Tiger bark concern.

[Eckhoffw]

So my tiger bark ficus has been continuously dropping leaves. They turn yellow then fall off.

That said, the plant keeps pushing growth and new shoots. The shoots are fairly leggy. It has been outside getting about 3 hours of direct morning sun, then dappled sun to shade afterwards The soil is lava, calcined clay, and pumice.
I put some osmacote on it a month ago.
The issue began before that though.

It did have some aphids I had to deal with last winter, but there has been no trace of them since.

Any ideas? I could put it in the greenhouse, but it get 90+degrees in there regularly.

 

[Colorado]

I’d try giving it more sun. The greenhouse might be perfect for it. Tiger bark can take 90 degrees no problem. I have mine out in pretty much full sun all summer.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Leggy means it isn't getting enough sun. Mine thrives in afternoon sun. Which is notoriously hotter than my morning bench.

Yellow leaves could just be it shedding old foliage. Or if it had wintered inside. Shedding foliage that isn't adapting to outdoors.

Personally...I would not stick it in a greenhouse. Mine thrives when in the sun on a bench. That tent gets to hot it will cook it. A friend of mine had that happen. Treat it like you would a tropical outside. It should reward you.

 

[vp999]

Put it in full sun and let it do its thing. I would even defoliate to have smaller leaves. It's a ficus ..cant really kill it except when freezing lol.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Thank you all for the advice!
I’m going to put it in a spot on a bench with more sun.

 

[BonsaiDTLA]

Thank you all for the advice!
I’m going to put it in a spot on a bench with more sun.

Keep us posted if anything changes for the better or worse. it does better

 

[Maiden69]

Tiger bark can take 90 degrees no problem.

100+ for an entire month full day sun and thriving here in Texas.

 

[Baku1875]

100+ for an entire month full day sun and thriving here in Texas.

@Eckhoffw

i had the exact same issue about a month ago, then it cleared up and my ficuses went into high gear growth, likely because the afternoon showers have been followed by powerful sunlight until 7pm. More sun, and water the leaves less if possible. I was drenching leaves a little too often as well when manually watering, especially in the mid to late afternoon.

Avoid wet leaves before nightfall.

Ficus can take a ton of abuse, but at the cost of vigor and all that growth you COULD be having. 90+ temps in direct sun on my driveway and really nice growth from my expanding 'ficus clone farm'.

I ran across this video and he mentions the issue coming from leaves staying wet for too long