Would someone mind sharing if there is a way to get my flf back to the condition that it was in when I first brought it home? For the most part its been doing well, does not appear to be growing. When reduced to its elemental form, elevating your tree to a higher state of vitality is going to be a function of how good you are at providing cultural conditions in the plant's sweet spot, instead of close to or beyond the limits it's (genetically) programmed to tolerate. So, it can be done fairly easily, but you'll need to make some adjustments if the decline is to be reversed. If a plant is truly not growing, it is not making more energy than it's using, and that's a bad place to be ..... for a plant. When I brought it home in September it was much fuller near the base of each secondary branch. I have a good handle on watering and it is in a well draining mix from a greenhouse. When it was deemed time to water I would do so and then within a day or two it would drop a few leaves. This trend continued until I started adding foliage pro to each watering. I’m really annoyed by that because I was assured that the tree had plenty of fertilizer in the pot, I can even see the little green balls all over in the growing medium. I am thinking that I could have avoided it losing the ~30 leave it lost slowly after each watering before introducing foliage pro, back in December. Since using foliage pro I have had zero leaves drop. Some nutrients, like nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and magnesium are mobile in the plant. That is to say the plant can "steal" these nutrients from existing foliage and move it to where it's needed to support branch extension and growth of new leaves. Other nutrients, like calcium and several micronutrients are regarded as immobile in tissues and must be in the nutrient stream at all times in order for normal growth to occur. If the FP fertilizer curbed leaf loss, it's a good bet the leaves were being exploited for their nutrients and other bio-compounds prior to being shed. I would like to know the best time and if someone could also give me an idea on where to make the cuts for the hard prune that would be great too. I live in Chicago and all posts I’ve read say that late June would be best for a hard prune. I’m willing to do a hard prune, I’m excited to do it and see the rewards. I just need more information on how to do it properly. Good to see you come pre-armed with some knowledge of how to work with the plant's natural rhythms in order to help the plant recover faster from any extensive work you might do - primarily repotting and hard pruning. I think we're gradually changing minds with regard to the idea that a plant's foliage is sacred and not to be cut off under any circumstances. Growth is often viewed as so special that the plants appearance is sacrificed on its altar. I would do the pruning around Father's Day/ Summer Solstice. As soon as the plant starts to back-bud - you can repot (if it needs it, and it probably does). The pruning will be really easy and possibly done in 2 stages, depending on how close to the trunk the foliage is on each branch. Why not send a set of 4 images of the tree, rotating the tree 90* for each subsequent image in early June. Basically, you'll choose the leader, then prune all second order branches back to 1 or 2 leaves. The leader will be one node higher than the second order branches. A hard pruning represents a setback for the plant because you're removing growth that's been paid for. Living in CHI, you'll want to let your tree grow wild (unpruned or pinched) from Sep 1 to at least Jun 1. Then, pinch religiously from Jun 1 to Sep 1, such that when ANY branch shows a 3rd leaf that's open and moving toward maturity, pinch that branch back to 2 leaves. Soon, you'll be removing branches to let light and air movement into the canopy because it's too full. I have to do that to ALL of my trees older than a couple of years for health and to slow growth. BTW - your tree appears to have a very good basic structure to build on - so, good choice. Al

Hello Everyone!!! Just wanted to come over and say hi to to all and make a few comments.. I did as you said mbntn74 and came back to read as if I was a " newbie"... Here is my take on the matter... We welcome all type of new people and we love the enthusiasm that they bring to the forums as well. Most of us come here to relax and post when we can and offer help when it's possible ( I work a lot of long crazy hours) so when I do read or post it's a way to relax. You initial post was a kind post with a lot of questions that asked things like " exactly". Sometimes it takes time to figure out what, when , where and how a new plant will react to your house . It depends on where its located, is it near heat? Ac vents? A southern Window? So many things to think about before you start to ask about how do I take this beautiful tree and give it a major overhaul before I know why I need too! Al was just trying to help you with links to guide you in a direction so it would be more helpful so that you can make the decisions for your own tree. He is very knowledgeable in most house plants issues and can point you to the information that you are inquiring about. Sometimes it might seem like others want one person to make up their own minds for them on soil, water, container, and mix before they really understand what's available and why you should pick the right one for you.. He really is a very patient person who helps so many people. Al has taught me so many different ways on growing, repotting and the overall care that I have learned to make my trees healthier. It took time to learn and it doesn't come on the tree ( tag instructions) for us... I hope you will go back and you reread this thread and see where Al was trying to send you so you could sit back and understand things before you take your beautiful tree that you have and start in on it without knowing why or what you are trying to gain. We really enjoy having all of our friends make offerings to help us when we have questions.. So I hope that you understand what I'm trying to explain to you. Good luck to you and your new trees! They are beautiful and I'm sure you will find what you are looking for once you spend a few minutes reading some great informative post that will help you and most importantly, help the overall health of your new trees!!! Perched water does exist and I have seen it in containers from long ago up until now with my mixes. Using a good fast draining mix makes it much less, but you will always have a little.. Just tilt your pot!!! Great points ronalawn!!! Great thread.. Hope I helped in some small way!! Thank you Al for all you do!!! I have learned so much from you and I will say that I'll always be learning ... It just doesn't end!!! Happy Gardening to you all... Laura

Just to be accurate, pruning doesn't promote growth, in fact, the practice is a setback to growth and the lost potential can never be regained. Pruning temporarily alters the growth habit of the plant by interfering with the balance of growth regulators. Once the growth regulators regain their natural balance, the plant reverts to it's former growth habits. Now, just because I said that pruning sets back growth and the lost potential can't be regained doesn't mean I think pruning is bad. I mean, I DO think bad (inappropriate) pruning is bad, but appropriate pruning is good .... even when you're pruning roots. For the most part, I'm not interested in growing a plant unless it can be pruned or otherwise manipulated into a form that is both evocative and natural in appearance, so I'm a strong proponent of getting rid of what doesn't look good or pruning in order to produce a desirable outcome. If you want growth low on the trunks, you need to get the plant healthy and prune fairly hard while the plant is growing well - in summer. If you're interested, we can talk in more exact terms, but the generalities would go something like this: * Get the plant outdoors as soon as temps allow so you can get the plant started on the road back to good health. * Get and keep your watering under control until after you repot, when your soil should do 90% of the regulating - removing that burden from your shoulders. * Get started on a good nutritional supplementation program and stick to it. It will be VERY easy once you repot into an appropriate medium. * Don't prune until after you've repotted into an appropriate soil and the plant is pushing new growth. * Once you see new growth after repotting, prune back hard. * Force the tree to become full by constant pinching. Whenever a branch has 3 or 4 leaves on it, cut it back (pinch it) to 2 leaves. You'll get a new branch from the axil (crotch) of each leaf. When these new branches have 3-4 leaves, pinch back to 2 leaves again. No branch should ever have more than 4 leaves and no branches should have older leaves dropping off unless there is a branch in the leaf axil. If you start planning now (and you live in the Northern Hemisphere), you should be able to have your plant back on track by August. Al

I watered him only when the top inch felt dry and gave him lots of indirect sunlight. However, in the past couple of days, I've noticed brown spots/speckles on the lower leaves and the stems. I have also been reading similar posts from other members and Al's explanations, so I'm assuming the problem is mainly due to overwatering, root rot and/or insects. I also am seeing the fiddle's roots on top of the soil so the best bet seems to be repotting. Having come to this conclusion, I am planning to repot the guy by following Al's famous gritty mix recipe. The brown specks on the leaves are likely oedema, which occurs when the plant's internal water pressure becomes high enough to break through cell walls. The cell's contents then burst and leak into intercellular spaces in the surrounding tissue, which causes a saturated spot that eventually turns corky. The elongated spots on stem structures are openings in the stem's young periderm (bark) called lenticels. Their job is to provide openings through which internal gasses can escape and oxygen from surrounding air can enter the plant's tissue, which requires this gas exchange to remain viable. There is one question, however, that I have not been able to find an answer to anywhere in the forums (or perhaps I'm not researching hard enough). When repotting, am I supposed to remove/cut off the affected leaves? No. A plant's only source of food/energy is the sugar it makes during photosynthesis (glucose). Since every leaf is a food factory, removing them leaves the plant very vulnerable - especially so if it has been growing under stress or strain, leaving it w/o enough energy reserves to push a new flush of foliage. None of my leaves have crispy brown tips, mostly brown speckles on the back of the leaves as well as all over the stems (petiole?). I have seen some people cut away parts of the affected leaves, but that doesn't seem like the best option for me as the speckles are not necessarily concentrated in specific areas. The lower leaves are also starting to droop. If I am not supposed to cut the affected leaves, do they eventually go back to "normal" and lose the spots after repotting and following the correct procedures? Animals are regenerative organisms and can "heal" by regenerating new tissues in the same spacial position as damaged tissued. Plants are not capable of doing that, so damage cannot heal. A blemished leaf will always have the blemishes until the leaf is no more. I guess what I ultimately want to know is, "how do I get rid of the spots?" Some trees are prolific back-budders, IOW, they form new branches from dormant buds above old (leaf) bundle scars and from adventitious buds that arise from the plant's meristematic tissues. Meristematic tissues have cells (STEM cells, thus meriSTEMatic) that are capable of differentiating into any of the plant's organs. You can get rid of spots by getting rid of leaves - by defoliating the entire tree in the summer and when the plant is in a very high state of vitality (has lots of stored energy); or, you can cut the plant back hard and train a new branch to a vertical orientation as the new leader. All the new leaves on the new branches that occur will be pristine, as long as you're able to provide cultural conditions that favor the tree. Your job, as grower, is to identify and eliminate those conditions that are limiting or have the potential to inhibit the plant's ability to realize its genetic potential. That's how I look at growing, and it's served me very well. You can start by making sure you're maintaining a healthy ratio of air:water in the root zone and are fertilizing regularly and appropriately. That air:water thing is by far the most prevalent stumbling block, usually related to a less than ideal soil choice, for most growers ..... and not just the new ones. And YES, you can still repot w/o having to worry about timing. I'd say you're good up until the middle of Aug, or maybe even the first of SEP if it was really important that you repot this year. Still, sooner is better. Al