You need to go to Jerry Meislik's website. Just Google it. He has all the info on lighting for indoor bonsai, particularly Ficus which are his specialty.

What great timing! I was having the same question about my water-started ficus as well! I had read this guy's blog (http://i-grow-stuff.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-to-propagate-ficus-benjamina-in.html) So I took a cutting from my ficus alii... maybe two weeks ago? three weeks? four? (I wish I had written it down!). I followed his directions to cut it where it was not yet woody, but not completely green either. I removed one leaf and left two, and following instructions from another website, I cut through the leaf node to encourage rooting (I don't think this did anything, because no roots are coming from the cut area, just the other intact side). The cutting is inside a jar with filtered water that I change now and then, and that jar is inside a container I filled with water in hopes to "insulate" the cutting jar and also perhaps add some humidity as the water slowly evaporates? The cutting is next to my other plants and the mother tree, and gets some direct light (oops!) and mostly indirect SE window winter light. It's winter here in Minnesota, and the mother tree (actually 4 trees braided together) faces a SE window... in other words, not a ton of light but not bad either. It's not putting out a ton of new leaves like it does in summertime outside, but it looks like she is doing well. I made a cutting from the end of a middle branch that was getting too long. I have since read a lot of posts on here that say putting cuttings in water is a bad idea, since they grow water roots, not soil roots, and will just have to grow new roots once they get put in soil--oops! So I'm hoping my cutting will make the transition. Eukofios, what are root initials? Can those turn into soil roots? I'll include a picture of the cutting so you can see the size (1-2mm?). I've never intentionally grown anything from a cutting before, only tomatoes and mint and basil cuttings that I threw in water since I didn't want to watch them wither and die. Today I am going out to buy some perlite perhaps, and maybe some other things to make a rooting medium--exciting! Thanks to everyone on this forum for sharing all their experience and knowledge of ficus and other plants--invaluable to a beginner like me! OK, I can't figure out how to move images in the post, or attach more than one image to the post, so below is a picture of the cutting "roots." This post was edited by wndy on Fri, Mar 8, 13 at 17:00

Falling or shedding leaves are usually something cultural, rather than nutritional. In the end, we can usually trace the cause back to a decrease or stoppage of the flow of a particular growth regulator/hormone (auxin) across a special zone (abscission zone) that causes a separation of the leaf from the plant and its eventual fall. It often occurs from diminished light, especially quick changes from bright to less bright, too little water, or too much water. In short: decreased light reduces auxin flow. Auxin flow is required to keep an abscission layer from forming. No light - no auxin flow - abscission layer - leaf falls. It also occurs from too little water. No water - no photosynthesis - no auxin flow - abscission layer - leaves fall. In the case of too much water, the reason is a little more obscure. Too much water - roots rot or function/metabolism is compromised - not enough water to canopy - tree 'thinks' it is dying of thirst - no photosynthesis - no auxin flow - abscission layer - leaves fall. If I had to guess, I would say it is a light issue - a change from bright nursery conditions to less abundant light in the home, but even something as simple as the upper leaves shading out the lower leaves, or possibly turning the tree so the side that faced the brightest light is no facing the room's interior. Sudden chill - as in cold drafts will also cause leaves to fall. Look at the possible reasons above & the explanations, and you should be able to take an educated guess as to the cause. The question then turns to whether or not you can provide the cultural conditions to correct. Never water on a schedule. Ficus won't tolerate wet feet well. Tip the container and water when the soil first feels completely dry at the drain hole. Soils feel dry to us when it still has about 40% moisture content. Plants can extract moisture to 30% or below, which gives us a 15% cushion after soils feel dry. Get the mites under control ASAP. The misting you're doing is totally ineffective at raising humidity, and can even be counter-productive for a number of reasons, but it CAN help with mites. Mist with a 50/50 solution of 70% rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol and water, being careful to cover the bottom of the leaves & get the spray into leaf axils. Repotting should be done in the month prior to the most robust growth (for F. benjamina), which would be mid-late Jun, for you. If you need help with the repot (which includes root-pruning - otherwise it's just a potting-up) stop back in the summer or head over to the container forum & do a search (tapla repot ficus) for specific instructions. Good luck - take care. Al

Segragte the tree first. Prune off parts that are heavily infested. Use an alcohol soaked q tip to remove them. If it's still warm where you are is move the tree outside to do this. looks heavily infested and the scale has been there for quite some time. Have you not inspected recently? if you're serious about keeping that tree or any ficus tree alive, you need to offer it A LOT more light then it's currently getting.