The house I just moved into came with a cute if very neglected Benjamina (REALLY neglected. i dug old melted candle wax out of it's soil (!)) The story is that the original inhabitant of this place was an avid gardener, but she passed 13 years ago. since then care of house/yard plants has been sporadic at best So, I've gingerly removed the little stickers some little girl had kindly decorated the branches with and am now wondering how best to pamper her back to health. She's got some droopy the leaves scattered over everywhere (no major dead sections), there were a lot of dead leaves, but they fell off while I was removing the cobwebs.It's about 4 feet tall, but bends at the top of ceiling and goes horizontally for another foot or so (I'd take a picture, but my camera's still packed) I've never had a ficus before, they like dry soil, OK how dry? is there anything nice i can do for her to recover faster and start growing more leaves
Mulch it well. Water when ever it hasn't rained in past seven days. Mostly ficus is a tender bonsai in USA. As bonsai it is notorious about shedding leaves, which is rarely fatal. It will bud new leaves.
Ficus benjamina (Weeping Fig, Benjamin's Fig) Can grow to 20 feet tall but most indoor plants I have seen are pruned to keep them around 5 - 6 feet tall. They do like bright, sunny spots and are very sensitive to light changes in their environment. that will cause them to drop leaves but they will eventually put out new ones that are adapted to the changes so try not to move them from room to room. They do not like cool temperatures and keep them out of drafts. Water when the soil is dry down to a couple of inches below the surface during the summer and only to keep them from completely drying out in the winter. Sounds like yours needs to be placed on the floor in front of a sunny, maybe an east facing window or patio door. You can cut off the bent over section, that shouldn't have been allowed to happen.
OK. so I water it rarely, keep it in the sunniest window, and ignore it. Easy enough =) It will tolerate some pruning then? I've been wanting to cut off the bits that don't have leaves but afraid to traumatize it. It's in a window, in the kitchen, near the fireplace can it tolerate the temperature shifts that entails.
Your ficus should go out of doors as soon as the night time temperature does not go below 50° (think tomato plant needs). It is very forgiving of being pruned which is why it is so desirable as bonsai. If it has not been repotted in a while, plan on doing so in late April-early May. Please use very fast draining soil, not potting soil. Big box stores sell cactus mix in 5Lb bags if you are not able to mix up your own. I might repot before top pruning, just to see what buds back first. Root prune and comb out old soil with a chopstick and repack pot also using chop stick to move soil back into roots. You forgot to mention your ficus was in a pot. I might check for moisture evey other day by inserting a finger into soil. For all its willingness to shed leaves, this fig family tree is quite trainable.
Years ago, I "inherited" a large ficus at work. It had been abandoned in a vacant office for awhile, neglected before that... and it was in terrible shape. When I moved into that office, I claimed it. I used to pour my leftover water into it at the end of the day. It was a large tree, like 8 feet tall maybe, so that wasn't a lot of water. I also used to throw in my leftover coffee (black, no sugar). It was never more than an ounce or two. Lighting was all artificial. Seriously, that tree recovered and thrived beautifully. I think it was the coffee. As I recall, it dropped a lot of leaves on occasion.
My experience with ficus is that they can be very "temperamental". They don't like being moved about. My sister-in-law has one and she swears that if you don't talk to it nicely often it will start to drop leaves! :-o
I would find a nice partly sunny spot and don't move it or it will drop even more leaves. These trees like to stay in one spot as long as their happy!Ficus can drop leaves on and off for up to 3-4 months when they aren't happy, but as long as you see new growth replacing the dropping leaves, don't panic, it's filling out in the new light it's getting. If over-watered, or the soil dries too much for too long, you will experience leaf drop. Turn it weekly for even growth, just leave it stay in the same spot. Cut out branches back to the next branch down. Dead ones will appear dry, lighter in color then other branches and slightly wrinkled.Those branches are dead and won't produce any new leaves. Cutting all the dead stuff back now will help stimulate nice new growth
Good luck with your newly adopted plant. I have two big old Ficus that were given to me. They do drop leaves, I am always cleaning up after them. I love the day when they can go outdoors.They just thrive out there during the warm months. One problem they both suffered from was scale insect, but after several years of spring and fall applications of systemic insecticide, I think I've whipped the nasty things. They are well worth the trouble. Very nice plants.
Ribbit, Welcome! I too live in Olympia. Need any plants just PM me Please don't put a ficus outside here . The temps never really get over 50F here for nighttime temps. They do survive well in our homes as long as they aren't in a draft and get enough light. I am sure it will perk up just fine if it has survived its abuse. I just put mine on a weekly watering schedule making sure it got soaked well and then not let the roots set in water. I have kept differnt ficus' topped at seven feet and at a foot and half. They are very forgiving of pruning and really need a good hair-cut at least once a year if they are doing well. Good luck and welcome to the Stew!
