update!!! the big leaf at the top started drooping! i fertilised it after buying and watered. the temp here suddenly dropped to 14 deg and no sun today. the soil did not dry from my watering yesterday. i wanted to start notching but looks like it’s gonna die. so i took a desk lamp and focused it on the plant

because they need light

Mike,

unfortunetely, that light won’t do much of anything. It’s not bright enough and it’s looks to be is the warmer color temperature anyway.

You need to get it right up in front of your brightest unobstructed window. It looks to not be anywhere near a window.

Use the dowel method to check for moisture before watering. I’m sure you’ve read about it on here. If you do not know, just ask.

You up really should have just gotten one Ficus Lyrata and learned how to care for it before you keep buying more and experiencing the same issues. Don’t let your ocd get the best of you.

I wanna notch this thing to make it more even. or maybe just prune and propagate? which one do you think has better success rate?

I think giving the tree what it needs is the best thing you can do.

Youre getting ahead of yourself. Don’t worry about notching or propagation, worry about giving the tree more light and getting your watching under control.

ok i am not giving this new guy any attention but I have a question! the one on the right in the decorative pot, al suggested to add ballast so I did! however since adding ballast, i constantly finding the saucer where the pot is soaking with water... is this expected behavior? im worried the water is not drying up and my plant is actually soaking in water inside

another FLF needs rescue! this one is from the local grocery store and has been there for almost 2 months and no one wants to buy. it had been badly damaged

In order to rescue, you need to know how to fully care for them and provide an environment for them to thrive.

Youve not shown anything of the sort. Please, for the sake of the plants, stop buying new ones and instead work on caring for the ones you have.

I like this guy’s enthusiasm. Unfortunately, he’s not really here for advice.

Yep. He asks, don’t listen and moves on to something else.

He's shown he's not interested in learning, appears to think growing plants is all about do, do, do, do, do as much as possible, as often as possible.

It’s really hard to help him because he doesn’t care to learn anything. He just keeps going back to the grocery store and buying more of the same plant.

It’s still possible he’s just the best troll ever and is getting us all really good.

relax! i did not buy it yet... waiting for the price to drop before i rescue. i listen to everyone’s advice believe it or not. i have gathered so much knowledge about growing flf here and i appreciate all the help! i think general care is easy... making the plant look pretty and more lush is where i am struggling. the pruning, notching and pinching. ive been watching so much videos about these and im in contact with this guy who rescued a flf and had a beautiful tree in 5 months. so inspiring!

Mike, you with FLFs reminds me of how I used to be with ferns. I love ferns. I want a house full of ferns—all different ones. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to give them the right conditions. I used to buy, then get discouraged when they failed yo thrive. I’d seek advice, repeatedly, but when it didn’t match my predetermined path, I just did what I wanted, setting myself up for frustration. Eventually, I killed off or gave away all but one. I started paying attention to what people were telling me. That one survived until I left the US & wasn’t able to bring my plants with me. Interestingly (or not), now my growing conditions are so different from those of most other posters that I now *have* to try to adapt things.

im obsessed with them! i cant stop! i think i want the small ones this time

Its only a rescue if you can offer them the very best. You’re clearly still learning so you’re actually not rescuing, you’re just hoarding, which isn’t something you want to get into.

what happens to those plant that dont get bought? left there and die?

I, also admire your enthusiasm, Mike. But if you keep failing over and over, why do you keep getting new ones? I bought one that was very healthy when I received it, but it started to fail quickly. I had it in bright, indirect light, I didn't overwater, and followed all the suggestions for its care. And yes, even watched videos. It still died. I haven't the heart to get another one. I do understand how you feel about plants not being bought, and dying. I hate to see that at garden centers, but sometimes, some of us just can't seem to grow certain plants. FLF is one of those for me, even though I've only tried once. Since then, I've read where a lot of people don't have success with them. They seem to be very finicky. Like with animals, you unfortunately, cannot save them all.

it’s because I want one. either a big tree or a tiny bambino in a small pot... they are so expensive to buy with the ideal looks so I want to grow and achieve one.

So get one and do that. Don’t buy a new exact same one every other day especially since you still have learning to do.

Calm down, don’t hoard. Learn and practice on one, not 17.

If if you want help from us, ask, read, etc. But please stop getting ahead of yourself. Its really hard to help you with the current way you’re going about things.

yes this is the one I am going to turn into a big tree. this sun is ok right? it suddenly became sunny today so i took it outside

the coconut oil melted, im worried it might fry the leaves. will it?

Stop wiping the leaves with coconut oil. You may be making it look appealing to your eyes, but that’s not doing anything good for the tree.

If you want it to take off and grow as fast as possible, outdoor full sun is what you want.

You must slowly acclimate. Place it outdoors first in open shade (in a spot that gets no direct sun but gets full unobstructed ambient light from the sky) for the first week. Then, give it an hour of full sun for a day, then a couple hours the next and so forth until it’s in full sun all day.

It may shed some leaves, but it’ll replace those quickly.

ok i will do that! do i have to keep it inside at night? spring just started so it’s 17deg highest at day time so around 10 at night. the coconut oil was the recommended cleaning method by most bloggers or vloggers

Please, do yourself and your plant a favor and don’t bother reading those bloggers. There’s no much info on here, just ask.

They tell you things solely for cosmetic reasons and do not care about the heath of your plant. Stop with the coconut oil. If you need to clean the leaves, just use water and a paper towel or washcloth.

Bring be the plant in at night until nighttime temps stay above 55° Fahrenheit.

When the plan is situated in full sun, it’s water needs will be higher than you’re currently used to, so check daily.

I grow all of my Ficus in the 5.1.1 mix and its not uncommon for me to water daily to every other day in the middle of summer.

I don’t know what youre using for soil though so don’t water that often unless you use the 5.1.1 or gritty mix.

It looks like you have the plant secured very tightly to the stake. If that's true with any plant you may have, the ties must be loosened or removed.

Have you bothered to invest in one single book about the care of indoor plants? You'll learn that a desk plant is not appropriate for lighting a plant, both in terms of light quality and heat output.

You'd also have learned that placing a houseplant into the full sun without a slow transition period is a very bad practice, as is using an oil to 'clean' the leaves.

yes! i made like six knots to keep it in place! when I got it from the store, the stem is bending all over the place

Coconut oil?

OK, I finally vote TROLL.

i cant get rid of the oil!!! looks like they are getting fried

dave i have not repotted this one yet as I was told the last time I repotted the other one. i can repot it tho... i dont know what it means by the 5.11 mix. i just usually buy a regular potting mix

ariel, if you google “fiddle leaf fig coconut oil” you’ll find many websites that suggest doing what Mike did. I can’t personally say if it does more harm or good. But it’s definitely a thing.

Mike, read this: [Tapla's 5-1-1 Container Mix in More Detail[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/taplas-5-1-1-container-mix-in-more-detail-dsvw-vd~1378483) - it gives you the scoop and answers a lot of follow-up questions all in one place.

And then search for Tapla 5:1:1 for many many more discussions and longer explanations about the topic going back to the very beginning.

ariel, if you google “fiddle leaf fig coconut oil” you’ll find many websites that suggest doing what Mike did. I can’t personally say if it does more harm or good. But it’s definitely a thing.

Mike, read this: [Tapla's 5-1-1 Container Mix in More Detail[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/taplas-5-1-1-container-mix-in-more-detail-dsvw-vd~1378483) - it gives you the scoop and answers a lot of follow-up questions all in one place.

And then search for Tapla 5:1:1 for many many more discussions and longer explanations about the topic going back to the very beginning.

that coconut oil thing killed my plant!!! the sun definitely fried the leaves. they are too soft now! they were thick and rubbery when today started!

Mike, the chances are pretty good that you would have fried the leaves without the oil. Putting a plant into the direct sun without an adjustment period will do that. You should have known better.

im trying my best to rescue this plant

Mike,

I did tell you earlier that you need to acclimate the plant and not to just put it in direct sun right away.

I even gave you full instructions on how to do so.

People aren’t going to take you seriously if you keep asking for advice and ignoring anything offered to you.

i was trying to acclimate it. it was only outside for a few mins. the coconut oil started melting and made the leaves so greasy so even when I placed it back inside the leaves are still so soft and didnt come back

i also removed the stake as advised. so the leaves are droopy and the stem is slanting to 1 side

Dave,

Pls, recognize a loosing battle. Kindly read the Houzz 'Message' I sent you.

Agree and message sent.

Another lesson you could learn from a little reading: don't buy a plant that can't stand up on its own. It means that the crown is either weak or broken.

Hi guys! sorry for causing so much trouble in this forum again. believe it or not, i really wanted to learn to grow my plant (now plants). this is where I will be leaving it now. like most people said, growing plants is not for me. i have to accept it.

as for the new fiddle leaf fig I bought the other day and was stressed out during yesterday’s sunny day outside. I have repotted it to a new soil. i cant find the mix suggested I dont have the budget to mix one myself so I bought a fast draining soil instead. I have to put it in a bigger container because the old one is too small for my old decorative pot that i wanted to use. if I am going to kill it anyway, might as well be looking good for the rest of its life. I bought a new stake to keep it upright too.

Hello! I have this very large FLF and I have had it about a year now. I rescued it from someone who could not provide what it needed. i think it has fully settled into its new spot. The top 3 feet is what has grown from when I got it. I love this baby and want to help it branch more.

It’s growing new leaves like crazy on top and causing it to lean a lot. I thought maybe branching would help balance it and I do have a small bamboo supporting it but working on getting it removed so it stands on its own. I want to notch it even though it freaks me out a bit. It does have 2 new leaves coming in now and I don’t want the plants energy taken away from them growin. should I wait till they are done? Also, how many notches should I try for the first time?

Let's have a look at your tree, Lauren. If you can provide some close-ups of any 'issues' you might have concerns about, and a view of the entire plant, including the pot, it would be helpful.

As a bonsai practitioner with more than 40 ficus in my collection, I'm intimately familiar with manipulating Ficus and it's relatives in the mulberry family, Moraceae. Usually, there is a better strategy to force new lateral breaks/back-budding and/or new branching in existing leaf axils ..... but let's take a holistic look what we're working with first.

BTW - I'll probably be working at changing your mind about 'protecting' energy flow to the new foliage. Your tree is already genetically programmed to spend about 2/3 of the food/energy it produces during photosynthesis in the top 1/3 of the tree. The apically dominant imbalance just described is one of the reasons the lower leaves were shed, along with the fact younger foliage shades the older foliage unless you prune/thin regularly to allow light and air movement into the center of the tree, and other reasons related to cultural issues and natural senescence (aging).

Al

Hi!

so i purchased a new FLF plant and all in all its doing okay? (in my opinion?) i am new to this, but basicslly my main question or concern is that it seems as though someone had tried to ”notch” the plant, and i am wondering if it may have been done prematuraly too soon, and am wondering if it will cause significant harm to the plant since it was cut from the top of one of the two main stems of the plant. there is also slight browning on some leaves which i figured were due to underwstering but i think i figured out the watering so far. any advice on the notch cut of the stem and what might to expect because of it would be greatly appreciated. i kindly appreciste your time and efforts.

respectfully,

May

p.s im not sure if the photos uploaded under their own comment, and were posted twice.. so those are the pictures correlating to this post.

"..... my main question or concern is that it seems as though someone had tried to ”notch” the plant, and I am wondering if it may have been done prematurely, and if it will cause significant harm to the plant since it was cut from the top of one of the two main stems of the plant." There is no evidence of attempted notching in the images you provided, but perhaps we just can't see the notch. You already asked about the trunk being chopped, and I explained what to expect as a result of that recent action and assured you no harm will result. You will soon see several branches occurring in the crotch (axil) of leaves immediately below the point where the trunk was chopped.

Note the chopped trunk and new branches growing in axils of 2 leaves. Your plant will do the same as the result of the trunk(s) being severed.

There is a growth regulator synthesized at the tip of every branch where the extension (lengthening) growth occurs. Auxin, the growth regulator suppresses growth of side/lateral branching. When the branch tip is removed, the reduction in the amount of that growth regulator flowing toward only the roots eliminates the chemical's ability to suppress growth of side branches. One of the new side branches will serve as the new leader/ upper part of the trunk.

This maple clearly shows the scar where I chopped the trunk, which was about 8 feet tall when I chopped it back. The new trunk, above the chop, is a branch that I wired into place. See the same tree about 2 years later. You cannot even tell it was chopped, but in fact it was chopped 4 times. Bonsai practitioners chop their trees back because trees that taper radically, a thick base and thin/twiggy top makes them look old and more natural.

Here is another tree ^^^ that has been chopped once just below the thin branch with the wire on it. The next chop will be immediately above the thin branch, but for the time being the part above the thin branch is serving as a sacrifice branch. It is helping to thicken the trunk to provide more taper, only to be removed later, thus the term 'sacrifice'.

There is also slight browning on some leaves which i figured were due to underwstering but i think i figured out the watering so far. I see no damage that definitively says 'over-watering. What damage I see appears to be primarily mechanical injury (think 'bruising'), and maybe just a little bit of sunburn.

Al