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.
How can a Fiddle Leaf Fig be straightened?
I had a fiddle leaf fig in my house when I was a child. It seemed like we were growing huge together as I recalled competing with it for height. In the end, I triumphed.
In general, bowing down is seen as a sign of respect for the victor, so when my Fig did it, I felt something wasn’t right. I noticed a slant in my Fiddle Fig Leaf.
Fiddle Leaf Fig typically leans to one side as a result of poor lighting, careless watering, a lack of support, and insufficient fertilization. Give the sagging Fiddle Leaf Fig plenty of sunlight, good watering, and regular weak liquid fertilizer applications to correct the problem.
When imposing plants like fiddle leaf figs appear to be leaning, it can be heartbreaking to watch.
So let’s investigate more to determine what caused your plant to droop and how to remedy the situation.
Why are the leaves on my Fiddle Leaf Fig tree standing upright?
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.
Why is the growth of my fiddle leaf fig lopsided?
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.
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.
How can a leaning potted plant be fixed?
8 Trustworthy Ways To Correct A Leaning Potted Plant
- Set the planter on a stake.
- Verify the plant is receiving the necessary amount of sunshine.
- Make sure the plant is receiving the proper amount of water.
- If the potted plant is top-heavy, prune it.
- Use potting soil of good quality only.
- If the container is too tiny, repot the plant.
Why are the leaves of my fiddle leaf fig pointing downward?
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.
Should I remove the 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.
Should a fiddle leaf fig be rotated?
Fiddle Leaf Figs need to be thoroughly watered about once a week to match their love of natural light. You should modify the amount of watering based on the size of the plant and, consequently, the size of the roots. As a general rule, water the plant thoroughly only after the top 2 to 3 inches of soil have dried up. This entails watering it till water drips out the bottom if it’s in a planter with a drainage hole. However, avoid letting the drip tray fill up with water for too long because root rot can readily develop in this situation. Remember to water the plant slowly and in a circular motion around it, making sure to wet all of the soil. Water will then reach all of the roots rather than just some.
A Sustee Aqua-meter is one of the greatest instruments for determining how frequently your Fiddle Leaf Fig requires water (available for purchase in our shops). We have discovered that there are particular seasons of the year when our plants are significantly more thirsty than usual since we started using these in our stores. The Sustee changes color from blue to white when the soil is sufficiently dry to prevent overwatering from occurring after it has become saturated with water.
You should water all tropical plants with water that is room temperature. A plant will undoubtedly experience shock if exposed to hot or extremely cold water, just as it would if the same conditions existed outside.
Prior to watering, aerate and break up the soil to improve water absorption. In order to ensure that water reaches all of the plant’s roots rather than draining out along the planter’s edges, we also advise watering very slowly around the top of the soil.
Maintenance
Fiddle Leaf Figs need some routine care, just like most other plants. One crucial maintenance procedure for your fiddle leaf coincidentally involves its leaves, which are also its most noticeable feature. Wonderful duty in the shape of routine dusting comes with great leaves. Fiddle Leaf Figs require frequent dusting due to the size of their leaves. As dust builds up on plant leaves, dust particles interfere with the plant’s ability to absorb sunlight and carry out photosynthesis. Given how much Fiddle Leaf Figs adore light, giving your plant a frequent dusting will go a long way toward keeping it healthy.
Rotating your plant monthly or biweekly is a good idea in addition to dusting the leaves. By rotating your plant, you’ll ensure that it receives an equal distribution of light, preventing one side from growing much faster than the other and resulting in a solid, symmetrical Fiddle Leaf Fig.
There are a few things you can do to encourage your Fiddle Leaf Fig (or any tree, for that matter) to start developing branches. First, try providing your plant with additional light. Trees naturally sprout branches, and if they have a lot of natural light, they may have more energy to devote to doing so. Cutting off your plant’s highest point of growth is another approach to promote branching. As a result, the plant will be forced to start branching out from the sides rather than continuing to grow vertically. Visit our pruning journal entry to find out more about pruning and branching.
Aerating the soil once every few months prevents the soil from being compacted for people who don’t already do so. The ability of your plant to absorb water is one of many factors that can be badly impacted by compacted soil, which eventually forms tiny pockets of soil where water never penetrates. It is possible to aerate using a variety of tools, including chopsticks and official soil aerators that are of a similar size and shape. To avoid destroying too many roots, gently press the aerator deeper into the earth as you go. By breaking up any areas where the soil has clumped together, do this a variety of times around the soil to keep your plant healthy and happy.
Last but not least, we advise using a “less is more” philosophy when it comes to fertilizing your Fiddle Leaf Fig and other indoor plants. It’s advisable to avoid providing your plants with too many extra nutrients at once. In the spring and summer, we strongly advise adding a slow release pellet fertilizer, such as the Osmocote Plus Indoor Smart-Release Plant Food, into the top layer of the plant’s soil. These pellet fertilizers typically last for a few months.
Winter Tips
Winter is a challenging season for indoor plants, including Fiddle Leaf Figs, because of the obvious lack of natural light and the cooler temperatures. As indicated above, keeping an eye out for cold windows is a smart place to start, but there are other things you can do to keep your Fiddle Leaf content throughout the chilly months.
People frequently experience problems with heating vents during the winter, but since they aren’t used for more than half the year, it’s simple to forget about them. Plan to relocate all of your plants away from any heating vents when it is time for them to turn on. Repeated hot air bursts have the potential to scorch leaves and quickly dry out your plants.
Break up the dirt a little with your fingertips before watering your plant in the winter. Soil is easily clumped and compacted in winter due to the dry indoor air. By lightly breaking it up with your fingertips, you can prevent water from dripping through the soil and out the sides of the planter.
It’s also important to note that a humidifier can benefit Fiddle Leaf Figs and other tropical plants all year long, but particularly during the winter when the indoor air turns dry. Your plants are able to flourish as they would in a rainforest thanks to the continuous increase in moisture circulating in the air, which prevents browning leaf tips.
Key points:
Fiddle Leaf Figs thrive when put immediately in front of windows since they require a lot of natural light.
Once a week, thoroughly water the soil, allowing the top few inches to dry out before watering again.
Please feel free to ask any questions you may have about caring for fiddle leaf figs below, in person at one of our stores, or by contacting us.