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Weeping Fig
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by Diana Roberts |
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Category:
Trees
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The Ficus benjamina, or weeping fig, is not only one of my favorite house plants,
but also one of the best you can get. This plant is an evergreen weeping tree,
originating from India. |
Indoor
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It is an indoor tree with 2 to 3 inch oval leaves, either solid green or
variegated, which cling to droopy branches. The weeping fig will get bushier,
the more light it receives. So put it right in the window, or grow it under grow
lights, to ensure it gets enough light. |
Height
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These trees can be purchased in a small to medium pot, or as tall as 5 or 6 feet
in height. They make a lovely addition to your home, but need to be placed away
from any drafts, such as an outside door. Drafts will cause the weeping fig to
drop it’s leaves. The Ficus also does not like to be moved and can show it’s
distaste for this by dropping leaves.
If you were living in a warm climate, where it is zone 10 and a minimum
temperature of 50 degrees F, you would be able to grow the weeping fig outdoors.
It could grow 60 to 70 feet tall and the lustrous shiny green leaves would be up
to 5 inches long. |
Light
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Considering that we can only dream of temperatures above freezing right now, we
will have to settle for a tree that may grow up to our ceilings, over a period of
quite a few years. If you had a high enough ceiling, you could get your tree to
grow up to 25 feet in height. The best way to make this happen is to give your
plant lots of medium to high sunlight. You should allow your plant to dry out a
fair bit between waterings. |
Humidity
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The Ficus does like medium to high humidity if at all possible, and warm
temperatures are best. During the growing months you should fertilize on a
monthly basis, then quit during the winter months.
About 12 years ago, I bought a tiny variegated-leafed Ficus from Overwaitea. It
was growing in a 2 inch pot when I brought it home, so I repotted it into a four
inch pot right away. I babied it and talked to it (a type of therapy, though I’m
not sure if it was for me, or the plant). I noticed that there were quite a few
long branches coming out of the trunk, near the bottom of the plant, so I took
one of these and started winding it around the trunk of the tree. After a year
or so it grew together by itself and looked quite lovely. |
Care
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The plant grew beautifully for quite a few years and was about 2 feet tall when I
was too busy to look after it properly. First it showed it’s distaste for this
treatment. It dropped most of it’s leaves and stopped growing. So, before it
could totally give up the ghost, I started babying it again. I repotted it into
a larger clay pot and watered it every few weeks, along with some weak fertilizer
each time. It soon showed it’s appreciation by sprouting new leaves all over the
tree. I was thrilled, needless to say, and swore I would always take good care
of it. |
Water
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I kept my promise for a while, but soon got too busy to look after it properly.
Many times it would dry right out and stay that way for weeks. Once I noticed
most of the leaves had fallen, I would water the plant once again. Needless to
say, the plant has shown it’s agitation at this by not growing much over the
years, after all it is 13 years old now, and not much over 2 feet tall. At this
point it hasn’t added any height in many years, it just struggles to stay alive.
I know, I know, how cruel! You know how hectic life gets though, so that’s my
only excuse.
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Still alive
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The one positive factor is that it is still alive, and I must add that it is once
again putting on a lot of new leaves. I think I will have to move it nearer to
the window now that winter is here, as it is not getting enough sunlight where it
now stands.
I will give you updates on this pretty little Ficus now and then, but in the
meantime, if you want a great little (or big) plant that will tolerate a lot of
abuse and come out sprouting, get yourself a Ficus benjamina!
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