Hello!

I live in New England and we lost heat for almost 24hr during some very very cold days. Temp inside the house dropped below 50F for sure, though I'm not sure how cold it actually got.

This was about two weeks ago.

For a week now, my fiddle leaf has really been struggling. I tried watering it more, but it looks worse off the next day, and the leaves are malleable.

Was it the cold? Is there anything I can do to save it?

Up to that point, it was even growing new leaves.

(Its in a room with SW facing windows, gets 4+ hours of direct sunlight and indirect slight the whole rest of the day, and gets watered about 1x a week).

Hey I am not the best expert but check out my post on my fiddle leaf fig that we think got exposed to cold too long. He reacted to the extreme but he is recovering just looks a little silly at the moment.

The issue with your Fiddle Leaf Fig (Ficus lyrata) may be a combination of cold temperatures and too much water. I kinda think the main issue might be due to too much water, rather than experiencing cold temp's. Once a week watering, especially at this time of year (when sunlight is not as intense) is likely not allowing the soil to dry sufficiently at root level. Even if a plant is located right up next to a window, light intensity is degraded by the glass, more than you might realize. Give it a warm location, as close to a window as possible but away from cold drafts of windows and doors and allow the soil to dry for longer periods; depending on how dense the potting media is, that may be 10 days or longer. You can increase humidity by sitting the pot atop a tray of moist pebbles. Keep a little water in the pebble tray at all times and as it evaporates, it raises the humidity around the plant.

you can always save the plant, but not the leaves. first STOP watering... plants breath through their leaves.. (just like when you can see the moisture in your breath outside on a cold day). when they drop their leaves, they stop loosing moisture, so water less, not more. AND DO NOT do anything else different, don't fertilize, don't repot, don't move it (If it's already in a spot with sufficient light). they HATE change.

fiddle leaf are hugely temperamental, and when they tantrum, it's all the way, lol. I've moved one 18" closer to a window and it freaked out (maybe due to being closer to radiator, but not a lot?). they are really total brats.

Like a dummy (because I KNOW better) I bought a beauty this winter on a very cold day. it went from the big box store to the car, where I immediately took off my nice warm coat and zipped the plant inside, cranked the heat and brought it the house 10 min later. Over the next 5 days every single leaf dropped off.

I left it in the livingroom spot I chose for it, where it gets direct S sun (Feb in NY) planning to return it (they're not cheap).
Never got around to bringing it back for a refund, This is about 3 weeks from purchase, 2 weeks after the last leaf dropped, but if you look closely, you can see it's already got new buds. the top of the stem/trunk is history, dry and brittle, I'll cut it back eventually.

I guess, in short my advice is throw it out (just kidding,... kind of). your other option is to be patient, find a good spot where you get good light, will never ever move it , and underwater for the next 4-6 months, until you have actual leaves

To tolerate the ugliness and make it less unsightly I "top dressed" the pot with primrose in 3" pots.
primrose is a cold hardy beautiful shade tolerant early perennial that I'll transplant into the garden when temperatures improve that are often sold in bloom this time of year.
it's a trick I often use when something goes badly wrong in a big pot. any plant in a small pot will work. Just be careful watering. with these over the top and no leaves, the soil won't dry so I don't water the primrose in place, too much water would run down into the fig soil and rot the fig roots.


forgive the drop cloths, I'm trying to keep the dog hair off furniture since keeping the dogs off feels mean and a lot of work, lol

as for watering, remember everyone is different.

you should definitely stop watering as your leaves drop, but

I think once a week in winter indoors in MA isn't necessarily excessive.. in fact, I'm in NY and I tend to water sparingly more often than that.. winter air is so dry to start with, then you turn the heat on..
But again, every house is different and every pot is different and even each location in the same house is different. the type of plant, the surface area of foliage, how close it is to radiators, etc

always check the soil before you water. one thing that's helped me curb overwatering is using a small watering can with a narrow nozzle. i know it sounds silly, but it works..