Thanks again for the feedback! I was already mid-repotting session when I read Al's reply so I didn't incorporate any ballast at the bottom of the pot. Now I wish I had thought of that, or even thought to put a wick in the bottom of the pot. I made the mix I described above. The bag of orchid mix looked like it was a combination of fines or peaty soil and a lot of bark/sapwood. After adding the perlite, I think (I hope!) the net effect is something like the mix Al suggested above (using one part soil similar to what it's potted in already with two parts perlite). In other words, there's perlite, lots of bark, and some fines that are similar in texture to what the tree was already planted in. I watered to beyond saturation and held the pot at a 45° angle for a few minutes to let it drain even more. It drained really well, and the soil was definitely damp, not wet. It's on the porch now. It will get open shade for the first half of the day and full sun in the late afternoon. I've got a chair in front of the pot to keep it shaded for the first hour or so the sun is on the tree so it doesn't spontaneously combust. Thanks again for all of your help. I'll keep you posted if and when any new growth starts!

I agree with Dan. Buy a 1/4 or 5/16" wooden dowel rod from hardware/big box store, cut it in half, and sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener. Push it into the soil all the way to the bottom of the pot near the center. Don't water until it first comes out clean and dry. If you're watering when only the top inch is dry, there could still be several inches of 100% saturated soil at the bottom of the pot, inhibiting root function or wrecking root health. Al

Hi g8trgirl5 and Al! I was just about to make a thread with almost all of the same issues. I hope it's okay if I add onto this thread instead of making my own since this situation seems similar to mine. I've been reading Al's posts on watering and soil and think I probably need to repot too. I've only had my tree (really, three different stalks in one pot) for a week and a half. I got it from Home Depot and I could see a few brown spots on leaves of one of the stalks but the rest of the stalks looked healthy. After bringing it home, I only gave it a "sip" of water as the soil seemed moist when I did the dowel test (with a bamboo knitting needles). The browning of the leaves has spread significantly over the past few days. This was one of the stalks 4 days ago: Today: A couple of the bottom leaves fell when I touched them, and the browning has begun on the other stalks. Now that it has dried out, I'm planning to water it thoroughly by flushing it out in the tub with water and tilting it to try to get this moisture-retaining soil to drain. Maybe the soil has accumulated too much salt. Should I fertilize it with Dynagro 9-3-6 after watering? Could this browning be the plant going into shock from the move to my apartment? I'm also worried that the browning is due to root rot from this soil. If this is root rot, should I repot it into the gritty mix or the 5-1-1 mix? I would completely get rid of the soil it is in (which looks similar to the picture the OP posted). Does it matter whether I use a clay, glazed ceramic, or plastic pot? As for light conditions, I have it near bay windows with very bright but filtered light from the West and Northwest. I'm in San Antonio (Zone 8 - south/central Texas). Should I take it out onto our shaded walkway/balcony after repotting? What direction should should it face? It frequently reaches 100 degrees F here, so I am worried that this summer heat might be too hot. Finally, I am also thinking to separate the three plants into three pots. What size pot should I use? My apologies for all of these questions, and my sincere thanks to anyone who can help answer them!

Madi, Pls do not take any advice from Mike 223908** as he has no idea what he is talking about. You appear to be paying attention, reading & trying to learn, which is always nice to see. Pls wait 'til others who know the difference btwn good & bad advice come along to help. In particular, any Ficus searches around here that yield info from Al (Tapla) are worth reading & very helpful. Mike does the opposite (than try to learn, just parrots everything he reads, whether right or wrong info) & has already been asked repeatedly to stop buying more plants to kill & now he will be told to keep his bad, uninformed advice to himself. (Apologies for sounding mean to Mike here below, but there's history here.) Mike: pls don't help anyone, as you have no clue what you're doing, are killing all your own plants & we do not want that influence on others. Learn to take care of your own plants before trying to help others w/ theirs. ETA: ** or from Mike the Fiddle Leaf Fig Guy