Question
I have a figtree (ficus) that I bought as an indoor plant, it was doing well but now the leaves are dropping off, & turning black /brown in various parts. Please help, I love the tree.
Lois
San Francisco
Answer
It sounds like over watering damage. The first signs of over watering are white/clear secretions from the two glands at the bottom of the leaf next to the middle vein. The next step is odema. The cells overfill, rupture, and the resulting dead tissue turns brown/black followed by leaf abscission. Though evergreen, Ficus still will go into periods of reduced growth, mostly in the fall and winter as the hours of daylight dwindle. They will require less water during these times of year.
When watering your Ficus, be sure to water thoroughly. Add enough water so that the container drains (this also keeps mineral salts from building up in the soil). Remove any water standing in the saucer after about 15 minutes. You do not want your tree to sit in standing water. Allow the soil to become fairly dry before watering again (this means soil is dry 2" below the surface.) Depending on the size of the tree, this can be once a week or every other week, even longer in the winter months if the room it is kept in is cool.
You may want to fertilize with a mild food such as Maxsea 16-16-16, but only use it half strength during the winter. Be patient as I have seen Ficus almost completely defoliated come back strong and healthy.
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