Hello all,

After really enjoying having a couple of smaller plants in my office, I decided to purchase a large plant/tree that I think was perfect for the space. I bought a large 6' King Amstel Ficus, and it was delivered yesterday.

The care instructions that came with it are very minimal (mostly dealing with light, which should be fine), and I haven't found anything great online. Does anyone have any tips on caring for it? How often / amount should I water it? Are there monitors that can tell me when it needs to be watered?

Any help appreciated. Thanks.

Your Banana-leafed Ficus will do best close to and in front of a sunny window. It will struggle if it is more than a few feet from a sunny window. The more light it receives, the easier its adjustment process will be.

Keep it in its nursery pot. Water it as soon as the surface of the soil feels just barely damp. Your fingers are the best moisture monitors! Always add enough water so that a bit runs through the drain holes.

Most folks struggle with this plant only when they do not have adequate light or let it get too dry. Think, light and water!

Most nursery-grown Amstel KIngs have very dense foliage in the interior portion of the tree. That cannot be fully sustained indoors were light is much less intense and usually comes only from one direction, as opposed to in greenhouses where the light comes from all directions including overhead. Thus, you should expect that many of the interior leaves that are shaded by the outer leaves will drop off and the interior will thin out. Don't let the moderately heavy initial loss of leaves upset you. It is a normal process of the tree's acclimatization process. Be patient as it may take up to 6 months for it to settle into its new location. Make sure you have it in a location where it can stay for a long time as moving it will force it to adapt all over again.