Help! I moved my beautiful ficus I've had forever, and it was damaged by the cold. At first it looked wilted, but now the leaves are slowly turning pale yellow! Can I save it??
I've been reading some of the many other posts, and it appears that patience is the key.... we moved 10 days ago, and the tree is still getting worse, but I will be patient and let nature take its course. It was very healthy and vibrant before the move, so I am hopeful that it will recover from this shock.
If you had it on an unheated truck overnight or something similar, you may have lost it. It does not appear that far gone to me, though. You will continue to lose leaves, maybe even all of them, but it will most likely start growing and leafing out again in a few weeks. What you'll see is peridot green tips on the tiny branchlets, which will be the new leaves shortly thereafter.
It looks much worse now - all the leaves have lost their green, and are slowly dropping. I'm very grateful for the response - it gives me hope! It was on an unheated truck - but only for about 20 - 30 minutes. Unfortunately, it was about -18C that day, so ... we'll see...
You will probabbly have to do a bit of pruning on branches that have wrinkled and dried which often happens with lots of leaf loss.
Those plants love to throw temper tantrums when they get moved give it some time and it will come back .. you may lose all the leaves but new ones will come back .. Marion
Many of the branches are definitely shriveling. :( However, I have hope! The biggest trunk in the pot has three or four new little sprouts about halfway up. Such a relief! Thanks to all of you for the good advice about being patient! When is the best time to prune the dried branches? It will be a significant pruning.