The Fiddle Leaf Fig, known as “the darling of the houseplant world,” is a well-liked but notoriously difficult indoor plant. However, if you’ve discovered the correct balance and routine with this beauty, it can be an amazingly low care and quick growing plant. It can be a little particular about its light and water needs.
But what happens if it expands too quickly? Fiddle Leaf Figs are one example of a plant that can become fairly top-heavy and frequently grow unevenly (particularly if you don’t routinely rotate it). Our Plant Doctors advise staking the plant as a temporary fix to help it develop stronger roots and stand up straight if this is the situation with your Fiddle.
Staking can be used for practically any leaning plant with a trunk, even though it is most frequently utilized for trees and plants with fiddle-leaf figs. The following are easy procedures for staking your plant:
Do Fiddle Leaf Fig leaves always point upward?
Often, leaves that are pointed straight up are doing so in order to seek out more sunshine. It could be time to move your FLF a bit closer to a window if a minor rotation of your plant does not appear to stop its leaves from growing upward.
Maintaining a weekly rotation after watering will maintain your plant growing straight and tall.
Do fig trees require staking?
Anyone should be able to successfully plant a potted fig tree because it is a relatively simple operation.
I had never planted any trees before receiving this plot of land as an inheritance. But having done it multiple times afterwards, I’ve discovered that the method I’m about to describe is the best for planting the potted fig tree. read on to view images and a video:
- Step 1: Purchase a potted fig tree. Usually, I buy potted trees at the neighborhood nursery. A tree should be purchased when it is around a year old. If you buy older trees, there’s a potential that their rooting system has already been established, making it harder for roots to grow and develop a robust structure. (Update: I now also propagate fresh fig trees from cuttings.)
- Find a nice site in step two.
- Where would be the ideal location to plant a fig tree? Figs prefer a warm, sunny environment. If you can find such a spot in your garden, your fig tree will flourish there and bear fruit for many years to come.
- Step 3: Get the ground ready
- Before any planting, the ground must be properly prepared. Soft ground is ideal for young fig trees. It encourages roots to grow widely and freely.
- 4th step: Make a hole
- Verify the depth of the hole. Typically, I make a hole twice as deep as a plant pot. It provides me with plenty of room to add fertilizer and a layer of dirt on top to stop fertilizer from harming tender roots.
- Add organic fertilizer in step five.
- For my brand-new plants, I typically apply organic farm manure. If you can’t find it, an excellent substitute is to get some organic dry manure pallet fertilizer from your neighborhood gardening supply store.
- Step 6: Fill a bucket with water.
- We need a lot of water. Large buckets of water should be filled and then allowed to settle in the hole.
- Step 7: Soak the fig tree container for a few minutes before planting it is a good idea to soak the entire container in water before planting it in the ground to moisten the tree’s roots well.
- Step 8: Take the tree out of the container and insert it properly into the hole.
- The appropriate depth should be the same as where the tree was originally put in its container.
- Step 9: Fill up another bucket with water.
- I always add another bucket of water before filling up the remaining portions of the hole to give the tree a head start in its new home.
- 10th step: plug the hole
- Make sure there are no air pockets inside the hole before carefully filling it with soil (dirt) to surround the newly planted tree. To ensure that the roots are totally covered and that there is no air around them, step slowly around the tree several times (see the video).
- Step 11: Insert a support stake or stick
- 30 cm distant from the tree, put a supporting stick. To stop a severe wind from damaging the tree, take a piece of elastic rope and tie it to a stick. The rope needs to be both flexible and sturdy. You can purchase some plant ties at your neighborhood gardening store if you are unsure of which rope to use. Whether or not you stake a tree depends on whether or not you anticipate severe winds in the area where your fig tree is placed. I keep supporting sticks for up to a year because my land faces north-east and is relatively vulnerable to north winds. By then, the fig tree will have reached maturity and will no longer require support because its roots will be deep and stable.
- Step 12: Regularly water it.
- Young fig trees may require regular irrigation depending on the climate. In my situation, I water my young fig trees once a week for the first year and only once a week for the second year because I live in the northern Mediterranean zone. After that time, the tree should be well-established and able to obtain enough moisture from the earth through its deep-rooted roots. I also provide some water to struggling fig trees for one or two more years during really scorching summers. In the area where I reside, well-mature fig trees (five or more years old) don’t require any additional irrigation.
How are fiddle leaf figs staked?
You can stake the trunk of a fiddle leaf fig to keep it upright if you need a quick fix to save it. By no means is this a long-term fix because staking will prevent your tree from developing the necessary strength to maintain itself.
While you do other things to strengthen the trunk, such fertilizing, correctly watering, offering lots of light, and regularly wiggling, staking can at least train your fiddle to grow straight.
To stake your tree, buy a stake the same length as the trunk of your tree and drive it into the ground near the trunk. Then use plant tape or ties to fasten the trunk to the stake.
Every few weeks or whenever you wriggle the trunk to test whether it can stand on its own, remove the stake. With regular maintenance, your trunk should begin to strengthen after a few months.
What should one do if a violin leaf languidly?
4. Maintain the Leaves
Finally, if you’re trying to achieve that desired tree-like shape, it can be very tempting to remove some lower FLF leaves. BUT because the leaves give the stem so much nutrients, they significantly contribute to its strengthening and thickening. My recommendation is to keep the lowest leaves on for as long as you can. When you eventually get that tree-like shape, the trunk will be able to support a canopy with a heavy top.
It’s also rather typical for lower leaves to gradually fall off as FLFs age. Therefore, you might not need to remove them manually.
Growing FLFs naturally develop larger and larger leaves, which may increase their tendency to be top-heavy. Do the aforementioned measures regarding light and air flow if you see that fresh, huge leaves are making the stem or trunk start to tilt. This will let the stem to catch up in strength to the leaf size.
In order to reinforce a weak or leaning Fiddle Leaf Fig trunk, follow these simple steps: If you can’t get it outdoors, wiggle the trunk and leave the leaves on to thicken the trunk. 1. Make sure it’s getting enough light. 2. Give it some outdoor time. 3. Give it a breeze. 4. If you can’t get it outside.
If you follow the following instructions, your FLF can usually be made to stand straight and strong on its own within 1-3 weeks.
I sincerely hope that this post has been useful to you. Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions or if you have successfully used these methods.
Why are the leaves on my fiddle leaf figs upright?
When you said, “I woke up this morning to see a couple leaves of one of my FLFs pointing straight up,” you gave one hint to the likely solution to your query. When you added, “I haven’t watered it in a couple days (I’m waiting for the soil to dry up),” you gave a second clue. Only a few factors have the greatest impact on the leaf’s disposition (the spatial position it occupies). Turgidity, or internal water pressure, is one; phototropism, or the plant’s response to light, is the other. We can rule out phototropism because, unless you were expressly performing an experiment to measure it, it wouldn’t happen frequently enough to be noticeable over the course of a day.
Here is my opinion. Because there was too much water in the soil, your plant started to wilt a little bit (too much water deprives the roots of oxygen, which inhibits their capacity to operate effectively/normally). The leaves began to behave differently as a result (hang down slightly/wilt). The leaf holes (stomata) that permit water to escape the plant close during the dark phase (or very nearly so). This indicates that even while a root system couldn’t keep up with transpirational water loss during the daytime when stomata are open, it COULD keep up with it at night when those openings are closed. You can see how the puzzle pieces come together when you combine this plant’s natural cycle with the fact that you were waiting for the soil to dry up, indicating that root function was likely recovering efficiency with each passing day. The leaves just returned to their pre-wilt positions, and the plant simply resumed its usual turgid state.
For the record, when FLF and rubber trees (F elastica) wilt severely, the leaves are frequently irreparably damaged and unable to regain their prior disposition.
How can I tell if the light reaching my fiddle leaf fig is adequate?
Measuring the space between the leaves on your fiddle leaf fig tree is another proven way to determine whether it needs more sunlight.
The leaves of a fiddle will grow more closely together than those of a fiddle that must reach for its solar energy.
Here is an illustration of a fiddle leaf fig that displayed these precise signs. Just two years ago, I gave my mother this beautiful plant:
As you can see, the leaves were able to remain near to one another without suffocating one another due to the abundance of sunlight offered by the greenhouse environment. It was flawless.
I sent it over to my mother without checking for a bright spot in her home. The greatest spot she could locate in her house was close to a window, although it received little natural light.
After a year, she was able to move the large plant outside for some summer heat and humidity, but as you can see, the branches had already started to spread:
This fiddle leaf fig tree had a terrific summer, but when winter arrived, it had to return indoors.
It is now as follows:
Watch for this lanky, “reaching” appearance and address it right away by moving your plant steadily closer to the sun.
What makes a fiddle leaf fig shake?
“To keep my fiddle upright while it was young and immature, I used a wooden dowel. I was able to remove the dowel and it no longer need extra support because it was able to strengthen itself over time as it grew and with frequent shakings, Paige added.
So even though I wouldn’t advise you to shake your plants firmly, giving them a gently rock would not harm them. In addition to your FLF, I can see this idea working well for Rubber plants, Monsteras, Alocasia, and Pilea plants. They all have thick stems that frequently need to support a lot of weight as the leaves enlarge. This will probably become a regular component of how I take care of my plants. Play some music, get moving, and invite my plants to join in. It seems like it would be enjoyable.
Should I remove my fiddle leaf fig’s bottom leaves?
You should be aware of what those bottom leaves do before selecting when to remove them.
Lower foliage has the same function as that fresh, vibrant growth up top: the leaves work to mix that green chlorophyll, commonly known as “the meat of the leaf,” with sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to produce sap, the plant’s own sweet food.
So let them alone if you want the trunk, roots, and new growth to continue receiving energy from the sun through the foliar producers and absorbing it.
Another advantage of the lower leaves is that this is typically where the most frequent watering issues show up. To put it another way, many owners of fiddles may detect overwatering and underwatering based on early warning indicators from these bottom leaves. You lose access to one of the plant’s early warning systems if you remove them.
Keep in mind that the lower leaves should be saved for the very last stage of shaping because they AID in giving the tree its characteristic shape.
Once more, deciding whether or not to remove these lower leaves depends on what they do for the plant.
Where should I position my fiddle leaf fig for maximum benefit?
The Ficus lyrata, commonly known as the Fiddle Leaf Fig, is featured on the covers and in images of numerous design journals. Its tall stature and large, graceful leaves add drama and height and unify entire rooms. Despite where you’ve seen Fiddle Leaf Figs in pictures, some individuals don’t aware that they need to be placed just in front of a window. They can be challenging to care for until the plant adjusts to your environment and until you figure out when to water them. Continue reading to discover how to keep your fiddle leaf fig alive and healthy for many years to come.
Light
The best setting for Fiddle Leaf Figs is in front of a window that gets direct morning or afternoon light. The ideal window to choose has a primarily unobstructed eastern, western, or southern exposure. You don’t want the window to be shaded by nearby trees or buildings. If your Fiddle Leaf is positioned right in front of the window, a north facing exposure can also work if there is enough room and nothing blocking your view of the sky. You should gradually adapt your tree to being in several hours of direct sunshine if you plan to set it in front of a southern exposure. The leaves could burn and develop brown scorch scars if they receive too much direct sunshine too rapidly. Over the course of 1 to 2 weeks, gradually increase the amount of time it spends in front of a southern window.
The amount of light your Fiddle Leaf Fig need to thrive depends in part on its size. The amount of light a plant needs will increase with its size. For instance, a window would need to be much taller to accommodate a 7′ tall tree than it would a 4′ tall tree.
In general, your fiddle leaf fig will require more light to preserve its existing leaves and spur the growth of new ones the more leaves it has. In order to tell us that it isn’t getting enough light to support all of its leaves, a plant will respond when it isn’t getting enough light by losing lower and interior leaves.
It’s crucial to maintain your plant in front of the window during the winter months when natural light isn’t as abundant but also ensuring sure it doesn’t catch any chilly air from drafts that blow in. If your windows are drafty, try moving your Fiddle Leaf 2 to 3 feet away from the window to observe how it reacts. In most cases, keeping plants at this distance allows them to avoid any sporadic cold air blasts while yet receiving an equivalent quantity of light. For more advice on winter maintenance, keep reading.