Try picking up the plant to see if it's heavy with water or lightweight. If lightweight you may be under watering. It's a gorgeous plant!!!

Hello,

Thank you for the quick responses! I try to water when it's dry (although some people said, let the soil be moist still), but I will try the dowel method. (I have just been using my finger). I figure I'll stop watering for a bit and see if its that, because I had just watered him recently and he's still going downhill. Now almost ALL the leaves are drooping, the bottom ones are turning yellow and falling off. I seriously have no clue why. Is there anything else I could do? I moved him a very short distance to a window that has a bit more sun (he was ONLY getting indirect light). It's warm in our house. I thought misting the leaves would help, but maybe I should stop?

I used a cactus potting mix, a miracle gro potting mix and perlite so it has nutrients, but is also well draining. I even added some orchid fir bark because the original pot from the greenhouse had some in it. Not very much though. The pot has good drainage holes (It's only sitting in the basket). I haven't fertilized because I have read not to fertilize a hurting or shocked plant. Should I have moved the roots around when I potted up?

I only water with filtered water (no rain water because I'm in Canada and we only have snow right now).

Thank you! It is gorgeous, but it won't be if all his leaves fall off! :( Thank you so much for your help. I am reading the article and it's full of great information. Thank you so much for providing all of that! That's incredible. I would love it if you could help me keep my fiddle leaf fig from circling the drain!

You'll be disappointed if you expect your plant to turn around as fast as you expect it to turn around. That's double-speak for, there is people time and plant time. You need to put yourself on plant time when dealing with plants and realize it might take a full year or two to get your plant to the point you can see it's obviously on the right path. Learn what cultural conditions your plant wants, provide those conditions, then enjoy the satisfaction of restoring your tree to a high state of vitality.

Resist every idea that sounds tempting if it has any chance of reducing the effectiveness of any plan you've adopted in order to ensure the basics are covered.

Your focus should be on light levels, temperatures, nutritional supplementation, and particularly soil choice/root health/watering habits because that's where most issues originate. I'd suggest that you purchase a small container of Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 and use it as your 'go to' fertilizer for all your houseplants (unless you grow hibiscus). You can still use it for hibiscus, but you'll need to additionally supplement the amount of K it provides - a discussion for another time or forum. Make sure you repot regularly and work with the plant's natural rhythms instead of against them.

Al

Hi Al,

Thanks for the good advice! I'm not expecting it to turn around right away, I just want to make sure I"m doing everything RIGHT right now, so it doesn't die either. And I can't tell! Because it's getting droopier and droopier.

I've researched soil and think I have the right soil mixture for it. Are you saying I should fertilize it right now? Even in it's weakened state? I don't have hibiscus. I just repotted the plant as the roots were growing out of the bottom. Was that the right thing to do? Should I have untangled all the roots and gotten rid of the media that it had in the greenhouse?

I appreciate your general advice very much! I just am not sure about my specific plant right now and what to do for it. Water it? Don't water it. The soil isn't wet right now as far as I can tell.

Are you saying I should fertilize it right now? Even in it's weakened state? What if your plant is weak because it needs fertilizer? Wouldn't withholding fertilizer at that point be a death sentence? I think you should flush the soil very thoroughly to put you back at ground zero as far as nutrition goes. Then, fertilize at about 1/2 the recommended dosage. Wait until your plant needs water to flush the soil, then fertilize, then take steps to help drain any excess water from the soil to prevent furtherance of any potential root issuers associated with excess water retention. I just repotted the plant as the roots were growing out of the bottom. Was that the right thing to do? What you described above is potting up - much different than repotting. Monitor moisture levels carefully (use a 'tell') and do a full repot when it's made its turn-around. You might even consider returning the plant to the pot it was in for now.

The keys are - a happy root system via a productive soil you can water appropriately w/o the plant paying a penalty for long periods of excessive water retention, lots of light and warmth, regular but judicious fertilizing. It's not difficult, but you'll need to keep in mind what the goals are so you focus on working toward implementation.

Al