Help! My tree is about 10 years old and now it is dying! I moved it in November but it has been loosing leaves for about a month and getting progressively worse. I have it in an almost identical location in my new house and I have not done anything different. No other house plants are dying. The leaves are rapidly turning yellow and falling off. I can't see any fungus or weird things on the leaves that are living or dying. I have never had much of a green thumb, I just get lucky. I water my plants and almost all of them do well. I have never had one so long that has (almost) died! You can contact me @ janeravenel@hotmail.com Thank you!!
a picture of the tree would be helpful. that said, and not knowing which particular ficus you have, some varieties will drop their leaves at the drop of a hat (so to speak). moving it - especially in the cold weather - may be the issue. it's just in a bit of shock. the heat in this home may be different and that might be causing the issue - the soil may be moister or dryer than in your previous home due to a different type of heating system (forced hot air vs radiators) also, the location of vents/radiators may be part of the issue - if you've got the plant closer or further away from them than where it was in the previous house water requirements will definitely be different. double check the condition of the soil and water/not water accordingly. since it's an established plant, it should recover and begin to thrive again - it just needs to get situated in the new house.
Thank you. It wasn't too cold when I moved it, but in the new house we use the fireplace almost constantly. My old house was heated by gas and a kerosien heater occasionally. I keep the plant in a very similar location, the diningroom between the sliding glass door and a large window. (just like in my old house). Water seems to run right through it. I'll try watering it less, but maybe more frequently. It began dropping the leaves about 2-3 months after moving. Would that be "normal"??
okay. this is not an issue of moving shock. when was the last time you repotted it??? if the water just runs right through, it sounds like it might be root-bound and there's no soil left to soak up the water. also, how close to the fireplace is it?? the extra heat from that may be drying it out more and you might need to water more often. the extra heat, itself, is good as they like heat...would cause it to grow a bit more i'd think, so it probably is root-bound...
It HAS been years... maybe 3-4 since I have repotted it. It is so big and repotting in the winter would be hard and a huge mess. Is there anything I can do to get by untill spring?? It is in the diningroom, the fireplace is in the livingroom, so it's not too close. I hope to hear back soon :) Thank you for your time!!
i agree, repotting something large is SO much easier to do outside!! if it's been 3 years, then it definitely needs repotting!! and, if it's in distress, which it certainly sounds like is the situation, i don't think you should wait until the warmer weather. it's just not getting the proper moisture or nutrients. if you wait the 4 months or so for weather warm enough to take it outside to do the switch, it's probable that you'll lose it. push the table to the side of the room and just get a couple of painters dropcloths or even a couple of cheap shower curtain liners; lay them out with a little overlap and use masking tape to connect them. then put the plant in the middle of it to do the extraction and repotting. any mess will be contained and easily cleaned up! after about a month, i'd start doing some mild treatments with some kind of plant food. i've used peter's (all purpose) for years (about 15) very successfully for all my plants. i mix it up at half strength and then water it down a bit more for one watering and then do a bit stronger the next and then skip it for the next one - i rotate it like that all year long and have never had anything but nice healthy plants. i'm sure there are other brands that will work just as effectively, too. please post some pics - befores/afters. i'd love to see it! i love ficus...i'm sure my cat would too so i've not gotten one.
Hi! thanks for your help!! I have been watering it less (in quantity) but more frequently and I think it is doing the trick for now. There are no yellow leaves and it actually looks better. It has been at least 3 years since I potted it last. If things keep going good, I'll wait till spring. If it takes a turn for the worse, I'll get to the project of re-potting. I think I'll need like, 2 more people. I have assigned my daughter (she's 6) to water it every couple of days. It wasn't long before it stopped loosing leaves. I think the use of our fireplace has changed our indoor environment more than I thought. Again, I thank you. :)
Two things to remember- if you wait a long time in between repotting plants, salts will build up in the soil, which act as a toxin to the plant. This can be solved by watering only when the tree is slightly dry, and watering a large amount. You want to water so about 1/3 drains out the bottom. this "washes" the soil. also, waiting until the soil is dry two inches below the surface will prevent root rot.
Just the move alone can cause shedding, even to another window in the same room can cause these trees to yellow and shed leaves on and off for months in some cases. Try giving it as much light as you had it in before and the leaf drop will taper off. You might have to do a little pruning of any dried out branches. Yes, you might want to repot, but wait until the plant stops shedding and looks healthy again, and then repot in the in spring or summer.
glad to hear that it's been doing well!! you can probably repot in another month - it'll be warm enough to take it outside to deal with the messiness of repotting. we're already getting some quite warm days here - not sure which part of ny you're in...so it'll probably be a little while longer for your area to warm up enough to work outside with the tree.
Be careful, it's better to water it thoroughly and deeply then giving it little sips every couple of days which might cause the roots to rot down the road.
I'm in central/northern NY. It's only 45 on a "good" day if we're lucky. I plan to get to it ASAP when the weather breaks a little more and I can stand to be out on the deck in short sleeves at least!! Right now, the leaves are all green and although it's a little more sparse than it was, it's not shedding it's leaves. I water it a little every week. Just enough to run through. It's DEFINATELY doing better!!
ahh, i kinda thought you were up north a bit. yes, it'll be a bit longer before it's warm enough for you to work outside... we're getting some days here where it's warm enough. still goes down to freezing at night though. it'll take a bit for it to fully recover from the leaf drop. once you get it repotted and it's fully in the growth period, it'll be filling out again. water throroughly and let the soil dry out a bit before watering again. watering every week can be a bit too much - even if there's good drainage in the pot.
Thank you for your help. I think it's in pretty good shape for now. Everyone has been so helpful on this sight. I'm glad I found it!!
