My Audrey looks like that too! Is it really normal for this plant? that would be a big relief!!

If you're watering when you can still feel moisture in the top SEVERAL inches of soil, you're likely over-watering; this, because the top few inches of soil can be dry and the bottom few inches completely saturated. Use a 'tell' to 'tell' you when your plant needs water. More on that below. It's a cut/paste job of a reply I wrote and saved, so forgive the odd formatting. It's also not getting all the light it wants. Your plant will tolerate/enjoy full outdoor sun, and would reward you for siting it there. Your tree should be acclimated to a full sun position if you don't think you could tolerate seeing all the leaves fall off from sunburn before it puts on a new, pristine flush of foliage. You should start fertilizing after a couple of weeks, and read up on how to repot so root congestion doesn't become a major limitation. These articles should be helpful: Growing Basics About tending Ficus in pots. Using a 'tell': Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support good root health, which is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to a build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al

Hi everyone, I’m located in New York City and I’m looking for a cutting from Ficus Audrey aka Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis ‘Audrey’). In return, I can offer a 2" Pilea peperomioides (aka Friendship plant aka Chinese Money Plant) baby (see picture) they grow fast. I suppose that's the most desirable plant I have, although also have two potted cuttings from my Jade plant (Crassula ovata) one 2.5" already well rooted and is 4" slightly behind in the rooting process (2 weeks). Alternatively could do a fresh cutting from any of the following plants: Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica) Fiddle Leaf Fig (Ficus lyrata) Swiss Cheese Plant (Monstera deliciosa) Swiss Cheese Vine (Monstera Adansonii) Fabian Aralia Stump (Polyscias scutellaria) Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata)

Take the aluminum wrap off the pot to ensure water can escape through the drain hole. The affected leaves show localized parts of the upper layer of the leaf's superior (top) surface which have been destroyed by photo-oxidation (sunburn). Too much light causes release of a hydrogen atom which joins with a water molecule to form the oxidase H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide), the same chemical compound used to bleach hair and disinfect wounds. H2O2 is a powerful oxidizer which attacks the first organic molecule it comes in contact with, in this case, t was the pigment chlorophyll. The leaves first turned a silver/gray color before desiccation became a player and turned the surface brown. The plant has chemical messengers that will inform plant central when the affected leaves move from being net producers of energy (via photosynthesis) to net USERS of energy. When the plant recognizes the leaves as a liability as opposed to assets, it will start adsorbing mobile nutrients and other compounds from the leaf for use elsewhere in the plant. That means they are still an advantage to the plant; however, the plant appears healthy enough that removing them for aesthetic reasons wouldn't be a significant setback as the leaves are already about 25% compromised insofar as their ability to produce food/energy. Your call. If you decide to remove them, only cut through the petiole (leaf stem) with a pair o scissors an inch or two away from the leaf's attachment point - especially the top leaf. If you cut the top leaf too far back, you could remove the apical meristem at the stem end where all extension growth occurs. Do this, and the trunk will never be able to extend. Instead, a new branch will occur from the new top leaf and take over as the new leader. The problem with that is, it will likely grow in a direction other than up for several feet unless you train it to grow upward as soon as the new branch appears. If you have questions, I can offer guidance as I have many bonsai Ficus and am very familiar with how you can expect them to respond. Al