Fiddle Leaf Fig - Fertilized Too Soon?
tessa_m_henson
6 years ago
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tessa_m_henson
6 years agoRelated Discussions
FYI: PURPLE Ficus lyrata (commonly: fiddle-leaf fig) coming soon
Comments (4)No pics - just rec'd the info from a professor of horticulture at MSU/bonsai friend. Our conversations center primarily on soils and bonsai back and forth stuff, but she knows I have an interest in Ficus that goes beyond bonsai & thought I'd be interested. Because of the remarkable increase in popularity of F lyrata over the last 5 years or so, I figured some you would be interested as well. I don't think I've ever seen a plant gain so much popularity in so little time. Al...See MoreFiddle Leaf Fig Leaf Loss, Recovery and Growth
Comments (11)After spending half an hour on the following post it occurred to me that a houseplant forum search for "nicking" might yield more accurate information. Sure enough, I found several threads containing Al's explanations, but I spent so much time on mine that I refuse to delete it!!!!! Here are a few of the threads. The nicking discussions aren't long but I think Al's post on the first link explains the effects of nicking vs pruning. Use the search box at the top of the page to find even more threads. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1458989/fiddle-leaf-fig-question?n=1 http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1465570/pruning-ficus-lyrata-to-branch?n=24 ******************* My now-superfluous post: Ah, I see; most people seem to call that nicking, not slitting. The reason you haven't found info on it is that few people do it, but Al has gone into it the few times he's been asked. I'll describe it as best I can from what I remember of his posts about it. Anyway, you would use a sharp sterilized (just in case) knife to cut a small horizontal wedge through the cambium (basically the living usually green layer under the bark) right above a leaf node. Nicking (or pruning) above a node stops the inhibitory hormone from the top of the tree from reaching it, letting it respond to hormones that direct it to grow. The same thing happens when you prune. Whether you prune or nick, the amount of back-budding you'll get depends on the plant's condition. IMO, if the stress that caused your ficus to drop leaves still exists, nicking or pruning won't have much (if any) effect so long as the plant is still under the stress that made it drop so many leaves. I'd guess that's because the weakened plant isn't producing the hormones that would stimulate growth above ground. That's been my experience. My ficuses didn't respond at all to tip-pinching last fall when they were still weak, but now after months of proper care and increased spring sunlight they're growing like crazy, including a lot of back-budding far back on its once-bare branches, without any intervention at all from me. I think that's an accurate description of what I've read!...See MorePruning a too tall fiddle leaf fig
Comments (1)WOW ! your tree looks great... I too have a too tall fiddle fig leaf.. and i'm curious about how you trimmed it all the way down two years ago. I think I want to do that with mine. All have the leaves have fallen off except for the top foot of the tree.. so the rest of the 6 feet look barren. I've trimmed the top before with success, and have created little baby figs from my clippings -- I followed these instructions-- http://joeandcheryl.com/my-new-baby-fiddle-leaf-fig-tree/ But now I want to start over because my tree is grazing the ceiling. I plan on cutting off the tops of the braches and making more fig plants from them. My question is.. did you just trim yours all the way down to the dirt basically? How much of the stem did you leave?Thank you!...See MoreToo much or too little water? Fiddle Leaf fig help!
Comments (1)Give the House Plant forum a look at your plant as it is a house plant. This forum is for edible figs so they a different. The folks over there should be able to help you. Good luck....See Moretessa_m_henson
6 years agotessa_m_henson
6 years agotessa_m_henson
6 years agotessa_m_henson
6 years agoDave
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agorobin98
6 years agotessa_m_henson
6 years agotessa_m_henson
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6 years agotessa_m_henson
6 years ago
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