I would not put the bird anywhere near the window. Reason 1 is it will get a draft and probably get sick. Reason 2 vet bills are expensive. Why can't you put the big cage in a bedroom then give the bird an exercise platform in the living room? If you decide to leave your bird next or near a TV it will get angry, grumpy and even mean sometimes. Their natural sleep patterns are disturbed and they act like a 2 year old without enough sleep. They need absolute quite at night time. A living room is not the place for that to happen if you want to watch anything after dark.

1) Prune the growing tip and last leaf off every branch with 3 or more branches now. It's too early to severely reduce the tree.

2) You can mail me more pictures, or you can bring the tree up to Bay City when it warms a little. I'll prune it & give you a long range plan if you like. (I do maintenance pruning on all my own many other's Ficus trees.)

3) The type of yellowing you are experiencing is a precursor to leaf abscission (loss). Perhaps this will help clear things up a little - from a very recent post on this forum:

We frequently talk of leaf abscission in Ficus trees as if it's a great mystery, but technically, anything that slows photosynthesis and the flow of auxin can cause leaf abscission. Chill (particularly sudden chill), lowered light levels or exposures, wet or dry soil, and other stress agents that affect photosynthesis all cause leaf abscission.

4) Probably good to stop fertilizing over winter, but plants do need some small amount of nutrients even when they seem to be quiescent. No way to tell from here. How is the salts/carbonates build-up situation? Are high salt concentrations preventing water and accompanying nutrient uptake?

5) Yes there is. Allow the plant to become quite, but not completely dry. A bonsai master that I know said it best, "Allow tree to become completely dry, then water the day before." ;o)

Other ideas - take a good look at your soil. The right mix can make your job much easier and all your efforts soo much more rewarding.

Al

I'd like to emphasize that the bird and ficus should never be in proximity with each other. You don't want any leaves falling into the cage, or to allow your bird any opportunity to nibble on the branches.

Thanks to all for your responses. It's so nice that the internets can bring complete strangers together!

First, the tree:
1 & 2) Al, I'm going to take you up on reviewing another picture, because I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "prune the growing tip and last leaf off every branch." Does the photo below provide you enough detail to explain that to me for this tree? I'm showing mostly one side of the T - this side is the most straggly. In fact, there are three big(gish) branches, you can see those branches in this photo, and the shape could more properly be described as a triangle - the branch in the middle would be in the "corner" and the other two branches form the legs. Well, if that description helps at all...!

I don't think my car is big enough to fit the tree, but I sure like the idea of a Long Range Plan. I'm really glad that your first suggestion wasn't to just get a new plant! I can send more pictures, privately, if that helps. I figure the first step is to learn about "growing tips."

3) So, basically, everything can contribute to leaf loss. Grin. Well, that just makes sense.

4 & Other ideas) Does a salt/carbonate build-up look like white or tan crusty crystal-like growth? If so, then the tree doesn't have that problem now. It did - we re-potted it into a bigger pot a couple of years ago, and that problem hasn't resurfaced. But I'm going to research your soil ideas, to see what kinds of things I can try.

5) Good advice! So it goes.

About the bird:
I've had a parrot before, and have finches now, so I know all about changing my life around to keep birds healthy. I know the bird and the tree shouldn't be in direct contact with each other. But certain things I won't know until after the bird arrives (like, will he ignore it or see it as a toy). I do know that I have a lot to learn about taking better care of the tree. Which is why I'm here. So, yeah, I'm totally obsessing about keeping both bird and tree happy! Not to worry.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:84617}}