https://www.houzz.com/discussions/mineral-heavy-soil-w-o-added-perlite-and-pumice-for-cacti-suculents-dsvw-vd~5472114?n=6

Hopefully my post can be of assistance....

Mesembs, you forgot to mention that she would need fertilizer with that "soil" makeup.......

@mesembs Thanks a lot for the info! So from the way I see it I guess all I really need is pumice and maybe a small part of akadama? Do you suggest adding anything else, like burnt soil or vermiculite/perlite? I’ve seen that burnt soil aerates the mix, but I’m still a newbie so I’m not very sure what to do.

@stefan any fertiliser suggestions?

I dont use it. Thats why i use gritty soil with a small percentage of organic matter. Pure mineral "gritty" mixes are only used for ultra problematic plants, like most lithops, rare cacti, some euphorbias, etc. All plants need organic matter, like nitogen and pottasium, but cant procure them from pure rock. Its better for them to absorb through the soil, than through chemicals at least in my opinion. Your 2 plants are hybrids belonging in the crassulaceae families, one being a graptopetalum, the other an echeveria hybrid. Most crassulaceae like can tolerate or even like organic heavy soils, if watering is done properly(like mine). The real reason why people like mineral soils, is that a lot of organic matter= water retaining, too much nitrogen,pest attraction.

These are all the downsides of using organic soils, they are troublesome for most cacti and some succulents. Of course , you can add perlite like most people, but its not efficient. Its light and floats, hence the need for pumice or gravel, The best way is to simply have predominantly mineral soil, for the average plant.

It needs to drain fast, to dry properly,to aerate and to be just nutritional enough to remove the need for fertilizer.

I use mix as mesembs described, and don't use fertilizer...and I use it for all succulents, not only 'problematic plants'. I have even some non-succulents plants in quite gritty mix (with addition of some soil or bark, but not more than 50% for these). I am sure succulents would grow bigger if I fertilized them, but I am quite happy with growth of my plants. I keep plants outdoors weather permitting (we have cold winters, so they have to be indoors for approx. 6mo). They get rained on and I don't have to worry about drainage. In Sept and so far this mo, we had more rainy days than not. Plants are OK. I am not suggesting you shouldn't fertilize, but I grow them more like they grow in their habitat: for most, very mineral. Nobody goes to fertilize them :) I understand that growing in small pots is different than growing wild. If I was to use fert, I would use one with ratio Al suggested.

I wouldn't use vermiculite at all, and am not sure what 'burnt soil' is. Leca may be too large - what size do you have?

@Stefan The info you’ve given me has been extremely helpful! A really big thanks :) I’ve learnt a lot and I’m grateful for helping me ID my succulents, as I was pretty lost on that sector. After reading what you wrote, I’m sort of at a loss because this is my first time ever taking care of succulents and I really don’t want to kill them.

Do you think cactus soil is good to use? Other than what I’ve already listed I have access to charcoal, rice husks, kanuma soil and I think I may be able to find zeolite. There’s also this:

https://www.huahng.com.sg/?product=cactus-soil-%E4%BB%99%E4%BA%BA%E6%8E%8C%E5%9C%9F-1-5-ltrbag

which seems promising? I’ve seen some SG succulent owners recommend a 1:1/2:1 mix of cactus soil:drainage medium. Rly sry to bother u so much! Thanks in advance for the advice

@rina

Burnt soil:

https://www.huahng.com.sg/?product=burnt-earth-%E7%81%AB%E7%83%A7%E5%9C%9F-6-kg

https://greenspade.sg/planting-substrates/144-burnt-soil-5l.html
Hope these give u a rough idea of what burnt soil is.

For lecca, I have 8mm-16mm (yikes) and 4mm-8mm. My pumice is 1mm-6mm, and the akadama soil is about 3mm-6mm if I’m not wrong.

Personal take? What is sold as "cactus soil" never works. Its just peat or compost + perlite. No rice husks, no charcoal. Think "kanuma" is too acidic(since ive looked it up). Think a mix of gravel, lecca, perlite/vermiciulite, + 20% regular soil would do you just fine. If you can find any gravel like volcanic material use it instead(granite is volcanic too btw)..... Just make sure you test the soil with the drainage first.....

You didn't ask me, but looking at the soil you linked to, it contains sand. May not be best to use unless it is very grainy (most sand in mixes is very fine). Zeolite is good (I also found some recently and started using it) but depends on size too.

I had to look up kanuma soil, and from description it sounds good. Best for acid loving plants. Charcoal will also improve drainage (not powdered but gritty).

From what you suggesting, I would use kanuma (at least for few plants to experiment), and zeolite. I use lots of perlite and do not find it as troublesome as some do - using topdressing stops it from flying away. My main reason for using is that is very light and has good drainage. And is inexpensive and easy to find for me. If I had similar source for pumice, I would use it.

ETA:

Grace, thank you for posting that link. Sounds very much like turface.

IMO, size of your akadama is the best. I would use lecca and pumice but sift it to similar size. Actually, I would sift all of them to somewhere between 3-5mm. Or up to 6mm, but make sure there isn't huge different in sizes. Best if all ingredients are similar in size.

PS: if you are not sure about how 'burnt soil' performs, get a small amount and do freeze-thaw test: put some in container; cover with water; put in a freezer for overnight (until is frozen solid). Take out and let thaw. Repeat, 3x total should be enough (you can do more if wanted but likely not needed). If it holds it's shape after last freeze, it is likely good. If it falls apart, don't use it. It will clog up and impair drainage.

Euphorbia decaryi - in a mix with zeolite:

Haworthia glabra - in gritty mix (gravel, perlite and small amount of turface) with black gravel top-dressing:

@rina

http://www.gardensingapore.com/products/74-pond-filter-aqumedi-super-zeolite-2-kg/

This is all I could find for zeolite, other than cat litter and aquarium media. The only website that properly sold zeolite for plants had no stock. Currently, have 1L of akadama soil, 5L of pumice, 1.5L of leca and possible vermiculite/perlite? Don’t think I’ll be able to get normal soil as stefan suggested, cus most sites don’t state how well the soil drains and usually they come in large bags so I don’t rly want to take a gamble.

Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m guessing generally succulents like more acidic pH? Is there any way to make the soil at a good pH for them? Or is the current mix ok?

5 to 6 is okay.

4.....not so much.

Alkaline plants (there are those too, cacti and succulents) will hate it .....

@stefan @rina

Thoughts on worm casting for the akadama + pumice + leca + vermiculite mix? A little worried about the fertilisation part so was thinking if this would be good, otherwise I think I might just settle for the mix mentioned.

https://www.huahng.com.sg/?product=worm-castings-vermicompost-1-kg

https://greenspade.sg/fertilisers/6-109-organic-vermicast-fertilizer.html#/1-size-5_litres

Use the regular one(without the fertilizer).

Using manure of any kind (such as worm castings) is not recommended for pot culture. Great in the garden! You said vermiculite/perlite...vermiculite is not recommended (apologies for repeating). It holds more water and will collapse.

Fertiliser is not crucial, but I am not trying to speak against it. If you want to grow 'show-room worthy' plants, it is god idea to fertilize. Many ppl overdo it and that isn't great for plants - makes them more susceptible to bugs too... As I mentioned, I do not fertilize religiously, but can't say my plants never got some - they may, on seldom occasion, get watered with rain water with fertilizer in it I use when watering my veggie garden or some flower beds - in case I have some leftover.

Higher acidity is definitely not suitable for plants that grow naturally on limestone. It may be good idea to research each plant you have as for their habitat - it will tell you what kind of substrate they grow in.

Try not to overthink it...make it simple - some good suggestions have been made as for potting mix. Use what Stefan suggested, or more inorganic media which may be better to use in your climate. One of our members that lives in humid climate is using same mix I described - same as mesembs said - switching from soil based mix. It suits her humid and hot climate better.

Ok update, I think I’ve decided the soil mix I want to use. If this needs changing/should be improved on pls let me know! For anybody else possibly reading this discussion and want a simplified answer:

Location : Singapore, bear the equator

Climate : Tropical (high humidity, rainfall, and light)

Ingredients :

Akadama soil 3mm-6mm (1L, 6.25%)

Leca balls 4mm-8mm (5L, 31.25%)

Pumice 1mm-6mm (5L, 31.25%)

Perlite 2mm-4mm (5L, 31.25%)

Total : 16L of soil

Other materials available to me:

Charcoal, rice husks (burnt and unburnt), garden/lawn sand, coco peat, vermiculite, pine/fir bark, burnt soil.

If anybody can give me tips on how to sift the ingredients to get a consistent particle size that would be great! Otherwise I think I will end up just mixing the ingredients as is.

Leca balls (8mm) = too large. If using pumice and/or akadama, leave them out (they are good for hydro). Using same sifter of appropriate size, all will be sifted and of similar size. If you use ingredients of sizes that are too variable (from 1mm to 8mm), it will not perform that well. I would consider it almost waste of time. It was already mentioned not to use sand - but I am wondering what is "garden/lawn sand"?

@rina Lawn sand I guess is just really coarse sand? But I’m not using it. There’s 2mm-4mm leca balls, but I was thinking of getting 4-8 since I’ve seen that larger particle sizes are better for succulents, although seeing what you said I guess I can just leave them out totally. Do u think charcoal would be good instead? If not I’ll just stay simple and stick with what I have minus the leca balls. After seeing some discussions about perlite I was thinking of using smth else but then I’m not sure what to use in its place.

Big thanks for your patience and time guys, appreciate it a lot. I don’t think I would’ve gotten this far if it wasn’t for the advice

I use both. Large particles(1 cm and slightly above) and smaller ones(>1,5mm). Though, the big ones are best used either on the top(dressing), or at the bottom(extra drainage) instead of having them at root level....

I love the plant on the left! If anyone know what it is, please chime in! So cute. I ordered a gritty succulent mix on Amazon for my plants! It was a bit expensive to I usually mix it in with general cacti/succulent mix from a general store. I haven’t had any issues with overwatering. I also use make sure to use clay pots for my cacti and succulents to help absorb extra moisture and of course, needs to have a drainage hole. If I run out of the mix and can’t get more for whatever reason, I take the regular suc/cacti potting soil and amend it with more perlite and some small gravel stones/pebbles... maybe even some charcoal if I have some on me. I agree with the above commenter though, keep it simple! It’s great to do your own mix and to be so into wanting it to be perfect, but as long as you don’t constantly water them, you should be fine. Just stick your finger down into the soil before you water each time to be sure the soil is dry! I’ve been pinching pennies before and used straight up succulent/cacti soil from Walmart and none of the plants died over it. I have so many plants, like hundreds, it would be ridiculously expensive to buy the good stuff for all of them, so I pick and choose my favorites and give them the upgraded soil especially if it’s a rare one or something super hard to find I’ll give them the good stuff haha

Hi Grace! I am from Singapore too and just starting to build my own Gritty mix as well! Particle size is extremely important in constructing the Gritty Mix. According to Al, particle size should be around that of a ball bearing 3-7mm so that the mix does not hold perched water.

I managed to find Pine Bark under the brand ORCHIATA at Far East Floral of the right size 3-6mm.

I am also considering Leca or Pumice as a substitute for Turface MVP. May I know where 2-4mm Leca may be found? The smallest I found were 4-8mm.

As for Granite, so far no luck I am thinking of resorting to inert Aquarium gravel.

https://lushgro.myshopify.com/products/leca-balls?variant=4276796850217

I found it here, but Im looking more towards planting in just pumice, with some akadama mixed in. The pumice from BloomArt seems to be of pretty decent size. If I can’t do that then I think I might just resort to planting in solely pumice/akadama. The succies I have right now are pretty much goners and I think I will start afresh with hope that my future succies won’t end up with a similar fate

Akadama though, breaks down more easily into fine powders, which will eventually trap perched water. Therefore an Akadama mix would be excellent in the short term until the point where it breaks down to fines.

The idea of Gritty Mix is to have good drainage (3-7mm particles) while controlling retained water by adjusting the ratio of non porous substrate (granite) and porous substrate (turface mvp, leca, pumice). A 100% porous mix of Akadama and Pumice might be too water retentive. But do try it out and see you need any non porous substrates mixed in.

Sidenote: lushgro has a great fertiliser with 3:2:1 NPK & trace elements, as Al recommended.

May I know what the fertiliser from lush gro is? I may get it or at least keep in mind of it. What do u suggest I should try as a non porous substrate other than granite? Am planning and preparing for a future succulent so I want to pin this soil down once and for all

From my readings, any similar sized pebble/gravel that doesn't affect chemistry - tapla seems to suggest Granite or Quartz. I can think of inert aquarium gravel as a substitute - soaked in water for a long time yet inert chemically.

Fertiliser - https://www.ecocityhydroponics.com/lushgro-super-bloom-500g-pack.html

Dennis

IIRC, Al (tapla) recommends fertilizers in ratio of 3:1:2 - maybe just reversion of digits? In Canada, easily found fert is MiracleGrow, in either liquid or soluble powder form. Here is the photo of both (different sized packaging is available):

In US, many use FoliagePro 9:3:6 - here is photo from net:
But there are other makes that would work - balanced ratio of 3:1:2 seems to be most recommended.

Ahh yes 3:1:2

This is the hydroponics nutrient I was meaning to link. It contains Mg Ca and trace elements too!

https://www.ecocityhydroponics.com/lushgro-super-green-500g-pack.html

/quote/

for Lucky Bamboos/KaiYun Zhu/Money Plant and other hard stemmed house/indoor/festive plants Fertilizer Grade Mixed Fertilizer – upon dilution contains 300:100:200 ppm NPK + trace elements Water Soluble Fertilizer for use in foliar feeding, soil drenching, hydroponics & indoor plants.Add one teaspoon full of fertilizer to one litre of water and add this to the soil in the pot once a month – it is that simple! Simple & Professional!

/quote/

Hi, Grace. Hopefully this will help:

Ideally, when you make a mix, the ingredients you use would allow for some adjustment in the medium's ability to hold water. If I was big into succulents instead of bonsai, I'd probably only have screened ingredients in their own bins, ready to be mixed for each individual species as it was planted, unless I was potting up a large number of plants or had a commercial operation, then I'd premix large batches. In order to make it easy to change water retention, you should have at least 2 ingredients, one that is internally porous and holds lots of water (I use Turface, but calcined DE works just fine), and one that has no internal porosity and holds water for a short time, only on the surface of individual particles. For this I use crushed granite or quartzite (cherrystone). With the contrast in water retention between the 2 particles, water retention can be adjusted over a wide range by varying the ratio of water-retentive and no water-retentive particles.

In a perfect world, the mineral fraction for use
in the gritty mix would range in size from about 1/10 - 5/32"
(.100 - .156" or from about 2.5 - 4.0mm) The bark fraction, if used,
would be slightly larger to allow for some breakdown over the life of
the planting ........ from 1/8-1/4 is about ideal (.125 - .250"
or about 3.25 - 6.25mm). There is little value in using particles larger than 2.5-4mm because soil particles 2.5mm and larger won't support perched water, which is the primary cause of root issues, unless the subject being grown is known to be prone to root issues should water linger in the root zone too long. For these plants, the particle size of all particles would best be increased; this, because significant and increasing volumes of perched water can be held by completely nonporous particles as particle size continues to decrease beyond about 2.5mm.

Be cautious about mixing small particles with large particles. Imagine a jar with marbles and fine sand. The marbles serve to reduce the amount of perched water the soil can ultimately hold because they take up space that would otherwise be filled with fine sand and water at container capacity, they serve as ballast, but they don't do much to reduce the ht of the perched water column; and, the amount of air porosity in the soil as a whole will actually be less than it would be if the soil consisted of only fine sand. It's better to control water retention by increasing the volume of particles >2.5mm that are internally porous than to add fine particles that rob air porosity and hold water at the interface where particles contact each other. It's also better to have all particles >2.5mm so the large pores between particles will be full of air from top of the soil column to the pot bottom.

Al

What does the bark component do in the 511/gritty mix?

Bark is the base ingredient around which the soil is built. Bark + perlite usually provides more aeration and more complete drainage than you want or need, which is why a small fraction of fine material in addition to the fines present in the bark are required to adjust water retention. Container media are all about structure and the ability to retain that structure for the intended life of the planting (until the next planned or anticipated repot). When you use a medium like the 5:1:1 or gritty mix, fertilizing becomes so easy it's ridiculous, and worries about over-watering are simply go away (as long as you're reasonable about how often you water).

Al

Hello Grace and Dennis

I'm from Singapore as well.

May I know if you guys managed to find turface and granite? I would like to follow Al's mix as closely as possible seeing as it's worked so well for many!

Al, thanks for sharing your thoughts and comments. I can see that it has been useful to so many and I'm certain it will help me too!

@WMS Lee, we don’t have turface or granite here, but I think you can easily replace turface with akadama and granite with medical stones or pumice, SG is quite humid so most of us just use a pumice:akadama 1:1 medium

Thanks, @Grace Lim!

A few clarifications please if i may:

1. Why do you leave out the pink bark fines?

2. On akadama, I understand from others that it breaks down into smaller pieces and this affects the minimum particle size of 2.5 mm (as suggested by @tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a) above) that we wish to maintain. Have you not had this issue so far?

3. On pumice, @tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a) has previously explained that its water retention capacity is about in between that of turface and granite (extracted below; link: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1378703/container-soils-water-movement-retention-x). Just wondering if you have tried the 2:1 mix of pumice to pine bark?

"Pumice has about the same water retention as the average between Turface and granite, so if you were to use it, the logical place to start would probably be 2 parts of (appropriate size) pumice and 1 part bark. In doing this, you're sort of at the mercy of the water retention level of the pumice, because you've lost the ability to adjust anything in the way of water retention."

@WMS Lee

1) Because of our humidity, I think it’s not necessary to have pine bark fines, also it’s not as easily obtainable, with my small collection of succulents I find it a little impractical too cus I’ll have lots of leftover medium

2) Akadama has different grain types, so I was told that one should buy the hard grain, which won’t break down as much, I was also told that succulents have really nice root growth in akadama, and unlike pumice it allows roots to penetrate.

3) I haven’t tried it, but you can use medical stones instead or gravel. I use concrete pot which help absorb the water from the soil as well

I mostly get info from this facebook group called Succulents Singapore, run by succulent succulents, I think if u join it will be quite useful.

Hi guys :-D

I'm from Singapore too and am recently trying out the 511 on my fig tree, chilli padi, lime and common rue. Have you guys tried the 511 or gritty mix in our climate? How is your experience with it? Would appreciate if you could share your experiences. TIA.

Turface MVP...i found a local distributor who used to carry this (https://www.centaur-asiapacific.com/turface®-mvp®.html) but bcos of lack of demand they have stopped importing. Am thinking, if there is enough interest in the local community, maybe we could request that they bring in a few bags for starters. I got a small pack of turface mvp and it arrived recently...boy this stufff really holds water...absorbs much better than the diatomite rock from candy floral without making the whole pot soggy or wet. I love it!

I saw this table from one of the older posts with regards to the Water Holding Capacity of a few various mediums......not sure how accurate and i cant recall the name of the post....but hope it helps....

That comparison was done by one of our members, ewwmayo. It is in a thread from 2016; Porosity, Water holding capacity...you can search for it on this forum.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/4061703/porosity-water-holding-capacity-cost-of-common-soil-components?n=35

The data there is fairly representative, give or take a few. Although a long shot you may try to find crushed and sifted brick as a replacement for turface.

@pixiek0908 - i have not tried the 511 or the gritty mix as I have not been able to obtain turface or granite. I corresponded briefly with the same local distributor - centaur - recently, but have not heard back from them in a while on whether I can buy turface. They didn't mention that they had stopped importing it. Could you let me know where you obtained granite please?

@Grace Lim - thanks for your help previously!

@WMS Lee - centaur ppl recommended another product they use for golf greens but the particle size is like 0.3-0.8MM, way too small. For the granite, i managed to contact a company called "cherrystone pte ltd" but they only hv it in big sizes like min 1-2". Another source is the "chicken grit" sold online lazada by the chicken folks. But the cost for a small 7lb bag is like S$25.

I suspect local landscaping companies would probably bring in turface and granite in various particle sizes but unlikely that they would retail in small quantites to individual buyers. I read in other much older posts, some folks substitue granite with aquarium gravel in 3-5mm sizes. The down side is the weight. It can be heavy esp for big containers. Others substitue with perlite. Some sub with sand but of a bigger size...they call it "builder grade" or something....

I have not checked out the construction shops that sells sand. There is one along changi road somewher where the urban farmer folks get their sand supply. But i think i'm gonna try gritty mix with the aquarium gravel, easily available and economical

@pixiek0908

If you substitute granite with perlite, I believe the ratio of perlite to pine bark to turface should be 4:3:2, because perlite holds more water than turface.

The difficulty is finding a substitute for turface ...

You don't have to use turface...I am in very different climate than yours, but I use mix of grit and perlite in approx. equal amounts, and very little turface - only about 10-15% of the total. I have many plants potted in same mix without any turface, and some where I used soil instead of turface, in same small amount.

BTW, I have used aquarium gravel before I found chicken grit, and still have plants potted in that mix. It works just fine.

I use grainy mix for most of my plants, not only succulents. Figs, Brugmansias, loquat, passion vine, even some potted strawberries and so on. I use small amount of gravel or even non, because pots get heavy, as pixiek0908 said above. But I use lots of perlite, probably 60% or more. Drainage is great. and pots not too heavy. I have difficulty to find small enough bark, and often do not use any. If I don't have bark (most often), I mix just lots of perlite, small amount of grit if any, and some potting soil.

@WMS Lee I guess the ratios could be adjusted according to the type of plant, location of pot, weather/winds etc. My pots are small like 4-6" so the weight diff between perlite and gravel is still managable. But for big pots that needs to he moved, a lighter alternative may be more apt. If i read correctly, the perlite size for the gritty mix needs to be of a certain size...think its the coarse #3 or super coarse grade #4, sifted to 1/4-1/8". I have trouble finding these bigger sizes in the local nurseries. They only carry small 1.5-2.5mm types.

Another turface substitue i read in bonsai forums is akadama, those high temp fired abv 1200°C types....think its called yaki akadama.....I am not very familiar with this, the bonsai folks would probably be in a better position to advise.

@rina_Ontario,Canada 5a About a month ago i repotted my Fig Carica into the 511+1 diatomite rock. On top of that i mulched about an inch of turface. The plant sulked major and all the leaves have turned yellow and fell off leaving only 2 tiny leaves at the top. A week ago i found roots spreading throughout the mulch layer and it grew a lot of smaller fine roots in the last 1 week. 2 days ago, the smaller of the 2 branches started putting out a new tiny leaf. I am thrilled! But i'm also concerned, is the roots growing at the mulch layer normal? Or is it a sign that there is too much or too little water? I water it daily until water comes out of the bottom of pot. Appreciate if you could share your exp switching to the gritty or 511 mixes.

pixie

From my experience, figs grow many roots, and could be quite agressive. I have to bring them indoors for winter, and every year have to cut many roots that grow out of pot, figs do not seem to mind. Pots are big, but could be even bigger. I usually mulch with grit/gravel.

I do not think it is big problem that roots grew into mulch, it just signals that the substrate is 'hospitable'. I do not see roots growing into my gravel mulch.

I also water them often unless it is raining; but during winter I keep them in cool space and water very seldom - maybe once in 4-6 weeks. Almost all leaves are dry now, and falling off, plants are going dormant.

I buy perlite in bulk; 4cu. ft bags = 113liters; from Hydroponic store. I sift it, using 3-6mm size for succulents, and anything bigger for big pots of tropical plants I have.

How old is your fig tree? Did it have fruit yet?

I think its less than a year old and have not fruit yet.

What happened was....6 mths back i bought a cutting from a local nursery and it doubled in height in 3 mths putting out new bigger foliage. 2 mths ago, the lower leaves started turning yellow and fell off, leaving only the top leaves intact. At the same time it stopped growing. The watering/fertilising schedule was as usual and tree is in the same spot since it arrived. Nothing's changed. I read from the net that it could be soil getting too compacted. So, I tested by watering thoroughly until water started draining out from the bottom, waited 15 mins and stuck my finger in. Turns out, top 2" was dry as suggested. Repeated and still the same results. So I repotted (removed only abt 50% of old clayey soil) into new 1/1/1 compost/perlite/burnt earth mix, waited a month and still no growth but no further leaves dying either....it became completly dormant.

A mth ago I came across Al's posts for the first time, started reading his 10 years worth of info and i decided to try 511 on the fig tree. This time, took tree out, cleaned out all the old soil and repotted into the new 511 mix. Did not see any visible root rot or nematodes or fungus etc.

A week into the 511 repot, all leaves turned yellow and fell off except the 2 tiny ones on the very top. 3 weeks later i saw the new root growth followed by a new leaf.

This is how it looks like before 511, now its "bald":

5 days into 511:

Side note, i'm using this bark size, is it too big or too small?

Singapore is in the tropical belt just above the equator, with hot and wet weather throughout the year. Humidity is very high mostly and lots of rainfall esp year end (think hawaii minus the hurricanes). I'm staying in a high rise apartment and the fig tree is located along the corridor where there is no direct sun but is very bright and partially sheltered. Our tap water comes from reverse-osmosis filtration so not much salt/deposits and is soft. Ph about neutral i believe. Do figs go into dormancy in this kind of weather?

I really cant figure out what's going on with the tree. I am wondering if the tree stopped growing and lost its leaves due to root issues or other factors?