Fennel - Reposted per your request. I hope you can see it. If not, send another message and I'll send it direct.I think you're on the right track in your thinking, but for the sake of full disclosure: - It's best to repot it in early summer. Technically not quite true. Summer STARTS Jun 21. In most locales, repotting should be done by then, but you can repot even i8n northern US States into Early Aug with good results. - It needs fast draining soil no matter what and likes low nutrient content like in the gritty mix. There ARE work-arounds that allow you to use soils that would be wholly unsatisfactory w/o the work-around. Ballast, wicks, and several other tricks can be used to limit how much 'excess' water a pot can hold. - I have to keep the fine roots wet during repotting. True - It shouldn't be fertilized again until it starts new growth. True - It's good to trim the roots 30% or more. I'd limit my first foray into root pruning to removing 1/3-1/2 of the roots, total ...... and I'd concentrate on large roots that are problematic for one reason or another and not connected to the base of the trunk. However, I still have some newbie questions. - I live in zone 10b (Malibu, USA). Should I still wait until June to repot it? Can you manage to hold off until Memorial Day? That's when I would do it if I lived in Malibu. - The soil. This is my biggest question. I understand gritty mix would give my tree the most potential but I highly dislike the idea of completely depending on plant food and watering as often as I've seen gritty mix users say they have to water (every 3-4 days even). Is there perhaps a different ratio or set of ingredients I could mix to give the soil only a little less potential but a lot more leniency in those areas? I wish there was a list somewhere of the detailed benefits and pitfalls of different common soil ingredients. If you're going to do things to the gritty mix that eliminate the reasons you would go to the extra effort to begin with, push it to the back of your mind. It simply doesn't make sense from the perspective of economics or effort to make an expensive soil you might as easily have made with less effort and reduced outlay. I'd be thinking of something like the 5:1:1 mix, which is based on a high % of coarse ingredients, but still holds more water than the gritty mix. - Root pruning. Again, I'm new to plant care. How do you tell which roots are are healthy and which are sickly or dead beneath the soil line? You'll know. Healthy = white or tan, not black, dark brown/ slimy. Am I correct that I should prune the large roots without a lot of feeder roots? Yes What should I look for beyond that? Roots that point back toward the center of the root mass, roots growing straight up or down, hooked/ encircling/ girdling roots. I've seen people straight up hack inches off the rootball. Is that much removal and abrasion very beneficial to the tree or can I just gently separate the roots and cut off obvious problem ones? I alway start by hacking a significant fraction of the lower root mass off - often as much as 75%, but that's not meant as a suggestion to you. How much you can safely remove will come with experience. I was uneasy enough with root pruning as it was and then found some even more disconcerting posts about how foliage may need pruning also to a level the new roots can support. I definitely don't want to prune my roots to a level near enough to likely need leaf pruning. It's still a short tree and every leaf is healthy. FWIW - a ficus will alway benefit from pruning when you repot if you concentrate your pruning efforts at the top of the tree, which ALWAYS robs the bottom of the tree of its due, in terms of food and energy. I can say, without question, that if you continue to progress in your proficiency at growing trees in containers, at some point you will be regularly pruning at least the top of almost all apically dominant trees when you repot, for more than 1 reason. - Keeping the roots wet. How do I do this? Should I keep a light shower on them? Should I dunk them in a bucket of water every minute? Could someone please suggest an exact method and interval to do this right? I normally work over a tub of water and dunk the roots as often as necessary to keep them wet at all times. When it's cool/ humid/ shady, that might be every 2-3 minutes. Hot/ windy/ sunny = every 30 seconds or so. You can also use a hose & pressure nozzle to 'blast' soil off roots. This ^^^ fits on the hose end. Adding a shut-off helps save water. - Watering. Should I water it right after repotting? Yes Does the tree need to be kept in extra moist or extra dry soil before or after the report? The fraction of soil that holds the roots needs to be damp - not wet or dry - damp. If your soil is appropriate, you can easily water a couple of times each day to ensure roots get enough moisture w/o suffering from soil saturation. Also, I've seen mention of people soaking their ingredients/soil before mixing/potting into it but I don't understand it. What's that part about? Some soils, when they get dry, become hydrophobic (water repellent). To correct, make mud from about 1/3 of the soil you'll need for the repot, then mix in the dry soil. Do this well before you start the repot or transplant. By the time you need the soil, diffusion of moisture in the soil will have 'broken' any tendency toward hydrophobia. - Fertilizing. Should I fertilise some time before the repot? Give it more strength somehow? Yes. Fertilize appropriately right up until the day you repot, and resume as soon as you see new growth being pushed. I bought some Foliage Pro 9-3-6 recently but haven't been fertilising at all since I got the tree; just been giving it filtered water. You should fertilize regularly all year long - varying the dosage and/or the intervals between applications in response to what part of the growth cycle your tree is in. I often fertilize at more than 2.5x the recommended maximum dose when cultural conditions support that practice. You can learn more about fertilizing containerized plants if you click me. - Pot size. I read these trees enjoy small pots False. Read this. and can even be repotted into the same pot after root pruning True but I think mine is pushing it. It's over 2.5 feet tall in a 6-inch pot. I'm definitely going 8-inch minimum—but would it be better to go for a 10-inch? How large a container ‘can’ or ‘should’ be, depends on the relationship between the mass of the plant material you are working with and your choice of soil. We often concern ourselves with "over-potting" (using a container that is too large), but "over-potting" is a term that arises from a lack of a basic understanding about the relationship we will look at, which logically determines appropriate container size. It's often parroted that you should only move up one container size when "potting-up". The reasoning is, that when potting up to a container more than one size larger, the soil will remain wet too long and cause root rot issues, but it is the size/mass of the plant material you are working with, and the physical properties of the soil you choose that determines both the upper & lower limits of appropriate container size - not a formulaic upward progression of container sizes. In many cases, after root pruning a plant, it may even be appropriate to step down a container size or two, but as you will see, that also depends on the physical properties of the soil you choose. It's not uncommon for me, after a repot/root-pruning to pot in containers as small as 1/5 the size as that which the plant had been growing in prior to the work. Plants grown in ‘slow’ (slow-draining/water-retentive) soils need to be grown in containers with smaller soil volumes so that the plant can use water quickly, allowing air to return to the soil before root issues beyond impaired root function/metabolism become a limiting factor. We know that the anaerobic (airless) conditions that accompany soggy soils quickly kill fine roots and impair root function/metabolism. We also know smaller soil volumes and the root constriction that accompany them cause plants to both extend branches and gain o/a mass much more slowly - a bane if rapid growth is the goal - a boon if growth restriction and a compact plant are what you have your sights set on. Conversely, rampant growth can be had by growing in very large containers and in very fast soils where frequent watering and fertilizing is required - so it's not that plants rebel at being potted into very large containers per se, but rather, they rebel at being potted into very large containers with a soil that is too slow and water-retentive. This is a key point. We know that there is an inverse relationship between soil particle size and the height of the perched water table (PWT) in containers. As particle size increases, the height of the PWT decreases, until at about a particle size of just under 1/8 inch, soils will no longer hold perched water. If there is no perched water, the soil is ALWAYS well aerated, even when the soil is at container capacity (fully saturated). So, if you aim for a soil (like the gritty mix) composed primarily of particles larger than 1/16", there is no upper limit to container size, other than what you can practically manage. The lower size limit will be determined by the soil volume's ability to allow room for roots to ’run’ and to furnish water enough to sustain the plant between irrigations. Bearing heavily on this ability is the ratio of fine roots to coarse roots. It takes a minimum amount of fine rootage to support the canopy under high water demand. If the container is full of large roots, there may not be room for a sufficient volume of the fine roots that do all the water/nutrient delivery work and the coarse roots, too. You can grow a very large plant in a very small container if the roots have been well managed and the lion's share of the rootage is fine. You can also grow very small plants, even seedlings, in very large containers if the soil is fast (free-draining and well-aerated) enough that the soil holds no, or very little perched water. I have just offered clear illustration why the oft repeated advice to ‘resist potting up more than one pot size at a time’, only applies when using heavy, water-retentive soils. Those using well-aerated soils are not bound by the same restrictions. As the ht and volume of the perched water table are reduced, the potential for negative effects associated with over-potting are diminished in a direct relationship with the reduction - up to the point at which the soil holds no (or an insignificant amount) of perched water and over-potting pretty much becomes a non-issue. Al

Al Tapla would you be able to tell me what is wrong with mine? I've had this tree four four years and never had any trouble with it but now I am killing it! I wanted it to grow more branches so I pruned it and moved it to a sunny-er spot and added grow lights and started fertilizing more regularly. Next thing I know, it's getting yellow blotches all over the leaves and sometimes red speckles and tiny pin holes. I found spider mites on a different plant, but I couldn't see any on this one, but I hosed it off and sprayed with dish soap in case it was mites. Then the soil was soaked and wouldn't dry and a week and a half later this leaf turned black and dry in the center. I thought maybe it was because the soil was wet too long. I freaked out, so just yesterday I did a full repot (never done this before) and added perlite and orchid bark mix to potting mix to get a grittier faster drying mix. I also cut off half of the leaves. It really doesn't look too happy today (droopy leaves and soft stems and even more red speckling on new leaves) I don't know if it's been given too much light, too much fertilizer, too much water, or is infected with mites, or all of the above. Anything you can suggest? The tiny pin-holes make me think mites are one the table but I hate to stress it out more if it's not that.

The contrast between "people time" and "plant time" can cause the grower some anxiety and frustration until the grower realizes there's a distinct difference and makes the adjustment by giving in to the idea that a plant has its own ideas about how long it should take to bounce back from adversity. Fortunately, the best form of resolution is usually no more complicated than procuring a few more plants so they can work as a team to satisfy your need to nurture. SOIL: I have perlite so I will add in more of that. Not sure if this is a bad idea, but I do have gravel I could mix in If you decide to include some gravel, use it in the bottom 6" of soil where it will displace the organic fraction of your medium that would normally be filled with water. This is a form of ballast. Don't use it as a layer, just mix it half and half with the bottom 6" of soil where the perched water table (excess water) resides. This in itself will reduce the amount of perched water your soil will hold by 1/2), and my neighbor has bark in her backyard that she said I could have some of to mix in if that's a good option for now? Depends ..... all bark is not created equal. Size and type of bark is very important. BALLAST/WICK: In reading through your posts I understand there are several ways to set these up, but I have an extra terra cotta and plastic pot so I figure this might be easiest? You mentioned covering the drainage hole in this post That reference was to the overturned pot you would be using as a form of ballast such that the rim of the pot would be down and the drain hole would face up. You don't want soil to drop through the drain hole in the ballast pot, so cover it. , but I also noticed [here[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/dealing-with-water-retentive-soils-dsvw-vd~1415041) you said another option would be to leave the hole open and put soil underneath so that it acts as a wick. That is the pot-in-pot technique where the main pot is nested into another pot and rests on top of the soil in the lower pot. This soil acts as a wick. If the soil in the lower pot is deeper than the ht of the perched water table, ALL perched water should move from the upper pot into the lower pot. For this application, there should be nothing over the drain hole(s) in the upper pot - the one the plant is in. Would you suggest one over another in my situation? I would go for the pot as ballast + the gravel in the bottom 6" of soil as added ballast, and even a wick if you like (in the lower pot). I have two options for pots to put inside as ballasts, but I'm not sure which would be the best option. The terra cotta pot looks like it may not take up enough room to help with limiting PWT, but the plastic one may be too large? The plastic one is great - cover the drain hole in it. Ideally, there would be an inch or so of soil above the ballast pot. Fill in the sides with the 50/50 gravel soil mixture up to the top (former bottom) of the overturned pot - cover it with an inch of soil with no gravel - set the plant on the soil - fill in around the edges. As long as you're taking steps to eliminate perched water, it doesn't matter how large your pot is. You can put your plant in a 55 gallon drum if you like, w/o concern you'll be over-potting. ...... once I repot the plant into the better mixture and add the ballast, should I water the plant again or hold off given the amount of moisture already present in the soil? Plants do best when the soil is evenly damp/moist - never wet/soggy. Skip watering if your entire soil mass is moist. Keep in mind, with the steps you will have taken to eliminate perched water, over-watering shouldn't be a problem, as long as you're reasonable. You're making a soil serviceable that otherwise wouldn't be considered as such by a very large fraction of effectual growers, so it's best to try to minimize potential limitations. Use a 'tell'. If possible - site your plant away from heat sources, but in a warm spot with plenty of light. If possible, use a room humidifier and keep humidity in the 45-55% range. I keep my basement grow room at 55% by using a combination of home-made passive evaporative set-ups and 2 ultrasonic humidifiers. I have a R/O water system, so almost never have to clean the humidifiers. To eliminate potential for bacterial issues, I add an ounce of H202 (hydrogen peroxide) every time I refill the reservoirs. Al

A little off the topic, but still valuable info: Plants have natural rhythms, and the one growers should give most consideration to is the growth cycle. During this main cycle or rhythm, the plant will go through changes in the levels of it's stored energy and it's current ability to make energy. Both undeniably will be in the area of 'peak' during the weeks immediately before and after the summer solstice, when light intensity is strongest and duration longest. This is the period during which heavy work like repotting and hard pruning are best tolerated and recovery periods are shortest. Plus, since we all care for plants out of a need to nurture, working WITH the plant's natural rhythms provides us with the satisfaction of knowing we're better nurturers for allowing for strengths and weaknesses. Another practical matter that goes almost entirely w/o consideration is the fact that pruning any time but summer ensures we're removing the growth we want to keep and keeping the growth we should be removing. Summer growth is compact, with short internodes (space between leaves). It ensures maximum leaf/branch density (ramification) and allows us to grow compact and full plants. If we prune now, we remove the 'good growth' and end up keeping the long winter growth. Instead, do your hard pruning in late May, removing all long winter growth. You'll then get a full summers worth of tight growth followed by winters long growth again. Allow the winter growth to remain until the next hard pruning in May, during which you prune back to the tight growth again and start the cycle over. I mentioned this because it's another way of working WITH the plant's natural rhythms instead of against them. ".... do you mean that I should pull the bottom inch of roots off the bottom as in loosen them up or actually remove them? And should the vertical slits be just through the roots circling the outside or deeper? You can pull them off or cut them off with a scissors. Removing the bottom half of the root mass is almost always my first step in the repotting process, but because of timing, you'd want to fall far short of a full repot. A VERY healthy root system with the entire soil mass fully colonized with fine roots: This ^^^ is much more than you want to remove, but it gives you an idea of what you'll be doing. If you look at the root mass on the left, you'll see an extra measure of root congestion near the bottom. If you pull at this with your fingers, you'll find there is a natural point of separation, meaning the heavily congested roots will pull away from the less congested roots and sort of decide for you how much to remove. Then, cut the vertical slits 3/4-1" deep in the remaining root mass. If you want, you can snip any loose/hanging roots from the bottom before you settle the plants in a new pot, but it's not necessary - just neater. The larger pot should allow for an inch or two of soil at the bottom and maybe an inch all around the sides of the pot. Al