I read you are supposed to cut off 1/3 of the roots on the potted fig when it gets rootbound. When it comes time to root prune figs in containers; does it generally have to be done every season, or can the trees go every other year for root pruning?
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Mine in 25-30 gal fabric bags went 5-7 years with no circling roots and no need for root pruning. I’ve got some that are at least 7 years and still going strong. It’s in plastic pots that root issues are prominent. A key to success is a mix that won’t break down, collapse, and become anaerobic. I like 50% coarse pine bark and 50% fines like Pro mix HP.
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If your figs need root pruning every year or two, then (a) the pots are too small, and (b) the pots do not have features suitable for trees.
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When I kept several potted figs in DC, I didn’t keep them on a timed schedule, but based on the previous season’s growth. On a mild day in late winter would take a couple and power hose them to remove the soil, prune the roots and repot with fresh soil. During the growing season I’d half bury the pot into the ground and allow the roots to grow into the soil. Of course that would be pruned away in late fall when they were put away.
You could just have wildlife root prune for you. I had all ~100 pears stripped by squirrels over a day or two last week, cut a tree down and I could have fed by hand the deer eating the leaves from the downed tree tops, and yesterday a rabbit showed up eating…fig roots, I guess.
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I do mine every 3-5 years. But a caveat: I prune the tops very severely every autumn. That tends to restrain root growth. If I left the tops large, in spring the new growth would demand a larger root ball, sending the message via hormones that stimulate root growth. Then the pot would become root bound in the same year.
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