Fiddle Leaf Fig Help Please!

9 years ago

Hello! I created an account just so that I could get some help on this issue. I've been stressing about my poor fiddle leaf fig for a few weeks now. Also, should probably preface this with I do NOT have a green thumb. I am less than a beginner..

I brought it home (from Ikea...) a few months ago. Immediately repotted it in a larger terra cotta pot with cacti soil.
I placed it in a West facing window, where it got plenty of light.

It was a little beat up and had some torn looking leaves from being in an IKEA. It actually looked really nice, or so I thought, after I brought it home for the first month and a half, or so.

Then my mother in law visited and insisted that I trim the new growth at the top so that it didn't get too top heavy. Well I did, and since then it has been in a downward spiral.

There has been NO new growth since I trimmed the new bud off the top.
I've attached a picture of the worst looking leaf..

It gets approx. 4 cups of water once a week.

I have fertilized it twice since I've had it with Miracle Grow liquid house plant food.

I moved it away from the window, thinking that it was getting too much light. (More than 4 hours a day)

What else could be wrong with it?
Please help! I don't want it to die!

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Comments (2)

samwal55
Original Author
9 years ago
here is another picture, of the whole plant.
Photo Synthesis
9 years ago
First of all, don't measure how much water it gets, just water it until it drains out of the bottom. (Of course, after you've temporarily placed it somewhere where the excess water can drain away...) Then move it back to a brighter spot, such as the plant's previous location. Proper lighting is the only way plants can sustain themselves, how they make their food. Even "shade-tolerant" plants only tolerate shady locations. If you want your plant to thrive, then give it as much light as it can handle without burning. Four hours of sunlight from a western window won't harm your plant. You can even rotate your plant, about once a week, so that your whole plant gets equal access to the light it needs, and not just one side of it. Give your plant plenty of bright indirect light, as well as that four hours of evening sun, and your plant should do much better. None of its leaves looked burned from too much sunlight, so it will do just fine in the previous location that you had it in.

I have all kinds of plants, some of which are "low light." Now that I've moved them outside into my backyard, they get some direct morning sun and direct evening sun, but they're shaded during the hottest part of the day from any afternoon sun. Many of these would get scorched in a heartbeat, if left out in direct sun all day. But they all seem to love their current growing conditions.

When you move your plant(s) away from adequate lighting, you're robbing them of their ability to produce the food they need. Which is why they begin to lose leaves that they can no longer support. No matter how much you fertilize a plant, it can't really use those nutrients unless it can photosynthesize them properly.

That being said, your plant looks healthy. It's also natural for plants to lose lower leaves. I would still recommend moving it back to where you previously had it. Give it time, it'll recover from its pruning and begin growing again soon. :)

This post was edited by ToMMyBoY69 on Fri, May 9, 14 at 20:01
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