I'd say so! I see more posts about Ficus Lyrata than I do anything else.

They seem to be the current cool indoor tree everyone needs.

I favor Benjamina due to leaf size.

I noticed too, and agree; plus, the onset of the plant's popularity was just about over-night. We used to get questions about elastica at maybe somewhere around 10:1 over lyrata. It's now even more frequently asked about than benjamina.

Al

It seems to have been the situation for a while now. I tend to ignore them as they're mostly repetitive as are the responses. Many of them are tagged onto old threads where there are already answers to the questions. But of course, there's always someone around who will give an answer so it doesn't really matter and everyone is happy.

Would it be worth starting a specific Fiddle Leaf Fig forum? The designer plant that seems to be here to stay? It would concentrate all the questions and answers in one spot, and most newcomers are willing to browse lots of previous posts before asking their own questions, so it may reduce repetition. But speaking of which, you forum people are fantastic with your generosity in answering questions, and your ability to impart the same information over and over without (seemingly) getting frustrated. Hats off to you!!

Interesting comments.

FLF is just too big for me to get into a relationship, like M. deliciosa. They are gorgeous though!

I think the default setting for "most relevant" on search results is what brings new members to old discussions so often.

I would love to see the fig forum renamed to fig & Ficus. An additional forum seems unnecessary, but if left up to me, I would do a LOT of consolidating on this site, and I recognize that my decisions could be partial to my personal interests. A hard call for 1 person to even consider.

What is PL?

peace lily

DUH!! stupid me! lol

Not at all, just wasn't on your mind. ;) The title didn't give me as many spaces as needed to type out the names.

We went through something similar with elastica, maybe 8 years back, which rode in on the heels of benjamina. We even had a little spurt of interest in alii just a short time ago - perhaps a year or two - times goes so fast these days.

Did you guys know there is a mathematical explanation re why time seems to go by faster as we age?

Al

Tiffany, when I read this post; it felt like you read my mind.

Did you guys know there is a mathematical explanation re why time seems to go by faster as we age? - This has to be interesting. What is it?

Plant interest seems to be dictated by nurseries/growers. This year the market is flooded with FLF and braided pachira too. Next year may be different. Good marketing strategy.

Fascinating! ...and so this FLF fad will just take a minute...

...... depends on how old you are.

Al

lol

Hello Tapla, I'm sorry to change the subject but I just wanted to ask your opinion of repotting a 7' Kentia palm houseplant I bought recently. It is beautiful and also quite expensive so I'd really prefer not to lose it.

I have heard you say palms don't respond well to root pruning in a thread before, does that mean I shouldn't root prune any at all? Or just not the usual 1/2 - 2/3 of root mass? Should I mess with the roots at all? Untangle/ prune thick ones/ remove old soil? Or should I simply pot up and not mess with anything?

It is currently in a 2.1 gal pot, the soil seems very well aerated, fast drainage, I think the guy told me the gravel in there was lava rock. I would like to transfer it to a 3.5 gal pot and replace the soil with your 5-1-1 mix.

Would greatly appreciate any advise, thx:)

Thomas, you should either start a thread or add your comment to a thread that has to do with palms or repotting.

Your question has nothing to do with this topic whatsoever.

Ok sorry about that, I'm new to forums in general, not just gardenweb.

Actually, I predict the FLF trend will be slowing a bit soon as there seems to be a shortage taking hold in the industry..... one can only hope lol

Thomas, not a problem at all. It's just really easy to side track. It would be really confusing to add everything in this thread for you.

Hi & welcome, Thomas! If you would like to start a new discussion, there's a place to do that at the top of the house plant forum page: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/houseplt/

Thanks for the kindness:) K I started my own thread, hopefully Mr. Tapla (or someone of like knowledge on root pruning) takes a look.

It is here Al: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4764191/question-for-tapla-on-root-pruning-palms

[rant]

I've been amazed by the popularity of lyratas, largely because I don't find them particularly attractive. What can I say, I'm a longtime F. benjamina girl.

Unfortunately the fig forum is about trees that grow actual figs, not raising lyratas or other indoor ficuses, and most newbies stop at houseplants because it takes a while to paw through all the forums to find one that sounds relevant, so I doubt a separate forum would help. Besides, it makes no sense to make changes if this is simply a fad.

But I'll confess to being put off when the first houseplants forum page has three or four (or more) new threads whose titles are all some variation of 'brown spots on ficus lyrata' or 'help save my ficus lyrata!' when the same page has older threads with the same titles that contain all the answers a person would need.

I know most of these folks just haven't learned internet forum etiquette yet, and that lyratas seem to be marketed to inexperienced growers as easy to maintain, and I really like to be helpful whenever I can, but nowadays I tend to avoid giving advice on such threads because I'm either embarrassed or irritated about repeating the same advice over and over. I've tried pasting text from my previous answers and links to or quotes from Al's posts, but that doesn't feel much better...

I hope the fact that this always makes me feel a bit guilty will keep people from thinking that I'm a terrible, terrible person.

If only I had Al's patience!!

[/rant]

I, too, am mystified by the lyrata fad -- just don't see the appeal. (But then, I've never understood the peace lily obsession either....such a boring plant.) Would be nice if people would do a forum search first before creating yet another thread with the same old Qs which have been answered multiple times elsewhere. But on rare occasion I know I have been guilty of the same thing, so I tend to just skip past the thread instead of letting it bother me. Is unfortunate, though, when threads on different topics get buried unanswered due to a plethora of same topic posts.

As they say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. FLF is certainly a striking plant but I am not very fond of huge house plants. The tallest I have is a mango and I try to keep it to about 5 ft. I have managed that for 20 yrs now. Many may find it unattractive too but for me it is a tiny slice of our surroundings from back home.

If you head over to hot peppers forum you will also see people growing super hot peppers and for the life of me I cannot figure out what are they going to do with hundreds of those super hots. I eat a lot of hot stuff and I have yet to finish consuming the ghost peppers from one plant that I grew last year. I must say it is a beauty to see those deadly red peppers hanging from the plants.

Most people buy plants with the hope they will do well in their house and make it look welcoming. They get beamed from a controlled greenhouse setting to a dark living room in pretty poor soil and the problems begin. They end up in gardenweb or other forums through google at a frantic moment and most of them are novice to forums. And so the questions pile up especially in house plants and container forums. Some of those good existing threads take a while to read and absorb and the newcomer becomes more frantic and starts a new thread to get some immediate one on one attention.

Wait till winter comes and we all will be teleported to world of aphids, mites, scales, fungus gnats, polar bears and root rot and a new nail-biting chemical warfare will ensue. With spray bottles in holsters ready to defend against the intruders.

LOL. Fungus gnats are never an issue for me. Amongst my varied host of flora, I grow carnivorous plants as well. They wipe out nearly all the fungus gnats accept the occasional stray. :-D

I too don't get the appeal. Benjamina and even Alii grow into much nicer looking "tree" houseplants.

Plus both seem branch so much better. Something everyone wants Lyrata to do.

everyone wants to turn their bush into a tree.

I have 2 of them only because they were returned to the greenhouse where I worked as "dead", they were both only half dead lol but are doing well now. I live in a tiny apartment so a tree was not really on my radar but I can't resist a challenge. I read a theory someplace that part of the appeal of this plant was that the big floppy leaves remind us of baby heads on some unconscious level and bring out our maternal (or paternal) instincts.

So let's call it here first: What do you guys think is going to be the next "it" houseplant once the FLF popularity fades?

"I read a theory someplace that part of the appeal of this plant was that the big floppy leaves remind us of baby heads on some unconscious level and bring out our maternal (or paternal) instincts."

Maybe that's it. I like other people's babies well enough to help take care of them from time to time, but aside from the occasional urge to make chicken soup for a sick friend, I've never been known for my maternal instincts.

I read that too! Funny. Interior design magazines have driven the wave of popularity here. There are so many images of beautiful living rooms with huge flawless fiddle leaf figs in the corner or next to the couch or whatever. So of course it looks easy and people think "I want that!" without fully realising that it's a staged photo shoot with the plant brought in from perfect growing conditions elsewhere just for a couple hours.

So lots is spent and it is placed in a spot which, from a design point of view, is perfect. But then it doesn't work! Who knew light was important? Or that overwatering could be such a problem? And because there are only a few massive leaves, every imperfection is magnified and fretted over. A constant obvious reminder that your plant is now flawed. Happiness turns to stress and disappointment. It wasn't supposed to be this hard!

Therefore the panic posts. Most of you have the patience of saints, helping with the same issues over and over. I try to read as much as possible first, but as said above, not everybody will think of doing that, in the heat of the moment, and there's a lot to try to quickly learn while your plant is dying in front of you. Hopefully, with some help and a few kind nudges in the right direction from this forum, newcomers will have their interest awakened and want to learn more at a more relaxed pace, after the first problem is gone. Worked for me :)

I agree about the small number of big leaves being a constant reminder of past mistakes. It's bad enough to see my benjaminas drop a few of their hundreds of leaves after I've waited too long to water, but having brown areas on even one or two out of a dozen or so big leaves would be depressing. Probably bad feng shui, too.

I think that FLF is popular because they are featured in many design and decorating magazines. I have seen bloggers talk about them a lot too.

I'm ashamed to admit I love watching Real Housewives. I noticed while watching Housewives of Orange County the new cast member had the most gorgeous houseplants! She hat an enormous Draecanea Marginata with several heads. In her Dining room she had another beautiful Dracaena with a Hoya Obvata growing in the pot. Some really stunning plants.

I have resisted getting a FLF, Elastica and Philodendron Monsterera because they are toxic to cats and I'm not sure I can keep the cats away. I have managed to place all my toxic plants out of their reach but don't have anymore spots.

Oh, I see it was mentioned upthread. I skimmed the posts and didn't catch it.

I'm glad, hopefully the FLF trend will make more people appreciate houseplants.

Edited because my grammar is appalling.

Blame it on autocorrect. That's what I do...

That auto-correct can be really annoying ..... and hazardous. Once I meant to say, "That flash of intelligence was just your imagination having fun", but after auto-correct, it came out "You have the unequaled gift of being able to squeeze gargantuan errors into the tiniest of opportunities". THEN, I got blamed for being snarky! The gall of some .....

Al

It's really hard to keep up with all the Ficus Lyrata posts these days.

I sadly find myself skipping over them.

me too, don't people even bother to search the forums to see if their questions have already been asked before posting because, when it comes to lyrata, they probably have

Yeah, I mean, I understand people just want answers. But there are literally hundreds of the same exact posts.

Its tough. I mean, I want to help, but I just don't have enough time to read through them lately.

i wish this forum would have "stickies" that always stay bumped up as the first posts. Lots of other forums do that and it would probably help others a lot. Especially with Ficus Lyrata related questions.

I agree

Maybe a "disaster after gritty mix repot" support group? With assistance from a survivors group?

These two should be pinned to the top. They'd have everything everyone needs to know.

Sadly, it'll probably never happen and the Ficus Lyrata posts won't die down until the tree loses popularity.

Ive never been able to see what the fuss is all about. Personally, as I've always said, Benjamina and Alii make much better looking indoor trees.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1476078/ficus-trees-in-containers-iv?n=223

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/2842847/container-soils-water-movement-and-retention?n=8

Ficus diversafolia (aka deltoidea), commonly 'mistletoe fig' is a superb indoor tree, too. I've been pruning/repotting one for the wife of a Dr friend for many years - and it's a beautiful plant. I just picked up a start at the Midwest Bonsai Show at Chicago Botanic Garden last week. It is a slow grower, though.

Al

Yeah, the problem with big leaves indoor trees.. small mistake, 3-4 leaves falls, then they look ugly. Here in tropic people also prefer big leaves trees/plants for the last few years, mostly for cleaner environment since they rarely drop leaves.