I did my usually rounds this morning and noticed my RDB in a 1 gal container basically grew so much it had no more room. So is this basically root bound minus growing roots out of the bottom?

I wasn't sure but went ahead and repotted. Is this something that shouldn't be done until after the season is over? My other tree,Desert King has like 16 figs growing on it, I suspect is root bound also. Do I wait until after the season to repot? Or is this a nature progression every season and your tree will always become root bound during a season that's why we trim roots and repot in the early spring.

Repotting can be done anytime but if you bare-root in hot weather it can lead to problems.  No matter how much you disturbed the roots it is always a good idea to let the plant sit in the shade for a few days after re-potting/up-potting so that it doesn't get too stressed.

Agree with Rewton.  Sit them in the shade, then transition to partial, then full sun.  They do need time to adjust.

Suzi

Last week i moved a tiger and a BT from 3 gal nursery pots to 1/2 30gal drums. They were so root bound both had stopped growing. Just sitting there so to speak. The BT has 9 figs. The roots had wrapped around so much they had formed knots. I spent a good hour untangling the roots on the tiger and 30 minutes on the BT.

When finished they were free of all growing medium. I did not root prune.

They dropped all leaves but not the figs. Today both have on multiple branches new leaves popping out about a quarter to half inch long. They are in full sun in a permanent location. I'll bring mulch to the top of the container and let the roots grow out the drain 1" holes. The drain holes have three slits cut about 2" long for expansion for the roots to grow.

The are both in full sun until 4 or 5 pm.

I would be leary of doing this with smaller pots for fear the roots would cook. I would put in shade for few days and when moved to sun would mulch to rim of pot.

So I repotted the tree. I'm actually glad I did it , it was the shape of my square pot. It definitely needed it. I trimmed a tiny amount of roots and untangled some .. I just kept hitting the sides until almost all of the soil was out of the root system.  I repotted it into a 7 gal wide pot and put it under one of my trees for shade.

I've had bad luck when repotting during the growing season if I mess with the roots. It sets the plants back, which we can't afford in zone 6B.
If I do repot in Summer, I do only if a pot doesn't seem to get heavy after watering. I slide the plant out of its pot, and slip it (intact) into a larger pot.
The plant lets me know if it needs more room. Usually I go from 1-gallon to 3-gallon. If I see roots pouring out of the bottom of a pot (or if it's a keeper plant) it goes right into a 5-gallon bucket, because I have access to buckets, and a good amount of space.
Plus nothing beats the handles on the buckets for easy transport.

Not Happy at all.. Its in the shade now. This is my first time so we'll see how it goes.. In the future I think leaving it in it's form after I take it out of the smaller pot would have been less stressful.  It was done yesterday.

It's crazy but my RDB seemed like it went through nothing after being transplanted the day before.  The King ( Bill's Name) which is probably a Desert King like most say is on the left and RDB is on the right.

 

my Hardy Chicago and my Geanoso   both are really root bound . I am contemplating  repotting them soon .

I  have been using  fertilome Root Stimulator & Plant Starter Solution 4-10-3  when repotting to reduce stress .  I got the idea from Dennis AKA Snaglpuss  

For a less stressful technique I would go with what Ruuting suggested. I tapped the sides of my container than pulled it up by it's trunk and it retained the form of the square container. I had a chance to just move it intact but I didn't.

Two years ago I moved a (Lowes) Chicago Hardy from its little, very light 1-gallon pot to a 3-gallon. It was during the Summer, and the poor thing only put on 2 leaves by season's end, having dropped every single one it had from shock.
Yeah, I plucked at the roots...
I was convinced I'd killed it, but luckily it woke up last year.

Maybe if you stake and tent it it'll perk up.
Extra humidity seems to help them bounce back faster, since the leaves don't demand as much moisture from the roots.

It still looks healthy but has drooping leaves still. At least I haven't lost any leaves or figs on it. I'm hoping it will snap out of it. I'll take some pics tommorow.

Hi Sal,

Perhaps it worth spraying the leaves with water mist. I do this if repotting in summer and the weather gets hot. A couple of times a day for a few days until she gets over the shock.

When I repot or replant I use Fertilome Concentrate Root Stimulator and Plant Starter Solution . I got the Idea from Dennis AKA Snaglpuss .

You mix up a gallon or two . slide the plant out of pot . soak root ball in root stimulator solution  for about  twenty min,then  loosen roots or score . if you want . repot/plant .water plant with some of the mix. .

This should lesson shock .. leave plant in shade tell it recovers . 

Also I would not mist figs the leaves seem to really not like getting wet ???
just my opinion ?


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From all the reading and suggestions so far... I really did everything wrong LOL....I had lots of options prior to rushing like I did. Today's photo update.

 

It's like in a shocked state.. It's leaves are still beautifully green but all droopy. I kept the plant in the shade for a few days as some suggested. I now have it out in the open. What's crazy is ever morning the leaves aren't as droopy..

good luck SAL

Thanks Baust, I'll keep this thread updated.

Hi sal,
Just give it a plate and let some water there.
IMO it is sucking water because of the green growth and lacking some water more.
If the pot is full sun, do move the pot to an half shaded spot.
If it is full wind and you are in a windy zone, try to protect the tree from the wind.
I would first try the plate under the pot to offer more water to the tree. I see perlite in your mix and that does not hold water.

So 2 figs that were the size of nickles started browning and falling off. So I saw how this was going to go. I decided to cut all the nickle size figs off last Thursday. I left the ones that were very small and have about 9 left. The tree started looking good on Saturday. Today it's back to normal minus all the figs I cut off and 4 leaves that dropped.

Great looking plants!   good move: Re-potting is always good when done before the plant is really struggling to keep in a small pot. I usually check the roots on my figs, and sometimes repott 2 to 3 times on the same year!  of course, it depends on how aggressively the specific variety is growing. I have had 2 varieties this year that are agressive growers and have kept me busy doing this type of work!!!

I usually keep my plants on part shade for a couple of days and place lots of Pine bark as mulch to help the plant re-establish and accommodate nicely.

Best of luck out there!

Well I think I have one more tree that needs repotting and it has figs on it... I'm thinking of using ruutings idea and just pull the plant out of the container and putting it in a new one without touching roots. Leave it in the shape of the container and not even touch the roots. The roots aren't coming out of the bottom but I can see them. Should I just leave it be?