"..... yes, it has drain holes, yes I water to the point of saturation, and no I don't let the plant sit in the excess water. I'm pretty sure I can find soil conditioner, although I've never bought any."
Good, on all counts.
"The pot has big holes on the "outer-circle", so it's actually very easy to feel the moisture from the bottom. Are you suggesting I water when the bottom has low humidity or when it's completely dry?"
If you are able to find the pine bark, you can make a soil that is very difficult to water and is very conducive to extremely healthy root systems, a prerequisite to a healthy plant. If that doesn't pan out, there are other ways of addressing excess water retention, and we can discuss that if you like. Don't let anyone tell you excess water in the soil is OK or it's not a big deal. It is a very big deal because as long as it exists, it's limiting root function and killing fine roots. It can literally sap all growth potential from a plant. The reason: Root growth always proceeds top growth. When fine roots die, chemical messengers tell the plant to stop top growth until enough new roots are regenerated to support new top growth. About the time enough air has returned to the soil so new roots CAN grow, the grower is watering and starting the cycle over again.
From what you say at the beginning of your post, I understand that merely potting up like I did at first was a half measure. Are you suggesting I try to repot more thoroughly? This worries me a bit. I'm not entirely sure of what it implies and I'm afraid it will be too much for my tree to endure.
Allow me to walk you through a couple of repots. My trees are always in a high state of vitality and I have a lot of repotting experience, so I can judge how extensive rootwork can be by looking at the plant. What you'll see me doing in the images is much more radicle than necessary for houseplants, but it will give you a sense of how wrong the "you can't mess with the roots or you'll kill it" crowd is. You'll never hear someone who knows their business when it comes to repotting, tell you it's bad for the plant or you'll probably kill it. Only those who have never done it or have gone about it ham-handedly will suggest you shouldn't repot regularly. If you can lift the root/soil mass from the pot intact, the plant will benefit from a repot; and, after a 1-2 week period when new roots are growing, the repotted plant will easily grow/develop 5X faster than plants languishing under root-bound conditions.
ficus benjamina
soil partially removed
extremely healthy root system
bare-rooted/ root-pruning completed
repotting session completed - plant secured to pot to avoid breaking fine roots if the plant is moved by wind or jostled. The canopy has also been reduced because of how extensive the rootwork was. Many roots thicker than my thumb were removed. The plant was as thick as a pencil when I bought it in 1994.
Nursery stock boxwood after it's first hard pruning
another extremely healthy root system after bare-rooting
rootwork complete - ready for the pot.
I do about 175 repots per year. More than half of my trees are older than 10 years old, about a quarter are older than 20 years, and I have many over 30 years old, and all have been repotted every 1-3 years, depending on the plant's genetic vigor age. Older, grumpy trees are treated a bit differently than young trees (less than 25 years old), which are nearly all dynamic mass.
If you want to do a full repot w/o radical rootwork, I'll guide you. Basically it would entail sawing off the bottom 1/3 of the root mass, correcting any potentially problem roots (circling, girdling, crossing, growing straight up/down, or growing back toward the center of the root mass). If you'd rather not - that's fine too. I don't repot because I like doing it, and I wouldn't bother unless I knew with certainty it is an essential part of maximizing the plant's opportunity to realize as much of its genetic potential as possible.
If you want to know if I really have interest in helping you get more from your growing experience, search Al 5-1-1
Al
ficus benjamina
soil partially removed
extremely healthy root system
bare-rooted/ root-pruning completed
repotting session completed - plant secured to pot to avoid breaking fine roots if the plant is moved by wind or jostled. The canopy has also been reduced because of how extensive the rootwork was. Many roots thicker than my thumb were removed. The plant was as thick as a pencil when I bought it in 1994.
Nursery stock boxwood after it's first hard pruning
another extremely healthy root system after bare-rooting
rootwork complete - ready for the pot.
