Ficus tree question

Discussion in 'HortForum' started by The Wanderer, Apr 8, 2010.

  1. The Wanderer

    The Wanderer Member

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    Location:
    Algarve, Portugal
    Hi,

    One of the gardens I work at has a large (about 30ft high) Ficus rubiginosa australis which is dropping most of its leaves right now. It's supposed to be an evergreen tree, and nothing has changed in or around the tree, so...why is it dropping its leaves? (If it helps anyone, I live in South Portugal!)

    Cheers!
    TW
     
  2. MamaSan

    MamaSan Member

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    Location:
    Southern Oregon, USA zone 7-8
    Did you have a temperature fluxuation? Ficus can be finicky about any changes. So if you haven't moved it, it doesn't need water, and you haven't done anything else to it, I would look into a change in temp. Maybe a draft or cold spell?
     
  3. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Location:
    Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Just for clarification's sake, I assume in Algarve, Portugal that this is an outdoor plant growing in the garden, yes?
     
  4. The Wanderer

    The Wanderer Member

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    Location:
    Algarve, Portugal
    Yes, the tree is an outdoor plant. It's about 30ft high, with a canopy around 20ft wide. Don't know what that is in metres, sorry. We have some fairly serious temperature differences over the year, but they're normal. The only difference this winter was that we had a tremendous amount of rain, but this tree is extremely well established...I wouldn't like to guess its age.
     

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