Cause of stunted growth and branching issues on fiddle leaf fig?
Hi everyone - I moved to Colorado (zone 6a) 2 years ago. The bright sun and low humidity are different from what I was used to on the east coast, and they may be playing into a couple of the issues I’ve been having with my twin fiddle leaf figs. I’ve also tried to encourage branching and a tree structure recently, but I’m not having a lot of success.
I separated the two from one small plant I bought here shortly after I moved . One lives in a SW corner of my master bathroom upstairs, the other lives in a West-facing window of my living room downstairs. I usually water both at the same time, about once/week in the summer (soaking until water comes out the bottom) and less frequently during cooler months.
Both were doing well and I was going to track down the 5-1-1 mix ingredients to repot them next spring, but I recently figured out the upstairs plant was rootbound and not able to put out any new leaves. So I moved them both to slightly larger pots than what you see in the pics, using Fertilome ultimate potting mix for now. (The upstairs plant since produced 3 new leaves.) As of this summer, I’ve also been fertilizing about every other week with 9-3-6.
Here are my questions:
Photo 1: Earlier this year, one leaf on the upstairs plant came in but stopped growing when it was only a few inches long. The leaves above and below it came in much larger. Why did this happen?
Photo 2: In this photo as well as #1, you can see a few of the leaves wrinkle or cup at the edges, which sometimes prevents normal growth. Was this from not enough water? Not enough humidity? Or something else?
Photo 3: Because my downstairs plant was in a larger pot and grew a bit faster this spring, I took the plunge in June and cut off 3 leaves from the top to encourage branching. (The UPSTAIRS picture above was taken after I made the cut.) I also notched the trunk a few inches below the cut using this video as a guide.
Two branch buds came in (yay!), but the one on the left was growing more slowly and coming in very close to an existing leaf. I worried this would prevent the branch from forming. Do branches and leaves have a way of figuring out how to stay out of each others' way?
Photo 4: Ultimately I decided to cut off the leaf on the left side to allow the branch more room to come in. The branch grew a bit more (blue arrow), but then stopped a few weeks ago and never got much larger than what you see below. The branch on the right has developed 3 full, healthy leaves. Is there anything I can do to kickstart the branch on the left, or encourage a new one?
You can also see in the red circle that a teeny leaf tried to come in below. This is about where I cut the notch (but on the other side of the trunk) so i'm not sure if it's related. Why did this happen?
Photo 5: On the new branch that did grow 3 leaves, I cut off the third leaf, which I'd read to do here, to encourage further growth. But the new bud is again growing right into the existing leaf on the left side. Will it be okay, or is there something else I should do? is there a way of preventing this from happening?
Many thanks in advance!!
Comments (32)
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5 years agoUser
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Fiddle Leaf Fig (Ficus Lyrata) leaf issues
Comments (11)You're using the dowel correctly. Water when it first comes out dry. I will begin fertilizing per your recommendations--additional info to ensure I am using a good fertilizing regimen would be helpful. I'm not sure how often I should fertilize, and how that will change when the plants go dormant, and when that may be...I would expect that in October they would be at the end of their growing season, but they have both put out two new leaves in the last few weeks. They won't go completely dormant, but they will become largely quiescent or at rest but growing slowly. How fast they grow depends primarily on light levels, temperatures, and nutrition. If you invest in a container of Foliage-Pro 9-3-6, you won't need anything else. Did you read the link I left above about how to deal with water-retentive soils? My plan would be to flush the soil thoroughly asap, then fertilize with a full recommended solution of the FP 9-3-6. It makes more sense by far to tie your fertilizing frequency to your watering frequency. If you continue to water in sips for the winter, flush the soil every 6th time you water and fertilize right after with a full recommended dose. Using a full dose when the soil is still saturated means there won't be a full strength concentration in the soil solution because of all the water already in the soil. People that simply recite the advice that you shouldn't fertilize in winter usually tell you that the plant doesn't need fertilizer because it's not growing, but nutrients are used by the plant to keep its systems orderly and do more than grow, so your plant needs a full compliment of nutrients in the soil all year long. The plan I just laid out will help you maintain the proper ratio of nutrients at an appropriate concentration and prevent the ratio of nutrients (each to the others) from becoming out of balance, which can very quickly become a serious issue if you're watering in sips. More on flushing the soil if you actually plan on following that advice. You'll also find plenty of good info that will help turn your plant around if you follow the link. Speaking of, the plant that put out the deformed leaf is now producing leaves with holes...at first I feared it was pests, but it looks like they are just developing with holes in them. Would this be caused by the same water/fertilizing issues we've discussed? Very commonly, dry air causes a leaf of F lyrata to stick to itself before it unfurls. As the leaf opens, the 'stuck together' part often tears, leaving split leaves, or if the entire piece of tissue that's stuck to another part of the leaf's surface pulls free - a hole. This is very common in leaves that unfurl in winter when humidity is VERY low or in leaves that are in a cool, air-conditioned environment - especially if the cooled air blows over the plant. There are some nutritional issues that can cause weak or dead spots in the tissues of young leaves, but getting on a sound fertilizing schedule should put a stop to that. 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 MoreAdvise on how to encourage branching of fiddle leaf fig
Comments (12)Yikes! I only put them out side for the photos!!!!! Do you guys know how I can revive this little guy?!? (Inside plant only) He went through a though time early spring and lost all the leaves throughout the main stem. As you can see in these first few photos there has been no leaf growth in that area. I believe there has only been 1 new leaf that has sprouted from the top bunch all spring/summer, and from the size of the leaves it was awhile ago. I’m not sure if it’s actively sprouting at the top anymore? As for the bottom portion, you can see in the last photo that’s it’s incredibly healthy lots of new growth, even new branches forming! Not sure what to do about that problem area? Please help if you can!...See MoreFiddle Leaf Fig Branch Loss
Comments (2)I wouldn’t worry about those two small branches. Also, unless you’re in the Southern Hemispher, a northen exposure will not be enough light. You need to place the tree right up in front of your brightest unobstructed window. The sun is filtered by the glass and is no where near as intense as it is outside....See More
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoIt's normal for new branches to form in the axils of existing leaves when you remove the branch apex (growing tip). The leaf is a significant source of food for the young leaf until the leaf is well formed but not yet fully grown.
I usually have a problem with my trees growing too fast for best appearance. Removing the leaf with active axillary buds makes new leaves come in smaller and closer together, so I employ that defoliation strategy very regularly, and even go well beyond eliminating only the occasional leaf.
Part of your pruning strategy should include directional pruning.
After the pruning cut above, the new branch's tendency will be to grow to the right, not withstanding the effects of phototropism (growing toward the light). If the pruning cut would have been just above the bottom leaf (on left), the new branch sure to form in the axil of that leaf will reliably grow left, again - not withstanding phototropism's effects.There is something called a Light Compensation Point (LCP), which is the point at which carbohydrates required by plants in respiration are equal to carbohydrates produced by photosynthesis. Photosynthetic rate must equal respiration rate if the plant is to survive, and plants that are stalled or barely growing are at or near the LCP or break-even point. For Ficus other than the hardy cultivars, this means they are being limited by cultural conditions. The 3 cultural effects most likely to be players in the scenario I just drew are root health/root congestion, light levels, and nutrition. I suspect you're over-watering, which is causing an energy drawdown as the plant cyclically spends energy to replace roots killed by soil saturation, leaving it with no energy to push new growth. The malformed leaves support this idea as waterlogged soils limit Ca uptake. Ca is involved in the formation of new cells, and cells that are denied the Ca they need form abnormally, creating hooked, cupped, and otherwise poorly formed leaves.
Al
Erika
5 years agoErika
5 years agoUser
5 years agoErika
5 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoUser
5 years agoUser
5 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
5 years agoUser
5 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
5 years agoFerdinan USDA zone 9
5 years agoUser
5 years agoUser
5 years agoErika
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoThanks everyone. Here’s a picture of the upstairs plant in its new pot next to its old pot. The old one was shorter and also had a drainage layer of rocks at the bottom, so the new one (which currently has no drainage layer or ballast) is much deeper in comparison. The new moisture meter I bought read between 3 and 4 today, which was 20 days after I repotted and last watered it.
So I watered the plant again this afternoon (with Dyna-gro) but tried not to soak it as much as last time. I also prepared the 5:1:1 mix. My plan is to repot it in the new mix (same pot) in 2 weeks. Should I use a ballast then, or will that be less necessary since it’ll be in a better draining soil?
BTW, I’m in Colorado where it’s very dry. The garden center in Denver I went to today had lots of huge FLFs and I noticed how much crispier my leaves are compared to theirs. Except for my 3 newest leaves that came in this month, which are soft and silky. Not a big deal since I’ll remove the lower leaves eventually, but it’s jut another piece of the puzzle.
And good to know I should stop pruning until next year - thanks Al for the timing advice!
User
5 years agoUser
5 years agoErika
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
Matt Barnett
5 years agoUser
5 years agoUser
5 years agoErika
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoMatt Barnett
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoUser
5 years agoUser
5 years agoUser
5 years agoErika
5 years agoDave
5 years agoFerdinan USDA zone 9
5 years ago
Matt Barnett