Just purchased a ficus benjamina plant and was wondering what kind of growth to expect from these trees? I'm going to keep it small and was just curious how fast new leaves appear. Is growth a few leaves a week or dozens a week or 1 a week, just roughly:) Thanks
It depends on it's care as far as light, water and fertilizer it gets. Spring is when you should see plenty of new growth, can't tell you how many leaves for sure, not out of the of ordinary to see more than a dozen leaves or more come out now and then, just not right now I'm afraid. This time a year, you might see little if any growth because it slows down for the cold months, in fact, your tree (known to be a little tempermental) may start to lose some leaves because it's going to be going through an environmental change, mainly change of light from wherever you got it, and it will just need some time to adjust. You can trim it back later on to keep it more compact to your liking as it grows. The best thing you can do now is to give it very bright indirect light and some direct sun during the day. Keep the soil a little on the moist side, in winter, keep it a little more dryer, not dried out completley! Mine dropped a ton of leaves when I did that. I used to have four, now I'm down to a more manageable two! Water dilute your fertilizer 1/3 to 1/2 strength (not what is recommended on the label) once a month or so, from spring until fall.
I hope you are planning on keeping this inside in New York! They are very slow growing and will not tolerate a draft They also like to stay put and dry out completely between waterings Fertilize in the spring months only and don't be surprized if all of a sudden the leaves decide to turn yellow and drop - they are quickly replaced with new ones. I have had several of these and when they are young, one can intertwine the stems, if it happens to be a multi-stemmed one. It collects dust readily and if you decide to give it a shower - warm'ish water please! ENJOY! c
I agree with Bluewing: keep your ficus evenly moist---DON'T let it dry out! Choose a good spot for it now (bright curtain-filtered light; no drafts) and one big enough to allow for growth, so you don't have to move it for a while. Ficus like to stay put.
