Severe root prune

[bonsaiboy]

Hello, everyone! I recently purchaced a genseng ficus, and there is a problem. I want to plant it in a shallow, 1 in. high pot, but the roots are somewhat thick, and exend down to the bottom of the pot I purcaced it in. I want to prune the roots back (1-2in.) so It can fit in the pot, but it has very few feeder foots at the upper level. How should I go about this? And, if I cut a branch far enough back so it has no leaves on it, will it regrow leaves on that branch? I'm shure it will, but better safe than sorry!

[Gnome]

B.B.

If I understand Ficus taxonomy correctly 'ginseng Ficus' is a common name for a variety of Ficus retusa/microcarpa. My experience with Ficus is somewhat limited having grown only one variety of F. benjamina so I am limited to offering you links to others more familiar with the genus.

[url]https://bonsaihunk.8m.com/info/GinsengFicus.html[/url]
[url]https://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Ficus.html[/url]

The information on Jerry's site implies that a shallow pot is not appropriate for this variety.

Perhaps Ynot will happen upon this thread, he has more experience with Ficus than I.

Norm

[ynot]

Hello, everyone! I recently purchaced a genseng ficus, and there is a problem. I want to plant it in a shallow, 1 in. high pot, but the roots are somewhat thick, and exend down to the bottom of the pot I purcaced it in.

There certainly is. If you had bought a carrot and wanted to put it in this 1" pot you would have the same problem, They just grow that way.

As Jerry notes on his site:

If the large roots are removed and only the fine roots are allowed to remain, these fine roots will enlarge over time to recreate the same problem.

I want to prune the roots back (1-2in.) so It can fit in the pot, but it has very few feeder foots at the upper level. How should I go about this?

I would do exactly this: Use that pot for a different tree.
[Good possibilities would be either a nerifolia or benjamina IMO, As far as ficus go]

If you are intent on doing this despite the fact it will eventually grow large carrot roots again [Even after you reduce them].
You could try reducing them in stages [One side then the other] This will take a fair bit of time that you could be using to develop a more suitable tree for the pot.
After all that you still end up with a tree that will fight you as far as where you want to pot it, Which I see a see as picking an unnecessarily steep path up the hill .
[Keep in mind that I personally do not find ginseng ficus to be very 'tree-like' in any way as they are way too thick [proportionally] on the bottom, Tend to lack taper, And have no branching to speak of with just sprigs of foliage: Just my biased opinion...]

And, if I cut a branch far enough back so it has no leaves on it, will it regrow leaves on that branch? I'm shure it will, but better safe than sorry!

The first thing I will mention here is that many many trees are lost because of people doing things they were sure wouldn't hurt it... You know? Not to mention the things they weren't sure about...lol.

Considering it is a retusa, I would think so...You could always test it on a branch that is not in your design [So if you lose it...No biggie].

Let me ask you why are you considering it? Is the tree healthy? Does it have a lot of other foliage on it? I definitely would not do that while simultaneously putting the tree through the stress of being dug up and having a bit of its carrots neutered you know.

ynot