Fiddle Leaf Fig needs help

8 years ago

After much research and pining for a fiddle leaf fig tree, and being too impatient to wait until spring to find one, I unwisely purchased my first fiddle leaf fig plant (pandurata) online. I recieved it four days ago and it is so unhealthy! I'm not surprised, as I anticipated that the New England cold could have damaged it in transit.

Two plants arrived together in an 8" pot, with the roots growing out of the top and bottom of the pot. I separated the two plants and repotted them in two 10" pots and lightly watered them. One is worse off than the other. I've been keeping them in a window that gets indirect morning and afternoon sun. Beyond the top leaves of one plant looking like cooked spinach due to the cold, and having lost at least three of it's leaves, the bottom leaves of both are all discolored a DARK green/brown, and the leaves in the middle/top are spotted with dry brown patches. I have read this may be due to over or under watering. The stem of the plant with wilting and lost leaves also doesn't seem as sturdy as the other so I've used a post to help prop it up.

If anyone could shed some light on what may be wrong, and how I can go about saving it I would be so grateful! Being a total novice, I have no idea where to begin.

I've been afraid to do anything too drastic beyond repotting it because it seems on the verge of death as it is what next?

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Comments (4)

Mentha (East TN, Zone 6B-7A)
8 years ago
Looks like they may have been damaged by cold. Don't water them for the time being and let them get used to their new home. Keep them warm and give them as much light as possible. A south facing window is best. You can probably remove the dried crispy leaves as they are dead. I would also remove any mushy stems. Now is not the best time to repot, but since you've potted them up, you really need to be very careful with watering. Get a long wooden BBQ skewer and stick it in the soil, if it comes out clean it's time to water, if it comes out discolored or with soil on it, wait a little longer. Leave the spotty leaves for now because the plants will need something to photosynthesize with. Other than that I'm not sure what to say except maybe Al will chime in. He's the ficus expert.
User
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you! The leaves on top that you suggested removing are actually the ones I described as looking and feeling like cooked spinach. They're half limp, not crispy. Should I still remove them? I wasn't sure if they'd get stronger after being in the warmer air.
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Once leaf loss is underway, it's not unusual for the symptom to get worse, even while the cause of the symptom becomes less limiting as you're get watering under control. The reason is, once the shedding process reaches a critical point, it can't be reversed, so any leaves that already have/had abscission layers forming where the leaf is attached to the stem are destined to be shed. That sort of makes your job out to be getting the plant through the winter and into a state of vitality that will allow the plant to be repotted and subsequently pruned back. Once you do that and get the plant into a soil you can water correctly, you'll have a much different scenario. I various ways, I often point out that when using a water-retentive soil, you end up battling the medium for control of the plant's vitality. That's frustrating and no where near as rewarding as growing CAN be. Keep in mind that the 6-7 months you should wait to do the work is little more than a blink of an eye to a tree. This might sound corny or new agey, but if you settle yourself into the same rhythm the plants go through in their annual growth cycle so you can take advantage of their strengths and allow for their weaker times, you'll feel a much greater sense of unity with your plants. More knowledge, a better understanding of how plants work, and the confidence that comes from knowing you are acting with the best interest of the plant in mind (which can only increase your own gratification), all act to elevate the plane on which you interact with your plants. If you pare the reason you're here down to its bare bones, isn't it because you want more from the growing experience? Al
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Hi, Amy. Unlike animals/humans, plants don't grow new tissues in the same spatial planes as the damaged tissues, so the blemishes left by photo-oxidation (sunburn) will be a part of the leaf until it's shed or you snip it off. There are good soil and poor soils, with varying degrees of good and bad within the category. I don't think a soil can get a 'good' grade unless you can water plants in it to beyond saturation w/o having to worry the soil will remain soggy so long it has a notable impact on root health/function. It's hard to make a difference when you "amend" MG potting soil by adding perlite or even pine bark because in order to realize any significant increase in drainage and aeration, the coarse fraction of the ingredients needs to be several times larger than the MG you started with. Using the 5:1:1 mix as an example - it has 5 parts of pine bark of suitable size, one part perlite and one part peat or a soil like MG. That means it has 6 parts of coarse material and 1 part of fine material, which is where the superior aeration and drainage come from. It's kind of hard to say you amended your MG potting soil if it's only 1/7 of the total volume of the mix. I never start cuttings in water because of the issues associated with that practice. If, for some reason I HAD to start cuttings in water, I would move them out of water into a very well-aerated, damp/moist/never wet mix as soon as root primordia (the white bumps) became conspicuous. Good job, BTW. Al
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Try to get information in the houseplant section.
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The best place to get help is over in the house plants section. They are a wealth of information on house plant. This section is for edible figs so not the best place. Good luck.
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User
Original Author
8 years ago
Also - I forgot to mention that when I repotted them I put round river stones in the bottoms of both pots to help avoid root rot or water sitting in the bottoms of the pots. When I watered them after first repotting them I gave one cup each, and I've been misting them daily. If Al could offer some insight I would be appreciative!
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years ago
First, the entity you bought them from should have known better than to ship them if chill injury was a potential issue, so there is a good chance you could be refunded part or all of your purchase price, though you also bear a part of the responsibility for ordering at this time of year. Most sellers would rather have happy customers and would gladly reimburse you so you might buy from them again and not have a reason to let everyone within earshot know about your situation.

There isn't much you can do but wait to see how the plant handles the setback. "Give them light, warmth and make sure you don't over water" is good advice - particularly the "don't over-water" part, as the plant will be particularly susceptible to excess water in the root zone at this point. I'd just allow the plant to do its thing. I wouldn't remove leaves or add any "tonics" or fertilizer. If leaves become net users of energy rather than net producers, chemical messengers will tell the plant to shed those leaves. If the leaves aren't so badly damaged that the plant cannot "harvest" mobile/useable biocompounds from the leaves, leave the leaves on the tree until they dry up. If you remove any leaves, you should use a pair of scissors to cut through the petiole (leaf stem) somewhere between where the attachment points to the leaf and the trunk or branch. The stub will fall off on its own.

Maintaining trees in a container for the long term requires something of a plan and some effort along that long term path. I think the following two links will provide a good basic understanding of how to keep your plant in fine fettle for as long as you are tending to its needs.

About the cultural wants of Ficus in containers. The cultural wants of F lyrata are essentially the same as benjamina.

Maintain trees in pots for the long haul.

A basic overview might also be of interest, since you're an admitted beginner. It can help you avoid the most common 'issues' all container gardeners face at some point in their journey toward a green thumb.

Al

Fiddle Leaf Fig needs help

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Mentha (East TN, Zone 6B-7A)

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

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Mentha (East TN, Zone 6B-7A)

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

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