Droopy fiddle leaf fig

8 years ago

Hello!

For reference I am in Victoria BC Canada zone 9a.

I have a new (month old) fiddle leaf fig that isn't doing well.

I am not new to keeping plants and most of my 100 or so plants have been around for years. I have two other fiddle leaf figs that are without problems.

I am well versed on soil composition and how that relates to root health etc. All my plants except this one are in a gritty mix or a variation on it and are happy.

I did not repot this plant since it is winter; I was going to wait until the solstice.

Got this plant just after christmas and within a week it had dropped 6 leaves. I thought that might have been just it getting adjusted to it's new place.

Last week some leaves started getting droopy. Now every leaf is droopy.

The leaf stems all feel soft.

I have not watered it since I got it, but the soil at the drain hole is still moist.

It is in an west facing window. I could move it to a south facing if need be.

I'm assuming it has been over watered at the nursery.

I'm afraid that examining the roots will be too traumatic for it now, but I fear that it's on it's way out!

Also, the nursery it's from (Gardenworks in BC canada) has a "Green thumb guarantee" so I was thinking of calling them and seeing if I could get a replacement.

Day I got it:

Now

Thanks for reading!

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Comments (5)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years ago
Trees might react to cultural conditions (changes/limitations) immediately, but the symptoms often appear slowly, just as the results of less than perfect conditions might not be made conspicuously manifest until well after the plant was subjected to the cause. Very often, Ficus will be grown in full sun for a period, then acclimated to lower light levels for a period before shipping. At the time they are shipped, they might be stuck in a dark box or truck for several days, then jammed together indoors in a greenhouse or store where the lower leaves are completely shaded. The result of all this shading might not become conspicuous for 2 or more months after what caused it occurred.

If a grower can't figure out what's wrong by X-ing off all the most likely problems (over-watering/poor root health being a really big one, insects, disease, light, temperature, nutritional issues), it's often most productive to forget trying to isolate a single cause and concentrate on making sure all the cultural conditions the plant is influenced by are as close to the sweet spot as possible.

Have you grown other Ficus in the spot the one pictured is in and kept them happy?

Al
shaunamcg
Original Author
8 years ago
Hi Al!

Thank you so much for the reply.

We just moved into this house in December, so this is the first plant, ficus or otherwise, that has been in that spot.

Yesterday morning I moved it to a southern facing window in hopes that extra light will help.

This plant was a gift so I would like to keep it alive haha!
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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
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Pictures would help a lot; include the whole plant and one of the pot and soil. What did you do when you put it in the 17 inch pot? Put the existing rootball in the pot and surround it with fresh soil or remove the old soil and replace it? What kind of soil was it in and what kind of fresh soil was it? Was it rootbound? It's possible the new pot is too big, making the soil stay very wet for too long, causing roots to suffocate for lack of air to pull oxygen from. If so, the easiest remedy would be to put it back in the old pot and wait until June to repot in a faster draining highly aerated soil that would be harder to overwater. Meanwhile, check out the posts upthread about watering, using a dowel to check soil moisture, and the kinds of soil and light conditions lyratas do best in, and start to water only when the soil at the bottom is the pot is dry. Lenore
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After spending half an hour on the following post it occurred to me that a houseplant forum search for "nicking" might yield more accurate information. Sure enough, I found several threads containing Al's explanations, but I spent so much time on mine that I refuse to delete it!!!!! Here are a few of the threads. The nicking discussions aren't long but I think Al's post on the first link explains the effects of nicking vs pruning. Use the search box at the top of the page to find even more threads. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1458989/fiddle-leaf-fig-question?n=1 http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1465570/pruning-ficus-lyrata-to-branch?n=24 ******************* My now-superfluous post: Ah, I see; most people seem to call that nicking, not slitting. The reason you haven't found info on it is that few people do it, but Al has gone into it the few times he's been asked. I'll describe it as best I can from what I remember of his posts about it. Anyway, you would use a sharp sterilized (just in case) knife to cut a small horizontal wedge through the cambium (basically the living usually green layer under the bark) right above a leaf node. Nicking (or pruning) above a node stops the inhibitory hormone from the top of the tree from reaching it, letting it respond to hormones that direct it to grow. The same thing happens when you prune. Whether you prune or nick, the amount of back-budding you'll get depends on the plant's condition. IMO, if the stress that caused your ficus to drop leaves still exists, nicking or pruning won't have much (if any) effect so long as the plant is still under the stress that made it drop so many leaves. I'd guess that's because the weakened plant isn't producing the hormones that would stimulate growth above ground. That's been my experience. My ficuses didn't respond at all to tip-pinching last fall when they were still weak, but now after months of proper care and increased spring sunlight they're growing like crazy, including a lot of back-budding far back on its once-bare branches, without any intervention at all from me. I think that's an accurate description of what I've read!
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This looks like the fungaluglies at work, perhaps anthracnose. I'd remove the affected foliage with a sterile tool and dispose of the leaves in a sealed plastic bag or burn them. I'd also treat with a fungicide - a systemic would be most effective. Bayer's Disease Control for Roses/ Flowers/ Shrubs delivers the systemic 'tebuconazole' which is a very effective fungicide. As always, read/ follow directions and only spray outdoors. Al
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years ago
The key to growing a plant well is learning what is limiting it and correcting the limitation. Prolly 95% of the plants commonly discussed on this forum all pretty much want the same thing. A soil that you can keep moist/damp instead of wet/soggy, very good light, warm temps, and a good nutritional supplementation program. If you can get those bases covered (and it isn't all that difficult) you should end up with a healthy and attractive new addition. It might not happen overnight because plants have their own way of measuring time, but if you can provide a 'sweet spot' of cultural conditions and not ask the plant to tolerate what it's not programmed to tolerate, you should end up a pair of happy campers. Keep us posted and let us know if anything turns up that you need help with.

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shaunamcg
Original Author
8 years ago
Hi Al!

Thanks for the reply and the great advice.

I have read so many of your posts and your advice on soil composition, root health, and cultural conditions has really helped my plants thrive over the years :)

However, this plant is not so good. Every leaf is now brown and shriveled and crispy and the branches are starting to shrivel too.

The soil at the drain hole is still rather moist (I haven't watered it since I got it early January). I'm suspecting the roots are no good.

I'm going to call the nursery and confirm their return policy but I keep forgetting.

I knew the soil wasn't the best and it was really root bound, but I guess I was hoping it could hold out until a better time to repot.

Thanks again!
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Does the tree seem steady in the pot or unstable, the later potentially confirmation of the root issues you suspect.

Thanks for the kind comments, BTW - appreciated.

Al

Droopy fiddle leaf fig

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

shaunamcg
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Droopy fiddle leaf fig

Comments (5)

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

shaunamcgOriginal Author

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

shaunamcgOriginal Author

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

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BUSINESS SERVICES

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shaunamcg
Original Author

shaunamcg
Original Author