I have 2 Hardy Chicago rooted figs that I planted in a 3 gallon pot where I had previously sowed store bought black mission fig seeds.  I had given up on the seeds, but a seedling appeared one day after the HC's got planted into that pot,  and is now about 4" tall, 2 years later.  It is dormant like the HC's.

The seedling is on the opposite side of the container from the two HC's, and I really want to save the little thing. 

What  would you do to separate it from the others.  The Hardy Chicago plants will go in-ground right next to each other.  They have co-mingled, and they will be fine.  I have a back-up HC in a different container, and it will get a bigger container and be a back up HC.

The seedling is my main concern.  It may never fruit, but if it does, I am looking forward to that adventure!

Suzi

Hi Suzi. I would just take the plants out of the container, and use a sharp knife to cut the seedling out with enough roots to survive, and repot it right away. The 2 HCs can go back into the old container with added soil, until you are ready to put in the ground. Sounds like they could use a little root pruning anyway. They're all dormant, should be fine.

Suzi,
I would not say that the seedling is a little thing. After 2 years it probably has more roots than your HC and you will face a tight root mess when you take them out.
Just leave as many roots as you can after untangling them and repot right away, they should be fine.

Take the entire rootball out of the pot and put it in a huge tub of water (25-30 gallons). Work all of the soil off the rootball, with a hose or hose with a nozzle of some sort. Then just swish/shake the whole thing in the tub of water, and work the roots apart. Pull apart a little, relax, shake, and repeat. The point of the water is that it supports the roots and gives most of them an opportunity to float apart with the pull, relax, shake routine. It makes them sort of weightless, so they can float apart. Have done this many, many times. You are still going to loose some roots, and you have to work at it with some patience

Thanks to everyone.  I was thinking we might have to soak the roots.  We'll do it tomorrow and use the water for irrigating hard to reach places.

They should have been potted up last season, but we were making offers on property, traveling between towns, meeting with contractors, moving, and there was very little time.  Now is the time to straighten out all the messes!

I appreciate all the help!

Suzi

Hi Desertdance,
I would put my hand in the dirt of the pot and try to pull the little one out . Normally it's roots are mostly on his side of the pot, and they should slip from the dirt with still
some dirt. If it doesn't come out I would then take a knife or a shovel and split the dirt in two .
I think that this way you would not disturb all the roots, and give more chances to the trees to keep most of their roots functional .
The choice is yours :)