Hi All,
I need some help on this one. This fig was collected 24 hours ago. The leaves are curling in along the midrib. The root ball has remained moist since collected and the soil was quite wet when collected. I have no experience with figs. I’m wondering if I need to reduce the foliage more than I have (approximately a 25% foliage reduction). Also, any other aftercare info would be helpful.
Ryan
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Also, how about the lichen? Clean it off? Will it draw moisture out of the tree?
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I believe the lichen makes a statement for ancient tree grown in the wild. So I always leave lichen if I am lucky enough to have it develop. I really like how you rounded off the corners of the grow box. It will make the repot into a smaller container easier in my mind. Are you recovering this plant outdoors or indoors? My experience with ficus has always been recovering under artificial light in my sunroom to protect from desiccating wind and too intense sunlight. Were the roots large and fibrous? Misting and/or a humidity tray below can improve the micro climate to reduce transpiration.
Good luck with a nice tree!
I have the tree in my garage for now, but will need to move it outside within the next week or so. I have an area under 70% shade cloth. This time of year we get a lot of wind in my area so desiccation is definitely a concern.
This tree had fairly shallow roots. There was one large root at the bottom of the root ball. The rest of the larger roots that I cut were all around 1/2” to 3/4” in diameter. I did cut through some large roots, but it seems like they must have been from a neighboring fig tree as there are no large roots originating from the root ball.
I’m concerned that the reduced root mass will not be able to support the current foliage mass.
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@ryan.marin No possibility to keep it in intensive care in the garage? A shop light with florescent bulbs can let the plant recover in a wind free environment to give it the best chance to survive. Sun is not the killer in this situation. Too few working roots and desiccation are the dangers. Bottom heat can help if you have an old water bed heater and a shallow pan with stones and water to moderate the temperature and increase the humidity around the plant. Also can build a temporary mini greenhouse around the plant with wire or bamboo and a clear plastic bag or clear kitchen wrap.
Good luck with the tree. 
You should have dug it when it was dormant.
But now that you dug it after it budded out, best that you tent it with plastic and keep it warm till it recovers.
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That certainly would have been ideal. However, this was a last minute opportunity to save the tree from the yard waste dumpster. What would be an ideal temperature to keep this at?
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I seem to remember Ryan saying that 80 degrees Fahrenheit was ideal to grow roots after transplanting. But, any bottom heat is better than none! Hope the tree lives, may have some die back and small shoots survive.
Hey All,
So this tree has not done well. It dropped all it’s leaves and looked like it was about to push out some new leaves, but all the buds dried up. The branches are dying back and it’s not looking to good. There are some new shoots coming up from the roots and if I dig into the bark on the large branches and trunk the cambium is still very green. Currently I have the tree under a semi-transparent awning to keep it out of direct sunlight and am trying to achieve a healthy H2O/O2 balance. Any further advice?