I did not ask this question before. The one in the living room may get a bit of cold air when i open my front door when im coming in or exiting and i did water it not very long after i purchased it.

You can used the faucet (especially if you have a set-up with a hand sprayer). Make sure the water temp is well below body temp, which is too warm. If you suspect the soil has been adulterated with something phytotoxic, you have little choice other than to flush the soil and then try to mitigate any subsequent tendency of the soil to retain too much water. Look at B and E to see how much excess water you can remove by tipping the pot and using a wick. Also, if the pot is a 7" pot, you can hold it over the sink and move it down then sharply upward to rid the soil of virtually ALL excess water. Think of what you do after pouring pasta in a colander - after it stops draining. You grab the colander and move it up and down to remove LOT of additional water. Do that with your little plant. If more growers applied that technique they would help their plants realize significantly more of their genetic potential. The pot should be detached from the reservoir, and the plant should never rest in the effluent that exits the drain holes. The purpose of flushing the soil when we water is to rid the soil of an increasing level of mineral salts from tap water and fertilizer solution. If the plant rests in its effluent, the level of salts very quickly reaches a state of isotonicity (balance in the salt levels between the water in the collection saucer and the soil solution), which in the end is like the soil was never flushed at all. Al

Hi y'all, I hope your plants are doing well this winter! I wanted to check in to make sure I'm taking care of my ficus properly now that I've moved it indoors. I used to water it 2-3 times a week outdoors with a full gallon of water + DynaGro FoliagePro 9-3-6 liquid fertilizer. It responded very well to this treatment and new leaves grew to replace the initial shed it underwent when I repotted. San Antonio started getting into the 30s and 40s so I brought it inside during November. Now that it's indoors in front of this second-story west facing window, I've started watering it once every week and a half (or once I watered it after two weeks). I also use about a half gallon of water. I am still fertilizing it. I have it raised in a clay tray on top of some marbles so it doesn't stand in water. Plus I have a plastic tray underneath the clay one to hold excess water. It's probably been getting more sunshine than it used to when it was outdoors, because it used to be on a shaded patio and now it gets lots of sunshine from this window. Now for my questions! Many leaves have been yellowing and dropping in the past couple of weeks. Do you all think this is just a normal response to a somewhat finicky plant like a ficus benjamina being moved to a new environment? Or am I perhaps watering it too much? Or did I not water it enough (like that time I accidentally didn't water it for two weeks)? Pics!

A systematic insecticide works well for scale. It comes in a granular form. So many tablespoons amount to use goes by pot diameter, your pot looks to be 10 or 12 inches in diameter. Work granules into top inch or two of soil and water. Plant draws up insecticide, bug sucks on plant and dies. I would clean off as many as possible too. Added, it also lasts for a while, I'm thinking a month, maybe more. Any pets keep them away, it is a poison. It's slow acting but works well. One of many brands: https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/bonide-8-oz-systemic-houseplant-insect-control-granules/0000000236642 Also, it's hard to tell when those darn things are dead. So keep cleaning them off. Then you shouldn't see new ones. You may want to give it a good shower a few times. Those bugs produce alot of sticky residue.