Fiddle Fig Leaf Potting Up Help Please!
Hi there everyone,
I'm hoping someone can give me some advice about my new Fiddle Fig named Figaro. I found him a 10 days ago sitting out the front of a florist after searching for months for one. The florist told me he needed some love, so I bundled him up and brought him home. I live in Melbourne, Australia where we have just headed into Autumn, with temps around 16-17 degrees C at the moment. I've Seasol'd him once, but have read so much conflicting advice about how much to water him that I didn't do it until this morning. I gave him 4 cups of water, and it drained straight through the pot. Surely this can't be a good thing? The questions I have are:
1. He looks to me like he needs a bigger pot? I've read that I should leave him in his new environment for a few months before repotting. Is this true, or should I do it now?
2. Water? How much and when? Are these leaves that are pointing down indicate that there isn't enough water?
3. Pruning, I just want him to be healthy. Do I just leave all of his leaves? Pull off the ones that look like they're dying or browning?
I have included pics of positioning, roots and plant to give a better indication of what I'm referring to.
Thank you for your help, I just want to look after my new kid as I'm sure you all understand! :-)
Kind regards,
Beth
Comments (14)
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years agoBeth Tyrrell Victoria, AUS
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Fiddle Leaf Fig Help Please!
Comments (2)First of all, don't measure how much water it gets, just water it until it drains out of the bottom. (Of course, after you've temporarily placed it somewhere where the excess water can drain away...) Then move it back to a brighter spot, such as the plant's previous location. Proper lighting is the only way plants can sustain themselves, how they make their food. Even "shade-tolerant" plants only tolerate shady locations. If you want your plant to thrive, then give it as much light as it can handle without burning. Four hours of sunlight from a western window won't harm your plant. You can even rotate your plant, about once a week, so that your whole plant gets equal access to the light it needs, and not just one side of it. Give your plant plenty of bright indirect light, as well as that four hours of evening sun, and your plant should do much better. None of its leaves looked burned from too much sunlight, so it will do just fine in the previous location that you had it in. I have all kinds of plants, some of which are "low light." Now that I've moved them outside into my backyard, they get some direct morning sun and direct evening sun, but they're shaded during the hottest part of the day from any afternoon sun. Many of these would get scorched in a heartbeat, if left out in direct sun all day. But they all seem to love their current growing conditions. When you move your plant(s) away from adequate lighting, you're robbing them of their ability to produce the food they need. Which is why they begin to lose leaves that they can no longer support. No matter how much you fertilize a plant, it can't really use those nutrients unless it can photosynthesize them properly. That being said, your plant looks healthy. It's also natural for plants to lose lower leaves. I would still recommend moving it back to where you previously had it. Give it time, it'll recover from its pruning and begin growing again soon. :) This post was edited by ToMMyBoY69 on Fri, May 9, 14 at 20:01...See MoreHelp! Two fiddle leaf figs in 1 pot, one healthy, one w/ droopy leaves
Comments (15)Unless Emily has confirmed there are actually 2 separate plants and not 2 branches masquerading as trunks, which are connected below the soil line, we probably shouldn't take for granted there are 2 plants. Even if there were 2 plants, it doesn't look at all like there would be the kind of competition between plants of the same species such that one would be genetically vigorous enough to hog resources to the point it would create deficiencies sufficient to manifest a steep decline in the other. I mean, there are no roots crawling over the surface of the soil, and there is no disparity in size that could suggest a larger, taller plant might be shading out its shorter, smaller counterpart - so what competition? It's not unusual for one or 2 roots to be negatively affected by disease while other roots in the same pot or even on the same plant are better able to cope with less than ideal soil conditions. The result is often the death or decline of 1 plant in a group planting or one branch on a tree. Roots do have very specific connections to individual branches such that the death of a root can almost automatically mean the death of one branch. The 1 root to 1 branch connection is so strong in Thuja occidentalis (eastern white cedar) that when the center of old trees rot completely away, you can often observe several live veins growing from thick roots, each supporting only 1 branch. Most observers would think they were observing a ring of unusually shaped trees if they came upon this interesting occurrence in nature. Given the volume of soil available for root colonization, I just can't see it being a case of one plant outcompeting another, if in fact there really are 2 different plants. I'm pretty close to certain the issue is related to root health. Al...See MorePot up or repot root-bound Ficus lyrata (fiddle leaf fig)?
Comments (4)Agree. Too, just because you have roots growing out of the drain hole isn't proof that the plant is root bound. Roots are opportunistic and only grow where conditions are favorable. That hollow space under the pot probably supplies much more air/oxygen than the lower reaches of the soil in the pot. Since the conditions are favorable there, that's where they grow. Your plant isn't rootbound unless you can lift the entire root/soil mass out of the pot intact. There is no rush to repot your plant. It would fare much better if you wait until the summer solstice if you're more than 25* N or S latitude. If you're closer to the equator than that, it doesn't much matter when you repot. Al...See MoreHelp please! Fiddle Leaf Fig
Comments (2)Hi, Sarah. I can see you've done some reading. I'll offer some advice, which might seem a little bit general in some cases, which opens the door to questions if you have interest in getting deeper into a topic. Sarah says (in bold): "[I] have started a watering schedule of once a week. There ARE situations when watering on a schedule is ok, but generally it's not. If your soil holds excess water, you should water only when the plant needs water, and you can best tell when it needs water by using a 'tell' in the form of a piece of wooden dowel rod (hardware or building supply store like Lowes/Home Depot) that's been sharpened on the ends. I also spray the leaves daily with water. ..... More likely to cause problems than do any good. So my questions are ... Do I remove the damaged leaves? Or cut off the brown spots? Leaves are where almost all photosynthesis occurs. The product of photosynthesis is carbohydrates/ sugar, so think of each leaf as a mini food factory. The plant has chemical messengers that tell it when a leaf isn't pulling its weight. When that happens, the leaf is shed. If your plant is reasonably healthy and the leaf bothers you, remove it. If a plant is circling the drain, it needs all the green tissue it has, so avoid removing leaves with green on them from plants in severe decline. Too, there is still some good stuff in the spoiled foliage that the plant can recycle and use elsewhere. In the end, it's better for the plant if you don't remove any leaves with green on them (exception for diseased leaves), but not a big deal if you do unless the plant is stressed/strained. When should I fertilize it? When it needs it. Some mistakenly think that fertilizer should be withheld in winter. I won't go into it unless you want me too, but plants that aren't in a predictive dormancy need all the essential nutrients in the soil at all times, and they will do best if the ratio of nutrients closely mimics the ratio at which the plant actually uses those nutrients. If you're using an appropriate soil, establishing and taking control over nutritional supplementation is very easy. If you're using a soil you can't flush regularly for fear the soil will remain saturated so long that it limits root function or wrecks root health, fertilizing is pretty much a crap shoot. The tips (tops) are brown and look dried up or crispy, does that mean it won’t be able to produce new growth? need more info. Are you sure you're not looking at a bud sheath? The sheath dies as the bud it protects emerges and starts to open into a leaf or branch. If so, when should I think about pinching the tops off to promote the new growth? You CAN pinch anytime you like, but you'll definitely get the best response (more back-budding) if you pinch or prune in very late spring or very early summer, by the calendar. Summer begins on June 21 in the N hemisphere, so 2 weeks either side of the solstice is the best time to work your trees hard (hard pruning, repotting). I want to make sure that my timing is appropriate so that I don’t stress it out! Timing IS important. Plants have natural rhythms you can work WITH, or AGAINST. As you might think, working WITH the plant to minimize stress by working it when the plant is in the most active part of its growth cycle is not only easier on the plant, it also allows the grower to better scratch that itch to nurture everyone here has. It makes us feel we're more in sync with the things we care for. Al...See Moretapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years agoBeth Tyrrell Victoria, AUS
8 years agoMorning Al,
Thanks for getting back to me. Is there somewhere on here where you have posted your plant/garden collection? I'm sure there would be many that would love a squizz. I've been reading lots and seeing lots of people's FFL variants and it seems that the tree look is favoured by the majority of owners. I too initially wanted a tree shape but am now quite enjoying the bushiness of my tree and hope he continues to grow in the manner that he is. It's excited getting up each day and seeing how much the new leaves have grown overnight.
I will be curious in the future to attempt growing a cutting from my plant, but have found the info all a bit overwhelming at the moment. Something to contemplate once I am confident that he has been thriving for an extended period of time. There is also one stem that is significantly smaller that the rest, maybe this will be a candidate to move out and attempt to grow on its own, something else for me to read about.
I've included some updated pics for you.
And my gosh - your plants sound like they take up lots of your time, but what a luxury to spend so much time doing what you love. :)
Have a wonderful day,Beth
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years agoBeth Tyrrell Victoria, AUS
8 years agoBeth Tyrrell Victoria, AUS
8 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years agoBeth Tyrrell Victoria, AUS
8 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years ago
laticauda
8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago"protect your plant from wandering tribes, blizzards, hurricanes, cavorting/cantankerous kids & cats - that kind of stuff"
Don't forget to add husband's combat boot.
Survivor
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years ago
tlbean2004