Fiddle Leaf was... Chopped Down.
cefandl
7 years ago
Hi, this is kind of embarrassing. My preschooler kind of snapped the fiddle leaf stems. Below the leaves. I cut with sheers to make the broken stems clean at least. Really, I'm just wondering if they are done-zo now? Should I just get another one, or do these guys come back from something like this? Thank you!
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Dave
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoNeed2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal)
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Suggestions for pruning this fiddle leaf fig tree
Comments (7)I hope my concern is for naught and the roots weren't as dry as they look in the picture. It's important to keep the roots moist at all times while working on them. I usually work quickly to remove as much soil as I can in a minute or so, then complete the work over a tub of water so I can keep dipping the roots in water as I work. If the roots DID get too dry and you lost most of the fine roots, which are the most important, I don't think your tree will die, but it's likely to defoliate. If you DID keep the roots moist during the repot, disregard what I said or let it serve as reinforcement for when you embark on your next adventure. ;-) The first time is always the hardest. Best luck - keep us posted! Al...See MoreFiddle Leaf Fig Recovery (Post Repot)
Comments (66)Ficus tends to tolerate root conditions better than most plants. I've seen plants that had been growing in 2 or 3 gallon pots so long there was only a cup or two of soil left, all the rest having gassed off over time and the near solid tangle of roots pressed into service as the root's only home. Almost always, trees like that are circling the drain. Sometimes, when the additional stress of repotting is imposed on plants so lacking in vitality, it's is enough to separate them from their tenuous hold on life, but often they can be turned around very quickly if the grower has a reasonable plan. I'm sure your plant is no where near as far gone as what I described, which is a good reason to be quite unconcerned about your trees viability for the next half year or so. As long as you don't over-water, you should be fine. So, start actually monitoring the soil's moisture levels and only water when the soil first becomes dry, or immediately before. If you're going to continue to water in sips to avoid over-watering, and that leaves you concerned about a high level of salts in the soil, flush the soil thoroughly the next time it needs water and maybe every 6th watering after that. It would be a good idea to fertilize immediately after every flushing. If after flushing your soil gets so soggy you're worried about the impact on root health/function, there are ways to avoid that. In fact, there are an untold number of tips and tricks that will have you at green thumb status in no time, if you have the time to do some reading and assemble the pieces of the puzzle. This link has info that should provide the largest single step forward you can take as a container gardener. Al...See MoreLots Of small brown Dots on fiddle leaf fig - Ficus lyrata
Comments (52)The larger holes/damage in the small leaf you're holding look like mechanical injury - what would be akin to a bruise to a human. The spots on the underside of the leaf are oedema. I've written about that & I'll leave something about it at the end of my post. Usually the driving cause behind its occurrence is over-watering, but there are several cultural contributes that can also cause or exacerbate the malady. Using a "tell" to tell you when it's time to water will help you determine what moisture conditions are deeper in the pot. I'll also leave something about that, below. If you have interest, there are some other things that can help alleviate the impact of excess water, which causes a dearth of air in the soil, which causes limited root function and poor root health. Just ask if you have interest. FWIW, I'd guess that over-watering is directly or indirectly responsible for the overwhelming % of requests for help on all fora with strong connections to container growing. Oedema Oedema is a physiological disorder that can affect all plants. It occurs when the plant takes up more water than it can rid itself of via the process of transpiration. The word itself means 'swelling', which is usually the first symptom, and comes in the form of pale blisters or water-filled bumps on foliage. Under a variety of circumstances/cultural conditions, a plant's internal water pressure (turgidity) can become so high that some leaf cells rupture and leak their contents into inter-cellular spaces in leaf tissue, creating wet or weepy areas. Symptoms vary by plant, but as the malady progresses, areas of the leaf turn yellow, brown, brown with reddish overtones or even black, with older damage appearing as corky/ scaly/ ridged patches, or wart/gall-like bumpy growth. Symptoms are seen more frequently in plants that are fleshy, are usually more pronounced on the underside of leaves, and older/lower leaves are more likely to be affected than younger/upper leaves. Oedema is most common in houseplants during the winter/early spring months, is driven primarily by excessive water retention in the soil, and can be intensified via several additional cultural influences. Cool temperatures, high humidity levels, low light conditions, or partial defoliation can individually or collectively act to intensify the problem, as can anything else that slows transpiration. Nutritional deficiencies of Ca and Mg are also known contributors to the malady. Some things that can help you prevent oedema: * Increase light levels and temperature * Monitor water needs carefully – avoid over-watering. I'd heartily recommend a soil with drainage so sharp (fast) that when you to water to beyond the saturation point you needn't worry about prolonged periods of soil saturation wrecking root health/function. Your soil choice should be a key that unlocks the solutions to many potential problems. * Avoid misting or getting water on foliage. It slows transpiration and increases turgidity. * Water as soon as you get up in the AM. When stomata close in preparation for the dark cycle, turgidity builds. If you water early in the day, it gives the plant an opportunity to remove (for its own needs) some of the excess water in the soil. * Put a fan in the room or otherwise increase air flow/circulation. Avoid over-crowding your plants. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support good root health, which is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to a build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al...See MoreRepotting a Fiddle Leaf Fig - trouble finding substrates!
Comments (45)1) By volume 2) An entire book could be written about how to water. The best way to water is: Add enough water to ensure the entire soil mass is moist/damp. Wait a few minutes, around 10, and water again so at least 15-20% of the total volume of water applied exits the pot. The pot should not rest in the effluent because this provides a pathway for the salts you flushed from the soil to make their way back into the pot. With a pathway back into the pot, the level of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil solution quickly reaches a state of isotonicity (balance) with the level of dissolved solids in the effluent, negating your efforts to flush the soil. I set my pots up on pieces of plastic channel so they are well above any effluent that drains into the saucer. The water in the collection saucer usually evaporates within a day or two, but how quickly that occurs depends on factors like RH, air movement, and temps. 3) It depends on the plant. Some plants get divided & repotted, but for most plants I like to repot in an appropriate month (usually June) by bare-rooting, root pruning, and transplanting into an appropriate soil. For my own purposes, I consider an appropriate soil to be one I can water to beyond saturation - so I'm flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids (mineral salts) each time I water, w/o my having to worry about root rot or depressed root function over long periods (days) because the soil tends to remain soggy interminably. 4) The worse your soil is, the more advantage pots made of unglazed clay or other gas permeable materials provide. Soils like these already have excellent gas exchange due to meritable air porosity, so the advantage in using gas permeable pots is reduced, but not absent. 5) The 1:1:1 ratio should serve you well indoors/Boston. Because my focus is primarily on bonsai, I grow a lot of plants in small soil volumes. I generally water on a 4 -5 day rotation, but I have a half dozen plants I water lightly after 3 days, then again on the 4th or 5th day. Last week, RH was very high, and the heating system didn't run much, so the interval was stretched to 6 days - same this week, it appears. The fast draining soils are a big help to me in that they allow me to water on a schedule instead of on a plant by plant basis. I enjoy nurturing and doing creative things with plants, but the thought of having to keep track of a watering program on a plant by plant basis isn't appealing to me. I noticed that you're 'following'. I appreciate that - thank you. Al...See Morecefandl
7 years agoDave
7 years agocefandl
7 years agoDave
7 years ago
socks
7 years agomarandpar
7 years agocefandl
7 years ago
GreenLarry
7 years agocefandl
7 years agocefandl
7 years agoSo Larry clearly you have an eye for these things because I never saw them. But indeed there are buds opening on the tree. Should I bring back inside now or continue to keep outside until they open? There are about 6-8 little buds though the picture is really only showing a couple.
Dave
7 years agocefandl
7 years agoSo the leaves are definitely coming out like crazy now, but I do notice on a few of them, they have the tiniest little holes in them. Is this from the sun or a pest? We haven't had hardly any strong sun here at all. Very overcast. Here's a pic.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
7 years agocefandl
7 years agocefandl
7 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
7 years agocefandl
7 years agocefandl
7 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
7 years agocefandl
7 years agocefandl
7 years agocefandl
7 years agoDave
7 years agocefandl
7 years agoNeed2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal)
7 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
7 years agocefandl
7 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agolmontestella
7 years agocefandl
7 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
7 years agoYes - wait until it needs water. Flush the soil thoroughly, then tip the pot at a 45* angle & wait for it to stop draining. Compare B to A below to see how much more water will drain from your pot if you tip it.
Then fertilize with a teaspoon of fertilizer in 2 quarts of water and tip the pot again.
Alcefandl thanked tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)cefandl
7 years ago
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)