Hi

I recently bought a 7ft tall fiddle leaf fig. They said it needed to be repotted so we moved it to a bigger pot - from a 14' to an 18'. We've had to for about 1 month and some leaves have developed silvery spots that become brown around the edges and then crack and break, in the middle of leaves as well as on the edges (see picture). We wait until the first inch or two of soil is dry and then water thoroughly...usually about every two weeks. What are these spots and how can I correct this?

Thanks in advance.

katagab. @drdawg grows these so maybe he can answer your question.

First off, because these leaves are so gigantic, every spot and every flaw is magnified.

I would love to see the whole tree so that I can really tell of the extent of what you describe. Is it the older leaves that are affected or younger leaves? Did this appear after you did the re-potting or was some of it present when you got the tree? Often there are things going on (leaf damage caused by trauma, excess sun exposure, root-bound, etc.) that resulted in leaf-lesions months before, but were mostly noticed after these lesions really turned brown and brittle.

I try to keep my fiddle leaf ficus plants moist all the time. They are heavy feeders and heavy water-users. I don't mean sitting the pots in water (you do want well-draining potting soil), but I try to water my plants every 2-3 days during the spring and summer months.

Thanks for the response @drdawg! It's the older leaves. It might have been present when we bought it, but since we've had it, it has started happening on more and more leaves. Since we repotted the leaves are starting to droop as well. I've attached two pictures (sorry the light is bad). I'll start watering it more. Lots of blogs I read said repotting might have "freaked out" the roots. Is there a way to help it relax?

Katie, your plant looks fine, though as you point out, the lighting is poor.

There is nothing you can do to reverse that "shock" of transplanting, but time and good growing conditions will solve that problem. Do increase your watering so that the potting media stays constantly moist. Be sure you empty that catch-saucer after watering. You don't want the pot sitting in water. Fiddle leafs need good, indirect light (never direct sun from 10:00 AM till 4:00 PM) and air movement to help those huge leaves transpire. Because you keep it indoors, the plants there will be in low humidity. If possible, mist your fiddle every day or two, at least for a month to help those leaves. Do this in the AM so that the leaves can dry before nighttime. I "feed" my fiddles every week but dilute the fertilizer by 1/2. As I pointed out, they are heavy feeders. That's easy for me to do because I have over 1000 tropical plants and am always watering/fertilizing something.

If you can get your fiddle leaf outside, in a shaded place, that would be excellent. Keep in mind these are truly trees.

Best of luck.

Thanks for the advice! Misting leaves now

Hey @drdawg! What kind of fertilizer should I use? A couple of the leaves are starting to turn yellow. Is there something that will not require a lot of storage as I live in a tiny apartment? I have started watering it twice a week, and mist the leaves every morning.

Any general purpose, water-soluble fertilizer will be fine. Even Miracle-Gro is OK. Since I water so frequently and generally fertilize with most waterings, I dilute my fertilizer by 1/2 during the spring and summer months and then by 1/4 in the fall and winter months. If those leaves bother you, you can either trim the yellow/brown off with scissors or just remove the leaves completely. It won't harm the fiddle.

Are you asking what plant would be suitable for your apartment? You know the fiddle leaf is a vigorous grower and is a tree, right? Even though I can bring my 25 year old "mother" plant inside a large porch to over-winter, I still trim her twice a year to keep her a manageable 7' tall.

Thanks @drdawg! I Mentioned my apartment size to make sure you didn't recommend a fertilizer that involved a 50lb bag I wouldn't have room for. Also wanted to make sure the yellow leaves weren't a symptom of something serious that I could correct for.

Thanks for responding so quickly!

Hi @drdawg!
I've just read this conversation and I wanted to ask-
I found this Fiddle leaf fig in the garbage room. I wanted one like that for a long time, but they are pretty expensive

The tree is really pretty, but I think it's ill or something.

I wanted to know If you think I can "save" him or should I take him back to the garbage room?
I thought about few reasons for that leaves looks:
*watring,
*small pot
*direct sun

I just want to make sure that I'm not buying a big pot and fertilizer if the plant is ill and about to die.

I would love to hear what you think!
Thank you so much,
Liat

*the pictures were taken at 8am light.

@Golanliat, welcome to NGA/ATP.

These plants (it looks like there were several in the one pot) has had a long-standing watering issue, compounded by what looks like sunburn. The potting soil needs to be well-draining, but fiddle leaf ficus do best when the soil is kept constantly moist (never soggy-wet though).

I feel sure that with the proper lighting, good potting soil, and water/fertilizer, you can bring those plants back. That being said, because of all the damage, you are going to have an ugly tree(s) for quite some time. IF these were my plants, I would re-pot into a larger pot, perhaps 4" wider, and get some new growth started. When you re-pot, check and see if there are separate plants or if all these stems come from one "trunk". After I saw good top-growth on each stem, I would then either air-layer those stems, or simply cut them about 18" above the soil-line so that new growth/branches will begin at that point. By air-layering, you have the option of being able to pot-up those tops when roots form. I would guess that spring/early summer is when air-layering/trimming would take place.

Let me know when you re-pot and find out how many plants are actually in this single pot. Knowing this can slightly alter my thinking on the air-layering/trimming.

Good luck. By the way, please go to your "Profile" (click on the little fella in the upper right-hand corner) and insert your location, USDA zone and city/state. That way, when you post, your location will always show. Knowing location is important when asking or answering questions.

Hi @drdawg, Thank you so much for your quick response.
I really appreciate it!
I'll go to a nursery by the end of the week and I'll be a bigger pot, potting soil and fertilizer.

I'll let you know after re potting how many plants are in this single pot as you said!

Again, Thank you for all the information,
Liat

I don't grow Ficus Lyratas in a nursery or greenhouse, but I do care for dozens of them in homes and office in NYC. Thus, my experience and advice varies with Ken's.

I have never had to repot one of these plants. Many things can go wrong if repotting is done unnecessarily or incorrectly. In most indoor locations, it is best to keep them in front of and close to a very sunny window. It is hard to give these plants too much light in the typical home environment. Water thoroughly as soon as the surface of the rootball feels barely moist or slightly dry. Fertilize no more than monthly at half-strength. These plants do just fine in low humidity, so misting is unnecessary unless you are trying to clean the leaves.

Initially, Lyratas do tend to lose some lower and interior leaves as they adapt to reduced indoor light. It doesn't mean the plant is dying or requires some drastic action. In time, they need to be pruned to keep them from becoming leggy.

As you say, Will, your experiences and mine are different. I cannot imagine anything going "wrong" when re-potting a fiddle. This is not rocket science. When roots start to grow through the drainage holes, you better believe I will up-pot. That is true not only for fiddle leaf ficus but also for banana leaf ficus, plumeria, and rubber trees. I have grown hundreds of these plants and re-potting and up-potting is just a necessary part of growing them to size. The problem I had with the photos that Liat posted was what appears to be four separate, leggy, and stressed plants growing in a smallish pot.

In NYC, the sun may not present many problems, but the further south you go, the more one needs to be aware of the sun's position, when that sunlight comes in through clear glass windows and doors. The west sun in late spring and through the summer months is extremely harsh here in Mississippi, as it is throughout the lower half of the US. If (most) tropical plants are exposed to that sunlight in early to mid afternoon, leaves will be burned. Sunburn may not kill the plants but it sure does create ugly scars that never disappear.

Misting may or may not be beneficial to mature plants, but I can assure you, young plants benefit from misting when they are growing in our heated/cooled homes and businesses. Tropical plants, because of their genetics, grow best in humid conditions, just as they do in nature. I do my best to mimic those natural conditions when growing my tropical plants.

Hi there,

I have been keeping a fiddle leaf fig in my shop for about a year and I've noticed two issues. It's sounds like there are some experts here, so I'm hoping to get some coaching.

1. Flies seem to be either living in, or hatching from the soil. I looked up soil gnats, and while there are some of those, there are a few that are larger, with almost moth-like wings. I attached a photo, but the image quality is poor.

2. Though I've had the plant for a year and it seems to be healthy overall, it has yet to produce any new growth. The leaves point upwards (so the underside is visible, not the top). There is some (I assume) sun damage on the lower leaves, but the upper ones are supple and bright green. More photos attached.

Any information or assistance is appreciated. Thank you!

I don't know the pest you are seeing but how about drenching the soil with insecticidal soap solution and then repeating every week until they are wiped out? Am I seeing this plant positioned in the middle of a room with no light? You'll have to go into more detail as to how you are growing this TREE before I can give advice about lighting.

These trees have tree-like root systems, so they need adequate pot size so that there is enough growing media to support the root expanse. Otherwise, the roots become root-bound and watering will simply not supply the constant moisture that these tree flourish with.

The leaf damage can me old and can be due to a lot of causes. Underwatering, low humidity, trauma, amoung many other factors can cause leaf damage. Since these leaves are so large, everything that can cause leaf deterioration is magnified.

@drdawg,

Thanks for getting back to me. I will try making a soap for the pests in the soil - the internet suggests a solution with Dr. Bronners soap, so I will give that a go.

As for how I am growing this plant --
When I acquired the tree, it was potted in a 10-gallon plastic pot, and I repotted it to a 25 gallon stoneware planter. I keep it in the shop, which has northern exposure, with high floor-to-ceiling windows that let in plenty of natural Southern California sunlight. I have heard that fiddle leaf figs do not enjoy direct sunlight, as it may burn their leaves. The level of light in the shop has supported healthy and rapid growth for our other plants - a ficus benjimina, monstera, bird of paradise, umbrella plant, rubber plant, several dracaena, and a kentia palm. I water the tree once the top inch of soil is dry from previous waterings, and wipe down the leaves once a week to prevent the plant from "choking." I fertilize it occasionally with an indoor plant solution that mixes in with water. Again, the little guy doesn't seem to be unhealthy per se, just doesn't seem to resemble others (where the leaves point down) and doesn't seem to be producing any new growth. It is a little over 6ft tall.

Thanks in advance for your guidance,
Amanda