Hi, I live in new england and i have a ficus b. outside on the porch right now. It was dropping so many leaves when it was indoors. I tried everything, and in a last ditch effort attempt, it went outside. After about a week, leaves stopped dropping followed by lots of new growth. Problem is, that it gets a lot of light, so the leaves are a little burnt. Would putting it on the north side of the house, where there is considerably less light help with the burning leaves, i understand it will probably start dropping leaves again, but its going to have to end up back inside when the weather gets cooler. Basically its going to have to thrive outside for as long as possible in order to survive the winter indoors, is what i figure. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
bringing any plant outside when the weather warms and then back in when it gets cooler needs to be done in increments so that the plant can get adjusted to the temp changes as well as increased/decreased lighting. if the leaves on your tree burned, then you moved it outside too quickly and it may also be in a spot where it's getting too much direct light. they generally like indirect light - so need a bright, yet shaded, spot. if leaf burn is continuing to be an issue, definitely move it to a spot where it's more shaded (especially from the hot afternoon sun). when you bring it back inside, do it when the a/c isn't on and the windows are open so that the air temp is basically the same inside and out. yes, that's a short time period...still, for something as finicky as your ficus, that's really the best. a couple weeks beforehand, i'd move it into an even more shaded spot in preparation for the less sunlight it'll get when inside. they're beautiful trees...will drop their leaves if you look at them the wrong way though!! as for the leaf drop issue before you brought it inside...did that coincide with putting the a/c on? if the tree was located close to the air flow, that would answer for the drop. if that is the case, your best bet would be to find a different spot for it. too much heat or cold (especially when it's blowing directly on the plant) is a problem - for most plants, not just this type of ficus.
Ficus Benjamina is a fussy fussy plant. Joclyn was absolutely right in saying that they drop leaves if you look at them wrong. My Ficus B. only likes one spot in the house, my west facing window shelf. There is no draft there, the temperature stays warm, 24C, and the sunshine is plentiful in the afternoon. As for it dropping leaves when you bring it in? Yes, it's going to shed like crazy. But if you can find it a suitable spot to live, it will recover quickly. They can shed to almost completely bare and still come back.
First, thank you both for your help. The initial leaf drop started immediatly after i got the ficus. I put it in the room, away from any vents or drafts. Yes the air conditioner was on, but where the ficus came from was air conditioned. Leaves were dropping for a few weeks, i tried letting the soil get more dry, and tried keeping it more moist, nothing worked it was looking pretty poor, bout to die it seemed, so i put it outside.
If you place your ficus in a nice bright indorect lighted window that receives some direct sun, it should grow new leaves again, but it might take a little while. It most likley is not the watering method causing the leave drop, but the change of light. Outdoors, the leaves will be bigger, thicker, indoors, those same leaves cannot survive the lower light, so it drops the old ones and grows smaller thinner ones. Same thing as a boston fern does.
Thanks bluewing. Problem is that my apartment is a basement apt. So the windows are pretty small and i dont get the best light. I have an amazing collection of plants for a place with no light. Everything in here grows by plant lights and they thrive, unfortunately it didnt seem so with the ficus. when the weather starts to cool down I'll transition it to the lower light conditions and try to get it used to living in the lower light. I think maybe i just didnt give it enough time inside. Sometimes my patience wears thin.
I totally understand plantguy, unfortunately, ficus can have quite a bad attitude compared to other plants moved to a different light source! Like Joclyn stated, before it gets too cold, give it less and less light before bringing it indoors, it can help with the "sting" of being moved to lower light and might not lose as many leaves.
