Please help rescue our 20 year old Ficus

[billappleton]

Hi all,

Please help us get this Ficus back in good health. The limbs are getting very long with leaves only at the ends. Some information about the tree and three pictures are included below...

The tree is about 20-30 years old.

The tree is 34” tall, 32” wide. I do not think it is a grafted Ficus.

How much water: Once every 6 days.

Where kept. In a Sun Room in Florida near a full-length window.

Temperature varies from ~ 75 F (highs) to 60 F (lows) and humidity is ~ 50 %.

When repotted. Two years ago.

How much sun. It gets about 6 hours of full sun on a sunny day.

http://www.dreamfactory.com/bonsai/photo1.JPG
http://www.dreamfactory.com/bonsai/photo2.JPG
http://www.dreamfactory.com/bonsai/photo3.JPG

What should we do? Please advise...

 

[nathanbs]

it looks pretty healthy considering its kept indoors. In order to improve its health I would say the easiest thing to do is find a good location for it outdoors and only consider bringing it in if you are expecting freezing temps. When it noticeably starts to grow the long branches can be cut way back and the tree will respond with substantial back budding. A repot may be in order if the soil doesn't drain well as you will likely be watering it much more frequently when you put it outside

 

[KennedyMarx]

Pretty much what Nathan said. Sit it outside and it will recover. These things can produce a lot of root growth in two years. If it were my plant I would sit it outside. Wait till it starts putting out new growth. Once it does I would cut the roots back, repot it into fresh soil, and probably thin the unruly foliage on top. The growth is sparse right now but it will fill in. Then you can start cutting it back.

 

[quietobserver]

Is it from Brussell's? Looks like one of their pots. I've noticed with their ficus/soil combo they become rootbound quickly and only grow from the tips like yours. I have 3 from there and they've all done that when they're getting rootbound, 6 months to a year in my cases. Regardless of where its from you already received good advice.

 

[GrimLore]

I can say it does not need "saving" just some proper TLC I cannot advise though unless you tell me what the substrate is and the condition of the roots(as in are they white, brown, black or all of that).

Grimmy

 

[lordy]

WHEN you put it outside, be careful to acclimate the foliage to the sun gradually. Sunburn can and will result if you put it directly into the sun. Try a week in dappled sun, a week morning sun, then you can give it full sun.
Hopefully the soil is not mud. You might want to try the poor man's moisture meter (leave a chopstick vertically down in the soil and check for dampness before watering again).
Much to many people's disbelief, not much beneficial sunlight comes through a window, especially if they are the later type that reflect UV, etc., and the further from the window the tree is, the amount of benefit drops off significantly. These trees can live a while on stored energy from the roots, but after a while, they too run out of gas.

 

[billappleton]

Wow thanks everybody!

We'll let you know how this turns out...

 

[A Random User]

We'll let you know how this turns out...

Should turn out to be more than fine...
I would suggest that you begin to learn more about
bonsai and ficus and how to maintain them in the meanwhile...
Cause it is only going to be a couple of months before your tree
will need some serious hacking, by this I mean more than it
already does !!! Especially when it get's outside.