Good find! They grow like weeds if you put them outside in full sun.

this little one, now about two feet tall, is a bush I'm growing. The clippings were smaller yours last summer when I started it.

Outside its going!!! I'll probably have to set a reminder on my phone to water it though. Its such a small pot I know its going to dry out quickly.

Cant overwater these plants, especially outside. :)

"Can't over water these plants."

no offense, but that's a terrible statement. You most certainly can, and that's why most people end up killing them.

In a heavy peat based soil, these trees are easy to over water.

Yes, it's harder to over water outside.

Hey its something i've was told years ago when working at a greenhouse, and i have never had one die from overwatering, especially outside. They are tropical, and they get air roots because they want so much moisture. A drench everyday in a small pot would be great for it. Considering most plants In my opionion die from Underwatering, people just dont like to spill dirt and water everywhere

Sounds like something people would say years ago ha.

Sure, it's harder outside.

But say someone has a ficus in miracle gro mix (because they don't know of better options) and they think watering it once every few days is a good practice (or in an worse scenario, water it daily as you suggest) Say that tree also recieves very little light and doesn't grow much at all.

Youll be drowning that plant and rotting the roots in no time.

Unfortuntely, a lot of people who just don't know any better heave plants in situations like that.

I think a statement saying "you can't over water ficus" is just bad for others to read on these forums.

If you have a ficus growing in the gritty mix or 5:1:1, you probably won't have to worry about over watering. But for the normal person, that's not the case.

Most threads I read here come from over watering issues, not under watering. Too many people try to give their plants too much love in the form of water.

Mat, I don't mean to sound rude, but that's just bad advice in general, especially for anyone who may not know a lot about these trees. Besides, most people aren't growing these outdoors in full sun.

I think any plant can get ovetwatered. I'm more worried about underwatering it because its so tiny and i usually water my bigger plants every other day. Hence the reasoning for setting an alarm for it.

Dave ever since I found this forum my care of my plants has improved. I water all my houseplants every Tuesday with no issues because of the 5-1-1 mix.

Oh and I managed to over water a begonia outside ha ha. But in my defense it was still in the peaty soil from the nursery.

Put it outside slowly. It can and likely will burn if you just stick it right out...

Oh yes I know I have a nice shady spot for it

meh your right dave, gotta make answers that anyone can understand not my narrow minded own personal tastes or skill level . In the nursery we use to drench them even if they were already moist. Just hose the heck out of them. I never seen any problems and my boss said its impossible to overwater them. Im sure indoors or in the shade i suppose you could overwater if you are like OCD and water it everyday as i suggested in the house lol

That's a great little plant! Glad you found one! What shape will it be? Tree-like with a single trunk, or full and let loose like Daves photo? Either is nice.

Sara ummm I'm not sure.

Is that something I can determine?

Absolutely! Depends on if and how you trim.later today I'll post some pics of what I mean.

The one above has been able to just do what it wants. Others that I want to look like a tree, I remove any branches or buds expect for the very top. I keep removing side buds until it's reached a desirable hight, then I clip back the top and force it to back bud and it fills out nicely.

I would love to see pics. I love both ways so I'm not sure which look I want.

The following one I'm making into a tree form.

The cutting was originally about 8" long (about 2' tall now).

As it grows, I cut all buds off that form on the sides and just leave one leader. It forces it to just keep growing up and not branch out. That way you can get it to a certain hight that you want and make it look like a tree.

Pardon the scorched leaves, I put it out in the sun without acclimating because I don't want the current leaves on the tree anyway. New leaves they form will be fully sun tolerant.

Buds removed in the leaf crotch:

New leaf emerging acclimated to full sun:

I think I'll let mine grow how it wants and once it gets big enough , take a cutting, and try my hand at making it more tree like.

Good idea! Sounds fun. Dave- nice work!

Can Ficus lyrata cuttings be propogated by placing in water or do I have to put it in soil?

Jamila - just stick it in some medium and you will surprised. I personally think there is no point rooting a cutting in water. For cuttings I would use a variation of the 511 mix with smaller pine bark - say less than 1/4 inch. I usually also put a top 1/4 inch layer of finer material to hold in the moisture. Then the the pot goes into a tray with a high dome on top. I use nursery flats with a a matching 7inch or so clear plastic dome that has as couple of adjustable vents. For high humidity i would close the vent for the first 7-10 days and then gradually open the vents full over the next 7 days or so.

Having said all that, ficus will root quite easily. Take a 4-6inch cutting, chop off the big leaves and chop the medium sized ones in half to reduce water loss. Then stick them in the soil medium and keep it covered in a shady area or low light area. More than 75% success rate with ficus. Even a 2-3 inch cutting will root. This yr I am going to try a cutting that is a inch in diameter. Most likely it will root too.

This is a ficus religiosa from a cutting - more than 15 yrs old now. My favourite ficus. This is last years photo. The pot is (was) 14 inch diameter and about 6 inch deep. In my attempt to repot the plant the pot itself broke in half. Now it is in a temporary pot and I am still searching for the right pot for it.

I'll be sticking it in soil tommorow then!!! I think Ficus are becoming one of my favorite group of plants!!!!

You need an Alii too. :)

I like the Ficus religiosa, I've got 2 of them. They can grow up into quite large trees but they don't have the tendency to produce a lot of aerial roots like some of the other Ficus.

Yes I do but the only Alii I've seen around these parts is a huge hundred dollar plant he he

Religiosa looks like Benjamina with bigger leaves!!!! I do prefer benjamina over it but it is a nice plant.

Ficus can become an addiction very quickly.

Religiosa is a big tree indeed. Back home in India it is everywhere. The seeds are like dust (I think all ficus have dust like seeds). Their favourite spot to germinate is a crack in concrete or brick. There is an old abandoned 3 story brick house in Kolkata (Calcutta) where it started on the roof and now the house is completely wrapped in it. It looks very eerie to say the least. In nature they readily form aerial roots. In a pot it is very hard.

Alii is in my bucket list too. All I need to do is find someone who is willing to give me one decent cutting :)

This is a Benjamina air-layer. Almost ready to be separated into two plants. This picture does not show it but the bottom portion sprouted new leaves in a cluster starting from none at all. That is how strong their will to live is.

I have quickly became addicted to them!!!!

All houses that are covered in plants look eerie too me!!!!

How long is your air layering taking???

This one is taking longer than usual. I wanted to do an experiment to see if it works and I was bored during the winter. First it is about an inch in diameter where the air layer is. Second there were no leaves below the cut. Third I started this in Feb when it is sort of dormant. I have to wait another month I think to separate. In retrospect I should have started it about now. In general, ficus should be ready in 4-6 weeks. Interesting thing is that the plant never dropped a leaf. It was as if nothing ever happened. I checked it a few days back and the base is considerably swollen and may be 6-7 one inch roots. I am guessing it is just about ready to take off.

That takes a lot of patience!!!! But worth it for two beautiful plants. I've never tried it but I want to!!!

Tropicofcancer gave us some good insight on how ficus naturally grow in India. Good info to keep in mind for the home grower!

I to give them what they's naturally want during the winter.

Though its nothing like being outside, it's probably better than a lot of the indoor ones are treated. I pay extra on my electric bill running lights all winter and deal with the windows being covered in condensation as I keep the humidity at 70% in the tree room. I think the humidity keeps a lot of pests away too. I never had any bad outbreaks until I stopped running the humidifier in late March.

It also feels really nice to just hangout in there during the winter when the relitive humidity is in the 20's. 70% RH with temps in the high 70's in there.

Dave, does running the humidifier not get everything wet?

No, nothing in the room is wet.

The plant room in winter is the best place indeed. I also run lights, fan and humidifier. Although, a evaporative humidifier struggles to get the humidity beyond 50%. My plant room is really a enclosed front porch. So it does not loose the humidity as quick and gets some sunlight since the sun is so low in the sky during winter.

BTW Dave I spent a summer in Essex Jn, close to Burlington for a summer job at IBM. Stunningly beautiful state.

How ironic! I am from Essex junction originally! Small world. Also, my father worked at the IBM in Essex for about 30 years.

I have a cool mist humidifier. The type that uses a wick. It has no problem keeping the RH way up there, but I go through filters too fast. They only last 2-3 weeks until they're built up with minerals from the water and no longer wick.

So no humidifiers in the summer? Or do allll your plants go outside?

All of them go outside, and the summers are very humid, even up here.

We get dewpoints in the upper 60's to low 70's all the time. And, if the temp was around 70 at night and the dewpoint was also 70, you'd have 100% humidity.

I only run them from November - March.

Dave, how interesting. I was an apprentice to Dr. Charles Stapper from IBM. Just curious if you knew him. Sorry to divert the topic.

The name doesn't ring a bell. What years were you there?

I am also sorry for the off topic comments.