A dowel rod is a round piece of wood - like a pencil. You can get one at a hdwe store & sharpen it in a pencil sharpener. Alternately, us a 12" wooden skewer - they come pre-sharpened. * Move the plant to a spot where you can repeatedly and thoroughly flush the soil with water that hasn't passed through the softener. * Flush the soil up to 10 times with at least as much water as the volume of the container the plant is in. You cannot overdo it. * After flushing, tilt the container at a 45* angle and wait for the container to stop draining. This drains a considerable amount more water than allowing the container to rest on its bottom. * After draining has stopped, remove the plant from it's pot and set on newspapers to drain. If the plant is small, a few hours is fine - if large, allow it to rest on the papers over night. * With a utility knife, slash deep vertical cuts into the root mass and an 'X' on the bottom. Alternately, you can remove an inch or two of the roots/soil from the bottom. * Pot up into a slightly larger pot and fill in around the roots with a soil similar to what you currently have in the root mass. Use a wick in the bottom of the pot if you are going to be able to lift the pot above the collection saucer (best). Ideally, the wick will dancle 2-3" below the bottom of the pot w/o contacting the water in the collection saucer. (I know - a lot to ask) ;o) This wick will 'fool' the water into 'thinking' the pot is deeper than it is. Water will move down the wick 'looking' for the bottom of the pot, and droip off the end. This will go a long way toward eliminating the specter of root rot and allowing you to water copiously enough to flush the soil each time you water to help gurad against salt accumulation. * A few days after you've repotted, fertilize with 1/2 the recommended strength of Miracle-Gro 24-8-16 (granular/box), Miracle-Gro 12-4-8 (liquid/yellow jug), or Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 (best, but you'd probably need to order online) * Give it all the light you can, and try to keep soil temps @ 65-75* That's the standard plan for bringing Ficus back from the brink. I'm not sure how many it's worked for, but I know it's more than I can guess at .... lots. ;o) Best luck!! I'll be around if you still have questions. Al

Interesting. I will look at my ficus tomorrow. They are all outdoors. I haven't checked them recently but will look to see if they are making new growths. I use rain water to water my potted plants. I also use Dynamite time release with micro nutrients on the potted plants. The sand (soil) in Florida is quite alkaline. My ficus, in the ground are in full sun. The potted plants get some shading. They are placed under an oak tree. I'll post back after I check. I'll take some pictures. Jane

Dale, I looked at my ficus growing outdoors. Both in the ground and in pots. None are making new leaves. I will include pics and apologize for not posting sooner. The holidays are very busy. My guess, and it is truly a guess, is that these trees stop growth with the shorter days. They only variable would be light. All my trees, both in the ground and in pots are healthy but not producing any growth. I'm guessing they rest during this period. I see leaf buds but they have not developed yet. Maybe cut back on the light to prevent new growth. The growing conditions might not be ideal for a Spring flush. That seems to be the only difference from trees growing outdoors and inside. These grow all over Florida and the weather has been extremely warm for this time of year. Yet there is no new growth. The only difference is shorter days.This pic shows the mature leaves. You can see leaf buds on the tips. They have been this way for over a month despite record-breaking warmth (80's).This gives you an idea of the size of the ficus growing in the ground. AnotherNo new leaves but very healthy. This one has been in a pot for about 5 years. It started out as a bonsai but I potted it up to let it get bigger. It grows in full, Florida sun,No new leaves. Maybe you could figure out the reason for the leaf loss. I'm guessing it has to do with the light levels. Possibly let the tree rest until Feb/March. Hope this is helpful, Jane

You should put the tree right in front of the large southern facing window. Light coming through the window, even a few feet away is much less intense than right in front of it. I'd place the tree right next to that wooden chair so the leaves are a few inches from that window. Rotate the tree 1/4 turns weekly. as far as pruning, all you're doing here is cutting off the dead parts. scratch a small amount of bark, if it's dead, follow the branch back and keep scratching every inch or so till you see green. Cut the obvious dead branches off. roots should be firm and white to tan. If they are dark and mushy, they've rotted. Bottom line, three tree has been over watered. It may be in too large of a pot so that the soil doesn't dry enough. Remove it from the pot and check to see how wet the soil is at the bottom. Ficus seem to be able to handle drought much better then being over watered. this may give you an idea about their light requirements. Mine, pictured below, is right in front of a southern window with the addition of five 250w lights above and it still could use much more light. I place mine outside in full direct sun from Memorial Day until mid September when temps start to drop. That's the only time it thrives. The rest of the year is just tolerates. I've cut it back pretty heavily since September when it came inside. Outside last summer it was MUCH fuller: the tree above was not much larger than yours prior to being placed outside for the summer. It literally grew a few feet in every direction and produced probably 1000 extra leaves.