid "transplant shock treatment" that I used when I planted my larger trachy in ground. It did work eventually over time. I did not have any of the powder root hormone on hand when I planted that tree though. The powder works really good in my experience with other plants and trees, probably better and faster. I'll try to find the bottle of the liquid stuff and post the brand name. I bought it online. Using epsom salt is recommended also. You are in zone 6 it looks like. I think that if you are planning on planting in ground you could probably do so safely by about the first of April. You should have all the stuff on hand and ready to go for when you do it. If I was in your shoes, get Shultz "Take Root", some epsom salt for continued treatments after planting, and some (spelling probably wrong) michorizzal fungi. I believe that fingi made a difference with mine also. I bought it from a place called Fungi Perfecti. This fungi is why all the Monrovia brand plants are so nice and grow so fast. It's what they use and advocate. I have a Monrovia trachy that is about 4.75 feet tall now and it is going in ground in the front yard this spring. I bought it at a garden center last year at only about 3 feet tall. It has put on at least 10 new fans and about 6" more trunk in the year I've had it potted. Its outside now. It came in the 3-season porch in mid December. It's had snow. It's about fully conditioned now... The thing is perfect! Another thing I learned with my bigger trachy is not to worry about over-watering it (in ground). When newly planted water the heck out of it. Water it a bit every day for a while. They really need a lot of water in that condition and it will make a lot of difference. Just make sure you plant it correctly with good, well-draining soil, etc. I'm actually going to be planting another large trachy this spring so my other one has a "friend" in the same planter. about 4' of trunk and about 8' tall overall. I'll be employing all the methods/products I described. I've worked with the grower to send it to me with more soil and roots than my last one came with. The extra shipping cost is well worth it in that case. Good luck with yours! Please keep us posted as to how it is doing.

I have no direct experience with root pruning, but Queen palms, being fast growing, IF they tolerate the root pruning, will quickly fill the pot with roots again and you'll be right back where you started. I would be inclined to remove the ratty fronds, water thoroughly, then fertilize. Most palms are container tolerant in the extreme -- but again, I have no direct experience keeping large palms potbound. One suggestion I would make, with your next potted palm project, select a slow growing palm. Queens are rockets; maybe you need a burro. :-D I know a woman in Sweden growing a Hyophorbe indica exclusively indoors. She's had it for perhaps 8 years, germinated from seed, and it's just now starting to brush the ceiling, and it's absolutely gorgeous! Maybe a Kentiopsis oliviformis would do well for you? Any of the palms that people complain are slow could be reasonable indoor candidates, except for ultra-tropicals in the category of Cyrtostachys renda and the like. In any case, good luck with your Queens, I hope they perk up for you.

I hope I did it right [creating the notch] and I cross my fingers it works. It would have been better if the horizontal cuts you needed to make the notch were roughly 4mm (1/8-3/16") apart. The notches you made look like they are 10mm or more from top to bottom; and since there are two notches so close together, I have concern the xylem tissue through which water and nutrients flow upward might dry out to the degree the upper parts of the tree will suffer drought stress. If you notice the top wilting at all, carefully 'paint' over the notches with waterproof wood glue. I don't expect wilting to occur, but it's good to know what to do if it does occur. If you do not notice wilting, there is nothing else you need to to other than let us know what happens. I'm also really tempted to use the Cytokinine hormone .... It can't hurt, but it might be better to observe the bud you're trying to activate before using it. That way you can know whether or not the notching was effective. This is my Ficus Altissima. The internodes on the top half of the stem looked longer than what I like. This is a function of a reduction in the photo load (light intensity/ duration) the plant receives. My guess would be that internodes increased in length after you acquired the tree because the photo load where you have it sited currently is much lower than at the greenhouse/ nursery operation where it was grown before being shipped to its point of sale location. If the length of day varies significantly where you live (length if time it is light in summer vs winter) this variation in internode length should be considered to be normal; but, 'normal' doesn't mean you have to accept it. I grow all my tropical and subtropical trees under lights. Even so, winter growth is always always more elongated compared to summer growth. To eliminate having to work with long internodes, I do all my heavy pruning in June, cutting back into the previous summer's short internodes. So my pruning schedule is: * Do hard pruning in June (Dec if you live in the Southern Hemisphere) * Pinch only throughout the summer months. Pinching consists primarily of allowing new branches to extend until the 3rd leaf is about to (or is starting to) open; then, pinch back to immediately distal to the second leaf. The pinching forces new branches to grow in the axils of the 2 leaves left on the branch. As soon as you can see a leaf forming on the new branch, remove the mature leaf in the axil of which the branch occurs. Example: These are 2 new branches growing in the axils of 2 mature leaves. This is about the right time to remove the mature leaves. This will help to keep internodes on the branch short and help your tree become fuller and more compact. When you pinch the 2 new branches back to 2 leaves on a branch, each of the branches will produce 2 new branches, Pinching them gives you 4 branches, another pinch yields 8 branches, then 16, then 32, 64, 128. If you pinch judiciously, your tree will become so full you'll need to thin leaves and branches to let air movement and light into the center of the canopy - a good problem to have. * Allow the tree to grow, unencumbered by pruning, all through the winter months. * In the following June, repeat the cycle, starting with removing the winter's lanky growth by pruning back to last summer's tight internodes. I was hesitant to do the pruning because I'm afraid just one branch might grow on mother plant like the case with my Tineke and just one branch makes the plant bend on one side and look bad. but I'm hoping to see at least two branches. I'm thinking you should see at least 4 new branches in the top 4 leaf axils. Remember to remove the mature leaves at the base of the branch when you can see the buds in the leaf axils have been activated. How enthusiastically your tree responds ti pinching/pruning depends on when you pinch/ prune. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, June in the best month to prune because A) you plant should have a good amount of stored energy, and B, it's ability to make food (through photosynthesis) peaks on June 21. If you prune when energy reserves are low and the tree's current ability to to make food is limited by low light intensity and shorter duration, you'll get a lethargic response. Here's a tip if you get a single branch that doesn't want to become the new leader: Leave a stub by cutting immediately below the node above the node where you want the branch to occur. When the new branch starts to grow, tie it to the stub to ensure it becomes set in its vertical orientation. You'll likely have several new branches you can choose from to be your new leader, so even with the pruning cut you made, you'll be able to use the top as shown in the image immediately above if necessary. You can also stake the new leader to ensure it grows vertically. Now that I'm trying different ways to stimulate branching in rubber plants (pruning, notching, pinching, Cytokinine hormone) I decided to use pinching methods on one of them and use just hormone without cutting or anything on the other one. This should prove to be very interesting! so I just cut the unopened leaf sheath (I don't know what we do call it in English) on one. What you did would be considered a "pinch". Most plants have small leaf-like appendages, called stipules, near the base of the leaf. In the mulberry family, to which Ficus belongs, the stipule has evolved to become a protective leaf sheath, which eventually dries up and falls off on it's own in the weeks after the leaf unfurls. I wanted to repot and move both of them into a single pot. but I don't know if repotting might mess up with branching and I have to wait for new growth to show up before repotting or I can do it right now? If you intend to do a full repot (as opposed to potting up), you should wait until you can see the buds are activated and growing. Once buds are growing, remove the leaves that have new branches growing in their axils and do the repot. If you are only potting up, it will have little or no impact on back-budding, so do it asap. I propagated my Tineke Ficus last year. none of the propagations survived except one. it's been a year that it's been potted, it has lots of roots and I'm sure it's not just a leaf (it is a leaf with a bit of stem and a node) but there's no growth so far.that single leaf is still healthy and unchanged but it refuses to push out new growth for some reason.is this natural? is there a way to encourage it's growth? it receives medium to bright indirect light and other plants sitting next to it (Aglaonema,Syngonium,green rubber plants) are all thriving so I think the light, temperature and humidity in that spot isn't that bad. can repotting or covering the plant to raise humidity help in this case? Please provide a couple of images, including at least 1 close-up, of the plant and pot. Al