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sshelart

My ficus is loosing leaves..pls help!!!!

sshelart
17 years ago

hi everyone.

this is my first post to this forum.I have a ficus bonsia which i bought in the month of may. It has been growing well indoors. Its now cold here and we have turned on the heating. i have noticed a lot of leafdrop in the last few days.

The bonsai is about 3feet away from the heating. I have also created a little waterfall next to the bonsai to keep humidity levels up.

im worried that my bonsai is in trouble although there is still some good leaf growth, a lot of leaves have fallen off.

Am i doing something wrong.

Please advice

Sheldon

Comments (6)

  • botanical_bill
    17 years ago

    I think you stated what the problem is, the heating 3 feet away. Zone 7 is too cold to keep it outside. My advice, move further south so you can keep the plant outside year long.
    Anyway... You need to correct a few things. First move it away from the vent. A breeze is good, a heating/cooling vent is bad. The water fall, honestly, is not doing a whole lot. The humidity the fall makes disfuses through the room and probably only raises the humidity about 0.25 percent, if that. That would be my guess.
    Ficus can grow great inside. I have done it for years living up north. But soon as it was warm enough to move the plant outside, I did. I had a grow light with about 10-15 plants packed around it for the winter. I kept them watered, but not wet. Let it dry out all the way before watering. If you have a damp soil before you water, your watering too soon. The reason why I say this is because leaves falling off is indicitive of a root rot fungus. This is indirectly caused by watering too much.

    I rambled on here. In short. Move the plant away from the vent. Let it dry out all the way between waterings. Get a grow light for the winter. Move it outside soon as the last frost is past.
    Some one else can post and clear up my rambling on.

  • lucy
    17 years ago

    But your rambling is fun Bill! You just didn't get to the part where a humidity tray (wide tray of stones and water) should be put under the pot but the water shouldn't ever touch it or roots will rot, plus it's really important to have it in the most sun/light for the most hours a day possible. And I like the idea of the waterfall, even if it doesn't do a lot. A good idea would be to repot into soil with a lot of added grit so water flows through almost immediately when you water, but don't let it dry out 'all the way' between times - just don't keep it soggy all the time.

  • bonsaibean
    17 years ago

    Sheldon, One other thing I would add to what good advice you've already been given is not to panic about a ficus losing some leaves when it's conditions change. They are somewhat infamous for just that. I've got 7 different ficus' and they all do this to varying degrees. Moving from indoors to out, or vice-versa can really throw them into a tizzy. As long as it is also putting out some new leaves, and you don't keep it too wet, you should be ok.
    The main issue I have with my trees when they move indoors is watering them properly. When outdoors, I drench them thoroughly each time I water them, including a good rinse on the foliage, but it's tough to do that indoors. I try to take my trees outside on any nice days through the winter, just to give them a good bath. They always seem to respond nicely to this treatment.

  • anapintea25
    11 years ago

    my ficus bonsai i got it as gift from my sister,but all leafs are drop, can i still save it?

  • anapintea25
    11 years ago

    anapintea25@yahoo.com,name pintea ana,can i save my ficus bonsai if all leafs are dropt?

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    11 years ago

    It's always cause for significant concern when a plant defoliates, especially as we head toward the shortest days of the year. The plant will not be able to rely on current food production to feed the growth of a new flush of growth, so it will be forced to rely solely on the energy reserves stored in roots and cambial tissues, reserves I suspect are fairly meager at this point.

    It's key to identify and correct the cause of the defoliation. The most likely cause is the heat vent, but don't overlook over-watering or mites/scale as possibilities. Also, if you recently moved the plant from a bright spot to a location where the plant gets less light, you have another suspect. Have you been careful not to water until the soil is fairly dry, but not entirely? Have you moved the plant away from the heat vent into a very bright, warm spot? Did you lift the plant from the pot and inspect the roots? Have you fertilized recently? with what? what strength? When you water, do you water in small sips to moisten the soil, or are you watering copiously so you flush the soil of accumulating salts at each watering?

    Al

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