Hi, Tammy - I think I noted not far upthread, that one of the first signs of a root bound tree is the lack of branch extension and loss of interior foliage. The 'tufted' look is so characteristic, that I eliminated a tree the owner expected to win the 'expert class' in a bonsai show I judged this summer, because I could tell the roots were very constricted, just by looking at the tree. When the condition is allowed to get particularly severe, roots wrapped around other roots can completely cut off the flow of water and nutrients to the upper parts of the tree. Trees are somewhat different from species to species in how tightly they adhere to the arrangement that root A feeds branch A, root B feeds branch B, and so on, so that when root A dies, branch A dies. All trees follow this connection to some degree, so it's normal for individual branches originally fed by roots that were later compromised by tight conditions to be shed for lack of the tree's ability to move water and nutrients through the compromised conductive roots. Ideally, we would correct the root issues during a full repot. The problem with that scenario is your tree sounds severely stressed and unlikely to be able to recover from such a drastic procedure for two reasons, the stressed and weakened condition being one, and the the other being that the timing is bad with the tree just going into winter. If you can be patient, I'm not at all concerned about the trees being lopsided. We can build a tree from whatever remains viable for the long term. My focus would remain fixed on getting the tree to a state of vitality that will allow us to start serious work on the tree w/o killing it. Because you just acquired the trees, there is probably no way for you to determine how badly the soluble salts situation is - how much is in the soil. Safest is to assume the salt level is higher than it should be and the soil should be flushed. This is pretty much a standard suggestion for struggling trees. It sort of 'resets' the level of nutritional reserves in the soil, flushing out all the excess soluble that we can't even guess at the concentrations of, and replacing them with a low dose of fertilizer. This ensures that the nutrients are available at a low level that won't interfere with water uptake. Let me know if you're good with: * Flushing the soil very thoroughly. Flush 5-10 times with room or ambient temperature water, using at least the volume of the container for each flush. * Cutting off the bottom 2-3 inches of the root mass and making deep vertical slits in the root mass at 3-4" intervals with a utility knife. * Potting up, using a soil very similar to the one your plant is in now, for now. (We can work around this if you'd rather not invest in such large pots. Let me know.) * Inserting a wick through the drain hole before you pot up. Ideally, you would melt another hole through the bottom near the side and insert the wick there. * After you water, tilt the container at a 45* angle with the wick down. The wick should dangle 2-3" below the container, and not touch the effluent (drained water). This will remove MUCH more water from the soil, and allow you to water copiously and flush the soil each time you water. You'll be flushing the fertilizer out of the soil, along with any accumulating salts, so plan on fertilizing with a half strength dose of 24-8-16 or 12-4-8 (both 3:1:2 ratios) about every 3-4 times you water. Don't worry - there is no danger of over-fertilizing if you can follow this plan. It's a very healthy way to approach nutrition management. It assures a low concentration of nutrients in the right ratio at all times, which is actually a very admirable goal for your nutritional plan no matter where your plants are in their growth cycle. * Keep your watering under control. Only water on an 'as needed' basis. Wait until the wick feels dry, or the soil is dry when you test it at the drain hole, or a sharpened dowel or skewer comes out clean and dry after you insert it deep into the roots. * Keep the plants in the best light you can provide, and try to keep soil temperatures above 65*, up to 80. * Guard against sunburn. If you think/know the trees were in low light, acclimate them to high light levels gradually - over a period of a week or two. You can read through this thread & see if you spot anything I might have missed, based on similar advice to others. To be honest, I've been talking to so many people about their Ficus trees over the last month or so (not just those from GW) that it's hard to remember everything. Be sure to raise any questions or concerns, and ask for clarification where/if needed. Take good care. Al

I have a very similar looking (possibly the same?) plant sold by the name of "Sylvie". Another name I have seen for a variegated ficus elastica is "Tineke". My experience is that it's a pretty easy plant to keep. Southern exposure will help it keep the pink coloration (though the leaves will burn if you suddenly increase the light exposure so you might want to slowly let it adjust to more sun). If you are the type who likes to put your houseplants outdoors during the summer, it will LOVE that. Mine grew like gangbusters from the warmth, sun, and humidity outside. I only stopped taking it outside because I was worried it might have pest problems if I did that.

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Somegu - I touched on that in my post above - last paragraph. First, let me say that the only true measure of growth in a plant is its increase in (dry) mass. Branch/ stem/ root extension doesn't necessarily = growth. When someone provides an answer to your question in the post above mine, it should be qualified with regard to whether the answer is about the planting proper, or the individual plants. Let's say we start with 4 plants about the same size. Plant 3 in 1 pot and 1 in another. All else equal, the o/a mass of the multi-plant planting (MPP) will increase roughly about as much (collectively) as the single plant planting (SPP). From this we can see that the individual plants in the MPP will only gain about 1/3 the annual mass as the single plant in the SPP. This is a rough estimate, but you can see the tendency. YOU can significantly impact the rate of increase of the MPP if you repot it more frequently. The reason for this is, the MPP will show a more rapid increase in mass initially, but reaches a state of root congestion that limits growth sooner than does the SPP. The SPP doesn't increase in mass as rapidly as the MPP initially; and for that reason, its roots don't become as congested as quickly, so it exhibits a higher level of vitality than the MPP for a longer period, which allows it to 'catch up'. Regular repots that occur before serious root congestion limits growth/vitality tips scales in favor of the MPP, insofar as increase in mass is concerned. Al