Nil is correct, method 1 is standard for planting into the ground, and method 2 works for pots. However, what should be added to that is that when you root prune, your goal is obviously to reduce the space the roots take up, so eliminating the least useful roots is what you want to do. The larger the root, the less useful it is, being that large roots are more of an anchor, which is great in the ground, but not necessary in a pot. The small feeder roots are what you want, as they do all the work of taking in water and nutrients. I have a rather large ficus 'alii' that I got free from a plant shop, because it was "dead". I literally grabbed it out of the rolling dump cart on its way outside. It was so root bound that the plastic pot was severely bulged, and it probably couldn't take up water, as there was hardly any soil. Long story short, it is now a beautiful tree, thriving in barkless gritty mix. What I did was grab a pruning saw, and cut out ALL roots larger than about 3/4", clipped any dead branches off, clean the old soil off the roots, fill in the gritty mix, and wait. After a few months it sprang to life, and has only improved from there. As for upkeep, I repot it every couple of years, as needed. I basically scoop away the loose gritty mix, pull the tree from the pot, and most of the mix will easily shake away from the roots. I remove about 1/4 to 1/3 of the roots, targeting the largest ones. I usually prune out some foliage to maintain a good form too. Better for you to choose which leaves go, rather than let the plant choose. I know I said long story short, so I guess I got a bit carried away. Anywho, the gist of it is to cut out the large anchor roots each time you repot. Good luck, have fun, and enjoy the benefits of a job well done. Joe

Hello All - I have in the past root pruned fig trees that were in ~ 11 gallon plastic pots in miracle grow + peat moss + perlite. When I did the root pruning it was a bit past due but the plants came out fine. I had read about a couple of methods of root pruning - 1) cut ~ 1/4 inch off the bottom and make a 1inch cut in 4 positions from the top to bottom i.e. cut at north, south, east, and west positions 2) remove all the dirt and then trim the roots removing roots that seem to be growing upwards or in a circular path around the base of the tree - removing I believe only about 1/3 of the overall root mass. When I did the root pruning in the past I did method number 2 - removing all the dirt -- I have a bonsai root pick tool and once all potting mix is removed I sprayed the root mass with a bit of water from a hose to make sure all the potting mix was removed. I also lightly misted the root mass with a spray bottle of water while removing the mix and cutting the roots. As I said before this method #2 worked well for me with the fig trees. Questions: 1. It seems to me that although method 2 is much more work --- especially when I have done it I was a bit past due and the root mass was really overgrown -- i.e. roots growing up into the center of the root system --- that it is a better method because more of the root system is addressed and the cut off roots totally removed. However, am I wrong? Are both methods above equally efficient for producing strong new growth in a (fig) tree? Question #2: I would like to soon put a tree in ~ 11 gallon or larger pot (15 or 20 gallon) containing gritty mix. I recall seeing a picture of a bonsai tree Al Tapla had in gritty mix that I believe he had just root pruned or was getting ready to root prune. It seemed like it had a good amount of the gritty mix attached to the root system. I am just thinking forward to the time when I would have to root prune a fig that is in such a pot of gritty mix. Obviously, the gritty mix is very heavy - I will use a two wheeler to move the pot around. Should I expect a significant amount of the gritty mix to stick to the root system when I try to remove the plant from the pot? The entire potting mix mass containing miracle grow with a small amount of peat moss and perlite mixed in is removed from the container when I root pruned before. I am just worried that if a lot of the gritty mix adheres or is not easily removed so that it can fall back into the pot then it will be far too hard to root prune a plant of this size that is in gritty mix because of the weight of the mix - i.e. I will not be able to lift the tree out of the pot if a significant amount of the gritty mix is attached to the root system due to the weight of the gritty mix. I currently have a number of other plants in gritty mix in much smaller pots -- I have not yet had the need to root prune any of those so I don't have any direct experience root pruning something that has been growing in the gritty mix. Any thoughts? Thanks, Brian

Lorraine, were you able to rinse off ALL that old mix out from all those roots? A lack of air movement, oxygen and salt toxicity were probably a major factor in the decline of your tree..But it seems that the surface roots look ok, telling me that they were the only ones able to breath in that mix... I would NOT bury that root to the far left..It would add character to the trunk of your tree besides keeping it from rotting under the soil line.

Hi Al, I’ve finally had the opportunity to reply with an update and wanted to thank you again for taking the time to share your knowledge and help explain the process and reasoning behind choosing a particular growing medium. I am always fascinated by the science of things and am looking forward to my ficus lyrata breathing easier. July 31 was repot day. I gathered all of my 1.1.1 gritty mix supplies, screened & rinsed the turface mvp & manna-pro poultry grit, & proceeded to make a huge mess trying to coax the zoo med repti-bark into smaller pieces using a 3-cup ninja food processor - - neither a quick nor easy endeavor. Some pieces did get smaller but not enough to justify the amount of dust that landed all over my kitchen, so the size of my bark is what it is. I want to stress that a dust mask is imperative for anyone attempting this, especially indoors, and also to note that I did not see any discernible difference in bark size between the larger (24 qt) & smaller (4 qt) bags (see picts below) Next I bare rooted what I thought was 1 plant and discovered that I have 2 separate plants - - and I did wind up doing some minimal root pruning after rinsing off all the existing soil. After drilling additional drainage holes all the way through the bottom of the attached saucer, I repotted both plants back into the same original glazed pot as I did not have the opportunity to get an all clay pot, nor did I have a 2nd pot available to repot separately so they will continue to be bosom buddies, at least until next year. In the hopes of lessening the weight of the pot and more importantly, the perched water table, I placed 4 small empty plastic water bottles at the bottom of the pot and added a cotton string wick through the main center drainage hole to help keep a check on moisture levels. One other thing to note is when I originally posted on July 25, there was no visible growth activity - the brown pod (for lack of a better word) felt dry, crispy & empty, but to my surprise, right after the repot, I noticed that there was in deed some growth activity taking place. I only hope I did not jeopardize the emergence of new baby leaves with this root running & repot! As luck would have it, I have to go out of town for 2 weeks and need to leave explicit instructions for my boyfriend who will be caring for my plants while I am away so I do have a few questions: ~ How long should I keep the plant in the shade or is it ok to keep it in bright light but with NO direct sun? Right now it is behind a UV solar blind and sheer linen curtain which creates a shady environment. ~ When can I introduce it back into some direct sunlight? ~ Should I water everyday until the roots acclimate & re-establish themselves in the gritty mix? What is the best watering schedule for now? ~ When would I start adding foliage pro 9-3-6 to the mix & should it be the production or maintenance amount? Many thanks to Al and all the other forum members for all the advice. I will update once I am back from my trip with any changes - - hopefully they are all positive ones. **having trouble positing picts so will try to add in separate post