beyond root-bound plant.

Question

19 year old ficus.
This is beyond words, please see photos. The root is thick, immovable, and hard.
We are entertaining cutting away the pot and leaving the bottom of pot intact. The bottom of the pot is hard grated plastic. We cannot even get to it to cut it away. I want this thing to survive, but I know it has to go into a larger pot.

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Answer 1

Try soaking the roots for a few hours to soften them. Then try to tease apart the roots. If it's too difficult, cut off about 1/3 of roots from the bottom and try again to tease them apart. You can prune out the thin roots, leaving the large taproots.

Here is more info on root pruning.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/hpgen/prune-roots.htm