Ficus Lyrata Advice Needed

8 years ago

I was wondering if there is anything I can do to my ficus lyrata to fill in a section of the main steam that is bare? The bare section is almost 3 inches long. I got the plant back in May and it was in rough shape. At that time I was also very new to houseplants. I did trim back some leaves at the time since they were looking quite bad.

A few weeks ago I did cut off another branch that was also bare for about 4 inches with three leaves at the end. The location that I cut has since begun to grow a new branch and I am hoping it will send another one out as well.

I am just worried that as this ficus lyrata grows higher it will become very unstable and top heavy.

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Comments (5)

sleepywhippet
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
It is possible that your plant will bud along the bare stem -- it has happened to me several times. No way to induce this tho, just proper care.., you could try fertilizing with Foliage Pro once a month.

In general I would leave the plant alone, Fiddles are good at supporting their own weight, the stem will get thicker as the plant grows and I personally prefer to see a bit of stem; these are trees after all not bushes.
ry_guy_chi
Original Author
8 years ago
@sleepy thank you for the input. I am patient and I will hope for what you say to happen. And if not, that’s ok too. It really has come a long way. I really just want it to be healthy and be able to support itself without mechanical intervention. I have been feeding with that fertilizer every week, is that too much? I do flush it every time I water it; hoping to prevent salt buildup. I do have high PAR output supplemental lighting on it as well. It sits in front of an unobstructed, west-facing window.
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sleepywhippet
8 years ago
If you're fertilizing that often you should dilute it to half strength (or perhaps even further) -- it looks very healthy and happy.

One way to make the stem grow thicker would be by encouraging side branches. You could do this by pinching the top growth.
ry_guy_chi
Original Author
8 years ago
So that was one thing I have been thinking about... if I could do something like that next spring and take the top off and start the top section as a new plant? That will give me time to get propagation down (hopefully lol). Then let the bottom part grow up again? I am not sure how that works though? If I took the apex down a bit would it send out branches at 45 degrees to the pinch site, or grow them vertically?

As you said earlier this is a tree haha, I forget since mine is so young and I am guessing years away from being a tree.
sleepywhippet
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
There is no way to predict how many branches or what angle. But in general, as long as your plant is actively growing when you take the apex off it will find another way to continue its growth.

My fiddle has decided to make new branches even without making apical cuts -- this is one of the more unpredictable ficuses in terms of its growth in my experience.

With Fiddles you can cut them anywhere on the stem and root in water or soil, they're actually one of the easiest plants to propogate.