My ficus is outdoors all summer in the shade. And does very well. When I bring it in in the fall it starts to drop leaves until it ajusts to being indoors, then will start showing new leaves. So don't give up.
All this talk of finicky ficus gives me the shivers. Darlings! They ain't no delinquents, they just misunderstood!! Some of their number tower 200 feet high, and feed whole ecosystems. Others spread so wide one tree can shelter a village. They figure prominently in the symbology of several religions. They are totally unique (no other plant bears its flowers inside the fruit), and supremely adaptable (ever try to grow a maple tree indoors). They are NOT fussy, they just have powers and abilities far beyond those of ordinary trees - they can change their leaves, just like Clark Kent in the phone booth. Whenever the light is not right, they can drop their old leaves and make new ones better suited to use the light that is available. So, when you buy a tree from the store, it's probably fresh from Florida where it was grown either in a field of a high-light greenhouse; it needs to be ACCLIMATED to lower light. Bring it home and give it as high a light as you can, but not direct sun - your objective is to allow it to shed high-light leaves, and grow leaves suited for the lower light of your house. You can also thin out the thickets of leaves in the middle of the plant, cause it's going to drop them anyway. During the acclimatization, keep the roots evenly damp. When the leaf drop has slowed and you see some new growth, you're making progress. You can move your ficus to a slightly less-light spot now, if you want to. But remember, ficus is not a low-light plant; keep those spots for your aspidistra (among others.) Most species of ficus need as much light as you can give them - and yes, there are some that can adapt to astonishingly low light. After you get her acclimated, allow the soil to dry out at least half the way down into the pot between waterings, then water enough that around 1/2" is left in the saucer. You can check the soil with a probe or a moisture meter from the plant store. Remember, everyone, your ficus is not fussy, it's just trying its best.
Ficuswrangler is right about the acclimating of Ficus trees being key to using them indoors. The individual leaves are very sensitive to changes in light intensity and tend to drop off when the light changes significantly. As long as you can meet the minimum light requirements of Ficus benjamina, you will eventually be rewarded with a happy tree! Unless your tree is badly overpotted, you cannot allow the soil to dry halfway down into the rootball. Ficus trees have extensive root systems and it is best to water a Ficus tree when the top inch of soil is dry. Beware of moisture meters as they are notoriously inaccurate. Their accuracy varies with soil salts and soil density, as well as the moisture content. I don't recommend them. Soil probes are cheaper, more reliable and last almost forever. ~Will Creed
Hi Will- I hope you're enjoying our discussions as much as I am. I thought carefully about your last comments, because I know that I am very successful with ficus by letting them dry down through the pot. I realized that we probably are not meaning the same thing when we say "dry." That is why we need more precise ways of saying things. First I would propose using the word "aeration" instead of dry, and expressing it in percentages; for instance, completely dry soil, with no moisture in it, is 100% aerated By this method, I would advise, for benjaminas, to allow them to reach 70% - 80% aeration between waterings. If you feel the soil between your fingers, it will feel cool with a trace of moisture in it, and if you squeeze it, it will fall apart as soon as you let go. Regarding the moisture meter, I know they are regarded by the industry as useless, and so I always thought. Then I had a tech who, try as he might, just couldn't feel the subtle moisture differences in the soil. We tried a moisture meter, and it made all the difference for him. I think that moisture meters can be very helpful for the person who has only a few plants, if they understand their shortcomings.
Hi Ficuswrangler - Yes, I enjoy the exchange, but suspect we are getting beyond the interest of others on this forum who do not share our professional experience. For more technical info, I suggest you (or anyone else) contact me via PM. I will make two additional points here. A properly potted Ficus in good light is nearly impossible to over water unless it is left sitting in water for days at a time. Moisture meters too often lead people astray because they appear to be so scientifically accurate that people overrule their own common sense judgements when using them. When I see interiorscape techs using them, I know it is a sign of poor training. ~Will moderator's note: email address information has been removed from this post. Share addresses through PM only
I meant to say a few more words about moisture meters, but I got swept away by demands of home and family. But now I'm back. Moisture meters are, as Will says, notoriously finicky. But if you run your fingers along the metal rod when you pull them out of the soil, you will go along way toward countering the finickiness. If the meter reads damp, and the rod feels dry, something ain't right - most likely you have a buildup of salt in the soil. Now you know that you need to leach the soil: run a quantity of water through the plant equal to 5 times the volume of soil. And you know something else - you're probably fertilizing too much. If the meter is reading dry, and the soil feels wet, the meter is probably broken. A moisture meter can often be useful just as a soil probe, because it's so thin, it can easily penetrate a heavily rooted soil mass, and you can feel soil moisture on the rods. The moral of the story is, moisture meters can be useful, but you still have to use your fingers to feel the soil.
For less than $10 you can purchase a hard plastic soil probe, called Soil Sleuth, that is always reliable, never breaks and provides larger soil samples to assess moisture content at multiple levels in the rootball. I know from personal experience that few people will overrule a moisture meter because it appears to be so scientifically precise. Others should understand that moisture meters don't just measure moisture. They measure electrical conductivity. Conductivity increases with moisture and that is the basis of the moisture meter. Unfortunately, mineral salts in the soil and very compacted soil also increase conductivity even when soil is dry, as Ficuswrangler indicated. Hence their unreliability. If you are concerned with determining if you have excess soil salts in your plants, then use a soil salts meter, which operates on the same principle and is also subject to the same inaccuracies. There are highly accurate moisture meters and fertilizer meters, but they are very expensive and not generally available to the public. ~Will Creed
This is a fair assessment for MOST of the cheap meters. I've been there too, trying a plethora of meters and continually being frustrated by the results. There are a couple of issues you likely will run into if you use one of these meters. The first is corrosion. Since many do not have insulated sensors, they often corrode quickly, and once corroded, it doesn't sense like it is supposed to do, and in essence, gives false readings. The other issue is that many (i'm not saying all) of the cheap meters are affected by salinity (i.e. fertilizer). What happens is that a higher salinity content makes the meter give a higher "wet" reading, even if the soil is bone dry. Despite these issues, for a long time I kept searching, because I'm into technological assessment of my plants. Finally I reached this (Link removed by moderator) and have been considerably happy with it. Although it is a little more expensive than your average cheap meter, it is fully insulated (so it doesn't corrode) and isn't affected at all by salinity. For the 3 years I've had it, I have been well pleased. Just wanted to point out that not all sensors are crap. You just have to be willing to put in a little more money to get a quality product. Essentially, you get what you pay for. If you are having issues with the cheap meters corroding and don't want to purchase ANOTHER, you have a couple of options. One temporary solution is to wipe/scrape the corrosion away with a piece of steel wool. As far as the salinity goes, I have never found a quick fix for it. Ultimately if you want to scrap the use of a meter, you can just stick a finger/bamboo stick into the soil, and if it comes up dry, it needs more water. Hope this helps!
