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.
Why is the side of my fiddle leaf fig growing?
Like grooming your dog or cat, pruning your plant is crucial to keeping it healthy and attractive. Pruning your fiddle leaf fig prevents weed growth and maintains its health. You should prune your plant for a number of reasons.
Remove Damaged Leaves and Stems
To promote the general health of your plant, you can safely remove any leaves with significant brown spots or holes. A damaged or ill leaf depletes your plant’s nutrients and increases the risk of infection. Any time of year, get rid of any leaves that are broken or ill right away.
Keep Your Plant From Getting Too Tall
Healthy fiddle leaf fig plants have a tendency to grow aggressively toward the sun, which could cause them to become too big or tall for their environment. You should cut back any growth over that height since plants look their best when their upper leaves are at least 8 to 10 inches below the ceiling. You can make your plant stronger and more compact by trimming it to prevent it from growing too tall.
Give Your Plant Balance
Your plant might grow sideways towards the direction of the closest window depending on where it receives its light, which could make it asymmetrical or unbalanced. Rotate your plant frequently so that it develops symmetrically to avoid this. Even after pruning, plants can still go out of balance, which will assist prevent uneven growth.
Decrease Crowded Areas
To stay healthy, fiddle leaf fig leaves require airflow and room. The leaves on your plant may become damaged by rubbing against one another if it becomes overly compact and crowded. Pruning will help to spread out crowded regions.
Shape Your Plant
Due to their restricted exposure to sunlight when grown indoors, fiddle leaf fig plants can develop unique morphologies. They might develop sideways rather than upwards toward the sun as they would if they were growing outside.
The lowest leaves will also fall off in the wild because of a lack of sunshine. Lower leaves, though, may still receive plenty of light inside and stay on the plant. The desired tree-like shape may be destroyed as a result. You should cut off lower leaves and branches that are spreading out too much in order to shape your plant so that it looks best in the area where it is placed.
How can a fiddle leaf fig be prevented from drooping?
Finding and addressing the issues that are causing the fiddle leaf fig’s leaves to lose their visual appeal is the key to fixing a drooping plant. By adjusting your techniques to the needs of the plant, you might adopt several strategies.
A wilting fiddle leaf fig can be revived and fixed as follows:
Move the plant where there’s bright indirect light
During their active growth period, fiddle fig leaves need roughly 6 hours of bright indirect sunshine. This can be accomplished by relocating it to a window with an eastward facing and lightly covered curtain.
Making ensuring your plant receives enough sunshine is crucial for repairing drooping leaves and preserving its health. After a few days of continuous exposure to sunshine when the plant has previously received insufficient sunlight, you might start to detect changes in the leaf.
To provide your fiddle leaf fig easy access to the morning and evening sun when the light intensity is moderate indoors, put your pot close to a window (and cannot harm the plant). It will be ideal if the window faces west or east.
Let the soil dry out between waterings
If the plant is being underwatered, give it enough water until the pot starts to drip. Move it to its new location after letting it drip for a while to keep the soil moist. To avoid drooping and wilting, allow the soil to dry out between waterings.
Meeting your plant’s water needs can be made easier by keeping a good watering routine. For instance, depending on the season, fiddle leaf figs require watering roughly once per week at intervals of 10 days.
In order to account for seasonal changes in temperature and humidity, it is important to modify your watering plan. To minimize overwatering, you should also avoid supplying too much water.
How much water the soil retains after each watering session can be managed with the aid of a high-quality potting media and drainage system. Check the potting mixture frequently to see if the plant requires watering before adding water.
By inserting your finger a few inches into the potting media, you may determine whether the soil needs water (finger test). It’s possible for your plant to go a few more days without water if the soil beneath it is moist. However, crumbly, dry soil indicates that your plant needs water immediately.
Additionally, you can look for drooping leaves, however this isn’t necessarily a good sign that your plant needs water.
Repot using a well-draining potting mix and larger pot
Fiddle leaf figs can grow up to 6 feet tall. To accommodate the growth increase, you might need to occasionally move your plant into a larger pot.
Choosing the right pot or medium is essential for repotting. Your plant may be prone to overwatering, saturated soils, etc. due to poor selection. Use a peat-perlite soil mixture, preferably at a 2:1 ratio, is what I’d suggest.
The diameter of the pots should be about three to four inches broader, and each pot should be about one to two inches taller than the one before it. To allow for effective drainage, it is also worthwhile to get a pot with a drainage hole.
Feed the plant with 3-1-2 NPK fertilizer
Your fiddle leaf fig may occasionally droop from nutrient deficiency, particularly if the soil is overworked. However, this wilting and discontent does not have the same intensity as that brought on by underwatering.
Fertilizers are necessary to keep the soil’s nutrient quality high and to energize your plant. At least twice a year, fiddle leaf figs require a constant fertilizer application. The substance that enriches soil with nutrients should be applied in the spring and fall.
Use an organic, slow-release substance with a balanced NPK ratio wherever possible. For instance, the majority of fiddle leaf figs respond well to an NPK ratio of 3-1-2, where a high nitrogen (N) content encourages healthy foliage growth, phosphorous (P) enhances tissue development, and potassium (K) permits optimum plant growth and strong roots.
Remember to add fertilizer according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Different goods have different quantity requirements, dispersion methods, etc.
Maintain temperature between 65F to 75F for the fig
The temperature sensitivity of fiddle leaf figs. As a result, the species flourishes in tropical climates with temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
The plant can withstand dips in temperature of up to 55 F. (Higher or lower temperatures can negatively affect the plant). Because of this, it is preferable to move or insulate fiddle leaf fig plants indoors during the winter and other cooler months to sustain vigorous development and avoid drooping/freezing.
During the summer, when temperatures may increase over ideal levels, you can sometimes spray the leaves of your plant. Additionally, keep an eye out for new growth to avoid sunburn and drooping, which could harm your plant’s appearance and general health.
How should a fiddle leaf fig be shaped?
As I indicated earlier, many growers like to cultivate a traditional tree shape, complete with a distinct canopy and trunk. However, F. lyrata tends to grow in a columnar or bushy shape when kept as a houseplant.
In the wild, F. lyrata does this on its own by losing its lower leaves and growing into its original shape as a banyan tree.
like the renowned “Wild F. lyrata and ordinary banyan, F. benghalensis, both start out their lives as epiphytes. When a seed falls into another tree’s canopy, it germinates, develops, and eventually strangles its host plant as it descends to the ground.
Your houseplant won’t do this, of course, but the tree shape is attractive. How can a rambunctious F. lyrata be transformed into a tall, graceful specimen?
First off, if you’ve recently acquired a highly sought-after fiddle-leaf, hold off on starting to prune it into a tree shape.
Whatever two-thirds of the intended height means to you within the boundaries of your space, let it grow to that point. The trunk might become strong and thick as a result.
It’s advisable to top the tree out at least eight to ten inches away from the ceiling if you want it to grow tall.
This not only improves the appearance but also prevents the top leaves from bending and slamming against your ceiling.
Say, for instance, that you want to top your tree off at about seven or eight feet and that your home has nine-foot ceilings. You shouldn’t begin trimming for lateral growth until the trunk is at least five feet tall based on these measurements.
Wait until spring or summer when the plant is actively growing before pruning your fiddle-leaf fig to generate a tree form with branching lateral growth. Then, make a cut at least six inches down from the tip of the tree.
You can preserve and grow this cutting! Cut in an internodal space, if possible.
Don’t remove the leaves that are below the cut. So that the plant can photosynthesize and generate energy to grow those lateral branches, you want them to stay.
Within a few weeks, your F. lyrata will start to branch from the cut. Although this tree occasionally produces just one branch, it frequently produces two or three additional lateral branches.
You can remove one or two leaves from the tree’s base once the new branches have developed leaves.
The hue of the leaves and emerging branches will deepen as the canopy ages. Feel free to remove one or two more leaves from the bottom part of the trunk once you become aware of this.
You can continue to prune leaves away from the tree’s trunk as the canopy grows over time. You’ll eventually grow a tidy trunk that supports a Y-shaped canopy.
Note: Some knowledgeable gardeners enjoy using a technique called “creating lateral branches by notching. Using this technique, the gardener carefully cuts through two nodes. This cut is supposed to encourage the tree to generate lateral branches without losing height.
Because of the fast growth of F. lyrata and the fact that we are confident that pruning for lateral branch growth yields reliable results, we advise using this technique to produce that attractive canopy.
After pruning, give your plant the best care possible by providing it with the right amount of water, fertilizer, and light, which will hasten the healing of its wounds.
Why do the leaves on my fiddle leaf fig point down?
Now that you are aware that the sturdy, older bottom leaves are unimportant, what should you do if you see that the higher leaves are slouching?
A good query. Determine the situation first. Your limp tree is most likely the result of one of these five most typical causes.
Young, new growth.
The immature, weaker tissue that makes up your youngest leaves tops our list of the most frequent causes of drooping fiddle leaf fig leaves. You must be happy when a new bud appears, don’t you? Anxiety replaces excitement as the new leaf grows and changes. The likelihood that a young leaf will become a sad-looking, sluggish version of its surrounding leaves increases with leaf size.
Do not fret. Give it one or two days, occasionally three. Maintain your care routine so that the new leaf doesn’t harden at all.
Environmental change.
A change in routine or environment is another frequent reason for drooping fiddle fig leaves. The ficus lyrata tree does not respond well to relocation, but its trunk enjoys being bent and moved.
Similar to how plants communicate their unhappiness by slouching, plants may slouch in response to changes in feeding, watering, temperature, humidity, and especially light exposure.
Therefore, the tree could act up if you’ve relocated it to a new room or if your aunt Peggy is watching it while you’re in Vegas.
Again, the good news is that you can resume your previous activities when your violin has withered.
Thirst.
Thirst comes next. Many times, violin owners worry about overwatering. That’s because these plants are vulnerable to root rot when not provided with enough light and a substrate that drains well. Sadly, this causes many caretakers to go submerged, which causes those above leaves to respond in a sagging way.
If you believe that your plant is suffering from thirst, you should not only give it some water; you should also modify your watering schedule if your plant actually recovers after a soak.
Root shock.
Have you lately re-oiled or repotted your plant? Or maybe you checked for root rot? Perhaps, like me, you divided the trunks of two bushy plants so that they would eventually take the form of trees.
Anytime you disturb a fiddle leaf fig’s root system, you run the danger of putting it into root shock. Here are two plants that I recently split into two separate planters from one pot.
You can see that just one of the tiny trees survived, with the other wilting. Thank goodness I was prepared.
You should not notch, move, soap, prune, jiggle, or otherwise mess with it right now. For at least two months, do not anticipate any new foliar growth.
Water it appropriately for its size and habitat constantly while introducing it to full, direct sun exposure gradually.
Root shock will require considerably more time to recover from than, say, the drooping brought on by thirst or new growth. Be patient, then. Try not to lose heart. For a while, the plant’s entire energy will be directed on root development.
Chemical burn.
Chemical reactions to insecticide or detergent are the fifth and most important reason why leaves are drooping.
Your plant may be suffering if you recently used harsh detergents, fungicides, or miticides to combat an insect infestation. Caretakers of fiddle leaf fig trees are frequently shocked to learn that while these treatments were once safe and efficient, they are now unnecessary. especially when coupled with more exposure to light (something we usually encourage wholeheartedly).
To prevent this, thoroughly clean the plant after applying any treatments, and wait to expose it to direct sunlight until you are sure the application went well. Investigate natural, organic solutions to the fiddle leaf fig’s most frequent issues in order to completely prevent chemical burn. Yes, using natural therapies may involve more work on your part, but the reduced risk to your plant usually makes it worthwhile.
So there you have it: weak tissue, environmental changes, thirst, root shock, and chemical burn are the most typical reasons of drooping fiddle leaf fig tree leaves.
You can help your plant grow again now that you know what’s making it droop.