I've got 2 three foot Celeste figs coming from 2 days shipping time away. She has proposed clipping all the leaves in half to mitigate shock. I'm thinking leave them  be since its only 2 days.  Thoughts?

I would leave them on .

It depends on the heat at the source or destination. If packaged properly it should be fine. I dont like to ship in july or August due to the heat. I would rather wait until sept or oct to send out trees.  It will still go into shock but placed into a pot of moist medium under a tree for a week it will be fine.. It still has all its original roots i would worry more about digging up a tree in the heat

It's nc to NJ. She says she clips each leaf in half. They're in 3 gal pots so they'll be hanging out there until next year. 

They will be fine as long as they take 2-3 days no problem

Clipping the leaves makes no sense.  Have her leave them on.  Congratulations on your find!

She just got back to me. She clipped them this morning. They are getting shipped on Wed. Delivered to me on Friday. Looks like I may need to fertilize with some  10-10-10 to give it a kick in the pants. Shame since I assume a 3 footer is fig producing size. 

I wouldn't fertilize until it has had a chance to acclimate. Just put it in good soil and let it settle in for a while. You may still get a couple figs.

Not a shame plant either way will be fine and will bare figs when its ready too
on there own time.  ; )

Never heard of that method before.

I wouldn't worry about the clipped leaves, bonsai growers use the technique so the plant doesn't lose moisture in times of stress; high temps., maybe during vacation and the watering may not be regular. 

What if something happens in transit and they don't arrive until Monday?  It is possible no matter what shipper you use. 

She is being cautious, the tree will be fine.

I just heard from the seller. She pulled 2 others for me and won't clip them.  Thanks everyone!

What JoAnn said ^

If she is sending the plant bare-rooted or partially bare-rooted, it makes perfect sense. Plants tend to keep their roots & shoots in balance. They receive chemical messengers that help them decide if it's ok to grow more shoots, or if they need more roots. When you uproot a plant and remove some/all of the soil, a lot of the finest and most important roots are killed and the root system compromised. It then makes sense to partially defoliate or cut leaves in half across venation to reduce transpirational losses so the plant doesn't shed branches or collapse entirely.

Unrelated aside: In bonsai, it's important for us to have the lower branches on trees much heavier than those high in the tree - even while the apically dominant trees tend to want to shed lower branches and concentrate growth on the top. What happens is, the top branches get all the energy and get too heavy; so experienced bonsai practitioners are constantly removing large leaves from the top of the tree or cutting the top back to prevent it from getting too coarse. This is one of the ways we balance energy flow in the tree to help keep it natural looking.

Al  

What JoAnn said ^

If she is sending the plant bare-rooted or partially bare-rooted, it makes perfect sense. Plants tend to keep their roots & shoots in balance. They receive chemical messengers that help them decide if it's ok to grow more shoots, or if they need more roots. When you uproot a plant and remove some/all of the soil, a lot of the finest and most important roots are killed and the root system compromised. It then makes sense to partially defoliate or cut leaves in half across venation to reduce transpirational losses so the plant doesn't shed branches or collapse entirely.

Unrelated aside: In bonsai, it's important for us to have the lower branches on trees much heavier than those high in the tree - even while the apically dominant trees tend to want to shed lower branches and concentrate growth on the top. What happens is, the top branches get all the energy and get too heavy; so experienced bonsai practitioners are constantly removing large leaves from the top of the tree or cutting the top back to prevent it from getting too coarse. This is one of the ways we balance energy flow in the tree to help keep it natural looking.

Al  

They are not bareroot. They are in 3 gallon pots

Geez I'm getting anxoius for you when do these trees arrive?

Friday. I'll shoot some photos. 

There would be no physiological reason to reduce the leaf volume if the roots are undisturbed. It's a common practice to help reduce shipping costs by partially removing some of the soil from the root mass. I wouldn't be surprised if that occurs.

Al 

And here they are... Kind of shipped bare-rootish.  Got them immediately in pots and watered the bejesus out of them. They were packed very well and the plants are very large I think

If mine im would be carful not to drown the recently barerooted plants roots by keeping them moist and not watering the bejesus out of them as those 3 ft plants look like there root system may not be all that big.
I would also keep in mostly shade for plant to recover.
Thats if they were mine only. ; )

I've got them in full shade in some miracle grow soil. And you are correct about the small root system. I'm hoping the leaves stay. I always water bareroots in with lots of water to make sure the roots settle in.  Guess I know why she wanted to clip the leaves, but they are decent size figs. 

One more thing i fail to mention Slingha if possible keep them protected from wind perhaps behind something .
Good luck with them and if they loose there leaves dont sweat it they grow back  and remember roots cant swim nor suck up more water than they can handle .
I have drown my share of plants.  ; )

What Martin said is worth rereading. Plants don't drink - they absorb water a molecule at a time from the thin film on colloidal surfaces and vapor in the air between soil particles. They need LOTS of air in the root zone to absorb water, so damp, not wet, is how you should be thinking. It's very easy to over-water when using MG soil. It would be a very good idea to partially bury your containers. This turns them into mini raised beds, from a hydrologic perspective, and reduces the likelihood of over-watering. It will also help to guard against high soil temps that can occur especially when the canopy isn't large enough to shade the container.

Al

I am giving them their first taste of direct sunlight today.  Just for 1 hour. I'd like to see if I can get some color back into the leaves

Just a quick update. Its been a week since they went into pots. The leaves have all greened up, but they are stil tender. I didnt lose a leaf.  I decided to let them go full sun today for 2 hourse and it was a mistake. They immediately started wilting. I put them back under the sugar maple and watered them. they bounced right back. Im thinking that they are going to need to be in full shade until September.