It seems that the hottest part of the summer is over here, at least for the next 10 days or so.  I have a Ronde de Bordeaux in a 1 gallon pot that needs to be re-potted/potted up to a larger container.  When it arrived from the nursery last spring I was in a hurry and used plain old Miracle Grow potting soil to get the tree going.  When I pot-up I want to use a variation of Al's mix.  I've heard that it is not a good idea to mix potting soils therefore I need to remove all (or nearly all) of the existing soil from the roots.

So my first question is whether it is crazy to do this i.e. should I wait until it goes dormant?  I would like to do it now if possible to keep it from getting root bound.  Assuming I go ahead, my next question is what the best, most gentle method for removing the soil from the roots keeping in mind that the tree is in full foliage?  Would repeated dunking in a bucket combined with a hose sprayer work?  Is there any tricks???  Gotta admit I'm a little nervous!

Many thanks for advice!

Steve

I would just stick the whole thing in a bigger pot for now without disturbing the roots at all.  When it goes dormant then you can change out the soil.  That way it wont get rootbound but you don't risk killing it.

why do you dislike mg soil?  its the pest performig soil i have

I would not bareroot a tree at this time.

Google root pruning pots.  These are the absolute best!  As is Al's mix!  There are air holes on the sides of the pots, and on the bottom, but no way can circling happen.  The roots hit the air, and they prune themselves, and branch out from within, using every bit of nutrition they can find in the soil.

JMHO!~

Suzi

Jon, is it because we still have moderately hot weather or because the tree is in full foliage i.e. is it ok to bareroot in full foliage once it cools down more?

Slingha, from what I have read Al's mix has a number of characteristics (drainage, weight, etc) that make it superior to MG for container figs.  I'm still a beginner at container figs so I'll let  others chime in to more fully address your question.

Suzi, root pruning pots do sound look a great innovation.  I'll look into it.

Bob, what you suggest is a good idea.  Probably the thing to do is to move up one size of pot using MG potting soil.  Then when it goes dormant I'll bare-root the tree into Al's mix.  I'm still interested to hear how about the best way to bare-root the tree though.

Read all the info on rooting cuttings, air-layers, etc. and all the discussion about moisture control. Moisture intake versus moisture out-go.

MG soil doesn't let enough air get to the roots for them to stay healthy.  You can get away with it in very hot weather.  You'd be better off using a pot at least 3" wider and filling with a fast draining mix (search on 5-1-1 mix) than using a soil like MG that you'll have to get rid of later and may alow mold and bacteria to grow.

It is because you will need to root prune your tree before it goes into the next size pot.  During dormancy, root pruning is a lot easier for the tree to take.  Cutting the roots disrupts the flow of nutrients to the top of the tree.  It can be done, but unless it is an absolute emergency (and 99.99% of the time it is not) I wouldn't do it.  The risk is great and the gains are minimal vs. waiting.  Even potting up without any root work will not yield a great deal and you will probably cut all of that away if you do root work after the end of the season.

As for the rest of it... growing in a container is a series of compromises.  Most (all) of those compromises have to do with you and not so much the tree.  I don't think there is a universal "best choice" for any of it.  I've been using SuperRoot AirPots for six years... Al's gritty mix for a couple of years more than that.  It works for me because I have stuck with it and fine tuned my process.  While I have been very happy with the results, I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.  One or both may not fit well into the conditions in which you are growing your trees.  I think any method (within reason) you use which you optimize will yield better results than those which you don't.

James, my thought based on what I have read was to run a knife along the outside of the rootball from top to bottom in several locations but not to do anything more beyond that.  Note that I potted up in late May when the tree arrived.  So it may very well be that the tree isn't even root-bound at this point.  I suppose what I should do first is to let the pot get kind of dry and try pulling the tree out of the pot to get a look at the roots. When I eventually do re-pot this tree (including bare-rooting) would you think I would need to do any more root pruning beyond what I describe above?

It's funny but it bothers me that if I wait until early November when the tree is dormant to do this whole procedure I won't know until April or so whether it survives!

You could do the root work in March. Then you only need to wait a few weeks to see if it breaks dormancy.

Every so often, one should do a complete bare-rooting of the tree.  This accomplishes a few things.

• Firstly, it allows for pruning of larger and/or damaged roots.  Just like most of us don't run hedge pruners around the perimeter of our trees and call it day, we shouldn't do the same thing with our roots. 
• Secondly, it reduces the issue of compaction.  As the roots grow thicker, the growing mix becomes more and more compacted.  Also, roots start growing into each other.  The result of both is a girdling of the roots near the base of the tree which chokes off nutrients to the top.