Repotting Ficus Trees - Losing Leaves in Winter

Judy asked a question on winter Ficus tree care. When replying to the question I thought that since the Ficus is such a popular indoor house plant the question and answer needed to have a place all of it’s own.

Question: I have a ficus which is planted hydrophonically (only in water) Do you have to do any transplanting, root-trimming etc. My tree is approx. 7ft tall, and has be doing great, however she’s starting to lose (I guess the winter shedding) leaves. The pot is 14″ diameter and 10″ deep. What do you think?

Answer: The best way I can answer your question is from page 24 of my Ficus Tree care guide.

Many times you’ll find Ficus leaf drop after the tree has went through a period of growth.

There comes a time when a Ficus tree can only support a certain amount of foliage. The Ficus must balance quantity of light and the amount of - food it can produce. Once the Ficus holds more leaves then it can support, the tree goes into - survival mode. The Ficus
method to survive is to reduce its canopy of leaves.

You’ll usually see this during the winter months. Why? The amount of light the plant receives is reduced. When the tree starts dropping these leaves it is usually the older leaves. If this happens to your plant … don’t panic.

Since the older leaves are the ones dropping they will be more toward the center of the plant and you’ll have new growth out on the ends. Now is the time to selectively prune the Ficus back. This will reduce the canopy of foliage, encourage new growth in the center, keeping your tree full and with a good shape.

NOTE: I love growing hydroponically. I’m growing all the plants in my house in LECA stone hydroponically. Great reading on the topic

• Growing Ficus indoors Hydroponically

• LECA