This isn't an ideal time for repotting and root work. June would have been the best time.

You waited 6 days to water and the mix was dry? Why did you wait so long?

sounds like you haven't watered enough and the tree is also stressed from the repot.

was it getting full sun prior?

Dave,

Thanks for your input. To clarify, I watered the mix thoroughly the next morning (last Thursday) after repotting on Wednesday evening. So it wasn't a significantly long wait, though perhaps I should have done it right away. I thought I shouldn't water immediately after repotting because I had kept the roots very wet throughout the process and I knew to wait to water with succulents. Of course, a ficus is different than succulents and after reading some more online I decided to give it a good drink.

I was away for the weekend and returned last night. I have not watered it since that full watering on Thursday. Since I checked today and it is dry, should go ahead and water now?

Should I prune now too? Or wait another week or so?

You make a good point about how the tree might be struggling because I repotted so late. I thought it would be ok since I live in the South, there is still lots of new growth on the ficus, and it won't get cool until at least November, more likely December. Of course, since I'm a tree newbie, I was probably mistaken.

Before I got the tree, it was in a semi-shaded spot outdoors that would get full sun in the afternoon. I could move it to a spot that will give it full sun in the afternoon here on my patio if you think that would be best. I have it semi-shaded now because I thought I'd let it rest and recover.

It's not about how warm it is, it's about the length of daylight. That's how the tree knows what time of year it is. The tree will have the most stored energy in late June during summer solstice, when days are the longest. That's why that time of year is the very best time to repot.

Days are significantly shorter now then they were in June.

Yes, if it's dry, water it throughly now. Keep checking the mix daily and water as needed.

If it's hot there, you could need to water every other day.

As I said, the tree is liekely stressed from the repot and maybe also drought stressed on top of that.

I'd wait to prune and just let it be for now, keeping it watered as needed.

The rest of the growth appears heathy, so hopefully it'll rebound.

For what it's worth, I repotted a large ficus in late May and didn't get any leaf drop.

Yes more water! I might add, I soak my bark before using it in mix since its a little hydrophobic out of the bag- since it dried out over 6 hot days, give the guy a biiiig drink letting water flow out the bottom of the pot, wait a few minutes and water again, the bark takes time to saturate- I think the shade is better, and as for pruning I'll let someone better comment- no doubt it needs water though.

Another thing- its good to raise the pot out of the saucer or ground by setting it on something, so it doesn't sit in water. I use pot feet or just some stones and stick a bowl or saucer underneath if its indoors.

Ok, thank you both for your comments! I just gave it a very big drink of water and will go back in a bit to give it some more water. I probably shouldn't have gone out of town so soon after repotting. I watered it so much on Thursday so I thought it would be fine to go without watering for four days. Little did I know.... I think I'll definitely have to water it every couple of days in this Texas heat.

Dave, the repotting season being important due to the length of the day over the temperatures makes so much sense. I wish I had realized this earlier. :/ While it is still warm and summery here, I have noticed it getting darker earlier.

elevensixty, good tip on propping up the pot on stones in the saucer. I tilted both the pot and saucer after the first part of watering to get any retaining water out. Will have to do that again. As for the mix, I had soaked all of the gritty mix prior to repotting but the mix had dried out almost completely by the time I actually used it.

I think the gritty mix takes a lot of getting used to.

Had you used it prior? If one is used to watering a plant in a peat based mix, gritty is a whole different story and you'd kind of need to re learn how much and when to water.

This is my first large plant in the gritty mix. I've only had experience with miracle-gro type mixes, and my problems used to be that I would over-water and have gnats and root rot.

I recently repotted some small succulents and a pothos into the gritty mix for the first time. They've been in it for over a month and have been doing great. This ficus is a whole new ballgame for me. I really appreciate your help!

About 15 mins ago I gave it about 1.5 gallons of water and am about to go water it again (and then tilt it to eliminate any PWT). I believe the ficus is in a 5 gallon container. How many gallons of water do you think I should be aiming to give it?

I'm not sure how much. But water until 15-20% of the volume comes out the drain hole.

You need to check the mix every day, especially since it's so hot there.

Got it. Thanks.

Looking forward to a positive update soon :D

Hey Dave and elevensixty! I just wanted to give y'all an update and ask a few more questions! I'd be happy to hear anybody else's input too.

Over the last two weeks, the leaves on the lower branches have stopped yellowing and dropping, whew! It seems like it's finally stabilizing and there's some new growth:

It's starting to cool down in San Antonio to the 60s at night, though it still gets up to the 80s-90s in the daytime and there's lots of sunlight. I've been watering it thoroughly when it seems dry about 2 times a weel.

My questions are:

1) Should I do any top pruning right now? The tree is very uneven but that isn't bothering me. It lost so many of the bottom leaves so I'm also hesitant to chop any of the upper branches off. However, I want to do what's best for it. If I should prune the branches, how much should I do? It seems the two tallest branches could do with a trim.

2) I was planning to bring it inside for the winter. How do I go about bringing it inside without causing it another shock? How cold should temperatures get before I bring it inside? I have a brightly lit west-facing bay window I would put it next to (and it is facing the same direction it currently faces).

3) Is it too late in the year and too early after being repotted to start fertilizing it? I have dyna-gro 9-3-6.

Thanks in advance!

I would bring it in when the temps stay in the 40's. Put it in your brightest window. You could give some time release since you live in a high light area your plants should be fine.

I live in Florida, both your plants grow in the ground here in full, hot sun. The temps in winter can get to the high 30's and they don't seem affected at all.

They look good,

Jane

If it were mine, I'd bring it in when nighttime temps start to consistently stay at or below 50° to 55°.

It will survive into the 40's, but that's not what it would prefer.

Place it right up in front (so the leaves are almost touching) of a southern facing window that's free of trees and other building blocking the sun. Direct sun through a window is fine. It's being filtered by a glass and not actually direct anyway.

id let it grow right now and do any pruning in the late spring. You'll probably get some long leggy growth over the winter anyway. Cut it back and place it outside when nightime temps stay over 55° again next year.

Looks good!

Thank you Jane and Dave! Temps wont get down to the low/mid 50s until later this month, so I'll bring it in then to be safe.

Dave, would you agree that it is fine to fertilize right now?

Yes, since it's been a couple weeks and is showing new growth, you can fertilize. Use foliage pro 9-3-6 if possible.

Great. That's what I bought based on recommendations from the forum. I appreciate your help!

I've repotted Ficus Benjamina into gritty and modified gritty mix in my hot/dry interior SoCal area. When it is warm, I water twice a day for the first few days and keep it completely in the shade until I see new growth. The humidity here is just too low to pot it, water, and then wait a few days to water again.

The days are plenty long here for growth in winter and San Antonio is a bit south from here. As long as the winter temps don't get too low, I would leave them outside in an are where they are protected from winter winds. Mine are fine near the house and we usually get a few freezes here most winters. I've only had damage when we get the rare low 20 degree weather and even then, the ones I have on the porch near my front door are fine.

BTW, I always get some leaf yellow and dropping even if I just move a Ficus so that is probably some of the problem.

Greg, how often do you need to water once the tree gets going in the gritty mix? I need to decide whether to use gritty or 511 when I repot my benjaminas next June. I'd rather use gritty mix, but daytime RH is in the single digits for months at a time here, and I'd rather not need to water daily.

The 5:1:1 mix is great and I use it for all of my ficus. It does break down though. Something you don't really have to worry about as much with the gritty mix.

Yeah, that's why I'm torn, Dave, because I'm not clear on how often ficus (and schefflera, my other set of plants) will need repotting, assuming they're not limited by other factors.

Actually, I probably shouldn't fret, because from I've read the gritty mix can be adjusted to hold more water by using a larger proportion of Turface or peat, which would increase water retention while keeping it durable.

To continue on this tangent, there's this: if the only difference between an adjusted gritty mix and 5:1:1 mix is durability, why bother having both?

Geez, I must be missing something. Maybe I should go back and reread some of Al's materials...

Sorry for the diversion, thepleiades!

litterbuggy,

The watering in my gritty with some increased water retention varies according to the weather. Once established, once a day on the very hot/dry days down to 10 days on the coolest/damp days.

I owned a house in Park City for 30 years. In the winter, the inside humidity is insanely low. I can see that being a problem with plants inside. Clearly Ficus don't survive outside in Northern UT in winter.

I'm not using any peat for anything as that breaks down. I'm seeing the advantage of gritty as extending the need to repot. I'm seeing the disadvantage as weight.

Hi y'all, I hope your plants are doing well this winter!

I wanted to check in to make sure I'm taking care of my ficus properly now that I've moved it indoors. I used to water it 2-3 times a week outdoors with a full gallon of water + DynaGro FoliagePro 9-3-6 liquid fertilizer. It responded very well to this treatment and new leaves grew to replace the initial shed it underwent when I repotted. San Antonio started getting into the 30s and 40s so I brought it inside during November.

Now that it's indoors in front of this second-story west facing window, I've started watering it once every week and a half (or once I watered it after two weeks). I also use about a half gallon of water. I am still fertilizing it. I have it raised in a clay tray on top of some marbles so it doesn't stand in water. Plus I have a plastic tray underneath the clay one to hold excess water.

It's probably been getting more sunshine than it used to when it was outdoors, because it used to be on a shaded patio and now it gets lots of sunshine from this window.

Now for my questions! Many leaves have been yellowing and dropping in the past couple of weeks. Do you all think this is just a normal response to a somewhat finicky plant like a ficus benjamina being moved to a new environment? Or am I perhaps watering it too much? Or did I not water it enough (like that time I accidentally didn't water it for two weeks)?

Pics!

Oh and I forgot to add that I have been rotating it every few days to make sure each side of the plant gets even sunlight.