I'm glad to be a new member of this forum. My question is about a Ficus Benjamina. I have a 6" pot with 8 or 9 trees. I've had it for almost a year and it isn't growing well, lost a lot of leaves due to thripes before I found out what they were. Would it be possible or smart to cut the trees in half and repot, or would this be worse for the trees? moderator's note: moved to more appropriate forum moderator's note: added a more descriptive title to topic
Not know what your growing conditions are, this is how I care for my ficus which might help you out some.I give my ficus bright indirect light and some direct sun which it gets from a west window. Keep the root-ball a little on the snug side with just an inch or two of root room. You'll want just like an inch or two between the root mass and the inside of the pot. Make sure the soil is well draining. I added a few handfuls of "Perlite" so the soil is more airy and better draining. Having a pot that's too large and/or soil that's heavy, or peaty can cause problems. Soil should be a little moist all the time, let the top few inches dry down some before watering again. Water well (until it comes out the bottom) empty excess. Any dried wrinkled branches can be pruned out. Those yellow sticky traps can help catch some of those critters, as well as the hose of vacuum. With time, you should see an improvement.
I have always heard that these trees like to be root-bound in their pots (like about to explode root bound). This has always seemed to work for me but having that many trees in that small of a pot doesn't sound right. If they were mine I would probably bite the bullet and separate them. We have a couple of 6 foot Ficus in the house for the winter and it is a constant battle to get them situated with the right light and we are constantly picking up leaves the whole time. They love to go outside for the summer though and often double in thickness and add a few feet of height.
