Ficus Benjamina Dead or Alive?
It looks I have overdone the pruning and so the tree decided to throw off remaining leafs...
This is how the tree looks right now. After a couple weeks of thinking it has completely died, there started to grow some small leafs at the bottom of the trunk. I have verified it to be from original tree, and not an independent plant.
I am hoping that slowly life will crawl back into higher regions of trunk. Upper and mid part of trunk however seems to be dead now.
So how do I proceed? I see 2 scenarios:
1.) Do I wait for other leafs to grow from higher regions of trunk, or:
2.) Do I handle tree as would a small plant (as seen size on attached photo) that grew on base of trunk.
In first scenario, I would continue to water it as I would a large plant and keep in large container and also keep extensive root system.
In second case, I would cut trunk, trim roots and repot into smaller pot.
I would like to keep as much as possible from the trunk and would only cut some parts that take away excess energy. I still hope that leafs will appear in higher regions of trunk.
Any advices on how to proceed and what to expect from current state?
Many thanks!
Comments (10)
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is there hope for my Ficus Benjamina?
Comments (2)I often see the advice given that you shouldn't feed a struggling plant, but that idea really isn't founded in good science or plant husbandry. You only need to ask yourself: "What if the plant is under stress/strain BECAUSE of a nutritional deficiency?" to realize that with some plants, if you follow that reasoning it's a death sentence. What you really need to do is identify the cultural conditions that are causing the stress/strain/decline and correct. Drafts don't bother Ficus. After all, they live in the outdoors and go through typhoons with only mechanical damage. It's when you introduce chill along with the drafts is when you start to see abscission layers forming and the accompanying defoliation. Ficus will tolerate a fair amount of gradual chill (as when left outdoors on the porch as autumn approaches), but sudden chill, as when exposed to sudden cold drafts, is the culprit that causes leaf loss. Ficus is not especially sensitive to ALL cultural changes, but it IS especially sensitive to the sudden chill already mentioned, and decreasing light levels. Those two cultural changes are the worrisome ones. With warming temps and increasing light levels (within reason) Ficus will reward you with increasingly robust growth. If you answer a few questions, perhaps we can figure out a plan ....... Have you checked for insects (carefully/thoroughly, including scale and mites)? Are you watering it so the soil always feels wet, or allowing it to get almost completely dry - too dry? When you water, are you watering so at least 10-15% of the total volume of water you apply runs out the drain hole and are you sure the entire soil mass is getting water? How long since it has been repotted/potted up? Have you fertilized it - how often - with what? Have you looked at the roots - are they tan/whitish and earthy smelling or black and smelling sour? Al...See MoreIndoor Ficus Benjamina in Serious Struggle for Life!
Comments (1)My guess is that the ring is fungus making its way through your plants cells or toxic salts from the water. The flies indicate that the roots are probably rotting. Good idea to let it dry out. Even better to repot it and at that point, get rid of all the old soil and prune the roots. I wouldn't fertilize it but lets see what others say. If it were me I'd give it some compost tea or worm castings if it needed nutrients after repotting. Hope all goes well. Good luck, Little John...See MoreFicus benjamina has lost over 60% of its leaves since September. Help!
Comments (5)You should put the tree right in front of the large southern facing window. Light coming through the window, even a few feet away is much less intense than right in front of it. I'd place the tree right next to that wooden chair so the leaves are a few inches from that window. Rotate the tree 1/4 turns weekly. as far as pruning, all you're doing here is cutting off the dead parts. scratch a small amount of bark, if it's dead, follow the branch back and keep scratching every inch or so till you see green. Cut the obvious dead branches off. roots should be firm and white to tan. If they are dark and mushy, they've rotted. Bottom line, three tree has been over watered. It may be in too large of a pot so that the soil doesn't dry enough. Remove it from the pot and check to see how wet the soil is at the bottom. Ficus seem to be able to handle drought much better then being over watered. this may give you an idea about their light requirements. Mine, pictured below, is right in front of a southern window with the addition of five 250w lights above and it still could use much more light. I place mine outside in full direct sun from Memorial Day until mid September when temps start to drop. That's the only time it thrives. The rest of the year is just tolerates. I've cut it back pretty heavily since September when it came inside. Outside last summer it was MUCH fuller: the tree above was not much larger than yours prior to being placed outside for the summer. It literally grew a few feet in every direction and produced probably 1000 extra leaves....See MoreNeed help with ficus benjamina.
Comments (5)If the plant has been with you for 4 years + whatever time it was in the pot before you acquired it, it would normally be badly root bound; if it isn't, the soil is inappropriate and it needs repotting for that reason. I'd start by sawing off the bottom 1/3 of the root mass, then bare root the plant, being certain all roots remain wet during the process. After that I would correct problem roots, concentrating on the larger roots and roots growing straight up or down. Also remove crossing, girdling, encircling, and any j-hooked roots before repotting into an appropriate medium. After a few repots, you want to end up with a nice flat disc-shaped root mass that you trim around the edges and remove roots growing down from the 'disc'. This is one of my F benjaminas that went from this to this without complaint: I'm not suggesting you should be that severe, your plant isn't healthy enough to tolerate that much stress, but it gives you an idea of how much the plant can deal with. More about woody plants in containers for the long term if you click me. I'd also sort of temporarily forget about the plant's appearance and not remove anything until it's well on the way to recovery, which shouldn't take long where you live and with the plant in an appropriate medium. I'd also like to suggest you buy some Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 fertilizer. It has ALL the nutrients essential to normal growth (something very few fertilizers can boast) and it doesn't get its N from urea (which helps to keep plants compact & full). I use it for almost everything I grow. Al...See More
istvanreg
4 years agoThanks tapla, I will go with your recommendation, see images below.
Also, I am showing all photos to get better understanding of where she is coming from.Before repotting she was loosing significant foliage:
I was assuming it was due to small container and overcrowded roots:
Soil was rock solid and compacted between roots. Even with continuous water showering it was a tedious task to remove old soil. In order to do so I had to sacrifice some roots. Also did some additional pruning to get rid of overlapping and crowded roots:
And placed in larger container:
Leafs continued to fall, so I cut of the dead branches. Then cut off even more. I assume this was the big mistake.
The remaining leafs fell too.
New leafs at bottom
Selected most vigorous one as per Al's recommendation:
Scratch Test. Checket at various heights, although showing where green suddenly looses color and turns into pale brown (surface here is wrinkled and feels mushy beneath).
So this is where I am now. I understand I did some serious mistakes, and I am open to harsh criticism so please tell me where I was wrong about repotting.
And most importantly how do I proceed?
Many thanks!
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
4 years agoAll you can do now is wait and make sure you don't over-water. Keep it warm and give it lots of light. Definitely move it outdoors when temps allow. It will take full sun, but keep it in open or dappled shade until it starts to come around.
You didn't make a 'mistake' by eliminating all but the most vigorous branch. The tree will invest as much energy in the single branch as it was investing in the clump of branches you removed. Had you not cleaned up the cluster of branches, you would have ended up with a huge and ugly swelling at the base of the cluster. Depending on whether or not the trunk is still viable above the low branch you have now and back-buds, you might be forced to create a new tree from the branch you saved.
Approach grafting of several branches to each other in the hope that inosculation eventually occurs isn't likely to yield a result you could expect to be eye-appealing, especially if it's your first go-round at it.
These are Ficus B, approach grafted, inosculation fairly well underway:
Defoliation was purposeful ^^^.
Al
istvanreg thanked tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)istvanreg
4 years agoThanks Al.
When you say place outside under direct sunlight do you mean exposed to rain or under shading structure?
Regarding grafting: I am fine with going with just one branch. So I was thinking... Would it be possible to graft new branch to old trunk? Does old trunk have to be alive? It would be nice if new branch could "climb" to top of old trunk and branch off from there. As in my sketch below. Any ideas how to achieve this?
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
Ekor Tupai
4 years ago
Dave