burtt davyi ficus help

[remist17]

I have been growing a burtt davyi ficus for 3 years now. The ficus is about 13" tall and is in a 8" pot. Every year the plant seems to not do as well during the winter monts. So this year I put up 3 four foot T8 dual light fixtures and put in cool white and sunshine bulbs. The lights are on about 12 hours a day The light is about 4 to 6" from the bulb. The plant remains to look sickly. The top part of the fisus has lost all of its leaves and just the first branch has leaves and fruit. I water the plant only when it gets dry (usually every 4 days). Iinspected the roots about 2 weeks ago and did some pruning as the roots were a little bond in the bond but not bad. I fertilze every other week with liquid miracle grow 1 tbs to gallon of water. I also mist the plants every night.

The ficus will push some leaves, they come out, then turn yellow and fall off. The only part of the tree that seems to be doing well is the first large branch which maintains the leaf structure and even puts out fruit.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[GrimLore]

To much water would be my honest opinion - all of our ficus come in every fall and they get light, air, and a minimal amount of water and no fert til spring. They "almost all" drop every leaf when moved in - NORMAL. We do mist them but cut way back on the water. During the Winter they regrow all the leaves and it is a SLOW process. We take them out and they drop them all and get HAPPY again!. They seem to like the misting more then water during the Winter. As we live in the same state I would think that yours will act the same. Perkasie Pa here.

 

[remist17]

I kinda agree the plany acting like to much water but really I am very careful of the water. The smaller cuttings I took off this plant are growing like weeds currently. I cut them last satuday and could cut them back again this weekend. I am pushing them to be smaller trees and not letting them get lanky.

i have had bad luck with ths one tree since I got it. To be honest I do not seem to have very good luck with any of the ficus that I bought, just my cuttings are growing well.

 

[KennedyMarx]

It sounds like its a issue with watering combined with slowing down for winter. What kind of soil/substrate do you have it planted in? Has it been sitting in the same soil for three years with no repot?

 

[remist17]

I have done two repots to this since I bought it. #1 being when it arrived at the house. #2 being this late fall. Since no real growth was put on over the summer I wanted to check the root ball. I did not find anything major and roots appeared to be in good condition. Minimal cutting was performed on the roots. Soil is a Turface pine bark and peat mix. I feel the soil is 50/50 mix so I may need to go a little more on the organic side, but I was thinking I would over water it.
The funny thing is the cuttings I took off the plant are doing great in the soil mix. Growth has been great on the trunks and branch formation. I am very happy with the 6 cutting plants. All have grown from a stick to about ¼” trunk with some nice branch forming. I want to keep these small and under 8” tall so I have been cutting the leads back monthly.
I keep forgetting to take photos…..sorry

 

[KennedyMarx]

I think the addition of peat to your soil mix was a poor decision. Peat holds so much moisture and when it dries out can be difficult to rewet. You could have just left it as turface and pine bark. I think that changing the soil out to turface/bark with no peat would help it out quite a bit. I'm guessing that maybe part of the root ball is staying wet while the rest remains dry resulting in part of the tree having poor growth. Just a guess though, I'm still pretty new to all of this myself. You mention that the cuttings are doing well, so maybe the plant has a fungal infection? Just spitballing.

 

[jostage]

Thanks to everyone for this great advice - I just brought mine in for the Winter after having it for my first Summer season (I think it was about 2 or 3 YO when I bought it in Spring). You can see it has lost most leaves and after one more shake zero leaves will be left. My initial instinct was to water but what you mention makes a lot of sense. I wonder, is it just the dramatic light change that does this? Just plain ol' 'stress'? I really hope the tree will recover!! I'm in DC.

WIN_20161102_05_55_22_Pro

• jostage
• Nov 2, 2016

 

[petegreg]

Have you inspected it for the pests? I mean spider mites and scale insects - especially scales are an issue often. I can't see it well from the picture, but the bark on branches should be smooth and scaleless.

 

[jostage]

Yes I monitor my trees for pests constantly. Nothing I can see and bark is same as its always been - fairly smooth although not perfectly smooth. Bringing it inside seems to have caused it.

 

[jostage]

Quick update - its been about 2 weeks and the tree definitely has some growth! Good news. The ends of all of the branches have began to bud.

 

[MarcV]

I think its the Miracle Grow thats causing the issue. I had 2 Burntt Davi bonsai trees. The one I used Miracle grow on did the same as yours. Leaves turned yellow and fell off. The other I used bonsai fertilizer and it very healthy without any issue. I stop using the mircle grow on the other and the leaves stop turning yellow and falling off. My local bonsai nursery said miracle grow fertilizer has a lot of sodium in it. And causes the bonsai tree more harm then anything.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I think its the Miracle Grow thats causing the issue. I had 2 Burntt Davi bonsai trees. The one I used Miracle grow on did the same as yours. Leaves turned yellow and fell off. The other I used bonsai fertilizer and it very healthy without any issue. I stop using the mircle grow on the other and the leaves stop turning yellow and falling off. My local bonsai nursery said miracle grow fertilizer has a lot of sodium in it. And causes the bonsai tree more harm then anything.

If you looked at the date of the post by Jostage, the post was November 2016, some 3 years ago. He hasn't been to BNut since 2018. Key is the cause of the leaf drop was identified as autumn cold.

The Miracle Grow products are not "high end" designer fertilizers, but they do not contain large amounts of sodium, that is hogwash. If used in moderation, they will cause no harm.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I think its the Miracle Grow thats causing the issue. I had 2 Burntt Davi bonsai trees. The one I used Miracle grow on did the same as yours. Leaves turned yellow and fell off. The other I used bonsai fertilizer and it very healthy without any issue. I stop using the mircle grow on the other and the leaves stop turning yellow and falling off. My local bonsai nursery said miracle grow fertilizer has a lot of sodium in it. And causes the bonsai tree more harm then anything.

In an effort to be helpful, besides the fertilizer, what other differences were there between the treatment of the two trees for the last 3 months before leaves fell off?.

You should know that Ficus in general are adapted to wet-dry tropical climates. Most Ficus come from either monsoon climates, incomplete monsoon climates, or Mediterranean climates, where there are distinct wet and dry periods. Most Ficus will drop leaves at time of drought, or cold, and most can tolerate 3 or more months of drought. Very, very few exceptions.

I do not believe that the fertilizer had anything to do with the leaves dropping, unless it was applied at many times the direction strength.

So look for other differences in the treatment of the two plants, I bet you will find a more probable cause.

 

[John P.]

I agree. My Burtt Davyis always look a little shabby until summertime, and I’m in coastal SoCal.

 

[Forsoothe!]

I think its the Miracle Grow thats causing the issue. I had 2 Burntt Davi bonsai trees. The one I used Miracle grow on did the same as yours. Leaves turned yellow and fell off. The other I used bonsai fertilizer and it very healthy without any issue. I stop using the mircle grow on the other and the leaves stop turning yellow and falling off. My local bonsai nursery said miracle grow fertilizer has a lot of sodium in it. And causes the bonsai tree more harm then anything.

Balony. All the water-soluble ferts are approximately the same, save the exact label analysis. Used according to label directions, they all preform about the same. The world is full of prevaricators.

 

[pweifan]

prevaricator

Word of the day! Thanks

 

[Forsoothe!]

Those leaves don't look like Burtt Davyi. And, that's the leggiest fig I've ever seen.

 

[John P.]

Those leaves don't look like Burtt Davyi. And, that's the leggiest fig I've ever seen.View attachment 251309

The plant in the foreground is certainly Ficus Burtt Davyi.