Timing is a primary consideration, often determining whether repotting or potting up is the wise choice. For you at this juncture, potting up if required is the wise choice. Repotting non-temperate plants, which includes removing all or most of the old soil and root-pruning, is best undertaken in the month prior to the plant's most robust growth period for a very high % of plants commonly grown indoors, yours included. That translates to July for you. While potting up can be undertaken at any time, you should probably avoid spring repots of Ficus, as the plant will most likely have the lowest energy reserve level of the entire growth cycle, ensuring a long recovery period and increased likelihood of susceptibility to insects and disease due to the additional weakening subsequent to repotting. Repotting is an essential part of maintaining all trees in containers, if you expect the plant to grow at or near its genetic potential. Repotting ensures the plant will at least have the opportunity to grow to its potential within the limits of all other cultural influences, while simply potting up ensures it will not. It is important to mechanically secure the plant so it will not move in relation to its container. A secure plant establishes/reestablishes in a fraction of the time that it takes for unsecured plants. If it was my plant, I would make some deep vertical cuts in the root mass with a very sharp utility knife, and score a deep 'X' on the bottom, or saw off the bottom 1/4 of the roots and pot up into a slightly larger container until next summer. Move the plant outdoors as soon as temps allow, acclimating it to full sun, & let the plant gain strength so it recovers from next summer's repot quickly. You might find this info about tending Ficus trees in containers helpful. And this thread that contains lots of info about trees in containers and repotting should have some info especially helpful to you. Good luck. ..... additional questions? Al

As with any insect you suspect of being a problem, you need to identify whether or not it actually IS a potential problem and then decide whether or not you're going to treat it, based how much damage you witness and are willing to tolerate. Then, use the least noxious means possible to bring the pest within your tolerance limits. That's pretty much the standard IPM spiel, but it is very good advice. Ficus shed leaves as a function of reduced light or a considerable increase in light, as well as drought response due to a high level of salts in the soil, under-watering, or over-watering. Any of these processes take a considerable amount of time to occur, as they require an abscission layer to form at the base of leaf petioles (stems). Once the abscission layer begins to form, it is permanent. IOW, the leaf can only move forward or possibly stall in the abscission process, but it cannot move backwards. It's like a water valve that is wide open and only turns one way - toward off. Plant reactions like cessation of leaf shedding doesn't stop as a result of something you did today or two days ago. Some change in cultural conditions you implemented 2-3 weeks ago ...... now we're getting closer. Plants are reactive organisms any the interval it takes for those reactions to become obvious to us are measured in tree time, not people time. Improvements in vitality occur at a much slower rate than does admonishment of vitality due to adverse cultural conditions. Misting isn't going to do anything to solve your issue. It raises humidity only for a matter of minutes and is more likely to create problems by providing a moist incubation period for fungal infections and by spreading fungal spores from leaf to leaf as water drips. Ficus b. has plenty of subcuticular waxes in the leaves which serves to minimize water loss. They are well-suited to dry air conditions, as long as root function is not impaired. This all may be moot, as I don't think your plant is going to react favorably to your saturating the soil with soapy water. Good luck with your new tree. Al

If the shop owner holds tight to the idea that his instructions were on target, I have to seriously question his expertise/judgment, regardless of his credentials or how long he has been selling plants. This is stuff that every hobby grower learns in Ficus 101, and he should know better. Scoot on over to the Houseplant Forum and ask about a watering regimen if you have reservations about accepting one person's (that would be me) ;o) assessment of your plight. I won't be offended. "Is root rot reversible?" I want to remain technically correct, so I have to say NO. Dead, rotted tissue is just that - DEAD. You cannot bring it back to life. Trees are not like people, in that they do not form new cells in old places - they are not regenerative. Trees are generative, which means that as they grow, they form new cells in new places. In order to correct the root rot, you'll need to depot the tree, remove the soil, and prune rotted tissues back to beyond the point where they are viable. Alternately, if you're not up to the root work, you can try depotting the plant & leaving it set on newspapers over night. This should dry the soil out & you can then return the plant to its container and begin watering appropriately as required, and hope. "Is it necessary to mist the plant daily?" NO There is plenty of scientific evidence to support the idea that misting is more apt to be harmful than beneficial (see my post) and refute the idea that it is necessary or even marginally effective. "The owner of the shop keeps all of his Ficus trees outside in full sun during the day. So, when I received my ficus, the lighting conditions drastically changed. The owner of the shop stated that my leaf loss was due to the fact that my ficus was adjusting to my new environment and lighting conditions. It can take at least 4 to 6 weeks (or longer) for it to acclimate and I should not worry. Is this true?" While it's true, as noted above, that a reduction in light levels between the outdoor conditions at the plant store and your home can cause the leaf abscission, it's NOT true that it's no cause for concern. Your plant should have more stored energy now than at any other point in the growth cycle. Instead, the tree's food-making ability has vanished with the leaves (so the tree is operating on stored energy), PLUS, the tree will have to expend nearly ALL of its energy reserves to push a new flush of growth. Your tree is much closer to needing intensive care than it is to a worry-free winter vacation. I'm not going to go into the insect/disease thing, other than to say that the leaf 'disease' is likely a product of oedema due to over-watering. Of course he's "surprised" your plant has an insect infestation. Based on his reluctance to step up to the plate so far, I wouldn't expect any other reaction, unless it was to blame the bugs on you. ;o) Forget the water meter. They don't measure moisture - they measure EC (electrical conductivity). To test this idea - stick the probe in a cup of distilled water and notice that it reads 'DRY'. Dissolve a tsp of salt in the water and it becomes 'WET'. It is better at measuring fertility levels (the level of dissolved solids [salts] in the soil solution) than moisture levels. Al

I've been at bonsai for close to 30 years, and I often have trees I'm certain hold a LOT of potential, but I just can't see it. 2 of my best trees were not pruned to achieve a particular end I envisioned until many years after I acquired them. I probably scrutinized both of them 100 times until something just absolutely jumped out at me in an 'eureka moment'. Sometimes that happens as you walk past a tree I've been considering for a year or more. Not only that, but more often than not I end up revising what I had envisioned as the future style or design of a tree because the tree vetoed my plants by revealing a more interesting path I hadn't considered. If you learn the basics of pruning, like what happens when we prune, when to prune, and a few basics like where to concentrate most of your pruning efforts and how to pinch, what's left is removing the problematic branches. By problematic, I mean the ones that don't contribute to your vision of what the plant wants to be. I think I'll start a Q/A thread about pruning and see where it goes. Al