I currently have two ficus microcarpa. The first is tiny and I've had it since the fall. It seems to love my apartment conditions so I made a much larger investment on a second one.
The new one is about 25" tall out of the pot, so something fairly large that I desperately want to keep alive (the biggest tree I have yet to kill haha). It's in a 6" deep training pot currently and I have no desire to change pots or scale it down anytime soon. I just bought the tree this past Saturday 4/24 so it's still acclimating to its new environment. Some leaves are turning yellow and dropping here and there - just typical stress (I think/hope). It loses about 3-4 leaves a day but its also pushing a bunch of new growth.
The problem is it's currently planted in dirt/soil which is far too moisture retentive. Jerry Meislik's book says that the soil shouldn't be damp more than 24-36hours and it seems to take a full 2-3 days to feel dry again. I want to get this thing repotted in some fast draining substrate ASAP, but again Jerry Meislik's book says to wait 30 days so as not to further stress the plant.
I don't want to get root rot, but I don't want my plant to stress and die either.
Can anyone offer some advice on this situation? Is it better to be too dry than too wet? Can I water the topsoil and hope for some good capillary action rather than giving it the full soaking? Is it better to get this thing into substrate and ignore the risks of stress?
Thanks!
The new one is about 25" tall out of the pot, so something fairly large that I desperately want to keep alive (the biggest tree I have yet to kill haha). It's in a 6" deep training pot currently and I have no desire to change pots or scale it down anytime soon. I just bought the tree this past Saturday 4/24 so it's still acclimating to its new environment. Some leaves are turning yellow and dropping here and there - just typical stress (I think/hope). It loses about 3-4 leaves a day but its also pushing a bunch of new growth.
The problem is it's currently planted in dirt/soil which is far too moisture retentive. Jerry Meislik's book says that the soil shouldn't be damp more than 24-36hours and it seems to take a full 2-3 days to feel dry again. I want to get this thing repotted in some fast draining substrate ASAP, but again Jerry Meislik's book says to wait 30 days so as not to further stress the plant.
I don't want to get root rot, but I don't want my plant to stress and die either.
Can anyone offer some advice on this situation? Is it better to be too dry than too wet? Can I water the topsoil and hope for some good capillary action rather than giving it the full soaking? Is it better to get this thing into substrate and ignore the risks of stress?
Thanks!