Pruning tropicals

Hey guys, pruned a Sundeville back very hard last week in order to create fatter roots (will post a thread in the far future, when the project has evolved) and noticed a very heavy milky bleeding. This species always bleed, but I thought it could be reduced. Now I've got more tropicals from the greenhouse I work and my boss couldn't answer this question really well, so, when is the optimal time in the year to prune/chop a tropical?

Thanks in advance,

Maarten

Ficus will bleed the "milk" whenever you prune. I give them a spray of water which seems to stop the bleeding.

I trim tropicals in the start of summer. I feel this gives them a few months to recover both from winterconditions (I find them to be a bit sulky by the onset of spring, More sun & heat in spring bring about a burst of energy) as well as before winter sets in (You know, get 50cm of growth on your ficus before it has to move indoors for the half year imprisonment indoors).

FrankP999 wrote:Ficus will bleed the "milk" whenever you prune. I give them a spray of water which seems to stop the bleeding.

Thanks, this will come in very handy when i put the saw in my ginseng

[quote="leatherback"]I trim tropicals in the start of summer. I feel this gives them a few months to recover both from winterconditions (I find them to be a bit sulky by the onset of spring, More sun & heat in spring bring about a burst of energy) as well as before winter sets in (You know, get 50cm of growth on your ficus before it has to move indoors for the half year imprisonment indoors).[./quote]

Thank you, Jelle! Guess it's a little late to prune/chop my tropicals now, but heck, when I bring in the minigreenhouse into the orangery and put the victims into it stuff will be okay, will it?

It won't hurt the tree to "bleed." It's just kind of messy and sticky. Be sure to clean your saw with alcohol or the sap will discolor and roughen the blade so much you can't use it again.

Thanks, Jim! Will do that right away