Driver170
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Posts: 57
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 2:08 pm

Prune and resoil a ficus microcarpa

June is just around the corner and soon I'm going to resoil my ficus with better soil mixture.

But shes got really bushy and grew some bit over the winter, well since I've had her since Jan.

Is it OK if I prune and then resoil? Or resoil and prune some branches back?
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Gnome
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Joined: Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:17 am
Location: Western PA USDA Zone 6A

Driver170,

It should be fine to re-pot and do some pruning simultaneously. If you were going to do a major reduction it it would probably be better to do them separately though.

Driver170
Full Member
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 2:08 pm

Ok I will swap the soil in june and give it a wee prune. I'm not sure where or what to prune? Does it matter for a ficu...

Thanks

imafan26
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Mostly you want to thin so you can see the horizontal layers and pinch the apical tips to contain the vertical height. It is always better to do less not more. Once the bonsai has gotten its shape, it is easier to do maintenance pruning to keep it that way. Pruning is not done willy nilly, so take your time and stop if you are not sure and you don't have to do it all at once. I would not wait a year to do trimming. I prefer to trim throughout the year to maintain the shape. It is just like you would trim a hedge regularly and not let it get shaggy. You have to carefully look to see which branches to keep and which to take away. You need to cut by a node and realize that it will branch from that point. Bonsai requires patience, the results are not immediate, you need to envision what the tree will look like months or a year from now.



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