Watering Huge Ficus Benjamina

9 years ago

We recently purchased a 10 ft. Tall Ficus in a 30 gallon nursery tub. It had been growing in a courtyard covered with shade cloth. It had roots into the soil which had to be cut before it was delivered. It is now in our atrium and the bottom of the pot is covered so drain holes cannot be seen. The tree has been in its new location a month and continues to drop leaves. (It has new leaves but the interval between new leaves has increased significantly. We are worried that we may not be watering correctly. What advice do you have regarding watering when the drain holes are not visible?

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Comments (5)

pelargonium_gw
9 years ago
I have no experience with ficus outdoors, as I live in North Norway, but I have grown them indoors. My comments are as follows: The tree is losing leaves. Possible causes: 1. The tree has been moved. 2. Some roots have been cut. 3. It is fall. All these things may be reasons leaves are shedding, and new growth is slow. I would give it some time, hopefully things will be better in spring.
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
9 years ago
Does the picture illustrate where the tree WAS, or where it is now?

The tree is shedding foliage as a drought response, but that doesn't necessarily mean that watering more is any sort of solution. A tree with the foliage mass as large as that in the picture needs a larger root system than even a skilled gardener who knows how to root prune can pack into 30 gallons, and if the previous owner is any sort of grower, he/she KNEW that before the tree was sold and should have done what is necessary to ensure what you're about to endure wouldn't happen.

If you keep the tree, you have 2 options. You can keep the soil damp but not wet and let nature take its course (the plant absorbs water most efficiently when the soil is barely damp. The urge to water when the plant is suffering from drought is strong, but remember that over-watering increases the severity of a drought response - doesn't alleviate it. As nature takes its course, the tree will shed leaves and branches until it reaches the point that the root system CAN support the canopy. The reason this is happening is because the plant's main lifeline (the roots that were in the soil) has been severed. The problem with allowing the tree to have control over which branches are shed is in the fact that the tree will shed the branches doing it the least amount of good, which are probably going to be important to the plant's appearance.

The other option is for you or someone who understands pruning and structure to remove enough of the canopy that the roots are able to support what remains. That would be my choice because I get to decide what the tree looks like if I have to remove half of the branches.

One way or another, the tree is going to balance the root to shoot ratio. Either you take control or let the tree have control.

If the pot is partially buried in soil, and the soil the pot is in allows free drainage into the earth, it's almost impossible to over-water - unless the soil the pot is in is very coarse. I'll emphasize again that if you bought the tree from a pro grower, there was an obligation to explain to you what I just did, or to prune the canopy appropriately before you took delivery of the plant.

Al
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@JMJ 4Life Really sorry to learn about your tree. I assume some part of the root mass is fused, so the soil/root mass remains intact like so: If the answer is yes, unpot the plant and set the root/soil mass on a stack of newspapers, rags, old towels, dry sponges - something that will PULL excess water from the soil. Allow it to rest on the wicking material for an hour or two before returning it to the pot it fits. Use a wooden "tell" to "tell" you when it's time to water, because with no water loss from foliage, the plant will require very little water. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips in order to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions - which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma and creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell' (more reliable than a 'moisture meter'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) works better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half or in several pieces, depending on how deep your pots are. Sharpen both ends of each tell in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell's tip comes out nearly dry. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al
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A dowel rod is a round piece of wood - like a pencil. You can get one at a hdwe store & sharpen it in a pencil sharpener. Alternately, us a 12" wooden skewer - they come pre-sharpened. * Move the plant to a spot where you can repeatedly and thoroughly flush the soil with water that hasn't passed through the softener. * Flush the soil up to 10 times with at least as much water as the volume of the container the plant is in. You cannot overdo it. * After flushing, tilt the container at a 45* angle and wait for the container to stop draining. This drains a considerable amount more water than allowing the container to rest on its bottom. * After draining has stopped, remove the plant from it's pot and set on newspapers to drain. If the plant is small, a few hours is fine - if large, allow it to rest on the papers over night. * With a utility knife, slash deep vertical cuts into the root mass and an 'X' on the bottom. Alternately, you can remove an inch or two of the roots/soil from the bottom. * Pot up into a slightly larger pot and fill in around the roots with a soil similar to what you currently have in the root mass. Use a wick in the bottom of the pot if you are going to be able to lift the pot above the collection saucer (best). Ideally, the wick will dancle 2-3" below the bottom of the pot w/o contacting the water in the collection saucer. (I know - a lot to ask) ;o) This wick will 'fool' the water into 'thinking' the pot is deeper than it is. Water will move down the wick 'looking' for the bottom of the pot, and droip off the end. This will go a long way toward eliminating the specter of root rot and allowing you to water copiously enough to flush the soil each time you water to help gurad against salt accumulation. * A few days after you've repotted, fertilize with 1/2 the recommended strength of Miracle-Gro 24-8-16 (granular/box), Miracle-Gro 12-4-8 (liquid/yellow jug), or Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 (best, but you'd probably need to order online) * Give it all the light you can, and try to keep soil temps @ 65-75* That's the standard plan for bringing Ficus back from the brink. I'm not sure how many it's worked for, but I know it's more than I can guess at .... lots. ;o) Best luck!! I'll be around if you still have questions. Al
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Embothrium
9 years ago
Yes, top is having problems because roots in ground were cut off. But cutting away part of the top will just leave it with fewer food making leaves to help it replace the lost roots - double amputation never results in a stronger plant. All you can do is water and hope it pulls through, unless some pretty strong sun is hitting the top through the atrium cover - in which case it might help to put shade cloth over the tree until it stops struggling.

Need much larger pot for tree this size, also I would think you would want some kind of decorative one instead of the black nursery container.

Tree does not look weepy enough to be a Ficus benjamina, which by the way like many other tropical species of figs grows much larger than this - it is far from a "huge" example, whichever species it is. If yours makes it you will have to snip at it eventually to keep it within the space.

Snip at both the top and the roots. Your new tree is not a statue, if you are unable to take it out of the pot periodically to trim the roots, add fresh potting soil or put it in a bigger pot (as should be done now) then some day the time will come when it starts to deteriorate.

This post was edited by bboy on Sat, Nov 22, 14 at 14:27
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
9 years ago
.... cutting away part of the top will just leave it with fewer food making leaves to help it replace the lost roots - double amputation never results in a stronger plant.

What you said is true within reason, but the plant is in the process of SHEDDING a fraction of the top already, and there is no way to know how many branches will die before the tree reaches a root:shoot ratio that doesn't require the plant to shed more parts. Pruning the top is simply taking control over what parts will be shed.

Plants ALWAYS 'listen' to the chemical messengers that help them balance roots to shoots. The plant won't grow more canopy than the roots can support, OR more roots than the canopy can feed. You can't simply repeat what is today's conventional advice for a repot from a nursery pot to the ground for all applications - you have to be able to assess the situation and resolve the problem within what is physiologically realistic. What is realistic when you separate a plant in leaf from what is probably it's primary source of water and nutrients is, it's going to indiscriminately (at least seemingly so to the grower) shed top growth until it reaches a stage where the roots can support what's left - unless the grower takes control and does the balancing himself.

You simply can't remove roots from a tree in leaf and expect the tree not to react.

You can't go from this
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to this
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without going from this
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to this
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unless you are willing to accept what's left after the branches die back.

Yes, the leaves make the food that drives root growth, but the tree can't retain leaves and branches it can't support with water and nutrients. Mother Nature demands balance, and one way or another she'll have it - no matter if by her hand or the growers, balance will be the end product.

Al

This post was edited by tapla on Sat, Nov 22, 14 at 22:14
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jane__ny
9 years ago
Need more info. What zone are you in? Where does this plant live? What are the conditions you are trying to grow it in? ? Light, temps, etc. How long ago did you get this plant?

Jane
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Watering Huge Ficus Benjamina

Comments (5)

pelargonium_gw

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

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Embothrium

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

jane__ny

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