Repot** (not report)

You can up-pot any time you like (that is different from repotting). And given the size of the plant versus the size of the container, I would probably do that. And as I prefer a full, lush looking plant, I'd be inclined to leave it as is rather than separating out the different stalks. Just in a pot an inch or two larger in diameter.

Would it be okay to leave it as is? If so, for how long would it continue to strive?

I would NOT re-pot, the plant needs to get acclimated to its new surroundings, to do so now will only stress it, wait til next spring !!!

A pretty plant! I've been wondering if 'Burgundy' is the same as 'Abidjan'?

Mike - pinch the top branches, let the lower ones grow.

When to repot and when the plant needs a repot can vary by more than 6 months. E.g., if I had a F elastica with roots congested to the degree it needs repotting now, I wouldn't repot now. I might consider potting up to a slightly larger pot now if the root congestion was really really bad, but probably wouldn't even do that. While no plant likes being root bound, Ficus tolerates it reasonably well, so waiting until the summer after you discover your tree could do with a repot wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to it. If for some reason you don't want to wait to repot, potting up can be done almost any time, but I'd still wait to pot up until summer. If you pot up in the months when the tree is just sitting there with a blank look on its face, you'll have a lot of soil that will only be very slowly colonized by roots, which increases the potential for root issues related to an over-potted plant. It's just not worth it from my perspective, and I think I've done more than 500 repots of Ficus covering somewhere between 12-20 species.

Also, I don't buy into the idea a plant needs to acclimate to its surroundings before you make changes. If I buy a temperate plant in the spring while it's dormant, I repot right away, before the buds break. If I buy it in summer or fall, I wait until the most appropriate time to repot, which is almost always spring. Tropical trees and houseplants get repotted (usually) in June, when they are most robust - no matter if I bought them in June or the December previous.

I used to plant about 30 large mixed containers to place throughout the gardens and decks, all from scratch. My habit would be to bring the plants home, leave them in the shade for a few days, then move the sun lovers to sun for a few days, then combine them in combinations I thought might look good, after ripping the bottom 1/2-3/4 of the root mass off every plant. Plants so treated actually establish faster than plants combined w/o having their roots disturbed. Stress only occurs when the plant is asked to tolerate conditions at or beyond the limits it's genetically programmed to tolerate; and, if the grower is proficient it will be short lived.

Also, there is a night/day difference between spring and early spring in a large part of the world. In the deep south (of the US), it might not matter much if you repot Ficus (houseplants) in March, but early spring repots are better avoided in the rest of the US because houseplants energy reserves are generally at the lowest point in the growth cycle in early spring after a long and dark (low light) winter. The tree will recover far faster if your repotting and hard pruning are done in mid to late June. Father's Day is a good reference point and easy to remember.

Al

Al, thank you for the advice. I pinched first the lower branches and later on the top ones already, but without consciously giving "pinch priority" to the top. I will keep this in mind. Why do we need to insist on the top growth?

Is it still ok to pinch the top at this time of the year (forecast of 80-90 for the next week here in Brussels-Belgium)?

I see now how important is to work with the natural rhythm of the plant. I have repoted my tropicals around summer solstice and all the plants continued to grow nicely...not to mention the confidence while doing that at the right time, in the right way, with the right material...

Best,

Michael

Why do we need to insist on the top growth? I'm not sure what you mean by that. The reason we pinch/prune the top is to balance the tree's energy flow. The tree is genetically programed to devote about 2/3 of it's energy to the top 1/3 of the plant. This means the top branches will prosper while the lower branches will decline and end up being shed if the tree is allowed to do what it naturally does. The lower branches add to trunk strength/diameter and should be the thickest/longest branches, so there is good reason to want to keep them. Restraining the top through pruning and pinching forces the tree to expend a larger fraction of it's energy on branches that would otherwise be pretty much ignored as far as energy allotment goes.

Is it still ok to pinch the top at this time of the year (forecast of 80-90 for the next week here in Brussels-Belgium)? Pinching should be fine for you through August, Once the days get shorter and the growth leggy, it doesn't matter if you pinch or not, because all that leggy growth should come off (for you) in late May or early June.

I see now how important is to work with the natural rhythm of the plant. I have repotted my tropicals around summer solstice and all the plants continued to grow nicely...not to mention the confidence while doing that at the right time, in the right way, with the right material... If timing only made a barely notable difference, it wouldn't be worth mentioning, but it really does make a big difference in how the plant responds if you're repotting rather than potting up. Too, houseplant growers all have an itch to nurture that needs to be scratched. Knowing that you're making allowances for your plants' weaknesses and saving the heavy work for the times when the plant can best tolerate it makes us and makes us feel like better nurturers, so we end up getting more from and feeling better about the growing experience for that extra little bit of consideration we give to timing.

Al

Thank you Al, always great to receive your advice & guidance! It really makes a big difference in my gardening experience.

Michael

Often after pruning I would stick several of the cuttings in the same pot. Frequently many of them take especially if it is a ficus. In fall they end up looking just like OP's plant. I bring them in for winter and separate them next summer. They do just fine. I may remove some of the lower leaves or cut them in half for better air flow indoors and make it easier to check soil and water. And check for bugs more often since it is so dense.