While leaf drop as a result of changing environmental conditions is far more likely to cause problems for your plant than any other issue, you might also bump up against a few insects.
Disease pathogens come to call even less often, but it’s still a good idea to be aware of the potential culprits.
Pests
Indoor pests lack natural predators, which allows them to spread pretty much unchecked.
What’s one of the most common symptoms of a pest infestation? I’ll give you one guess…
If you said dropping leaves, you win! There are a few common pests that you’ll see on indoor plants.
Aphids
A large aphid infestation can cause leaf drop and yellow stippling on the leaves.
You will most commonly see them on the green growing tips, but they can feed anywhere.
Spraying regularly with neem oil is a standard method for dealing with these pests.
Because they’re so common, you should be sure to learn how to spot and eliminate these pests if you haven’t already.
Mealybugs, insects in the family Pseudococcidae, are another common houseplant pest. They will feed on ficus plants, using their piercing mouthparts to draw sap out of the tree.
When they congregate in groups, these little wingless insects are covered in a waxy coating that makes them look more like some type of fungal disease than a pest infestation.
Spider mites love dry conditions, and it just so happens that home interiors tend to be drier than the outdoors.
These tiny spider relatives are sapsuckers and they leave behind extremely fine webbing – which is usually what will first tip you off to an infestation.
F. benjamina is rarely troubled by disease. Rotting roots are really the only issue you need to watch for.
Root Rot
Root rot can be caused by two problems. The first is standing water around the roots, and the second is disease.
More specifically, root rot is caused by the fungi Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporum. Both of these species thrive in oversaturated soil – so in other words, don’t overwater your ficus!
Because it’s impossible to tell whether root rot is the result of a fungus or whether the roots are simply drowning in too much water, you’ll need to treat for both probable causes.
First, remove the plant from the pot and rinse away all of the soil. Trim away any mushy or black roots.
Next, treat the roots with a biofungicide. Mycostop is an excellent option that’s very effective. Mix it with water according to the manufacturer’s directions and spray the roots.
Wipe the container clean and sanitize it with a 1:10 mixture of bleach and water (one part bleach to nine parts water). Fill it with fresh potting soil.
Repot the plant, and wait two weeks before treating the soil with the same biofungicide, following the manufacturer’s directions. Treat one more time two weeks later.
Weeping figs have a bad reputation among some growers.
They’re known for dropping their leaves at the slightest provocation – and many have resorted to placing artificial ones in their homes to avoid unnecessary cleanup.
Hopefully this guide has put you on the road to success with this elegant houseplant. Knowing what to watch for, and what to avoid, goes a long way towards making your plant happy.
Are you growing a weeping fig? If so, have you had any trouble with leaf drop? What caused it? Let us know in the comments below so we can share our experiences!
If you’d like to add a few more ficus plants to your collection, you might be interested in some of our other guides next:
A liquid fertilizer for tropical plants can be added in spring or summer if needed, according to package directions.
Stop fertilizing in fall and winter when growth slows significantly.
Always water the plant before fertilizing to prevent root burn, and occasionally flush the soil with plain water to prevent salt buildup from accumulated fertilizer.
Container-grown rubber trees can be moved outdoors if temperatures are consistently above 50°F.
Be sure to place the tree in a protected place, and shield it from direct sunlight.
Rubber trees can also be grown outdoors in USDA Hardiness Zones 9 to 11 year round.
Plant the tree in an area where it receives indirect sunlight and adequate water, with good drainage.
Avoid planting rubber trees near sidewalks or foundations, as their strong roots can damage both.
Cultivars to Select
There are a number of stunningly unique varieties of rubber tree to choose from, any of which are suitable for container growing indoors.
Burgundy
This cultivar offers a true “wow” factor.
As ‘Burgundy’ matures, the leaves, branches, and trunks range from the deepest green and burgundy to almost black, sometimes with red midribs and scarlet-sheathed new growth.
Doescheri
‘Doescheri’ is another variegated variety.
It has leaves that feature shades of creamy white, bright green, army gray, and yellow, mottled together with stunning pink margins.
Robusta
This variety is most closely related to the true species plant that grows natively in Asia and Indonesia.
The leaves are waxy, wide, and bright green to deep green in color. The structure and color of this cultivar is perfect for adding a tropical touch to the home.
Ruby
Similar in structure to other cultivars, ‘Ruby’ is set apart by its unique coloration.
The leaves are oblong and glossy, with a deep green to burgundy upper side, and a pink to deep burgundy lower side.
The branches and trunk can be a shocking bright green, maturing to a deeper green or brown. New growth is sheathed in bright scarlet red.
Tineke
Another variegated cultivar, ‘Tineke’ is similar to other variegated rubber trees, with pink to burgundy midribs, sprouts, and leaf margins.
Young plants of the ‘Tricolor’ variety have variegated cream and white leaves with splotches of pink to orange.
As this plant matures, the coloration leans more toward green and cream, with wide, glossy leaves.
Maintenance
Controlling growth is important for a rubber tree, whether growing indoors or outdoors, as these can become large and dense in ideal growing conditions.
Prune back any limbs that are reaching beyond the desired size and shape of the tree.
Bear in mind that cutting the top of the tree will trigger outward growth, so only do this if the height is becoming an issue, and be sure to monitor unwanted branching and sprawling out.
Use a sharp tool, such as clean pruning shears or a garden knife, and cut just enough of the branch to maintain its shape and size.
Cutting more than is necessary can cause shock and trigger leaf drop, or even kill the plant.
In their natural environment, rubber trees, Ficus elastica, can grow over 100 feet tall.
They will never grow anywhere near that large when grown as houseplants, but that doesn’t mean they can’t use some shaping and containment now and then.
Pruning can give an outdoor tree some shape or you can help encourage branching in a houseplant that has grown a bit leggy.
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The process of pruning allows you to remove any sick or damaged branches, or regenerate a rubber fig that has been neglected. So no matter the size or condition of your plant, a little trimming might be in order.
In this guide, we’re going to focus on pruning for health and appearance.
Here are the topics we’ll cover:
How to Prune Rubber Trees
Before we talk about the process, you might be curious why you should be trimming in the first place. Here’s why:
Why Prune Rubber Trees?
You don’t have to prune F. elastica, these plants can go years without any trimming and will be just fine.
When grown indoors, rubber trees can become leggy, with long stretches of stems or branches that lack foliage.
If you want to make your plant bushier, pruning it back can encourage branching and new foliar growth to fill in those bare areas.
You can also prune to keep the F. elastica at a manageable size in your home or yard.
Apart from pruning for size, trimming away any branches that are diseased, infested by pests, deformed, or broken, is helpful to keep the plant healthy and looking its best.
Preparation
Before you get started, you’ll need to choose a suitable pruning tool.
A pair of secateurs, like the Felco F-2, is perfect for houseplants or moderate size outdoor specimens. For larger trees you may need loppers or a tree pruner.
You’ll also need to wear gloves and a long-sleeved shirt, as rubber figs exude sap that can be highly irritating to your skin.
If the plant you’re working with is very tall and you’ll be working overhead, wear protective goggles and avoid standing directly underneath where you are making your cuts.
When you’ve chosen your pruning tool, you need to clean it thoroughly before use.
If you don’t clean your tools, you run the risk of spreading pests and disease, and the last thing you want is to infect your newly trimmed tree.
I use a 10 percent bleach solution (one part bleach to nine parts water) to wipe down my tools.
In addition, grab some isopropyl alcohol and keep it handy while you work, because the sap can gum up your tool and you will need to wipe it down regularly between cuts.
When to Work
If you are growing your F. elastica indoors, you can prune whenever you wish.
However, both for indoor and outdoor specimens, winter is best because the plant is dormant during this time.
Or rather, as is the case with many tropical evergreens, it’s in a semi-dormant state during the colder months.
It is best to prune when plants are dormant for a number of reasons.
Pathogens and pests are usually less of a problem than during the growing season and the plant is less likely to be traumatized by the work you’re doing.
Having said that, if you notice diseased or pest-infested branches that need to go, cut those off whenever you see them.
The other exception is if you are trimming solely to encourage branching. This can be done whenever the plant is actively growing.
How to Prune
Before you make the first cut, look closely at your plant and identify the leaf nodes. These are little bumps where the leaves emerge from the stem.
You want to make all of your cuts about a quarter of an inch above these leaf nodes and at a slight angle so any water runs off of it rather than remaining in place and attracting pathogens.
Start by removing any stems or leaves that are diseased, damaged, infested with pests, as well as any branches rubbing against each other.
When you’ve trimmed off any that can’t be saved, step back and look at the plant, noting any areas that are looking leggy or lacking in foliage.
If there is an area that is thin, cut the branch slightly below that area so the new growth grows up into and fills it in. If you want to encourage outward, bushy growth, cut the top off of the stems.
Make any additional cuts you need to give the plant the shape you want.
Never remove more than a third or so of the plant at a time. You want to leave enough foliage behind that the plant can still photosynthesize and grow.
Shape Up!
Most plants need pruning to some degree. With rubber figs, it’s about providing some shape and maintaining their health.
I’m always surprised after I do a little pruning at how much better my plants look. It’s like I get used to their imperfection and don’t realize how pretty they can be with some extra care.
What’s your motivation for pruning? Is your plant a little leggy or sick? Are you trying to create a different shape? Let us know the details in the comments section below.
In fact, I have more than one of each. And since I still haven’t won the darn lottery, you better believe I’m propagating some of my own.
Most plants have the ability to be propagated both vegetatively and sexually.
The latter is just a fancy way of saying reproduction by seed, while vegetative reproduction is an asexual method in which a part of the plant is taken to produce a new plant.
With figs, it’s the vegetative method of reproduction that most growers – both home and professional – choose. That’s because it’s more reliable, the resulting plant matures more quickly, and the Ficus will be a genetic clone of the parent.
In the case of common figs (Ficus carica), gardeners want to grow female trees, since they produce the fruit. If we were to propagate these from seed, we would probably end up with a lot of male trees that would be useless.
So, regardless of the species you’re working with, this guide will help you propagate Ficus plants from cuttings.
Coming up, here are the topics we’ll go over:
Propagation via stem cuttings involves removing a small branch from a healthy and encouraging it to grow its own roots. This is known as vegetative propagation.
This process works for all of the popular figs in cultivation. But before you break out the pruners, let’s talk about when you should be doing the work.
When to Take Ficus Cuttings
Depending on where you live, you can take the cuttings in late fall or early spring.
The goal is to take the material when the plant is dormant but not when the temperature is below freezing, if the plant is outdoors. Frozen material doesn’t fare well.
If you are taking cuttings from an outdoor specimen, it’s best to wait until the early spring before bud break. That way, you can determine if the tip of the branch survived the winter.
Some don’t survive, especially in an exceptionally cold year. If you cut a dead piece of stem, you’re going to be frustrated with the process when your cutting shows no signs of growth despite following all the right steps.
Cuttings from houseplants can be taken anytime from late fall to early winter.
How to Propagate Stem Cuttings
Clean your tools carefully before making any cuts. If you use dirty or contaminated tools, you run the risk of spreading pathogens that can quickly ruin all your hard work.
Don gloves and wear long sleeves because the sap can be irritating to your skin.
Look for wood that is about two or three years old. You don’t want young, new growth, but the wood shouldn’t be old and fading, either.
Choose a section that is at least the width of a pencil, up to three-quarter inches in diameter, and take a cutting between nine and 18 inches long, depending on how thick the branch is.
Make your cut right below a leaf node, which means just under where a leaf emerges on the opposite side of the end of the branch.
Strip off all of the leaves except one. If that leaf is particularly large, such as that of a rubber tree, cut it in half. As the stem section doesn’t have any roots, it can’t support a large area of foliage, but it needs some leaf matter to photosynthesize while it develops roots.
Fill five-inch pots with a soilless potting medium. A product made of water-retentive materials like coconut coir or perlite and a nutritious base like organic compost would be ideal.
Tank’s Green Stuff makes a seeding mix called Tank’s-Pro Lite, which has all three.
Moisten the medium well and then stick the cutting about a fifth of the way into the medium and firm it up around the base so it remains upright.
Move the container to an area with bright, indirect light.
If you are propagating from a plant that has been growing outdoors, you can put the cutting in a spot with some morning sun, but too much light will dry it out.
Care
Keep the medium moist at all times. It should feel like a well-wrung-out sponge, but no soggier. If it starts to feel drier than that, it’s time to add water.
Optionally, you can tent some plastic or place a plastic or glass cloche over the cutting to help keep the moisture in and raise the humidity, but remove it the moment you see any new leaf growth developing.
You’ll also need to keep a close eye on it to watch for any fungal growth developing on the soil or cutting.
If you see fungal growth, remove the covering and be sure to only water at soil level.
Roots should start to form within a month and by this time you’ll see evidence of new leaf growth.
If your cutting doesn’t show any signs of life after a month, you can carefully dig down and check the base for any root growth.
If you don’t see roots, the cutting didn’t take and you’ll need to start again.
When you see new aboveground growth or evidence of root formation, it’s time to transplant.
Transplanting
If you’re just moving the plant into a bigger pot, you can do this anytime you want.
For those that are being transplanted out into the garden, you’ll need to wait until after the last predicted frost date and when the soil has warmed up to at least 55°F.
Harden off any plants intended for outdoor life before you plant them. To do this, take the plant outside and set it in a sunny, protected spot for an hour.
Then, take it back inside to its usual location. The next day, add an hour in the great outdoors. Keep adding an extra hour each day for a week. Done!
Plant the new tree in appropriate soil for the species and pat yourself on the back.
For indoor plants, grab a container that is an inch or two larger than the five-inch pot that you started the cutting in. Fill it with a water-retentive potting mix.
My favorite potting soil for figs is FoxFarm’s Ocean Forest potting mix.
It’s water-retentive and has all the good stuff like bat guano, earthworm castings, and forest humus. Snag a 12-quart bag via Amazon.
Carefully remove the cutting from the container and make a hole in the new pot large enough to accommodate the roots. Pack the soil around the roots and water well.
Continue to care for your new plant according to the needs of the particular species you are growing.
Pass the Figs
I don’t know if you’re a fig fruit aficionado or a fiddle-leaf fig fanatic – or both, like me – but one thing is for sure: you need more of them!
I’m guessing you haven’t won the lottery yet, either, so you probably want to have more without having to empty your bank account. Now, you can.
What kind of ficus are you working with? What do you plan to do with the cuttings? Let us know in the comments section below!
Rubber trees, rubber figs, rubber plants, whatever you call Ficus elastica, there’s one thing we can all agree on and that’s how impressive the foliage is.
The huge, glossy leaves make a big impact and if you have one of the variegated types, they’re even more distinctive.
So when one or more of the leaves start to turn yellow, it’s very obvious.
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There are a number of reasons the foliage might change color and it’s important to figure out what’s causing the problem so you can fix it.
If you’re seeing yellow leaves, this guide will go over the top seven reasons why this may happen and what to do about it to solve your rubber tree woes.
Here’s what I’ll cover:
Why Rubber Tree Foliage Turns Yellow
This is completely anecdotal, but I have problems with my rubber tree dropping leaves far more often than with it developing yellow foliage.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about the problem that plagues us all, plant and human alike.
1. Aging
If all of the other leaves on your plant look fine but a couple of the bottom ones are turning yellow and drooping a little, it might just be the age of the leaf.
Make sure you check the soil moisture and other causes on this list, but if everything seems as it should be, it’s probably the leaf turning yellow as it ages.
As with many plants, when the older foliage matures, it dies and drops off.
As long as it’s just one or two leaves here and there and new healthy foliage is developing, it’s nothing to stress about.
In the same vein, if you move a plant from one area to a distinctly different area, say from a sunny spot to a darker spot, the plant might drop a few lower leaves as it adjusts.
2. Disease
I have two words for you: root rot. This goes hand-in-hand with overwatering.
We’ll talk in more detail about root rot later in this article as it can be caused by pathogens or by simply drowning the roots in too much water, but it should be treated the same in either case.
Bacterial leaf spot, caused by the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas campestris, causes the leaves between the veins to turn yellow as it advances, though it starts as yellow spots on the foliage.
If your plant is infected with bacterial leaf spot, the only course of action is to remove the symptomatic leaves and support the plant by ensuring it’s not overcrowded, watering appropriately, and taking steps to reduce humidity.
There is no cure for this disease so if more than half of the plant is symptomatic, it’s probably best to dispose of it.
3. Overwatering
Overwatering is one of the biggest problems that plague our houseplants.
Most of us are guilty of providing too much water at times, I know I’ve killed my fair share of plants before I figured it out!
With rubber figs, you can let the top inch of soil dry out between waterings. Too much moisture will lead to root rot which will cause the leaves to turn yellow.
Usually, they will turn pale yellow and might even develop mushy brown spots. Then, the leaves will drop. If the rot continues, the plant will likely die.
The first piece of advice I always give people is to stop watering on a schedule.
I know it’s easy to make a note on your your calendar to water on a particular day, but a plant’s moisture needs vary from week to week depending on the weather, the amount of light hitting the foliage, the compaction of the soil, how much your HVAC is running, the time of year, and more.
All of these factors are constantly changing, so you can’t just assume that because the calendar says so, it’s time to water.
Feel the soil or use a soil moisture meter to determine when it’s time to water. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds more and your rubber fig will thank you.
If the roots are constantly sitting in excess water, they can’t take up nutrients from the soil – essentially drowning – which leads to root rot.
If you suspect root rot, remove the plant from its container and prune off any dead or mushy roots before spraying them with copper fungicide.
Then, soak the soil every two weeks with copper fungicide to kill off any pathogens.
If your rubber tree is growing in the ground, leave it in place and just use a soil soak.
Copper fungicide is a must-have in any gardening toolkit because you can use it to treat so many different diseases.
Scale insects can be wiped with isopropyl alcohol and gently scraped off with a butter knife.
Although rare in houseplants, outdoor rubber figs can be attacked by foliar nematodes.
These microscopic worms in the Aphelenchoides genus cause the areas between the veins to turn yellow.
They thrive in areas with high humidity and when the plant has persistently wet foliage from overhead watering.
5. Too Little Light
Rubber figs are adaptable. In their natural habitat, they grow in hot, humid climates in full sun.
In our homes, they make do with low humidity and little sun. But you can only push them so far before they start to suffer.
In too much shade or darkness, the foliage will become pale and yellow. This tends to happen throughout the plant and not just on one or two of the leaves.
If you aren’t sure whether your plant is receiving enough light, you can always grab yourself a light meter.
Often, you can find light meters that are combined with a soil moisture meter.
This four-in-one meter from the Raintrip Store via Amazon tests soil moisture, light, pH, and the three major macronutrients.
If you determine that your plant needs more light, you can introduce your plant to an hour or two of additional light with no problem, but if you need to move it to a location with four or more hours of light than it currently receives, do it gradually.
Place it in a sunnier spot for 30 minutes and then move it back to its old location for the rest of the day.
The next day, make it an hour before you move back, and so on. This helps to prevent the plant becoming stressed and potentially dropping its leaves.
6. Too Much Sun
As mentioned, rubber figs are capable of growing in full sun in their native environments. But most of the specimens that we grow indoors aren’t used to that kind of exposure.
If you were to take a rubber fig from a dark bathroom and plop it outside in full sun, you can bet you’ll see some leaf yellowing and probably some dropping foliage, as well.
I once had a rubber tree that was a few feet away from a nice, sunny window.
I didn’t move it, but I installed a mirror on the wall across from it and that mirror reflected the sun. Suddenly, I realized that some of the leaves of my plant had tannish-yellow spots on them.
When I looked closer, I realized that all the discoloration was on the same side and only on the uppermost leaves.
That’s when the lightbulb went off in my brain, and I realized what was happening. I had inadvertently given my plant more light than it was used to, and too quickly!
If you’re going to introduce your houseplant to bright sunshine, it’s a process that needs to be done gradually, as mentioned above. And watch for those mirrors and other reflective surfaces!
7. Underwatering
Low humidity and low soil moisture will inevitably cause the foliage to turn yellow and fall off the plant. It often starts with the lower leaves.
While the symptoms can look similar to overwatering, you can check the moisture with your finger or a moisture meter. If underwatering is the problem, the leaves won’t turn brown or mushy, they’ll be yellowish and dry.
Rubber trees like moderate humidity, somewhere between 40 and 60 percent. If it drops too far below this, the plant will protest by dropping leaves. Too much above this and you run the risk of disease problems.
Similarly, if the soil is allowed to dry out repeatedly, the leaves will turn yellow and fall.
Be sure to stay on top of watering and add more whenever the top inch or so dries out. If low humidity is the problem, you can raise the moisture levels in the air by grouping plants together, keeping your rubber fig in a kitchen or bathroom, or using a little humidifier nearby.
Things like spraying the leaves or putting the plant on a pebble tray filled with water won’t provide enough humidity to do the job.
If you live in a very dry region, you can find super convenient humidifiers that are quiet and go for a long time.
Something like the LEVOIT 2.5-liter tank humidifier would be perfect. Pick one up at Amazon in white or black and with or without a nightlight.
Green is Gold
Rubber trees might drop a leaf here and there, but they’re pretty resilient plants. Figure out what’s going wrong with them, fix it, and they’ll be back to normal in no time.
What is causing the yellow leaves on your rubber plant? Not sure? Let us know in the comments and maybe we can help you figure it out.
Houseplants have been having something of a renaissance in the last decade–and not just because so many people became plant parents during the early days of lockdown. Plant-filled interiors had already reached such a level of trendiness by early 2020 that the New York Times was reporting on the emerging career of a plant stylist. Today, the houseplant trend is going strong and growing beyond the fiddle leaf figs and monstera plants that are ubiquitous on Instagram. “Plant owners are aiming to diversify the greenery within their spaces,” says Rebecca Sterling, the resident plant expert at Easyplant, an online retailer of houseplants in self-watering pots. To find out what new houseplants will be popular in 2024, we asked Sterling and other experts to tell us what they see trending.
Textured Plants
Above: Easyplant’s top plant in their 2024 trends report is the Dracaena Janet Craig Compacta; $269 (in a self-watering pot) at Easyplant.
“Texture is specifically having a moment in the spotlight, and a lot of the plants within our 2024 plant trends report reflect that bold, trending texture people are loving,” says Sterling. The team at Easyplant picked Dracaena ‘Janet Craig’ Compacta, with its highly textured leaves, as their top houseplant of the year.
“This year, we’ll see consumers looking to incorporate larger-sized plants to uplevel their living spaces,” says Sterling, who notes that a large plant makes a big impact “without having to change too much or invest in home renovations.” In addition to Dracaena ‘Janet Craig’ Compacta, Sterling predicts other varieties of Dracaena (Dracaena Lemon Lime, Dracaena Cinthos, and Dracaena Warneckii) and some larger Ficus (Ficus Tineke and Ficus Altissima) will be in demand.
Variegated Leaves
Above: A Ficus triangularis ‘Variegata’. Photograph via myBageecha.
“Anything variegated will be popular,” predicts houseplant influencer Hilton Carter, the author of four books about houseplants (with a fifth, The Propagation Handbook, forthcoming in April). The team at 1-800-Flowers.com agrees with Carter, choosing philodendron, and specifically two variegated varieties, Philodendron Birkin Plant and the Philodendron Pink Princess, as their 2024 houseplant of the year.
Rare Coloring
Above: The Raven ZZ Plant sports near-black leaves; $79 at Bloomscape.
In addition to variegation, Carter says he sees collectors clamoring for rare colors. “There are new varieties of variegated alocasias and philodendrons that have crazy red and pink colors to the leaves,” he says, pointing to the pink variegated alocasia ‘Black Velvet’ and philodendron ‘Red Moon,’ which he says are trending with collectors right now, noting “Tissue culture has come a long way!” Likewise, the striking Black ZZ with its almost black leaves was among Easyplant’s picks for 2024’s trending houseplants.
“I think we will see an influx of fruiting trees and citrus plants becoming popular for indoor cultivation,” says Carter. Last year when Bloomscape, an online plant retailer, introduced lemon trees to its offerings they couldn’t keep the trees in stock (they’ll be back in spring 2024). Bloomscape’s Variegated Pink Lemon Tree also picks up on the variegated trend with its creamy patterned leaves.
Many houseplants that might seem old-fashioned are coming back into fashion, including African violets. Commercially available for nearly 100 years, African violets are the National Garden Bureau’s pick for their houseplant of the year for 2024, and houseplant influencer Tony Le-Britton, the author of Not Another Jungle, told the Irish News he thinks African violets will be on-trend in 2024, as well. Two more retro plants that deserve another look: rubber tree and braided trunk money tree, which were both among easyplant’s 2024 picks. One more throwback plant that’s going nowhere in 2024 is Epipremnum aureum, commonly known as Pothos or devil’s ivy. In an article about the perennially popular vine in The Guardian, Freddie Blackett of Patch Plants, an online plant retailer in the U.K. told writer Alice Vincent sales of pothos had increased 45 times(!) in just five years. “In 2017, we sold 600 of them. In 2022, that had increased to 27,000.”
“Indoor” and “tree” aren’t two words that always go well together, but I’d say that the banana leaf fig makes it work.
A tall, woody plant that stands apart from your typical small and herbaceous houseplants, Ficus maclellandii can make a powerfully pretty statement in your home.
Add banana-shaped leaves and the fig moniker to the mix, and it may even have your stomach rumbling a little.
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Whether it’s a visual accent in your indoor jungle or the star of the show, the banana leaf fig is simply radiant.
But no matter how you utilize this plant, you’ll need to know how to cultivate it properly. We wouldn’t want such a pretty plant to pass on without reaching its aesthetic potential, now would we?
Our guide will walk you through the basics of banana leaf figs: their propagation, cultivation, maintenance, and more. Hopefully, you’ll find it a-peel-ing, cringey banana puns aside.
Here are the specifics:
What Are Banana Leaf Figs?
The banana leaf fig – aka F. maclellandii – is a member of the Ficus genus, which contains over 900 species of shrubs, trees, and vines.
Hardy in USDA Zones 9 to 11, banana leaf figs hail from east India, Bangladesh, south China, and much of southeast Asia.
In the wild, they are found growing in wet, tropical to subtropical environments.
Photo by David J. Stang, Wikimedia Commons, via CC BY-SA.
Banana leaf figs form trunks of smooth, light brown bark with distinct lenticels. This species is a member of the “strangler figs,” a group of epiphytic Ficus plants that can kill their hosts.
They establish themselves around the trunk of a host tree, put down terrestrial roots while dispatching the host, then continue to grow independently where the host used to be as a self-supporting, tubular trunk. Talk about brutal!
But don’t think that you have to choke out one of your beloved trees just to grow a banana leaf fig, though. They can grow just fine in the ground or a container without a host.
With a growth habit that becomes more rounded and tree-like as it matures, F. maclellandii typically tops out at six to 10 feet tall and four to six feet wide when grown indoors in a container. But in its natural outdoor habitat, it can grow 40 feet tall and 30 feet wide!
Banana leaf figs flaunt simple, spirally-arranged, leathery, glossy, dark green, and lance-shaped leaves that grow about eight inches long and one and a half inches wide.
I’d say that F. maclellandii foliage looks more like banana fruits rather than true banana leaves, although banana-ness is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.
As a Ficus species, F. maclellandii bears pairs of small green figs from leaf axils in spring, which turn yellow to red as they mature.
Within each fruit is a hollow syconium: a type of inflorescence with small flowers that face inwards towards the empty space in each fruit. Kinda like a geode, but with flowers instead of dazzling crystals.
In nature, specialized fig wasps lay their eggs within the syconiums, pollinating the flowers as they do so. Seed set will not occur without this partnership between fig and fig wasp, which is why banana leaf figs are effectively sterile in foreign environments without their pollinators.
If pollination does occur and seeds form within the fruits, then the seeds will be spread via animals such as birds, bats, and terrestrial mammals as they eat the figs, move elsewhere, and excrete the undigested seeds.
A word of warning: handling the fruits, leaves, and sap barehanded can leave you with contact dermatitis, so always wear gloves and exercise caution!
Banana Leaf Fig Propagation
Unless you can telepathically control fig wasps that you’re okay with having indoors, I wouldn’t try to grow these plants from seed.
Taking stem cuttings, air layering, or simply transplanting a young start would be my go-to’s for propagation.
From Stem Cuttings
Use a sterilized blade or pair of hand pruners to remove six-inch cuttings from the terminal ends of healthy-looking shoots.
Don’t forget to wear a pair of gardening gloves to protect your hands from the sap!
After defoliating the bottom third of each cutting, scrape off the bark from the bottom inch of each cutting and dip it in a rooting hormone like Bonide’s IBA powder from Arbico Organics.
Stick your cuttings two inches deep into six-inch pots containing a 50:50 mix of perlite and peat moss or coconut coir. Moisten the media, cover the cuttings with clear plastic baggies, and set the pots in bright, indirect light indoors.
Still keeping the media evenly moist, yet not waterlogged, remove the humidity covers once roots have formed – which should take about four to six weeks.
Continue with your care, and once the plants begin to outgrow their containers, they’ll be ready for transplanting into their new homes!
Via Air Layering
Air layering is a simple propagation technique for houseplants, or any plants with shoots that are too tough to bend and layer normally.
Rather than bending branches down to soil, air layering brings soil up to the plant!
Select a section of stem 12 to 18 inches away from its tip. With a sharp knife, make two cuts around the stem spaced one inch apart, along with a vertical slit connecting the two. Then, peel away a ring of bark, leaving a one-inch section of barkless wood.
Photo by Krzysztof Ziarnek, Wikimedia Commons, via CC BY-SA.
Powder the wound with rooting hormone, clump a handful or two of moist sphagnum moss around the wound, then wrap it all up in clear plastic or aluminum foil.
Secure the ends with electrical tape or twist ties – they’ll need to be easily un-secured for later watering.
Keep the moss moist while roots form, which could take six to eight weeks or longer. Once the roots are several inches long, separate the new plant from its parent, just under where the rooted wound ends. From here, it’s transplanting time!
Transplanting
Once you have your propagated plant or purchased nursery start, prepare a sturdy container with drainage holes that’s an inch or two wider than the transplant’s root system.
Fill it with a moisture-retaining, yet well-draining growing medium – something like Miracle-Gro’s indoor potting mix, which you can find via Amazon.
Then, dig a hole deep enough to fit the transplant’s root system, and make it just a bit wider so you’ve got room to work.
Remove your transplant from its container, gently ease it into its new container, then backfill it with dug-out soil.
Water it in, set it near a window to receive bright, indirect light, and you’re good to go!
How to Grow Banana Leaf Figs
Now that your banana leaf fig is potted up, let’s discuss how to keep it happy in its new indoor digs.
Climate and Exposure Needs
As a specimen hardy in USDA Zones 9 to 11, the banana leaf fig certainly prefers heat over the cold.
So as a houseplant, it’ll appreciate a temperature range of 60 to 70°F. If you’re a utilities-conscious thermostat-tweaker, then a broader range of 50 to 80°F is acceptable.
Photo by Luca Bove, Wikimedia Commons, via CC BY-SA.
The typical household humidity should suffice, as these plants aren’t too picky.
But you may want to keep your specimens away from AC units, heaters, drafty spots, or any other place where temperatures can change on a dime.
For F. maclellandii, bright, indirect light from an east- or west-facing window is the name of the lighting game.
Soil Needs
A growing media that can retain moisture, yet allow excess water to drain is ideal.
Ensure that the media’s pH is somewhere in the 5.0 to 7.0 range, and you’re golden.
Water and Fertilizer Needs
Constant, even moisture is optimal for banana leaf figs.
To provide this without going overboard and making the potting soil soggy, allow the top inch of media to dry out before you water again.
Photo by Forest and Kim Starr, Wikimedia Commons, via CC BY-SA.
Once a month throughout the spring and summer, an application of balanced fertilizer really hits the spot.
You’ll want to hold off during the fall and winter months, when the plant is dormant though.
Need fertilizer? Check out Bonide’s 10-10-10 liquid plant food, available at Walmart.
Growing Tips
Be sure to provide bright, indirect light.
The growing media should retain moisture, yet drain away the excess.
Deeply water whenever the top inch of soil dries out.
Pruning and Maintenance
As your banana leaf fig grows big and strong, it’s going to become rootbound… unless you repot it.
Once your specimen loses that inch of space between its roots and the container, then it’s time to size up. Make sure you use fresh potting soil and ensure that the new pot is not excessively large – one size up will do the trick.
Photo by Forest and Kim Starr, Wikimedia Commons, via CC BY-SA.
If you wish to set your plants outdoors during the summer months, they can go outside when temperatures consistently reach 50°F or higher.
Make sure to bring them in when the temperatures threaten to drop below that. They can survive in lower temperatures, but they won’t have as quite as many lush leaves.
As an evergreen plant, your banana leaf ficus won’t drop its leaves in fall. But to keep things looking lush, you should prune away any dead, diseased, damaged, and otherwise unhealthy-looking leaves and branches as you notice them.
If any healthy branches happen to throw off the aesthetic, then feel free to ax those as well.
If fruits appear, remove them to keep the plant looking sharp. These figs aren’t the awesomely edible kind, and they’ll detract from the foliage and eventually drop if they’re left on the plant.
Don’t forget your gloves when working with this plant!
When growth slows during dormancy, your plant will naturally use up less water as its transpiration rates decrease, so your watering frequency will go down, as well.
Always check the top inch of media for dryness before irrigating.
Banana Leaf Fig Cultivars to Select
Banana leaf figs aren’t in super high demand for their fruits or landscaping applications, so there aren’t a large number of cultivars available. However, there are a couple that are worth noting.
Photo by Yercaud-elango, Wikimedia Commons, via CC BY-SA.
Take ‘Alii,’ for instance. First grown commercially in Hawaii – ‘Alii’ actually means “king” in Hawaiian – this cultivar has become the specimen you are most likely to find available for purchase.
So if you have a banana leaf fig that you’ve purchased from a public vendor, chances are it’s an ‘Alii.’
You can choose from a white or beige decorative pot as well.
Other cultivars include ‘Amstel-veen,’ ‘Amstel Queen,’ and ‘Amstel King,’ which are broader-leaved versions of the standard species.
With those larger leaves come a greater surface area for conducting photosynthesis, which in turn comes with a tolerance for lower light!
Managing Pests and Disease
Granted, the home is typically more sanitary than the outdoors, but health problems can still occur, especially if you receive specimens that are already infested or infected.
Here’s how to handle some common issues:
Insects
As potential vectors of disease, insects can be a double whammy of awful. But on the flip side, managing them can solve two plant problems for the price of one!
Mealybugs
Congregating in clumps on stems and leaf undersides, mealybugs have pink and segmented bodies beneath their mealy white coatings.
Waxy deposits on the stems and foliage will often become apparent before the actual pests do.
With their piercing-sucking mouthparts, they extract vital fluids from leaf tissues, which can leave infested plants with chlorosis, stunted growth, dieback, or even plant death.
Scale
Scale insects are round, flattened, and come in either soft or armored forms.
Amassing in groups and with no visual legs, they actually do look like lizards or fish scales, or perhaps something you’d want a dermatologist to freeze off with liquid nitrogen.
Scale use similar mouthparts as mealybugs to feed from of plants, which can cause leaf yellowing, drop, and reduced vigor. They also excrete honeydew.
Spider Mites
Far tinier than mealybugs or scale, spider mites are barely visible – to the naked eye, they just look like moving red dots. But if you break out a hand lens, you’ll see itty-bitty red arachnids.
Often accompanied by conspicuous webbing, spider mites leave tiny, stippled feeding marks on infested leaves. In time, the damage can progress to choloris, necrosis, or even leaf drop.
Strong sprays of water should physically remove spider mites, while horticultural oils will actually put them down.
Using sterile gardening tools and selecting disease-free plants from the get-go will go a long way towards preventing disease.
Botrytis Blight
Also known as gray mold, botrytis blight is a condition caused by several different species of Botrytis fungi.
You’ll recognize this disease by the softened brown spots that form on leaves and stems. Additionally, strands of fungal mycelium will move from infected to healthy tissues, spreading the disease throughout the plant.
It generally infects plants kept in overly damp conditions, caused by overwatering or poorly draining soil.
If this disease does strike, make sure to promptly quarantine your plant. Disease spread can be halted with sprays of fungicides, while severely stricken plants should probably be pitched.
Root Rot
Caused by suffocated roots due to over-saturated soils, root rot is an abiotic condition that can eventually kill the plant. Thanks to a root system that’s effectively drowning, the foliage and stems can turn chlorotic, necrotic, and eventually perish.
Root rot can be prevented, halted, and potentially reversed with proper watering practices. Remember: let the top inch of soil dry out between waterings.
For a plant with root rot, it can be helpful to remove it from its container and trim away any completely rotted roots. If more than half of the roots are rotted then the plant is probably a goner.
Best Uses for Banana Leaf Figs
If you’re looking for an indoor tree that thrives in brightly lit spots, then a banana leaf fig really does the trick.
Bursting with thin, lush leaves, this plant is simultaneously dense yet open, in a way that’s quite aesthetic.
You’ll never miss out on viewing the leaves, either – they hang downward, making it near impossible to avoid a glance at their glossy green surfaces.
It’s tough to not love banana leaf ficus, especially if you appreciate large, shapely clumps of indoor foliage and banana-themed houseplants.
Wherever you put it in your home, you’re sure to cherish the banana leaf fig. Give it the proper TLC, and it’s sure to love you, too. As much as an insentient clump of greenery can, anyway.
Still have questions, comments, or concerns? The comments section is the place to put ’em.
The Ficus genus encompasses a plethora of beautiful and fascinating plants, from dramatic fiddle-leaf figs (F. lyrata) to the Great Banyan tree in India, a F. benghalensis specimen that spreads out to cover nearly five acres.
The species commonly grown as houseplants like rubber trees (F. elastica) and weeping figs (F. benjamina) are in the same genus as the fig trees cultivated for the miraculous fruits that make our charcuterie boards pop.
The Ficus genus is very diverse, consisting of vines, shrubs, and trees, with species that grow just a few inches tall to those that reach heights of hundreds of feet.
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I’ve yet to meet a ficus I don’t like, from enjoying the fruits of my common fig (F. carica) trees to the adorable little ginseng (F. microcarpa) bonsai I keep on my desk.
In this guide, we’ll go over what the plants in this genus have in common and how to care for them, in a broad sense.
Here’s what I’ll cover:
What Is a Ficus?
Regardless of which Ficus species you’re growing, there are lots of similarities between them. Let’s discuss exactly what a Ficus is first.
Ficus is a genus in the Moraceae family, which also includes mulberries. There are five subgenera within the genus: Ficus, Pharmacosycea, Sycidium, Sycomorus, Synoecia, and Urostigma.
There are over 800 Ficus species, growing across the globe in tropical and warm temperate areas.
Most do best in Zones 9 to 11, though there are outliers that tolerate climates down to Zone 5 and up to Zone 12.
Almost all are evergreens and grow edible fruits, though not all of the fruit is considered palatable.
In many cases, that’s only because Westerners haven’t learned to appreciate the fruits from some of the species, while local populations in the areas where the plants grow natively enjoy them.
But even where humans don’t eat and enjoy the fruits, the wildlife sure does – bats, monkeys, and birds love them.
The unique fruits are actually what defines the Ficus genus.
If you’ve ever opened up a fig, you’ve probably noticed the unusual interior. That’s actually the inflorescence made up of hundreds of tiny flowers held inside a syconium.
Think of the fig fruit as a large swollen stem enclosing a bunch of tiny flowers.
These flowers can only be pollinated by fig wasps, which climb in the bottom of the fruit through an entrance called an ostiole. While they’re inside, the wasps pollinate the plant, lay eggs, and might even hibernate there.
All species also have a waxy latex in the stems and foliage that comes out when the plant is cut, and most have aerial roots. Many Ficus species are epiphytes, and some – such as strangler figs – kill the host tree as they mature.
With over 800 species in the genus, there is bound to be some overlap and some natural hybridization. In some areas there are over 70 species coexisting.
Cultivation and History
Some of the foliage on Ficus trees looks positively prehistoric to me, like something the dinosaurs would have eaten.
Experts estimate that the plants have been around for at least 60 million years. They’ve most likely been a part of human culture for as long as humans have existed.
Fossils of Ficus species dating back to 9400 BCE were discovered in the Jordan Valley, and humans have been cultivating these plants at least as early as the 12th century.
Twelfth-century horticulturist Ibn al-’Awwam wrote a book about agriculture that included how to cultivate figs. By the 15th century, common figs were being grown in the British Isles.
Since then, many species have become popular as houseplants, with dozens of cultivated varieties available, and others are widely used in landscaping in warm climates across the globe.
Ficus Propagation
To propagate Ficus species, stem cuttings are a breeze and air layering works well, too. Or you can always pop over to your local nursery and find a potted plant to bring home.
From Air Layering
Air layering is so named because you propagate the new plant up in the air rather than in soil. This can be done at any time of year, but tends to work best in spring and summer.
To start, look for a sturdy branch at least as thick as your pinky. It needs to be large enough to support some moistened moss wrapped in plastic as well as the developing roots.
Cut or pull off the leaves at the center of the branch to expose a section that is between six inches and a foot long, depending on the size of the plant.
Take a sharp, clean knife and make a shallow cut around the entire circumference of the branch.
The goal is to cut through the bark and into the phloem of the stem, but you don’t want to cut into the cambium.
You should be cutting through the brown bark and exposing the green growth underneath. If you cut beyond the green and encounter the white cambium, you’ve cut too deep.
Don’t worry if this happens, just try to slow down and take your time with the rest of the cuts.
When you’ve made your first horizontal cut, make another one about three inches below that. The area needs to include at least one leaf node or aerial root node.
Then, make several vertical cuts about half an inch apart. These should connect to the top and bottom horizontal cuts you made.
Use the blade of your knife to carefully strip off the bark between the top and bottom cuts to completely expose the green layer underneath.
Use a discarded toothbrush or paint brush to put a thin layer of rooting hormone powder on the exposed section. You might want to mist the exposed area first to help the powder adhere.
It helps to have a second pair of hands for the next part, but you can do it yourself.
Grab a few handfuls of sphagnum moss and soak it in some water. Wring it out and pack it against the exposed area of the branch. You want at least an inch of moss all the way around, but two inches would be even better.
Hold the moss in place and wrap it in clear plastic wrap to secure it around the branch. Seal the top and bottom of the plastic with twine, zip-ties, string, or tape.
Now, your job is to keep the parent plant happy as you normally would while also ensuring that the moss stays moist.
If you don’t see moisture on the inside of the plastic, open it up on one end and touch the moss. If it’s feeling dry, spray it with some water.
Eventually, you’ll start to see roots developing inside the moss. This can happen quickly, depending on the time of year and the species, or it can take months.
Once the moss is filled about a third of the way with roots, it’s time to cut the new plant away from the parent.
To do this, take a clean, sharp knife or pruners and cut through the stem just below the moss pack.
Remove the plastic and moss and plant the roots in a pot filled with potting soil. Most species like to be a bit root bound and an oversized pot promotes root rot, so choose a container that is just an inch or so larger than the rootball.
Bury the stem deep enough that the plant can support itself in an upright position.
From Stem Cuttings
This method can be used with any Ficus species. In the spring, look for a pliable stem about the diameter of a pencil. Cut off a piece about six to nine inches long.
The most important consideration isn’t the exact length but to remove a section of stem with at least one leaf node or aerial root node. Use a pair of clean clippers or a knife to cut just below one of these nodes.
Remove all but the top one or two leaves for smaller-leaved species and all but one leaf for species with large leaves. In the case of something like a fiddle-leaf fig, you can even cut the leaf in half horizontally.
The goal is to reduce the amount of leaf tissue that the stem has to support while it’s developing roots. Too much leaf tissue will quickly drain the stem of all nutrients, while too little leaf tissue will reduce photosynthesis.
Fill a small pot with well-draining, water retentive potting medium and make a hole in the center using your finger, a pencil, or a chopstick.
You can use a growers pot for this process or use the permanent growing container so you don’t have to transplant the cutting later. The container should be around six inches in diameter.
Dip the cut end in powdered rooting hormone and insert it into the hole.
Firm the soil up around the cutting and moisten the potting medium. You’re welcome to use a cloche or a clear plastic bag over the cutting to help retain moisture – just make sure the plastic is not touching the foliage.
Keep the soil moist but not soaking wet, and keep your cutting in an area with bright, indirect light, or direct morning light.
After four weeks or so, gently insert your hand into the soil underneath the plant and lift up to look for roots. If you see them, you can transplant the cutting into its permanent location.
Transplanting
If you start a plant via cuttings or air layering, or if you buy a ficus at the store, there will come a time when you want to move it into a more permanent container.
Ensure that the container you choose has drainage holes at the bottom and is one or two inches larger than the existing pot.
Gently remove the plant from its existing container and loosen up the roots a little. If you see any roots that are mushy or black, or that are broken, snip them off with a clean pair of scissors.
Hold the plant inside the new container so that it will be situated at the same depth as it was in the previous container.
Then, fill in around the roots with a water-retentive, airy potting mix. There are mixes out there made for aroids, and you can always nab one of those.
I prefer to use a product like FoxFarm’s Ocean Forest mix, available via Amazon, or De La Tank’s Houseplant Mix, which contains compost, coconut husks, worm castings, bat guano, and pumice to improve drainage.
You can pick up a one, eight, or 16-quart bag of De La Tank’s at Arbico Organics.
Once the roots are securely in place in the potting soil, water well. If the soil settles at all, add a bit more.
How to Grow Ficus
Because the Ficus genus encompasses such a wide range of plants, it’s a little difficult to sum up the care requirements for all types. When you commit to a specific species, be sure to read up on its needs.
Broadly speaking, those grown as houseplants need bright, indirect light or some direct morning light. They can often tolerate less light, but they certainly don’t prefer it.
Outdoors, most Ficus species need full to partial sunlight. Some will mature into huge trees, so they’ll grow large enough to reach the full sunlight whether you want them to or not.
Those that grow as epiphytes or small shrubs can usually thrive in lower light exposure, with some even tolerating full shade.
When it comes to water, they generally like consistently moist soil, but they won’t tolerate standing water around the roots.
If your plant is in a container, water it when the top quarter of the soil has dried out.
For outdoor specimens, allow the top few inches of soil to dry out between watering – in the absence of rain. Established trees won’t need any additional irrigation except in times of extreme drought.
Most Ficus species come from humid regions. These aren’t plants that you’ll find chilling in the dry desert.
Misting isn’t really an effective way of increasing the humidity around your plant, so it’s best to purchase a humidifier or group houseplants together if your home is a bit dry. You can also keep your plant in the bathroom, where it’s usually nice and moist.
Try to aim for a relative humidity level of about 50 to 70 percent. Most species will survive in lower humidity, but they won’t thrive.
These plants also need warm temperatures – between 55 and 85°F is fine. Don’t keep your houseplant near a drafty window or exterior door if it gets really cold in your neck of the woods.
Outdoor plants typically thrive in warmer USDA Hardiness Zones, like 8 and above, but there are a few species that grow in more northern Zones.
Depending on the species, you should plan to feed indoor plants twice a year. They aren’t greedy, and overfeeding can result in yellow leaves and poor growth.
Either granular or liquid fertilizer is fine. I generally use a mild product that’s formulated for houseplants.
That way, I can use it for all my houseplants without having to worry that they’re not getting what they need. Feed once in the spring and once in late summer.
Arber makes an excellent indoor plant food with a 3-2-1 NPK ratio that’s perfect for encouraging lots of leafy growth.
If you’re growing your plants outside, give them an all-purpose food unless you’re cultivating common figs. In that case, use a fruit tree mix to support fruit production.
I like Down to Earth’s Fruit Tree fertilizer, which is available at Arbico Organics in five-, 15-, and 25-pound biodegradable boxes.
Provide bright, indirect light indoors and full to partial sun outdoors.
Feed in early spring and late summer.
Pruning and Maintenance
As your plants thrive and grow, potted specimens will need a container upgrade every few years and once they reach the mature size, you’ll still need to replace the potting substrate regularly.
Over time, potting soils and other growing mediums tend to break down and become depleted of nutrients. They can also become hydrophobic, so the water just runs around rather than through it.
Most plants can be repotted in the spring or summer by removing the plant from its pot, knocking away the soil, and cutting off any dead or damaged roots.
Place the plant back in the same pot or in a container just one size up. Fill in around the roots with fresh potting soil and water well.
There is generally no need to prune these plants unless you want to change the shape or remove dead, diseased, deformed, or dying branches. That’s right, even the edible fig doesn’t need complicated pruning as most stone fruit species do.
There’s no need to remove aerial roots. They support the plant’s health, and they’re a good thing. You can tuck them into a moss pole if you’re using one, or just let them be.
Species with large leaves should be wiped regularly to remove any dust. An accumulation of dust can reduce photosynthesis and impact the health of the plant.
Ficus Species to Select
As I’ve mentioned, there are over 800 Ficus species, but only a dozen or so that we commonly grow as houseplants or ornamental garden specimens.
Banana Leaf
Sometimes called long-leaf figs, banana leaf figs (F. maclellandii) have long, drooping, leathery leaves.
Indoors, they grow to about six feet tall, but they can reach closer to 10 feet in the right conditions.
In their native China, India, and Southeast Asia, they reach up to 40 feet tall and produce pairs of round fruits.
Like many other plants in this genus, they send out large aerial roots that anchor them into the ground.
There are beautiful cultivars with variegated foliage or with compact growth habits that lend themselves to indoor life.
‘Alii,’ the most common cultivar, is often sold with braided trunks.
It has a dense growth habit and tops out at about six feet tall indoors. Outdoors, it can grow in Zones 9 to 11.
Climbing or trailing ficus (F. radicans syn. F. sagittata) is native to southeast Asia, where it uses its roots to climb up trees and other structures.
The heart- or arrow-shaped leaves are glossy, dark green, and slightly wrinkled.
It’s often confused with creeping ficus (F. pumila), and while they’re similar, they are different plants. The leaves of F. radicans are lanceolate compared to the cordate leaves of F. pumila.
Climbing figs can grow up to 30 feet long in the wild, but they generally stay much shorter in the home.
Most people opt to grow them in hanging baskets, but they’d be lovely growing up a moss pole, as well. If you live in Zones 10 to 12, you can grow them in a shady spot outdoors.
Common
Common figs (F. carica) must grow outdoors in Zones 8 to 10 or in a greenhouse if you want them to produce fruits.
You can also enjoy them indoors as houseplants. The dwarf cultivars work well indoors and will even produce fruit if you have a sunny spot in a south-facing window.
With or without the fruits, the large, lobed leaves with a cordate base add flair to the home.
For indoor fruits or just a manageable outdoor tree, ‘Petite Negra’ and ‘Fignomenal’ are both phenomenal options.
Native to China, Japan, and Vietnam, creeping fig (F. pumila) has naturalized across parts of North America where temperatures reliably remain above freezing, though it can be cultivated in Zones 8 to 11.
It climbs up trees, rocks, and other structures to about 12 feet in length, but stays much more contained indoors.
There are several notable cultivars of this species, like the petite ‘Minima,’ which has tiny half-inch leaves.
Fiddle-Leaf Fig
The Jurrasic-looking leaves of fiddle-leaf fig (F. lyrata) have earned it a place in all the most stylish homes and hotels. Outside, they make a dramatic statement reaching 50 feet tall or more in Zones 10 to 12.
Indoors, they’re much more petite, though no less dramatic. They typically top out at about 15 feet unless you have high ceilings for them to stretch up into.
There are also dwarf cultivars that remain naturally nice and small, so you aren’t having to chop off their tops as they reach the ceiling.
Cute little ‘Bambino’ only grows to about five feet tall with correspondingly smaller leaves than the species plant.
The first time I ever saw a Formosan creeping fig (F. vaccinioides), it had been trained up a frame to create a topiary.
I was intrigued by the glossy oval leaves and vining growth habit. When I found out it was in the Ficus genus, I was thrilled because I’ve had such good luck growing so many of these plants.
It even grows teeny tiny fruits! It stands apart from F. pumila because it has slightly larger leaves but otherwise looks similar.
Whether you train it up a pole or a frame or just let it trail down the sides of the pot, it’s a looker. Or grow it outdoors if you’re in Zones 9 to 11.
Ginseng
Indigenous to Southeast Asia and wildly popular in homes across the globe is the beautiful ginseng fig (F. microcarpa).
It’s extremely common as a bonsai because it can be grown indoors year-round, unlike many other common bonsai species.
You’ll often see them with disproportionately large or braided trunks, making them a fun architectural element.
Native across Southeast Asia, long-leaf or narrow-leaf fig (F. binnendijkii) climbs nearly 100 feet tall up nearby trees and eventually strangles them.
It needs warm climates to thrive and can only be grown outdoors in Zones 10 to 11. Indoors, it’s usually trained as a small tree under ten feet tall that resembles a weeping willow.
Don’t confuse it with the other long-leaved ficus species, F. maclellandii.
Banana leaf ficus has prominent basal veins, but they are similar otherwise.
Rubber Plant
F. elastica can grow really large, up to nearly 200 feet tall, in its native south and Southeast Asia. It’s probably best known as a dramatic houseplant that can reach up to ten feet tall.
The leaves are what make this species stand out. They are large, succulent, and glossy, growing up to a foot long and four inches wide.
They can be either solid green with a burgundy underside, or variegated in a combination of burgundy, pink, yellow, cream, or white.
If you guessed that F. triangularis has triangular leaves, you nailed it.
The succulent leaves grow as inverted triangles with soft, curved edges, earning it the nickname sweetheart tree.
This species is native to South Africa, where it grows about 15 feet tall in cultivation. Indoors, it can grow up to eight feet tall but usually stays about half that.
F. triangularis prefers warmer temperatures than many others on this list and if you intend to grow it outdoors, you’ll need to live in Zones 12 or 13.
You can find both solid and variegated versions, as with ‘Variegata,’ which is available at Fast Growing Trees in one- or three-gallon pots.
Weeping
A weeping fig (F. benjamina) is the perfect choice if you want to bring the look of a landscaping tree to your interior.
It has that classic tree shape with twisting ovate leaves in a glossy green hue, or you can find it with creamy variegation, as well.
Outdoors, these trees climb up other plants and send down aerial roots that make it look like it has multiple trunks.
They can reach over 50 feet tall in their native Asian and Australian home. In the US, they grow in Zones 9 to 12.
As indoor plants, you will find them available as braided multiple stems or as single stem specimens. They will typically grow up to about 12 feet tall.
All are prone to root rot, which is often caused by Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporum. These pathogens thrive where there is a lot of moisture, so it’s important to avoid overwatering.
Root rot will cause the leaves to turn yellow or brown and fall from the plant.
If you notice this happening, the best thing to do is to remove the plant from its container and examine the roots. If you see rot or mushy, black roots, trim all the symptomatic roots away.
Then, treat the roots with a biofungicide like Mycostop.
This product is made using sphagnum peat moss which contains the beneficial bacterium Streptomyces Strain K61.
I use this product anytime my plants are struggling with root rot and have always had good results.
Bring home five or 25 grams from Arbico Organics and follow the manufacturer’s directions for application.
Best Uses for Ficus Species
With so many different growth habits, shapes, sizes, leaf variations, and fruit options, there are a lot of ways to enjoy the plants in the Ficus genus.
Many species lend themselves to bonsai and houseplant life. You can grow them as trailing plants, trained up moss poles or topiary frames, or as free-standing indoor trees.
Outdoors, they can be ground covers, trained climb up supports, or grown as shrubs or trees.
Some make excellent shade tree options, others are perfect hedges. Some species can even be trained into living bridges and furniture – Seriously!
In northeastern India, the Khasi people train rubber figs into living bridges.
Quick Reference Growing Guide
Plant Type:
Woody vines, shrubs, and trees
Foliage Color:
Green, yellow, white, variegated
Native to:
Africa, Asia, Mediterranean, Oceania, South America
Tolerance:
Some drought
Hardiness (USDA Zone):
6-12, depending on species
Maintenance:
Low to moderate
Bloom Time/Season:
Fruit in spring and summer
Soil Type:
Loose, rich
Exposure:
Full shade to full sun, depending on species
Soil pH:
6.0-8.0, depending on species
Time to Maturity:
Varies by species
Soil Drainage:
Well-draining
Spacing:
Varies by species
Attracts:
Ficus wasps (outdoors)
Planting Depth:
Same depth as growing container
Uses:
Bonsai, trailing, climbing, houseplants, shrubs, ground cover, landscape trees
There’s Lots to Love About the Fabulous Ficus Genus
The Ficus genus comprises some of the most beloved houseplants as well as the trees that grow our coveted fig fruits. They have stunning leaves, fascinating trunks, and unusual flowers. There’s a lot to love about these plants.
Which Ficus species are you interested in? How do you plan to grow it? Share your plans in the comments section below.
Ginseng figs (Ficus microcarpa), also known as curtain figs, ginseng ficus, Indian laurel, or Chinese or Malayan banyans, are incredibly popular as bonsai specimens.
That’s because they have a thick trunk that looks like it took hundreds of years to develop, but actually takes under a decade – perfect for the impatient bonsai artist.
They can also be grown indoors, unlike many species grown as bonsai, which must be raised outside. On top of that, they adapt easily to shaping and are generally vigorous and tough.
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It comes as no surprise that this is often a popular species for people interested in getting started with bonsai. You can often find them pre-potted and shaped, at both specialty retailers and big-box giants, ginseng figs are just perfect for the purpose.
In this guide, we’ll discuss how to grow these plants as bonsai. Here’s what I’ll cover:
Can’t wait to enjoy your new specimen? Let’s dive in.
Ginseng Ficus Basics
In the wild, ginseng ficus trees usually start their lives as epiphytes, which means that they anchor onto other plants for support.
As the trees age, they send down aerial roots that anchor into the ground. They wean themselves from the host tree and transition to life as terrestrial trees.
These aerial roots can mimic trunks and are part of what helps create the “aged trunk” look that makes this species so highly valued as bonsai.
They can also grow small fruits, which is an exciting addition to any display.
Though the trees can grow up to 100 feet tall and twice as wide in the wild, with diligent pruning you can keep them extremely small.
There are many cultivars that have been specifically bred with bonsai in mind, or you can always go with the species, which is just as easy to train.
You can buy pre-made bonsai rather than shaping your own. Check out this gorgeous 32-year-old specimen at Bonsai Boy.
Or buy a small, unshaped plant so that you can enjoy the process of creating a bonsai from start to finish.
If you want to be even more involved in the process, you can propagate your own plant. Most people opt to propagate their F. microcarpa plants via cuttings or air layering.
Once you have your plant, it’s time to pot it up.
Choose a Container
You’ve probably seen the huge assortment of bonsai containers out there. They come in all shapes and sizes, and various materials and colors. The only real limitation you have is size.
You need to choose a pot that is small enough to keep the tree contained. The size depends on the size of the tree you’re working with. Generally, I try to pick something that is about the same width as the canopy of the tree.
Of course, if your plant is just a spindly little stick with a few leaves, you’ll want to choose something small.
In that case, you can start with a standard four- or six-inch oval or rectangle pot.
Something like this black rectangle pot from Bonsai Boy would be a perfect starter.
The ultimate shape is, of course, up to your artistic vision, but you want to create a sense of balance.
If you’re going to create a somewhat weeping plant, you’ll probably want a tall and narrow pot. A more traditional tree shape typically calls for a wide oval or square pot.
But, like I said, you’re only limited by your imagination and the size of the plant you’re working with.
If you decide to go with something unconventional like a piece of cupped bark or a shell, make sure it has drainage holes. Nothing will kill a bonsai faster than poor drainage.
You can pot anytime you want, but spring, summer, or early fall is best.
The plant goes at least partially dormant in the winter and won’t be working on establishing itself as quickly as we want it to.
To repot, remove the plant from its existing container and brush or wash away all of the potting medium. Trim off any roots that look dead, soft, or damaged. Then, keep trimming until you’ve removed about a third of the roots.
Place a drain screen over the drainage hole and gently set the newly-trimmed plant in the pot.
You can make your own screens by cutting up some mesh fabric, or you can buy them at places like Amazon. They carry packs of 100 two-inch screens from LE TAUCI.
Fill in around the roots with soil.
Feel free to purchase some soil formulated for houseplants or tropical plants if this is your first bonsai. If you’re up for a bit more of a challenge, you can craft your own.
Once you have your plant solidly in place, it’s time for the most finicky part of raising bonsai: watering. Because the plants are in such a confined space, it’s easy to under- or overwater.
Too much and you risk root rot, which can seriously harm or even kill your plant. Too little and it will struggle or even potentially die.
Each time you water, you want to flood the pot. This can be done either by bottom watering or filling the pot with water until all of the substrate and the base of the trunk is wet.
Then, let the surface of the substrate dry out before you add water again.
Over time, you’ll be able to lift the pot and tell by the weight whether it’s time to water or not.
You’ll also find that your plant uses water more slowly in the winter and more quickly in the summer, especially if it’s in direct sun for any portion of the day.
Sun Exposure
If you keep your plant indoors full-time, it will do best in morning sun and bright, indirect light the rest of the day.
However, these plants can be adapted to full outdoors sun or direct light indoors if you choose. Just introduce it to the brighter exposure gradually over a few weeks.
Outdoors, these plants grow in USDA Hardiness Zones 9a to 11b. Alternatively, you can keep the plant outdoors during the summer and bring it in during the winter.
If you decide to move it in and outdoors, be sure to make the transition gradual when moving it outside.
If you bring it outdoors suddenly, without a transition period, it can be stressed and will be subject to leaf burn or shock.
Instead, bring it out for an hour and then back inside. The next day, add an hour.
Keep adding an hour each day until the plant can tolerate the light exposure and conditions you intend to keep it in.
Pruning
Pruning is both the scariest and most rewarding part of nurturing bonsai, in my opinion.
It takes a lifetime to master the art of shaping and pruning a bonsai. There are courses and books entirely dedicated to teaching the art.
I don’t say that to overwhelm you, just to let you know that we probably can’t cover everything you need to know in this guide.
If I had to sum it up, the art of bonsai pruning is to shape the tree in a way that makes it look like a natural specimen – but in miniature.
Of course, it can be a dramatically curving, windswept, or dramatically aged specimen, but it should look like something that would appear in nature.
Once you reach the maximum size that you want, you’ll need to remove the plant from its pot every few years and trim down the roots so that it fits in the pot without becoming root-bound. This is how you restrict the size of the plant.
Take out any dead or mushy roots and reduce the root ball so that it is slightly smaller than the container you’re keeping it in.
You also need to trim the canopy slightly to reduce the load the roots need to support.
Repotting
Depending on how quickly your plant grows, you might need to upgrade the pot size every few years. It’s up to you when you want to stop upgrading the size and keep a plant the size that it is.
You’ll need to remove the plant from its existing container and prune the roots and maybe some of the branches. Then, repot the plant in fresh potting medium.
Sellers don’t always list a cultivar name. Sometimes you’ll find plants are just sold under the species or common name.
But with a little searching you can usually locate some interesting cultivars, some of which were bred specifically with bonsai in mind.
Kaneshiro
This exceptional cultivar was bred by the respected bonsai artist and one of the founders of the World Bonsai Friendship Federation, Haruo Kaneshiro, specifically as a miniature option.
The extra-thick leaves make for an interesting display.
Pick up a started specimen that’s about eight years old at Bonsai Boy.
Mini Flat Leaf
You can’t find a better option than ‘Mini Flat Leaf’ for creating a bonsai out of a laurel fig.
It stays under a foot tall and takes on a cascading growth habit. It has extremely compact growth and correspondingly small leaves that are flat and glossy.
The Indoor Bonsai Lover’s Go-To
I love the art of bonsai, but sometimes I’m sad that most of my trees have to stay outside.
It’s just too cold and drizzly to admire them during January. But ginseng ficus can hang out indoors all year and will be no worse for the wear.
Plus, you get the satisfaction of watching your tree mature in an accelerated timeline.
It takes decades for some tree species to look aged in their bonsai pots, while Chinese banyan looks mature within just a few years.
So, what shape do you plan to give your tree? Are you aiming for an umbrella? Maybe a windswept oval? A craggy round tree with lots of aerial “trunks?” Fill us in on your plans in the comments section below
I hope this guide set you on the right path towards making the most of your ginseng ficus. These trees are a delight to work with.
Ginseng figs (Ficus microcarpa) are popular houseplants that you most commonly see for sale potted up as quick-growing bonsai.
They’re also known as curtain figs, Indian laurel, Chinese or Malayan banyan, or just banyan trees, though true banyan trees are actually F. benghalensis.
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The first time I ever saw a ginseng fig was a tiny bonsai with multiple twisted trunks with different widths. I thought it was charming.
The next time I saw one, it was a behemoth in Hawaii. I never put the two together until I was considering my next bonsai project and came across some information about these trees.
You could say that the ginseng ficus has many faces.
F. microcarpa can be a mild-mannered houseplant or a massive tree that can spread hundreds of feet. But these plants aren’t troubled by being constrained and kept indoors.
They do just as well in your home or office as they do in their tropical homes.
Coming up, here is what we’re going to talk about to help yours thrive:
Trees in the Ficus genus are some of the most popular houseplants.
Ginseng figs are native to southeast Asia, Australia, India, Japan, Nepal, and the Himalayan region.
They have been introduced to California, Florida, Hawaii, Spain, South America, and the Caribbean.
These plants typically start out as epiphytes, growing on other plants to access light and nutrients.
As they mature, they send down aerial roots that allow them to anchor and transition to life as a terrestrial tree. Plants that have this type of growth pattern are known as hemiepiphytes.
Photo via Alamy.
Laurel figs grow about 50 feet tall outdoors and typically have a rounded crown.
The trees have smooth, gray bark and alternate small leaves that are oval-elliptic in shape. In the wild, all of the foliage is green, but there are a few variegated cultivars with cream, yellow, or white patches.
The tree doesn’t form what we think of as traditional flowers. The flowers are actually hidden inside the fig fruit, just like the edible fig (F. carica), to which they are related.
To call figs fruits is technically incorrect. They aren’t fruits at all but an inverted (inside out) inflorescence. A wasp crawls inside this “fruit” to pollinate the flower.
When mature, the fruit turns from green to red and while they are technically edible, they are not palatable.
If you’re growing your plant indoors, you won’t see fruits since the trees are unlikely to receive enough light.
The trees develop long, dangling aerial roots that can resemble numerous trunks, adding to their fascinating appearance.
Though 50 feet is the average, these trees can grow much larger outdoors. If you’ve ever visited Hawaii, you might have seen the 110 foot tall, 250 foot wide banyan at the Menehune Botanical Gardens.
Though not native to the islands, it’s the largest F. microcarpa tree known to exist. It’s lovingly nurtured by garden caretakers and admired by visitors from around the world.
Then there are places such as Florida, where the tree has escaped cultivation and become a nuisance to the point where it has been listed as invasive.
It’s worth noting that the tree couldn’t have escaped and spread as far and wide in Florida if not for the accidental introduction of the one wasp species that pollinates F. microcarpa.
Eupristina verticillata was likely introduced to Florida after hitching a ride on imported plants and the rest, as they say, is history.
Indoors, they are much more polite, rarely growing more than six or seven feet tall and about half as wide.
Ginseng Fig Propagation
One tree, oh so many ways to propagate it. Some plants seem to want to fight you when you try to reproduce them and some seem to be going out of their way to help you.
F. microcarpa is the latter. It’s one of those plants that might propagate itself while you aren’t looking.
Air layering, cuttings, and purchasing nursery starts are viable options. Let’s cover air layering first.
Air Layering
These plants, from the smallest bonsai to the largest tree, take well to air layering. Bonsai artists often use air layering to refine the shape of a plant but you can also use this technique to create a clone of the parent.
Start the process anytime of year except winter. Gather up a scalpel or sharp knife and clean it really well with soapy water. Then, wipe it with isopropyl alcohol. The last thing you want to do is to spread disease from a dirty tool.
Select a branch that has the diameter of a pencil, or slightly larger.
Pull off any leaves from the area where you want to work. You need about four to six inches of exposed wood.
Use your knife to gently peel away the bark, exposing the tan layer underneath. You only want to remove the bark, not cut deep into the plant tissue. It can make things easier if you make a cut all around the circumference and then make another all the way around an inch below. Then, make a vertical cut connecting the top cut to the bottom one.
Then, gently insert the knife or scalpel into the slit you made and pull it up. Peel the rest of the bark off from this section.
Wrap the cut in moistened sphagnum moss. You want the cut to be covered by an inch of overlap on either side and about an inch of moss around the circumference. Then wrap clear plastic around that. Secure the top and bottom of the plastic package with rubber bands, string, or twine.
Keep the plant in a spot with bright, indirect light and ensure the moss stays moist but not soggy. You’ll need to open the plastic and check the moss occasionally. If it’s dry, water it using a spray bottle.
When you can see roots have formed inside the moss, remove the plastic. Cut off the branch just below where the roots are developing. Plant this in a separate four- or five-inch container.
From Cuttings
If you want an easy plant to propagate via cuttings, you’ve found it. This process should be done in the late winter, spring, summer, or early fall, for the highest chance of success, but it will work anytime of year.
Look for a branch that is long enough for you to take a four- to six-inch cutting. The diameter doesn’t matter. If the branch has aerial roots or a root node, all the better, but this isn’t required.
Remove all but the top two leaves and gently insert the cutting into a four-inch container filled with potting mix. Alternatively, you can place the cutting into a clean glass of water. Either way, about a quarter of the cutting should be submerged in the soil or water.
Place your cutting in an area with bright, indirect light as it develops roots.
If you’re rooting in soil, keep the medium moist, and for cuttings in water, change the water daily.
If you started the cutting in water, it will be easy to see the roots developing. Once they’re a few inches long, you can pot up the cutting.
For a cutting started in soil, you’ll want to wait until new leaves start to develop before you put your plant in a permanent spot or container. You can transplant it at this point or leave it in place until the roots outgrow the container.
We’ll talk about planting a potted ginseng ficus next.
Transplanting
This is the route that most people choose because these plants can be had for a song at many retailers.
Once you bring your new baby home, find a pot about the same size as the existing container or one size up.
Remove the plant from its pot and gently loosen up the roots. Hold it in place in the new container at the same level it was before and fill in around the roots with a water retentive, loose potting mix.
If needed, you can put a small layer of soil in the bottom first. Moisten the soil and add a little more if it settles.
How to Grow Ginseng Ficus
As a houseplant, it would be a big challenge to find something easier to grow and care for than ginseng ficus.
Most Chinese banyans that you’ll pick up at the store are used to bright, indirect light, and that’s perfectly fine. But they can grow in direct sun, as well. As large trees outdoors, they grow in full sun all the time.
If you want to increase the amount of light your plant receives, do it gradually over a week, adding a little bit of time in the sun each day.
Ideally, give the plant at least a few hours of direct light in the morning and then bright, indirect light for the rest of the day.
Although they can tolerate brief drought, keep the soil moist but not wet. The top inch can dry out with no trouble, but try not to allow it to get any drier than that.
These plants drop their leaves pretty readily, so don’t be shocked if one or two fall now and then as the light or temperature changes over the course of the year.
Don’t expose the plant to temperatures below 50°F. That means avoiding spots near windows or doors that might be drafty in the winter. Temperatures between 60 and 85°F are ideal.
As a natural hemiepiphyte, this plant does best in a loose, airy potting mix. You can find soils intended for tropical plants or aroids. I just make my own by mixing a standard potting mix with an equal part of orchid bark.
When choosing a container to hold all this soil, the material isn’t important. Unglazed earthenware tends to dry out quickly, which is useful if you have a tendency to overwater. If you tend to underwater, metal, plastic, or glazed earthenware is probably a better choice.
Regardless of the type of pot you choose, it must have drainage holes to allow the water to drain out.
Ginseng figs won’t tolerate wet roots. If you use a catchment tray or saucer, or decorative exterior pot, be sure to empty it 30 minutes after watering.
These plants aren’t too fussed about humidity levels, though if you want lots of aerial root development and to avoid brown leaf tips, try to keep them above 55 percent relative humidity.
Growing Tips
Provide some direct light, but expose to bright, direct light gradually
Allow the top inch of the medium to dry between watering
Keep the plant in temperatures above 50°F
Pruning and Maintenance
In terms of maintenance, this plant doesn’t demand much. Wipe the leaves down regularly with a wet cloth to remove dust.
It’s not necessary to prune this plant unless you want to give it some shape or to remove anything that fits the four Ds: Any branch that is deformed, damaged, dead, or diseased should be snipped off.
If you want to prune for shape, wait until the spring and cut away. These plants can tolerate quite a bit of pruning, so go to town. Just don’t prune more than half to a third of the plant at once.
When pruning, use a clean pair of clippers or scissors. Before you start cutting, wash the tool in soapy water and then wipe it with isopropyl alcohol.
Cut the branch, stem, or leaf off as close to the stem or trunk as you can, you want to avoid leaving behind a stump. If you shorten a branch to encourage bushier growth, cut just above of a leaf node.
During the spring, summer, and early fall, feed the plant once a month with a mild, balanced fertilizer.
I prefer something like Dr. Earth’s Pump & Grow, which has a 1-1-1 NPK, so it’s perfectly balanced for frequent houseplant feeding.
It also comes in a handy pump container, which makes it easy to use.
As the plant matures, you’ll need to upgrade the container size. It’s also necessary to replenish the soil because soil becomes compacted and hydrophobic over time.
You can replenish the soil every two to three years regardless of whether or not you change the container.
Ficus species generally don’t mind being a bit rootbound, but don’t let them become too crowded or the plant will stop growing and may become more susceptible to pests and disease.
Figuring out the timing of when to repot can be a bit of a challenge because you don’t want to move a plant before it’s ready. Putting a plant in a container that is too large will make the soil prone to retaining too much water, which can lead to root rot.
You can be confident it’s time to repot if you see roots coming out of the drainage holes in the bottom. Otherwise, stick your finger into the soil.
If there’s enough room to stick your finger in without hitting roots everywhere you try, it’s fine. But if you can’t find a spot to stick your finger in, it’s time to upgrade.
Don’t go up more than a single size from the existing pot.
To repot, remove the plant from the existing container and brush away all of the existing soil. Then, place it in the new container filled with fresh potting soil.
In the summer months, you can bring your plant outdoors, but if you expose it to brighter light, be sure to do so gradually over a week or two by starting with just a half hour a day.
Ginseng Fig Cultivars to Select
Sometimes, you’ll simply see this plant sold under the species name. For instance, California Tropicals sells a live plant in a four-inch pot at Amazon.
But there are many fantastic cultivars out there that offer variation on size, color, and growth habit.
Some have been bred with bonsai in mind, while others are ideal for a sunny corner of your home in a decorative container, like this first one we’re going to take a look at:
Compacta
‘Compacta’ is a dream option for houseplant lovers thanks to its size and growth habit.
It is naturally small, growing to about five feet tall and wide when mature, with a dense, rounded canopy.
The gracefully arching branches are tightly packed with the small, glossy leaves.
Golden Gate
‘Golden Gate’ is a favorite for bonsai because it’s naturally more petite than the species, with smaller leaves that are a brighter green.
But even if you aren’t interested in bonsai, ‘Golden Gate’ makes an exceptional houseplant, topping out at just six feet tall and wide when mature.
It will also tolerate lower light than most other cultivars.
If you’d like to pick up a five to eight-inch tall specimen in a decorative bonsai container, visit Brussel’s Bonsai Store at Amazon.
They also offer specimens in a grower’s pot if you don’t want to go the bonsai route.
Green Island
‘Green Island’ is a dual-purpose cultivar. It’s fantastic if you live in a warm region and want a beautiful shrub that grows just three feet tall and wide.
Indoors, it’ll stay a bit smaller, but it maintains a dense, compact growth that makes it such a nice outdoor option. The leaves are a bit smaller than those on the species plant.
Pick up a live plant in a 10-inch grower’s pot at Home Depot.
Moclame
We don’t know who bred ‘Moclame,’ but whoever it was, they must have been trying to cultivate a Chinese banyan that would thrive indoors. If so, they nailed it.
This cultivar handles lower light than the species plant and can even tolerate a bit of drought.
‘Moclame’ can grow up to ten feet tall and six feet wide but only if you provide it with an extremely large container. Otherwise, it stays about half that size.
Mini Flat Leaf
If you have bonsai dreams, find this cultivar. It’s a compact dwarf cultivar with smaller leaves than the species.
At under a foot tall, it takes on a cascading habit that looks incredible in a container.
Managing Pests and Disease
If you hate how readily F. benjamina drops its leaves, then F. microcarpa is a good alternative.
It holds its foliage better, even when a pest or disease strikes. Of course, as we mentioned, all Ficus species react to change or stress by dropping foliage, so if you notice that happening, or if you see the leaves changing color, it’s time to consider a pest or disease problem.
Let’s talk about the creepy crawlies, first:
Pests
There are just two insects that frequent ginseng ficus. Well, I should say that they aren’t frequently found on this houseplant, but if a pest is going to attack, it will likely be one of these:
Mealybugs
Mealybugs are little sap-suckers in the Pseudococcidae family. They’re incredibly common on plants and appear across the globe. They’re especially common on houseplants because they like the warmth and humidity often provided in an indoor growing environment.
They like to hang out on the undersides of leaves or on stems near leaf nodes and they leave behind a sticky sap known as honeydew. When present, you’ll see oval insects covered in a gray, peach, white, or cream-colored, waxy coating.
When they’re around, they reduce a plant’s vigor and can cause yellowing or dropping leaves.
They can also spread viral diseases.
If you notice these pests, early treatment makes it easier to eliminate them. Typically, treatment involves scraping them off, wiping them with isopropyl alcohol, or using an insecticide. We go over all the options in our guide.
Spider Mites
Spider mites are relatives of ticks in the family Tetranychidae and are another common household pest. They prefer dry conditions and cause similar damage to mealybugs.
You can tell the difference, though, because you might see tiny little red bugs scurrying across the stems and leaves, and you’ll probably see fine webbing on your plant.
Like mealybugs, they are sapsuckers that feed on the leaves and stems of the plant.
To deal with them, visit our guide for tips on spraying your plants, whether you opt to use water or an insecticide.
Disease
There’s really only one disease to watch for and it’s fairly easy to avoid if you are careful about watering and use an appropriate-sized pot with good drainage. Let’s talk rot:
Root Rot
Root rot can be either a disease caused by moisture-loving pathogens (Pythium and Fusarium spp.) or a physiological condition as a result of depriving the roots of oxygen by drowning them in too much water.
Either way, the roots will be in more moisture than is ideal and the leaves will start to turn pale or yellow and drop from the tree.
The solution is to check the drainage and make sure its open and flowing. If you have a catchment pot, make sure you empty it within 30 minutes after watering. Then, make sure you reduce the amount of water you’re giving.
To be extra sure your plant survives, remove it from the existing container, brush away all the soil, spray the roots with copper fungicide, and wipe out the container with a ten percent mix of bleach and water.
Replant with fresh, clean potting mix.
Best Uses for Ginseng Ficus
There’s a reason this plant works so well as a bonsai. It’s perfectly happy constrained in a container and takes on an aged appearance even when it’s young.
When grown as a bonsai, it’s one of the few trees that can stay indoors full time and will tolerate a wide range of light conditions.
They also do well in conventional containers as a single specimen. You can train them into unusual shapes or topiary, or let them grow naturally.
Quick Reference Growing Guide
Plant Type:
Evergreen epiphyte
Foliage Color:
Green, cream, yellow, white
Native to:
Asia, Australia, Himalayas, India, Japan, Nepal
Maintenance:
Low
Hardiness (USDA Zones):
9-11
Tolerance:
Some drought
Season:
Year-round
Soil Type:
Light, airy
Exposure:
Several hours of direct morning sun (indoors)
Soil pH:
6.0-7.0
Time to Maturity:
Over 10 years
Soil Drainage:
Well-draining
Planting Depth:
Same depth as container
Uses:
Bonsai, houseplant, potted specimen
Height:
7 feet (indoors) over 50 feet (outdoors)
Order:
Rosales
Spread:
4 feet (indoors) over 50 feet (outdoors)
Family:
Moraceae
Growth Rate:
Moderate
Genus:
Ficus
Water Needs:
Moderate
Subgenus:
Urostigma
Common Pests and Diseases:
Mealybugs, spider mites; Root rot
Species:
Microcarpa
Ginseng Figs Are Fabulous Ficus Houseplants
If Benjamin figs are too fickle and fiddle-leaf figs are too finicky, you’re going to love ginseng ficus. They’re adaptable and elegant, demanding little more than some water and a good pot to grow in.
Which cultivar is calling your name? How do you plan to grow it? Are you going to train it into bonsai? Grow it as a small indoor tree? Let us know in the comments section below.
It’s pretty hard to miss when a rubber tree (Ficus elastica) starts dropping its leaves.
Those thick, glossy leaves are so large, you could probably hear them falling to the ground with a thunk from a mile away.
Okay, they aren’t that heavy, but you get what I mean.
When a rubber tree loses its leaves, it’s much more obvious than it would be on some other houseplants.
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It’s not always possible to prevent foliage drop, since it’s an evolutionary tactic that these plants have developed in response to stress, but if you see foliage starting to fall, quick action can save your tree from ending up looking like a bunch of naked stalks.
It’s a defense mechanism that the plants have developed to deal with adverse conditions.
So if you’re seeing that foliage falling, it’s a cry for help. Let’s dive into the causes:
1. A Recent Change
All members of the Ficus genus drop their leaves readily as a method of adjusting to environmental changes.
Some are more dramatic than others. F. benjamina, for instance, has a reputation for tossing its foliage at the drop of a hat.
Rubber trees are less prone to throwing their leaves on the ground in a huff, but they will still do it when you alter their environment dramatically without a transition period.
That means if you want to move your plant from one end of your house to another, you should do it over a period of a few days. This gives the plant some time to adjust to the shift in light and temperature.
It’s not always possible to do this, so just know that if you lose some foliage, it’s totally normal, and the plant will grow back once it settles into its new home.
If you need to repot your plant, there isn’t much you can do to lessen the shock except to make sure you work quickly.
2. Extreme Temperatures
Rubber trees can tolerate a pretty wide range of temperatures, with brief periods down to 50°F. But anything lower, or temperatures around 50°F for too long, and you can be sure you’ll be finding foliage on the floor.
They also thrive in temperatures above 80°F, but if the temperature climbs to 90°F or above for too long it could also result in leaf drop, particularly if the air is also dry.
Ideally, keep your plants in temperatures somewhere between 60 and 85°F.
3. Inappropriate Light
Many plants will drop their leaves when they receive too much or too little sun.
Most will replace their leaves with ones better suited for the light available, but there is only so much that a plant can do to adapt.
Rubber trees need quite a bit of light, so the issue is typically not enough sunlight rather than too much.
F. elastica does best with two or three hours of direct sunlight in the morning and four or five hours of bright, indirect light each day for the best growth.
Of course, these plants will adapt to less light, but if the light is too low, they will start dropping those leaves.
A rubber tree placed in bright, direct afternoon sun or more than a few hours of morning sun will typically react by dropping leaves. This type of light is far too strong unless the plant has been slowly and gradually introduced to the brighter exposure.
Typically, you’re going to see other symptoms before the leaves start tumbling down, though.
Yellowing, fine webbing, speckling, or brown areas are all common signs that spider mites are making a meal of your plant.
Brown areas, yellowing foliage, and speckling are also common signs of aphids, mealybugs, and scale.
If you look closely, you’ll probably be able to see some of the critters themselves.
If so, once you send those pests packing, your plant will recover and stop dropping leaves.
One of the things that I love most about rubber trees is that they don’t really suffer from diseases. The one biggie you need to watch out for is root rot. This goes hand in hand with overwatering.
Root rot can be caused by watering so much that you simply deprive the roots of oxygen, and they start to turn soggy and brown as they rot away. But it can also involve the fungus Rigidoporus microporus.
Root rot generally causes the foliage to lose color and turn soft before they drop off the plant. You’ll often see browning at the edges in the early stages.
Dealing with root rot, whether it involves a pathogen or not, involves removing the rubber tree from its pot and removing all the soil from around the roots.
Spray the roots with copper fungicide and wipe out the pot with soapy water. Make sure that the drainage holes are open and not clogged up.
Place the plant back in the pot and refill with fresh, new potting soil.
Going forward, you need to be extra careful about watering.
6. Watering Issues
I admit it, I’m a chronic overwaterer. I have to hold myself back from watering too much. In the past, I had to sweep more than a few leaves off the floor under my rubber tree before I got the hang of caring for my plant.
I figured that, like many houseplants, rubber trees like the soil to stay moist but not wet at all times. Nope. I was so wrong!
You should allow the top third of the soil to dry out completely before you water. Those thick leaves retain a good amount of moisture, and the plant can go longer than you might think without additional water.
And overwatering can quickly lead to root rot, as discussed above.
On the other hand, if you’re not providing enough water and the soil is dry beyond the top third, then the plant is not receiving enough moisture and is likely dropping leaves because it can’t support them.
The solution, in that case, is simple. Water more!
Put the Glue Away, Those Leaves Will Stay
Falling foliage is your plant’s way of telling you it’s having trouble.
Sometimes it’s just a warning that your rubber fig is mad about a recent move, but it can also be a sign that there is something bad happening. Now, hopefully, you know how to tell what’s going on and how to fix it.
What was causing your problems? Is your plant still struggling? Let us know what you’re seeing in the comments, and we will do our best to help.
