Not sure how to continue growing my Fiddle Leaf Fig, seeking advice
Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my post! I found this forum to be super helpful in diagnosing myriad problems and questions I've had with my tree and thought why not ask the stellar community here for some advice.
I got my FLF last August and through the end of summer it didn't grow any new leaves at all, probably because it was adjusting to its new home and the repotting I did. Around December it started growing some giant
new leaves and now in March it has grown a good deal which is exciting to see but causes some worry for the upcoming warmer and longer light months.
My plant is currently a little under 8 feet tall and my ceilings are 10 feet which doesn't give me a ton of space to allow vertical growth. There is currently one little branch coming off of one of the 3 connected stems and I was imagining I could encourage more branching a bit further up to mitigate some of the strictly vertical growth. I'm not sure how to ensure keeping the tree balanced and keeping the three stems from opening up wider than I have space for. Currently I have the stems pulled towards each other with some twine which may or may not be the best solution. Initially this didn't seem like a problem but as the branches grew more leaves the weight was pulling them apart. I really want to make sure the tree can grow in a healthy manner, without hitting the ceiling, and without splaying too far open. Any suggestions are welcome.
Many thanks,
Yuna
Comments (9)
K Laurence
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoRelated Discussions
Advice for my Fiddle Leaf Fig (Ficus Lyrata)
Comments (5)Hello, l need some help please. I recieved my fig a bit over 14 years ago. God love its heart it has been through 3 moves and one repotting. It has 11 trunks and is approximately 6 and a half feet tall. All the trunks are skinny and I have most of them bound to a stake, and it is still leaning. I would like to straighten it up. I had this weird idea of pulling all the trunks together and using gardening tape and starting at the bottom taping them all together to create one trunk. Please dont be horrfied, I dont have many plants and reallyhave no training. This one is special to me and would really appreciate some help to make it a healthy and attractive house plant. I live in north Alabama and it currently sitting on the back porch. Thank you in advance....See MoreAdvice on how to prune fiddle leaf fig tree [PHOTO]
Comments (17)As a bonsai judge, I know a little about what to do to bring out the potential in the tree's shape. Technically, the bifurcations (forks) appear too high on the trunk for the tree to be an ideal multi-trunk specimen, which means you would need to reduce the tree to a single trunkline to get the best from the tree. No big deal if that's not something you want to do because you're not looking for a prize, just a more presentable tree. You might have made an error if you pruned out the center of the tree, which it looks like you did in the picture. The stem closest to the center, determined by an imaginary vertical line upward from where the trunk enters the soil, would be the logical leader. At this point, you should decide if you want it to be a single trunk (you'd need to remove 3 trunks) or a multi-trunked plant. As an option, you could fairly easily air layer off the top of the tree just below where the trunks all split. If you're going to leave it all tied up until the trunks are set in place, you need to reduce the ht of all the trunks to different hts. Generally, trees look better with 1, 2, 3, 5, or 7 trunks. 4 is not usually used, so I would remove 1 trunk, then shorten the other 3 so the thickest trunk is tallest, the thinnest trunk is 1/2 the ht of the tallest, and the trunk with medium thickness is 2/3 the ht of the tallest. What do you think? Al...See MoreNot sure what to do with my Fiddle Leaf Fig
Comments (3)It's growing sparse because it isn't getting enough light. They need as much light as you can give them. Such as direct sunlight in a southern facing window. Right up in front of the window, not a few feet away. When you moved it, you probably moved it into a location with less light, hence the leaf drop. They really don't like to be moved around, if you can avoid it. Putting it outside next summer when the nighttime temps are above 60° will definitely fill it out. Pruning will also increase back budding....See MoreFiddle Leaf Fig— tips on growing from bush to tree
Comments (16)It makes no sense to wait to remove the subordinate leaders if she wants a tree with a single trunk. The wounds from the subordinate trunks will just be larger and take longer to close. In addition, there is nothing that says a person must choose the dominant leader as the last stem standing. Sara could as easily choose a subordinate stem as her new, single leader based on things like its movement, the angle at which it leaves the soil, or position - related to the other stems removed. So would you recommend I do a little surgery on the base to see how many ”trunks” I’m dealing with? I don't think it matters how many trunks there are. If you have 10, you need to remove 9, if there are 20, it's 19 you'll remove. I can’t really tell if this is just one trunk with multiple off shoots or whats going on. It feels so messy and overwhelming at the base. You probably have the cultivar "Bambino", which is just one of the names given to a dwarf form of lyrata with smaller, more upright leaves and much shorter internodes. All my advice, so far, was aimed at the fact that you want a single trunk on your tree. That's easily doable, but you'll be fighting against the tree's natural growth habit, something I think Dave might have alluded to upthread. As your tree grows, those trunks will become more exposed, so you can tidy-up around the soil line with a pair of scissors. You can even remove several trunks so you end up with a great looking clump formation. That's definitely what I would do with the tree. I'd keep 3, 5, or 7 trunks of varying thickness, shorten them (or not) based on their thickness, and remove the rest. Then, I'd get another tree that wants to be a tree, and not a shrub. If you DO go for a single trunk, make sure you remove all buds that break low on the tree, as they emerge, or you'll be removing another dozen wannabe trunks in a year or two. Al...See MoreK Laurence
5 years agoYuna Kim
5 years ago
kulrn
5 years agoK Laurence
5 years agoYuna Kim
5 years ago
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
5 years agoThe best time to do any kind of heavy pruning is not Spring, as in the first day of ...... But Spring, as in the last day of, sounds about right to me. There are 3 reasons for this. 1) In early spring, indoor trees are only sort of maybe thinking about getting a little serious about starting to grow like they might mean it some day. On the last day of spring, they will probably be at the peak of vitality, and their food/energy making ability will be peaking as well, so the recovery time, during which they will be more vulnerable to biotic AND abiotic pathogens, will last only a small fraction of the time it would should you prune now. 2) If you prune your tree now, it's going to put on a lot of growth with long internodes that will work at cross purposes with you trying to ensure your tree is compact and full. What do you do with all that leggy winter growth and the leggy growth your tree has now? How about leave it alone until June, then prune hard? It would be to your tree's advantage. Pruning hard in June means you take off ALL leggy growth from the previous winter. In the summer months, all growth will be tight - with very short internodes. Then, starting in Fall, let the tree grow wild (unpruned) all of next late fall/ winter/ early spring, and remove the leggy winter growth again in June of '20. This means that all internodes from the time you start your pruning sessions, will be short and your tree will be as tight as it can be within the effects of influences like light, temp, and fertility. 3) All plants have natural rhythms. Learning to work with their growth cycle instead of against it is much better for and easier on your trees; and, it makes you a better nurturer for planning your heavy work to take advantage of when your plants are at their best, while making allowances when when the vitality level of your plants is at low ebb, and
Also, it doesn't much matter how sharp your pruners are because whatever internode you cut through when you prune is going to die back to the first proximal node, even if you used a laser beam.
What you do with your tree now will determine what you'll have to work with in the future. IOW, you probably shouldn't expect the tree to provide you with a structure YOU can build on. You'll need to do that yourself - but it's very easy in this case.
I see 3 trunks and a bit of a single wild branch. Is that right? The wild branch should be pruned back to 2 healthy leaves. Of the 3 trunks, the thickest should be the tallest. The next thickest should be pruned back so it is about 2/3 the ht of the tallest trunk after the tallest has been pruned. The thinnest trunk should be about 1/2 the ht of the tallest after it's been pruned. Important: When you make your cuts, make sure the top leaf on the trunks you're cutting faces AWAY from the vertical midline of the pot.
If this ^^^ was your pruning cut, you can be sure the branch in the axil (crotch) of this leaf will grow to the right (absent effects of phototropism - growing toward the light). If you'd cut just above the lower leaf, you can be sure it will grow to the left. Plan your cuts so the new branches will grow outward from the center and not inward.
If you're interested in what I'm saying, I'll help you with how to keep your tree from getting so far out of control it needs a hard prune to reset it to something you can build a canopy on. Obviously, you don't want your canopy at ceiling ht where (lack of) light will be a serious limitation.
Al
Yuna Kim
5 years ago
kulrn