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Ficus benjamina has lost over 60% of its leaves since September. Help!

caitlin_flegel36

8 years ago

Got the ficus in excellent condition in September from a local nursery. Had them repot it into new pot before leaving nursery. Brought it home and it has just gone downhill ever since. It is dropping green, healthy looking leaves. They curl a bit before falling and are not yellowing at all. I have moved it a number of times not realizing that it was ill advised. However it was within the same room so I don't think temp or light fluctuated that much as a result. It is not near any sources of cold or heat. I was watering it every couple of weeks when the soil was dry. It is near two windows. One small one above the tree that is west facing and a large one that is south facing. Today I noticed when I water it, there is quite a bit of drain off and it fills the saucer and then the tree would sit in that. I have remedied this by placing the tree pot on top of a wire basket to allow for lots of drainage and no chance of standing water. I have placed a chopstick into the soul about 2-3 inches to test for dryness going forward. There was one whole branch that was complete dead down to the pot that I have pruned away. The bark sloughed off easily at the lower part and smelled of ammonia. Almost like urine. No idea what that indicates. There is new growth at the base of one of the braids and in the canopy as well. However the new leaves also drop. I have read Als entire post of ficus and am leaning towards too infrequent of watering coupled with to much volume of water at each watering. Please help me.

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Comments (5)

Dave
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
First off, you should prop the tree much higher so it's foliage is actually in front of that window. Right now, being just below it, it's definitely not getting enough light. You need to have the tree right up in front of a window (southern is best).

Second, from the fact that you mentioned the tree sat in water in the saucer, it's likely been over watered and killed off some roots.

Water when the first two inches of soil are dry or when the soil at the drain hole is dry. Your soil currently looks very moist.

90% of people seem to kill ficus by over watering and that seems to be the case here. Cut back on watering now to save your tree. You might want to also remove it from the pot, inspect roots (they shouldn't be brown and mushy) and leave it un potted on some newspaper overnight to help pull out excess water.

also, do not fertailize right now.

you can prune away any dead branches, it looks like there are many of them. If you're not sure if a branch is dead, scratch it with your fingernails. If it's green, it's alive, if not, it's dead.

Read this, it'll help you: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1476078/ficus-trees-in-containers-iv
caitlin_flegel36
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank for the advice. I have read that entire article already. The soil does look moist as I just watered it before taking the photo. It had not been watered prior to that since the first week of January. I gave it a through water this morning and allowed all the water to drain off. There is a second window not seen in those photos. It is large and south facing.

I will prune off the dead branches today. Can you recommend a good article for purring branches and checking the roots?

thanks again.
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Ficus benjamina droppiing leaves.
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Comments (11)
Toni is right in advising you to inspect carefully for insects - particularly scale and mites. Scale are evidenced by small bumps on leaves and stems/soft branches. They can be removed mechanically with a toothpick or other such object. Mites will leave a yellow residue or can be seen if you hold a white piece of paper under leaves and tap branches to dislodge them. They will look something like moving specks of fine pepper on the paper. Even though it's apparent your problem isn't due to under-fertilizing, I would like to take a second to point out again, that the advice to "never fertilize a sick plant. You cant feed a sick plant into health ..." should not be given as a blanket statement. There are so many instances where the plant is struggling or in decline from a nutritional deficiency that the ONLY way to reverse the decline is to fertilize. I have pointed this out a number of times on this forum after similar statements. I may not understand you correctly, but it seems as though you are saying that because you have watered in a particular manner for an extended period, that it eliminates the idea that the problem might have arisen as the result of watering methods. Since the effects of salts from fertilizer and irrigation water are accumulative and take time, it would be a little like saying, "I've been tossing a few pennies into this jar every day for over a year and it's never been full; so it can't be overflowing." It sounds like a high fertility/salts level is a very likely suspect - especially if you can eliminate a pest infestation. Fertilizer stakes/strips don't fertilize just one area of the container. The fertilizer is soluble & dissolves in water. The water diffuses in the soil and the entire root mass is fertilized - as long as it is damp. Farmers often side-dress their crops so fertilizer can disperse in the soil as water diffuses, and the self watering containers with a fertilizer strip on top seem not to lack in fertilizer dispersal - even tough they are not top watered. You didn't mention how root-bound the plant is, or how long it has been since the last repot (potting-up). Tight roots can also cause the symptoms you describe. Al
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There are a number of reasons your ficus might be shedding foliage, so it's hard to point to any singular cause w/o some hands-on observation. If you haven't repotted since you received it, you might consider potting up to a slightly larger pot after cutting the bottom off the root mass & some vertical slits in the roots that remain after the bottom is cut off. This won't remedy the larger problem of an entirely congested root mass, but it will allow the plant to grow a little better. Please read the link that Tiffany provided, with an eye out for anything that jumps out at you as a potential issue. The major causes of leaf loss are tight roots, a decrease in photo-period or photo-intensity, and drought response due either to over or under-watering. The under-watering might be a byproduct of root congestion or soil compaction. Be careful not to over-water now, as the plant sheds foliage. Fewer leaves means a reduction in the amount of water the plant uses, so you'll need to adjust how often you water. Al
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If the shop owner holds tight to the idea that his instructions were on target, I have to seriously question his expertise/judgment, regardless of his credentials or how long he has been selling plants. This is stuff that every hobby grower learns in Ficus 101, and he should know better. Scoot on over to the Houseplant Forum and ask about a watering regimen if you have reservations about accepting one person's (that would be me) ;o) assessment of your plight. I won't be offended. "Is root rot reversible?" I want to remain technically correct, so I have to say NO. Dead, rotted tissue is just that - DEAD. You cannot bring it back to life. Trees are not like people, in that they do not form new cells in old places - they are not regenerative. Trees are generative, which means that as they grow, they form new cells in new places. In order to correct the root rot, you'll need to depot the tree, remove the soil, and prune rotted tissues back to beyond the point where they are viable. Alternately, if you're not up to the root work, you can try depotting the plant & leaving it set on newspapers over night. This should dry the soil out & you can then return the plant to its container and begin watering appropriately as required, and hope. "Is it necessary to mist the plant daily?" NO There is plenty of scientific evidence to support the idea that misting is more apt to be harmful than beneficial (see my post) and refute the idea that it is necessary or even marginally effective. "The owner of the shop keeps all of his Ficus trees outside in full sun during the day. So, when I received my ficus, the lighting conditions drastically changed. The owner of the shop stated that my leaf loss was due to the fact that my ficus was adjusting to my new environment and lighting conditions. It can take at least 4 to 6 weeks (or longer) for it to acclimate and I should not worry. Is this true?" While it's true, as noted above, that a reduction in light levels between the outdoor conditions at the plant store and your home can cause the leaf abscission, it's NOT true that it's no cause for concern. Your plant should have more stored energy now than at any other point in the growth cycle. Instead, the tree's food-making ability has vanished with the leaves (so the tree is operating on stored energy), PLUS, the tree will have to expend nearly ALL of its energy reserves to push a new flush of growth. Your tree is much closer to needing intensive care than it is to a worry-free winter vacation. I'm not going to go into the insect/disease thing, other than to say that the leaf 'disease' is likely a product of oedema due to over-watering. Of course he's "surprised" your plant has an insect infestation. Based on his reluctance to step up to the plate so far, I wouldn't expect any other reaction, unless it was to blame the bugs on you. ;o) Forget the water meter. They don't measure moisture - they measure EC (electrical conductivity). To test this idea - stick the probe in a cup of distilled water and notice that it reads 'DRY'. Dissolve a tsp of salt in the water and it becomes 'WET'. It is better at measuring fertility levels (the level of dissolved solids [salts] in the soil solution) than moisture levels. Al
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Comments (16)
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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Dave
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
You should put the tree right in front of the large southern facing window. Light coming through the window, even a few feet away is much less intense than right in front of it. I'd place the tree right next to that wooden chair so the leaves are a few inches from that window. Rotate the tree 1/4 turns weekly.

as far as pruning, all you're doing here is cutting off the dead parts. scratch a small amount of bark, if it's dead, follow the branch back and keep scratching every inch or so till you see green. Cut the obvious dead branches off.

roots should be firm and white to tan. If they are dark and mushy, they've rotted.

Bottom line, three tree has been over watered. It may be in too large of a pot so that the soil doesn't dry enough. Remove it from the pot and check to see how wet the soil is at the bottom.

Ficus seem to be able to handle drought much better then being over watered.

this may give you an idea about their light requirements. Mine, pictured below, is right in front of a southern window with the addition of five 250w lights above and it still could use much more light. I place mine outside in full direct sun from Memorial Day until mid September when temps start to drop. That's the only time it thrives. The rest of the year is just tolerates.

I've cut it back pretty heavily since September when it came inside.

Outside last summer it was MUCH fuller:

the tree above was not much larger than yours prior to being placed outside for the summer. It literally grew a few feet in every direction and produced probably 1000 extra leaves.
caitlin_flegel36
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for all the advice. I have moved the pot closer to the south window and pruned all the dead branches out. It wasn't as many branches as I anticipated. There is actually a bunch of new growth which is very promising.

I hope that between the pruning, the increased lighting, and drainage situation solved that she spruces right up.

Cheers
Dave
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Move the tree into direct sun outside when the nighttime temps get above 60°. That is when you'll see the tree spruce up. Until then, it'll just be hanging on.

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