Soil first, then the plant, then more soil, but probably not THAT soil. It has an extremely fine texture, which means it's going to be extremely water-retentive, making it extremely difficult to grow anything in. Coarsely textured media like either of these (see images) would be soo much easier to grow in and more forgiving of any error on the grower's part: Al

Hi Dave, I actually tried the moisture meter with tap water, and it gave me a 10. I read somewhere that the metal probe must be cleaned thoroughly (e.g., using steel wool) if the meter gives drastically incorrect readings. But in any case, I did try the finger test, and the top inch felt dry, but the inch below felt damp -- when I took out my finger, some dirt was stuck on my finger. I checked for pests, but didn't see any. But I will probably give it another look later.

Should I still wait until June? Yes. You'll get the largest return for your efforts if you do; and, if the tree was repotted, it needs the extra time to recover. If it was only bumped up a pot size or two, allowing time to recover isn't as important as it would be if it went through a full repot. A popular 60s song, borrowed from the book of Ecclesiastes says, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven ....", and that is very true where plants are concerned. A plant's vitality/metabolism is like a spinning top when all is well. When it's stressed, the top begins to wobble. Further stress leads to strain, and a plant that can wobble completely out of control and collapse. To minimize the risk of Mother Nature siding with the hidden weakness or flaw, (which she always does), patience is sometimes a forced requirement. Learning to work WITH your plant's natural rhythms not only makes you a better grower, it also has the added benefit of scratching that itch we all have to nurture. Just knowing you're in sync with your plants is sort of therapeutic - at least I look at it that way, YMMV. Instead of cutting off the top, why not air layer it? Lyrata comes easy from cuttings, but odds of success are still much higher by way of the layer route. I currently have several air layers going on plants that are often hard to find and expensive when you do. I'd spend the next 5 or 6 weeks making sure you have your watering down and the plant is on a good nutritional regimen. Whenever it's above 55*, I'd make sure the plant was outdoors in open shade - it will make a significant difference; but, make sure the plant is secure in the pot. If you DO want to move the plant outdoors and are concerned that the plant's ht will make it too unstable, there's your 'out' for chopping it back. The boost from being outdoors should allay concerns about recovery ....... but I'd still wait until late June to do the chop. Al

after pruning the first several leaves that come out usually are small and then the next set is bigger, provided there is enough light. I grow and propagate F.Lyratas for years and my leaves on newer 'cuttings' that are are now 3-5 years old are much larger then on the original plant that i haven't been able to fully repot for a very long time (it's quite big). they all get similar light: western and north-eastern exposure in floor to ceiling wall of windows. so i would say yours doesn't get enough light just sitting in 1 eastern window - it needs supplemental artificial lighting if you want it to grow well. you did not mention if you repotted it after rescue. it probably can take a root pruning AND trunk pruning too: i like the tall narrow vase shape you have now, but some of the trunks can take shortening as it is almost to the top of the window. there's plenty of info on the subject if you do a search. it's good time to do it soon and root the tip cuttings too.