Hi, looking for a ficus benghalensis for indoor decor. I'm having trouble locating any in Southern California. Willing to trade if anyone has one and is interested. Have pothos, baby rubber, and monstera plants as well as some orange and lemon plants. :)

Mine needs more shaping but I am not totally unhappy. You can try cutting a plastic bottle and wrap it around the base like a collar. This will trap some humidity near the base of the stem and encourage it to grow more aerial roots. Pruning wise, I cut back hard in June. I also keep mine outside in summer and that encourages rapid growth. If you want more branching cut back each branch to one or two leaf. New bud will appear from the base of the remaining leaves. So cut it back so the new branch will generally face outwards. Cut off inner criss-crossing branches. These are just some basic rules. Look for "Ficus tree in Containers" in container forum I believe. Our resident guru, Al, describes in detail everything about Ficus.

It sort of looks like you may have spider mites. They are tiny nearly invisible to eyes. A hand lens will be useful if you have one. Spider mites tend to thrive in warm, dry indoor conditions a lot and especially under mature leaves. The brown spots that you see on top of leaves could be a result of damage but it does not look that bad. I usually spray the leaves, especially the undersides, once in a while and that keeps them at bay. You can use a diluted rubbing alcohol spray (50-50 with water) or insecticidal soap spray for an instant knock out effect. But they will keep coming back as long as it is dry and little air circulation. So spray the leaves with plain water every now an then. Those little bumps on the stem are normal. They are dormant buds where new branch may develop. It is a tough ficus and should be OK. Like any ficus give it plenty of light and water only when the first few inches are dry. Better yet use a chopstick and dig it deep in the soil to get a feel for how dry/wet the soil is. That is Ficus benghalensis or banyan tree as it is called in India. For some reason it acquired the name 'Audrey' here in USA.

Austin - Copper is a micronutrient essential to normal plant growth, but being a micro-nutrient, it takes only a tiny amount more than a sufficient amount to create a toxicity. While I can't say with great certainty that the cause lies somewhere in the fact you're treating plants with horticultural oil (?) and a cupric fungicide, I can say it's likely there is more harm than benefit with that regimen. A plant's best defense against insects and pathogens is a high level of vitality, since the level of chemicals that ward off insects and diseases will be produced in direct relationship with the plant's metabolic rate. If the chemicals/treatments you're using are limiting the plant's vitality and metabolic rate, you'd sort of be shooting yourself in the foot. When it comes to IPM (integrated pest management), which includes treatment of insects and diseases, the first step is to identify the problem and decide if it's something you feel you and the plant can tolerate or if it's something that needs addressing. If it actually needs your attention, the next step is to use the least noxious but still effective measures to eliminate or reduce the problem to an acceptable level. Have you identified the pests/diseases? Have you considered the possibility that you might not even have a pest or disease infestation? that you might be treating a physiological disorder caused by adverse cultural conditions, and that identifying the cultural conditions causing the stress and improving those conditions might gain you more traction? Al