I was recently gifted this mature ficus tree. First I don't know the variety and how to care for it in the outdoors.as this has been a thriving indoor plant. The weather has turned warm and I'd like to put it on the balcony. I will keep it in the same basket and bring it in during the autumn. The balcony is southwest facing on the top floor of our building and we get all day sun right from sunrise to nearly sunset. Not worried of course about the day as it gets very warm in April even when the air temperature may be 14 degrees. It's the nights I'm concerned about ... seems 4 degrees C is pretty much the cutoff point? Don't think it will get that cool again until early October.
My strong advice is keep it indoors. The conditions on your balcony - direct sun and cold temperatures - would kill the plant very quickly. It looks like the previous owner took very good care of it, ask him/her for instructions.
I agree w prev two replies ... it looks good now so ask how prev owner cared for it AND what room it was in (temp and light incl compass direction ) I wonder how often they watered and what exact food.
They were "delinquent" in watering and feeding it ... that's about all the information I got. At the time they gave it to us "on the fly" as they were moving out of their condo. I wouldn't say they were avid gardeners ... just got lucky? When I mentioned "recently gifted" its more like three months ago. Since then I've lightly watered it every second day and with very few dead leaves. Added Miracle Gro a couple of times. Also recently pruned dead twigs.
It's not really so smart for me to argue with success, which you seem to be having with this plant, but I'll still question whether frequent light watering is as good as less frequent more thorough watering, so that the roots at the bottom get enough water. You can water it until the water comes out the bottom (or that might not even be enough if it right away runs through and out the bottom), somehow discard the water in the tray, feel how heavy that is, and then not water again until it's dry for an inch or so and feels definitely lighter or the branches start to droop (the drooping branches is @Michigander 's rule).
To me the soil in the pot, bpither, looks very dry, and the whole plant looks a little underwatered. Ficus benjamina likes the soil steadily moist, and should be watered thoroughly on regular basis. Most plants, with the exception of bog plants, dislike wet feet. Fb is not an exception, so the water in the container under the pot should not be allowed to stay there for more than a few hours.
