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Best Fiddle Leaf Fig Care, Ficus Lyrata
Why Consider Fiddle Leaf Fig Care
The Ficus lyrata plant grows into a fine-looking tree with the right intervention. Growers raise, propagate, and even sell them as decorative plants. It can help to clean the air, symbolize plentifulness, and improve home design. After all, it’s an evergreen tree that doesn’t shed and continues to show green leaves. They can do well indoors and manage to flourish outdoors. As healthy plants, they display big and vibrant green foliage that resembles a fiddle or lyre. Thus it makes sense why folks like it and its scientific name is the way it is.
Tending to it well produces a healthy plant with shiny green leaves. The new foliage of this tree that is in good shape is often bigger than the older ones while its trunk is sleek. So there’s something wrong when the color of the leaves turns quite dull, brown, or yellow. Even seeing spots on a leaf or the roots means there’s trouble for the plant.
Due to this, it’s important to know things to keep it from getting sick. Find out how to give it light, put water on it, and make it cozy. Make sure to provide it with the right ground to rise and remain stable in place. Know how to tell when it’s not well and do something about the problems that surface. Still, you may also have to know the best container for Fiddle Leaf Fig growing. So it’s sensible to study about taking care of one when you have this tree.
Fiddle Leaf Fig Care Indoors
Usually growing in spring and summer, they can still manage to thrive inside. As long as you can set the ideal condition for it to flourish, it will live well indoors. It’s a tropical plant so it must be where it can access direct sunlight. With that said, it would be great to place it near windows. Even if it needs light, about 5 hours is enough already. So putting artificial light on it may already be unnecessary and can even harm it. But put it far from the vents to keep cold air from getting to it. Still, another thing you could provide is the best container for Fiddle Leaf Fig growth. That is to say, it needs to be in a pot or something like that which can allow your plant to rise and set roots. Yet you may want to have planters that aren’t too big and has drainage holes. After all, it’s still crucial to drain excess water and control root growth.
Watering the Ficus lyrata once a week can be helpful too. It needs water but can drown and develop diseases when watered too much. Putting some on the soil to reach the roots and misting it helps when done once every week or a little over than that. Take note that this tree likes to be in humid environments but can drown like other plants too. Likewise, too much watering can cause root decay and fungal infections to happen.
It’s the same when providing fertilizer. It would be beneficial to use the one with an N-P-K ratio of 3-1-2 to promote foliage development. Fertilize only about once every month or all through the growing season. Hence, with these things mentioned, it’s important to look after this plant from time to time.
Fiddle Leaf Fig Care Outdoors
For this one, you still need to find the best container for Fiddle Leaf Fig plants. If you’re planning to transfer any Ficus lyrata tree indoors to an outdoor space, help it adjust. That is to say, aside from watering it right inside, make sure that you keep exposing it to sunlight longer. This will make it want to have direct sun exposure and easy to plant on the ground outside. Plus, with the right treatment, propagating Fiddle Leaf Fig becomes possible outdoors too. So get it to adjust before planting it in the soil. You may even need to take some steps to ensure that your plant gets to cope when repotted too.
Part of taking care of it in the open air involves placing it where it isn’t windy. It would also be wise to keep it away from areas with low temperatures. It’s because they may not withstand constant and intense cold. Usually, as an equatorial or subtropic tree, it thrives in warm spots. They can stay in places with 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit or about 16 to 27 degrees Celcius.
The soil that can hold it needs to be neutral or only a bit alkaline or have a pH value of 6 to 7. It’s also wise to put it where it can get high organic matter. This is why the best container for Fiddle Leaf Fig often has coco peat and perlite. Hence, can be a productive outdoor tree in the right conditions.
Propagating Fiddle Leaf Fig
Pruning is an essential part of Fiddle Leaf Fig care but cutting parts of it produces cuttings too. This means that it’s the type of tree that you can spread if you want to. It only involves a few techniques to increase the number of your Ficus Lyrata at home. Of course, there’s the process of severing nodes from the main stem. You can take a long cutting or a short one depending on your preference. Pruned leaves can grow roots but will not develop into full plants when made to do that. Also, note that the more nodes you have on a cutting means better chances of success. So you think about these before pruning at a horizontal or 45-degree angle.
Once you have your cuttings, you need to make sure they survive first. To do that, you can dip the ends in root hormone before going for the propagation mix. Rooting powder is optional but it increases propagation success. But, with this approach, you need to ensure that the best container for Fiddle Leaf Fig is available.
It should also hold enough moisture and drain water well. Still, you can choose to have it rooted in water. For this one, you need to have parts of the cuttings submerged in water. Likewise, you must change the water every few days to keep the oxygen flowing to the plants. Each method brings about root formation so going for either or even both is fine. So, you will have rooted plants after 6 to 8 weeks of doing either technique mentioned.
Addressing Problems For Fiddle Leaf Fig Care
In this regard, to sum it up, the Ficus lyrata is susceptible to bacteria, fungi, and pest presence. Even infestations of these can happen. Many things could cause these issues. To name a few, there’s too much sun exposure, overwatering, and plant malnutrition. Still, placing them in areas with pathogens and insects makes them prone to diseases. So it’s clear that it isn’t enough to only have the best container for Fiddle Leaf Fig growth. Even if they can stand to survive when left alone, it’s important to check them from time to time.
Plants are at risk since pathogens thrive in warm, wet, protein-rich, and neutral places. Thus placing these plants where they can stay dry and away from risky spots makes sense. Yet since certain microorganisms and pest insects can reach them, know how to take action. That is to say, find out how you could control their number and treat your plant. For instance, use bactericides, well-drained propagation mixes, and reduce too much overhead irrigation.
Use heaters to keep it dry indoors and apply fertilizers at suggested levels. Cut rotting or dead parts in the right ways too. Use appropriate methods to take care of your plants. After your intervention, wait and see what happens. Try something new and known to be effective if a technique doesn’t work.
Do You Have a Fiddle Leaf Fig Plant?
Know the specifics of Fiddle Leaf Fig care if you managed to get your hands on a Ficus Lyrata tree. After all, it’s the kind of vegetation that needs proper care as an indoor or outdoor plant. Besides, tending right can make it well and happy. So it comes as no surprise why knowing how to grow and propagate it matters.
We hope you found our guide useful in taking care of a Fiddle Leaf Fig tree. Whether you have one at home, in your office, or elsewhere, this post has some interesting pointers to help. Thanks for reading and enjoy raising your batch of Ficus Lyrata plants!
