Help. I dont know what I am doing wrong. It is by a window and I water weekly. It doesnt drain though. Has a plastic barrier. Is that bad? I just checked and the plastic is just protecting the outer pot. Shouldnt be the problem...
Your fig is a Arborcola, Dwarf Umbrella Tree. It's as good as dead, probably from root-rot, but who knows. When you have standing water at the bottom of a pot of dirt the gasses of decomposition become trapped in the fluid and therefore cannot escape. They build up and have the rotten egg smell of sulfur dioxide, a poisonous liquid. Your only hope is to hose off the roots, cut away anything that is soft back to hard and possibly still live tissue, reduce the branches to a height you like, and refill a pot with a drain hole in it with new soil. It may be a fool's errand, but it's all you've got. In the future, water it such that something comes out the drain hole, but the water does not stay in the saucer more than a day or so. Depending upon the soil-to-tree-mass ratio and your indoor humidity levels, you might water it once a week or once every 10 days, but your gauge is that it is OK to stay dry too long than it is to stay wet too long, so it's better to water less than it needs than it is to water more than it needs. If you wait to water when it wilts a little bit you will loose a leaf or two in winter. If you learn how many days it takes to wilt and then water 2 or 3 days sooner, that would be very good. The soil mass will stay moist for a long time after all the water in the saucer is absorbed back into the pot. Start with a volume of water that is 15 to 20% of the volume of the soil & tree roots.
I lifted it out of the pot earlier and the soil is wet but no standing water. Doesn't smell bad. Does need bigger pot though... what do you mean to reduce branch height. The whole tree? Will the leaves grow back?
It looks like you have posted 'before and after' photos. There does not appear to be any life left in the plant as the main stems are all dried and shriveled. I think it's time for a new plant.
I enlarged the photo of the ailing (dead) fig to see if any of the stems close to the ground still look firm, in which case you might be able to save the plant. To my eye, they are shrivelled so, unless you can find one that still feels firm when you squeeze it between your thumb and forefinger, this plant is a goner. Even if it could be revived at soil level and you adopted a more suitable care program, think how many years it would take for the tree to grow back to a reasonable size. I think Junglekeeper has given you good advice to replace this plant.
