Try posting in container gardening. This section is for edible figs.

You noticed yesterday it was looking like that? How long had you been neglecting the plant and not even noticing it? This usually doesn't happen overnight.

Have you under or over watered? Was it getting any light?

..... wish we knew what part of the world you live in.

The normal response of Ficus to a drought response (caused by under or over-watering) is to first wilt, then shed foliage to help it retain enough water to keep the remaining tissues viable. All you can do is keep it warm, keep the soil moist but make sure you don't over-water (this is critical), and wait to see what damage was done and if the plant has enough reserve energy to push a new flush of foliage.

Al

Thanks for the feedback!

Dave - we did neglect the poor thing - not entirely sure how long it was looking so sad - maybe a couple of weeks ?! I think we may have underwatered it and maybe wasn't getting enough light either (in corner of room).

Tapla - we are in Perth, WA (currently summer - v hot). Where should we put it? In the house or a sheltered spot in the garden? How do I know how much water is enough? I've read that from below the first couple of inches soil should be moist - so should first couple of inches of soil be dry?

Oh - by the way - further to above pic all the leaves did drop off. I chopped the top of the stem off thinking that might stimulate growth?? Or did I kill it further?!!

Thanks,

Emma

Put it outdoors in the shade (for now). Don't water until a skewer or wooden dowel stuck deep in the pot comes out dry. I'm guessing you should see it start to bounce back within 2-3 weeks. No fertilizer and be careful not to over-water. Chopping of the top won't have any impact on whether or not it recovers, but it will change how your plant is configured because you'll no longer have a central leader. Instead, you'll have several new branches appear, all of which will compete for the role of leader. You'll have to choose one of those branches as the leader at some point, or grow the plant more like a multi-stemmed bush, but I wouldn't worry about that until you see what the plant does in terms of recovery. Maybe you can designate someone to regularly check on the plant's need for water to ensure it doesn't happen again. The amount of energy a plant has stored is finite, and it's highly unlikely the plant will tolerate another defoliation before the new flush of growth has matured and had some time to rebuild the plant's (energy) reserves.

Al

Thanks Al!