First, not that it's particularly important, but your tree isn't F benjamina, it's F. retusa, aka F. microcarpa. It looks like most of the branches have live terminal buds, so with good light & some TLC, it should bounce back - as long as it wasn't badly stressed when it shed its foliage, and has some energy in reserve. You might consider pulling it from the pot it's in and potting up into a larger pot so it can recover. It needs a LOT of pruning, but it would be better to wait until after the tree regains some vitality to do anything radical. How often you should fertilize depends on how freely your soil drains, your watering habits, and how robustly your tree is growing. If you water copiously when you water, and you should, try a full recommended strength application of a soluble fertilizer with a favorable NPK ratio every 2-3 weeks after the plant recuperates and is growing strong. Increase that interval to 3-4 weeks if the plant is sort of resting over winter, and now while it is bare of foliage. It IS a good guess that your plant is exhibiting a drought response from under-watering, but they react in the same fashion when over-watering or a high level of salts in the soil/soil solution is in play; so, blame whatever best fits ..... after shouldering your share. ;o) Al

Kris - I would pull it from the pot & set it on newspaper until it (the newspaper) wicked the excess moisture from the pot. If it's horribly root bound, I would pot up into a similar soil and nurse it through the winter. Some folks over on the houseplant forum advise misleadingly that you can repot houseplants any time (with impunity), or that repotting in the spring is a good practice; but winter and spring are the two worst times to repot or do any serious pruning above or below the soil line on houseplants. That work is best done when the plants are full of reserve energy and will have plenty of time (good light/long days) to recover after the work. Around Father's Day, a little earlier or a little later - depending on how far N or S you are, is a good time to repot any houseplants that aren't specifically 'winter growers'. Let me know how the roots look & we'll figure out the best plan. Al A willow leaf/narrow leaf Ficus just before pruning operations:

P77 - I've tended to hundreds of root-bound benjaminas and never seen (or read about) any leaf curl associated with the plant being pot-bound or dry. Ficus sheds interior and lower foliage and exhibits growth primarily at branch ends when roots are tight. Leaves turn yellow and abscise when the plant gets too dry. Branch extension also grinds to a near halt under root-bound conditions. Leaf curl generally means it's being exposed to extremely bright light (too bright) or nutritional deficiencies. Since your fertilizer contains zinc and manganese, the other two possibilities are molybdenum or Calcium. If it was molybdenum, foliage would be discolored - yellow or purplish. If you read the analysis of your fertilizer, you'll see that it contains no Ca, and probably contains very little or no Mg, so the only Ca it would be getting is what is in your tap water or what is residual in your soil (probably depleted). Since you never repotted, and I'm assuming you haven't potted up, I think that reinforces the likelihood of it being a Ca deficiency, which also fits the appearance of the leaves and the symptoms. What the plant needs is a full repot with root work, and a soil that allows you to water freely. Adopting a fertilizer (like Foliage-Pro 9-3-6) that supplies all the essential nutrients in a favorable ratio and a soil that allows you to water properly each time you water will go a LONG way toward your achieving the best opportunity for the plant to grow as close as possible to it's genetic potential. Let me know if you need more info on repotting vs potting-up, soils, or fertilizing. You might find the link below useful. Take care. Al Here is a link that might be useful: More about your Ficus

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