I'm not familiar w/ these brands of mixes, but mostly soil doesn't seem the best idea (like the 2/3 you're suggesting). I see you've collected others, so if it's working for you ... But pls. consider that in nature, these grow in crotches of tree branches, rather than soil, they're in leaf litter & debris, wastes & whatever else blows their way. So bark makes more sense that way, it's much lighter & more airy. (Indoors) I've mostly used soil w/ perlite myself thru the yrs. & have recently added a good portion of bark to my own holiday cacti. Am happy to report I've been able to keep an EC alive for a few months now in just bark & it's doing well. I've often struggled w/ECs 'til now. I've been using Repti Bark, from a pet store. Smaller (than Orchid bark mix), evenly sized pieces, nice. Perhaps try using that in place of your potting soil. So it'd be: bark, perlite & Cactus mix. Reviewing this old thread reminds me of Josh's point that bark mixes allow the copious watering these plants often get in nature.

I woke up to a bunch more yellowing leaves. I probably should have taken these in before they began dropping leaves. I'm not sure that I can keep them from going dormant. If you move them early enough and keep them under lights at least 14 hrs a day you can prevent dormncy. It's more the length of daylight then temps that control dormancy. Even plumerias in warm areas go dormant in the winter. Those are all about 3.5 years old but this was the first year that I'd trimmed them back. I usually wait for blooms before pruning but these had become so lanky that I couldn't look at them anymore. Several have nice caudexes developing. I also like that almost perfectly round one. I hope it keeps that shape as it grows. My pachypodiums are still outside. My P. bicolor has lost almost half it's foliage already. The T5 lights are pretty decent but I like HID lights better. The mylar definetly increases the reflection but I can't use it with the T5 set up as these are against a LR wall. HID systems are so much brighter but there's no way I can use them in a living space. They're just too darn bright and they also generate quite a bit of heat. I use MH and occasionally HPS lights in the garage and don't even need additional heating when they are on. I used to have a 'plant room' in an extra bedroom and you could see the lights from the street. People walking and even driving by would slow down to look. I'm surprised that I never had a visit from Mr. Officer ; ) It really made it look like a 'grow house'.

I generally do exactly what Mike said cutting with a long saw or a key hole saw. I think if you have leaves over 6" you are too late. I usually root prune in February so the new roots grow as the plant comes out of dormancy. You can prune now but soon will be too late as the plant is more likely to experience shock. Moving to a larger pot you can pull the soil out of the pot as a whole and then loosen around the sides and bottom with your fingers (if heavily wrapped cut the roots in many places with a razor or sharp knife) and then re-pot. always us B-1 or superthrive in water to lessen shock. Bill

cfox, Where do you garden n in zone 3/4? The Mission fig is very delicious and prolific. Under pot culture you can grow the most winter tender figs, because they are out of the severe cold over winter. You must however, be careful to grow varieties that tolerate humidity and ripen quickly to prevent fruit rot, and figs not ripening in time before fall frosts. I don't think your fig tree is ready to be bumped up to a bigger pot going by the size of the trunk. You can easily slip it out of the pot and check the roots. If tightly compacted, just use a serrated knife, and make vertical slits into the root mass from top to bottom, to a depth of .5", every 2" around the root mass. You are disrupted any future root circling by doing this. Then pot it into your larger pot. If it is root bound, there is no good reason to root prune it (the above procedure is not root pruning, root pruning is cutting away, removing roots), if it is going into a larger pot. Just disrupt the fig tree's root circling pattern, if there is one present, by the means I outlined above. Root pruning is only done when the fig tree is returned to the same pot after the roots are pruned, generally not when it is bumped up to a bigger pot. Only the root bound, circling roots are slit to stop the circling root activity, which if unchecked, will choke the tree in time. If there is still room for more root growth, just return it to its current pot. You can check it again next spring. Now is the time to branch prune. Reduce the two lowest branches to app. 10" each, cutting 3/8" above the highest remaining node . This will cause branching. Trim the leader to about 16" from the highest up lower branch. Again, make the cut 3/8" above a node. Your fig tree will branch out very nicely. I like my pot cultured fig trees to grow multiple trunks, and branch down low for a number of reasons. It keeps the center of gravity low down so that the tree is more stable in winds. If blown over, the trunk(s) and branches are less prone to get damaged. Plus, closer to the ground the heat generated by the ground around the tree will promote faster growth. Heat, full sun, and low humidity are a fig tree's best friend. Your fig tree will break dormancy in its own time, as it warms up. If you still have late frosts, you can put your fig outside as long as the temperature is above freezing. Bring it inside every single time it freezes. This is called, "the fig shuffle.". Figs tolerate "0," frost, zero! They are extremely frost sensitive, especially new, spring growth. May I direct your attention to a recent Fig Forum post placed by Tropic of Capricorn, "Fig identification help," March 27, 2018. You may find the post helpful for your particular growing zone. Moses