Ficus Benjamin Leaf Drop I have purchased this Ficus Benjamin at a nursery. I believe it is a monique, is supposed to be resistant with leaf drop. I bought the ficus in July and had him in the same window spot since then. I expected leave drop but in the first 4-8 weeks i had him, none. I watered at first twice a week. Seemed to be doing fine. With fall, came the leaf drop. First a few every now and then and now on a regular basis, not many but still. I got cold outside and i did not that the window was open a crack. So i closed the window and hoped that it would recover from the leaf drop but it did not. Then i thought maybe it is a watering issue. So i watered only once a week but i continued to mist the plant once a day. Still leaf drop. I rotate the pot so the bald spots can get some more light. What am i supposed to do. I figured the leaf drop is either too much or too little water. But how is one to know which is which? Here are some pictures. I hope that someone can help a bit. Thanks a lot ancameni
Re: Ficus Benjamin losing leaves The shorter days (of light) are the problem, which is why supplementary light is used a lot if you can manage it - 40 watt Sylvania Gro-lux full spectrum fluorescents (1-2) in a fixture hanging ~ 10 inches above the tree for 15 hrs/day would make all the difference, but you have to decide if you want to do it for one tree.
Re: Ficus Benjamin losing leaves Thanks a lot for the answer. Where can i get those lights? I live in Kansas and there is not too much to be had I just googled on those lights. They are a bit big. Is there some spot light i can use? /and how big of a wattage. Also we have Walmart and Homedepot, so really not much to get stuff. A good online place?