TN_Jim
Omono
light it up!
Help with struggling ficus
- Thread starter MSU JBoots
- Start date
MSU JBoots
Shohin
Update on the ficus. It seems to be rebounding well and fungus gnats are gone. No more leaf drop and it’s starting to bud again. I removed all the slow release fertilizer pellets when it was struggling. Now that it’s doing better I did one fertilizer treatment with fish and seaweed this week.
My next question is about the sphagnum moss I put on top yesterday. I know Ryan Neil suggests it to help retain moisture and get roots growing in the top of the pot. I’m wondering first if I’ve put too much on? Second, if it should be kept in long strands or trimmed?
My next question is about the sphagnum moss I put on top yesterday. I know Ryan Neil suggests it to help retain moisture and get roots growing in the top of the pot. I’m wondering first if I’ve put too much on? Second, if it should be kept in long strands or trimmed?
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leatherback
The Treedeemer
It is not too much.
The finer you chop it up, the more it will create a dense blanket on top, which is what you are after when you do this. I think I remember people putting it through a blender with some water, creating a slurry they then pour over the substrate.
Whether you need this is dependent on personal prefernce and climate I think. I do not use it because it soon becomes home to algea and looks yuk.
MSU JBoots
Shohin
The consistent heat and humidity of summer has helped the ficus get back on the mend. However all the new leaves are a fraction of the size so I’m planning on just letting it recover this growing season before doing any sort of work on it.
Paradox
Imperial Masterpiece
Nice recovery. Grats.
Good plan to just let it grow and get stronger
Good plan to just let it grow and get stronger
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
They will start small like that when the tree is recovering from stress. That's what my ficus look like when I defoliate them.
MSU JBoots
Shohin
Yeah thats what I figured which is why I decided I better not stress it out anymore until next year. I’m just hoping that when I over winter it inside again I don’t have the gnats and can keep it from dropping its leaves.
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
I have to bring my ficus inside for the winter as well. Just understand that tropicals have a winter dormancy similar to deciduous on a lighter scale. Growth will slow, then stop, and water use will drop dramatically (less heat, less sunlight). It is easy to overwater them if you continue to water at the same rate that you did when they were outside in the summer. Also, skip the humidity tray and the moss on the roots. And when you water, it helps if you put them in a kitchen sink or a shower, and rinse them down with a spray attachment. Many insect pests can't cope with a strong spray of water.
When I water my trees, even in the winter, I wait for a warm sunny day (above freezing) take them outside on the patio, spray them with the hose, and bring them back in. FWIW I don't bring my tropicals indoors until night-time lows drop below 35. This was driven somewhat by the fact that I had lots of ficus in my landscape in SoCal, where night-time temps would regularly drop below 40 (avg night-time low in Dec is 44, Jan is 45). My ficus and citrus only started stressing when temps would hit 35 - particularly if cold temps were accompanied by wind. All my tropicals go back outside the moment the risk of frost is past. Here in NC that is usually somewhere in early March, though this year we had a couple of freezing nights into early April, where I brought them in for the night. The benefits of being outside outweigh the risk of cold stress, in my experience.
When I water my trees, even in the winter, I wait for a warm sunny day (above freezing) take them outside on the patio, spray them with the hose, and bring them back in. FWIW I don't bring my tropicals indoors until night-time lows drop below 35. This was driven somewhat by the fact that I had lots of ficus in my landscape in SoCal, where night-time temps would regularly drop below 40 (avg night-time low in Dec is 44, Jan is 45). My ficus and citrus only started stressing when temps would hit 35 - particularly if cold temps were accompanied by wind. All my tropicals go back outside the moment the risk of frost is past. Here in NC that is usually somewhere in early March, though this year we had a couple of freezing nights into early April, where I brought them in for the night. The benefits of being outside outweigh the risk of cold stress, in my experience.
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Maiden69
Masterpiece
You have to remember that ficus is a tropical tree... despite what others may say that they can survive in rather arid places, they prefer a humid environment. All my ficus are inside a humidity tray that at least touches the bottom of the pot. Also, while they do ok in temps in the 60's, they definitely would do better in anything above 70. We have been in the 100's for the last 20+ days and my ficus is pushing new growth like nobody's business.
Close to winter, I bring my ficus indoor once I know that temps will be close to the 50's in the morning and not higher than 70's in the afternoon. I also keep them in my garage, which stays warmer than outside with heat lamps on during the day. The coldest my garage get's at night is in the 50's depending the temperature outside. I also bought a 2'Dx4'Lx5'H grow tent to move the trees in, since the last 2 years we had colder than normal weather, they should stay at close to the mid 70's inside the tent at all times.
