Actually, F. benjamina is really hard to kill as long as the environmental conditions (light, soil, moisture, and temperature) are correct.

They respond really well to hard pruning.

I worked at a garden center for 20 years. We sold a lot of ficus, and got a lot of them back half dead due to people NOT understanding normal acclimation (ie, the leaf drop when moved), or from abusing them like overwatering or underwatering or putting them virtually in the dark.

They ALWAYS came back with just a little TLC.

Don't be afraid at all to cut them back as hard as you want. They will even regenerate directly from the trunk if they have to. Just be sure to do it outdoors or over a drop cloth, and don't get the sap in your eyes or mouth, it burns.

And, when you do the top, knock it out of the pot, cut off a good share of the root mass, the outer quarter or so, and especially all of the twisted mass of fine feeder roots along the base of the pot.

Then, try to wash off as much of the old soil from the roots as possible. Repot it in really high quality soilless mix, put it into good, bright light, run it just a bit dry for the first 7 days, then water it a little more to keep the soil moderately moist, and it will bounce back in just a month or so. When the new growth is a couple of inches long, give it a little fertilizer of your choice.

Ficus b responds well to hard pruning when they have energy levels that ALLOW them to respond, but radical work, like full repots and hard pruning, are best left to the summer months AFTER the tree has built up it's energy reserves and still has plenty of long bright days to recover. I also prefer to stagger the root and canopy work so the rootwork precedes the top pruning by at least 2-3 weeks. Leaving the photosynthesizing mass (leaves) intact fuels root regeneration. Prune at will after the tree has regained energy levels.

Recovery time between now and the vernal equinox will be painfully slow, especially for an already severely stressed tree, so it's very important to consider the current state of the tree's vitality, as well as where it is in its growth cycle before moving forward with work certain to set it back. Radical work on tropical Ficus is best performed in the month prior to its most robust growth period - mid-late Jun in MI, for Tammy, any time the tree is healthy, from about mid-May - late Aug, with early Jun being about ideal.

Al

Here is a link that might be useful: Ficus in containers

Hi Al,

Thanks again....I intend to do as you have said in the other thread....cut off 2" of roots at the bottom, cut the X into the roots, pot up the trees and do major work in the spring once the trees have gained some strength. Gonna tackle them this weekend. I do plan to cut back a little of the dead wood just keep them from getting even more spindly since I plan to bring them inside the house for the winter.

Tammy

{{gwi:6022}}

Al