Calling all Fiddle Leaf experts! What is wrong with my FLF?!
Clare
3 years ago
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Comments (11)
Ekor Tupai
3 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Help and Advice For My Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree
Comments (7)Packing peanuts tend to make water perch in the soil above the "drainage layer" and are something of a nightmare at repot time, so I'd discourage you from using them. The ballast you need should allow a continuous column of soil that goes all the way to the bottom of the pot. Notice, in the picture above, that the PWT is the same ht in every picture. No matter if the soil was 12" deep or 12' deep, the PWT would be the same ht for a given soil. Also note how the volume of soil is reduced in C and D, reducing the volume of saturated soil considerable. If you build a ballast system in the bottom of the pot so there is only a VERY small amount of soil that CAN support perched water, you can eliminate it almost entirely. If you go too far and eliminate that soil column that extends to the pot bottom, you don't get the benefit because that causes the water to perch. If you pot up now, you don't want to mix the media in the pot because you'll have parts of the soil that are too wet and parts too dry. Your main purpose for the repot is to use a little science to get rid of the excess water retention until next summer when you can bare-root/repot with little concern about the plant's recovery time, which is an issue now. Yes - the soil I use for my trees is very gritty, which is prolly why people started calling it the gritty mix. The dime is about the same size as your dime. In many ways, it doesn't matter much how you implement the concept of using materials of larger particles to eliminate the limitations imposed by saturated soils, and pumice is a useable component. I probably have 50 ficus trees, and none show any evidence of oedema or any other symptoms of too much water in the rhizosphere, and I water most of them daily in the summer - not particularly because they need it, but because I can w/o concern about over-watering. This is a ficus a week after I defoliated it in July of '14. You can see the soil ...... It grew a lot before I took it in for the winter, so I pruned it back before it went indoors. This is the tree in spring, this year and here it is after defoliation and ready to grow some more I'm not sure where to find soil ingredients in Canada. Fir bark should be easy to find, but you must be careful that you don't buy a product that was ponded in salt water. Quartzite or cherrystone is mined in MN, but I don't know if it crosses the border into Canada. Look for the grit component at rural feed stores or grain elevators that cater to rural populations that raise fowl, and don't use crushed shellfish because of the salinity and high pH. Al...See MoreWhat's Wrong with my Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree??
Comments (5)It depends. Treated municipal water might contain chlorine (often not the kind that dissipates after the water stands for a while), and hard water can cause harmful mineral deposits, but you can avoid that by flushing the soil frequently. Still, rainwater or R/O (reverse osmosis) water is great, especially to flush accumulated mineral deposits from soil. Just be aware that if your ficus's roots can't take up water at all, either because they've died of dehydration or from suffocation because water retentive soil stayed soggy for long periods of time, even the purest water won't help. That being said, one of the easiest things to start with is flushing the soil to remove mineral deposits, and R/O or rainwater make that easier. I used R/O water from a supermarket machine to flush my plants, but when I'm not up to hauling stuff I use tap water from my faucet mounted filter. Once you've done that, learned how to tell your plans actually needs water before watering, and learned how to remove as much perched water as possible after watering, you can focus on getting your ficus into a fast draining soil that doesn't pose a danger to its roots. Another excellent thread called Dealing with water retentive soils: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1415041/dealing-with-water-retentive-soils?n=62...See MoreMy fiddle leaf fig pruning/propagating trial and error
Comments (19)The bud in the leaf axil first image upthread) is your future tree, so it shouldn't be kept under water where it's likely to rot. If it dies, you might not ever get another break from the leaf axil ..... at best, you'd have to wait for an extremely long time for a new apical meristem to form on the cutting. Al...See MoreHelp for Fiddle Leaf Fig- spider mites and leaf drop
Comments (4)Thank you so much for responding (and for talking me off the ledge!) Sorry I wasn't being clear...I have not yet repotted and was waiting until June to do so. I haven't examined the soil closely, but once when I was lifting/transporting the tree to water it, the pot just fell off the plant onto to the ground. it did make some mess but the potting medium pretty much held together in the shape of the pot. So, I'd say at least "old" if not "bad" soil? Should I look at the roots more closely and if so, what am I looking for? (And what would I do if I found it?) If this guy does survive, I will summon up the courage to repot hopefully in Al's 5:1:1 in June if I can manage to find all the right ingredients (been working on that for some time.) Very nervous to repot something this size. I did spray all the other bigger plants in the house and will now do the rest of them (and this one) once a week...thank you! I knew they traveled from plant to plant....but, hitch a ride on me? I might never sleep again knowing that...lol. Also, I haven't fertilized at all--I know I've read somewhere on this Forum that it's good to do a weaker Foliage Pro all year(?) but I wasn't sure if I should just initiate that at this time of year--even at a weaker strength, much less when the plant is stressed? I'm thinking I should wait for new growth to start fertilizing? Thank you, thank you for taking the time to help!!!!...See Moreken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
3 years agoClare
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoMike the Fiddle Leaf Fig Guy
3 years agoClare
3 years agotropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoEkor Tupai
3 years agoClare
3 years ago
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tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)