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

Cold or Frozen House Plants - Now What?

Recently, we’ve received some questions on house plants which stayed outside in the cold and what to do? The questions go something like this!

Question: “My Ficus tree or Dracanea got really cold when I forgot to bring the plant indoors. The leaves turned brown and now it’s losing all its leaves, is it dead? Can the houseplant be saved?”

Answer: Plants drop leaves for a reason, it could be protection, seasonal, or it’s flat out dying. House plants such as a Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily) may get some burned leaves depending on the length of time the plant was exposed to the cold. It may grow back. It may just take some time.

When plants are exposed to cold temperatures many times you’ll notice that the leaves are very dark and discolored. It may also show blackened tips such as the case with Dracaena Massangeana or oily leaves like on Aglaonemas.

What is happening with these plant leaves? Cell collapse.

Think of what happens when you get sunburned - skin begins to peal because the cells have been destroyed… Plants shed their leaves.

There you are with a plant that has lost all of its leaves and the branches, canes or tips aren’t looking very good - what do you do?

• First, be realistic - Does the plant look too far gone?
• Second - if you think you want to give it a try or a re-grow, it may be time to pull out the clippers.

Take a look at the bark as on a Ficus tree, is it black, shriveled or separated from the trunk? (it’s most likely beyond help) Don’t look just at the top but down at the base.

Next start high and scrap the bark. If you find brown at all keep moving lower until you find green, believe me you’ll know when you find it.

When you find an area of green - cut off everything above it, on that stem or branch. When you get done going over this you may have a plant that stands a chance of coming back.

Remember, not only was the foliage, branches and stems exposed to the cold - so were the roots. No matter how hard you try the plant may not survive. The root damage may be so severe that you’ll be fighting an uphill battle.

Now after you’ve performed all this surgery, don’t start pouring water and fertilizer on the plant. Maintain regular plant care. You’ll most likely need to reduce the quantity and frequency of watering.

I know many people can become attached to their plants and they want to try and do everything they can to recover their
treasure. After most indoor house plants suffer exposure to extreme cold temperatures you’ll find it very difficult in regrowing the plant to it’s old stature - even under optimal growing conditions.

The quantity of effort you’ll put into saving plants that suffered extreme cold damage may be better suited to replacing and caring for a new ones - just my thoughts. But learn from this lesson. Keep houseplants indoors all year long.

Houseplants, Micro Climates and Plant Selection

Everyone has “microclimates” in their home. Do you know the microclmates in your rooms?

Over the past few days we’ve looked at microclimate elements:

• Analyzing Your Homes Environment
• Lighting in a Room
• Room Temperature
• Humidity

Now it’s time to bring them all together.

Let’s first define what a “mircoclimate” is! Basically a microclimate is a “mini-climate” which can vary from the overall big climate which surrounds it.
I find San Francisco as great example of an outdoor microclimate. Some places you need a light sweater and other times a t-shirt is fine.

A room in your house is much the same… at least for houseplants. Some areas have a mircoclimate which we can define as hotter, cooler, sunnier, shadier, wetter, or dryer than other parts of the room, plus this microclimate can change during the day depending on room color (light colors reflect more light), windows and the direction of the sun.

Grouping plants together can create a microclimate for example. Grouping the plants can create more humidity than in other parts of the room.

A bright room for example will have some darker areas, these will usually be on the otherside of the room away from the window or on either side of the window. Areas which are directly in front of or above a heater will be hotter and drier than other parts of a room. All these climatic conditions have an affect on the care of your houseplants.

When buying plants for your home which require lots of light they will most likely need to be placed in front of a window where the light is the brightest.

You use dish soap for dishes and a different soap for your laundry. Why? Because the soaps were made or work better in the “conditions” they need to do the job.

Remember caring for houseplants is not hard if you take some time to understand the needs of the plant and put the right plants in the right place.

Don’t put a plant like an Aglaonema (chinese evergreen) which will do l well in a lower light level is direct sun. On the Flip side do not try to put a Ficus tree in a low light area … even if it looks like the perfect place! And expect the tree to do well. Take your time with plant selection. Stay tuned we’ll be getting into selection next.

Houseplants - Humidity in Your Home

Houseplants dry air, moist air, winter, summer what’s a plant to do. What’s a plant to do….so many “seasons” indoors!

Houseplants are use to more humidity than you find in the average home. There are several methods you can use to figure out the humidity in your home… but why?

The level will be nothing compared to a greenhouse or nursery! The best method is probably to assume your home is always dry. The air-conditioner runs in the summer and the heater warms the air in the winter. Plants don’t fit into the comfort equation when people are involved. The only places in a home to possibly qualify for a humid place under plant standards would be bathrooms, laundry rooms and basements.

However, armed with information abut your “indoor micro climate” - the lighting, overall temperature and humidity you’ll be in a better position when you’re ready to purchase a house plant.

Nothing can stop you from succeeding with plants indoors — let me say that again — NOTHING - will stop you from enjoying plants indoors and have them look great…. if you pick the right plants for the right places.

Buying Diseased or Pest Filled Houseplants - Who’s To Blame?

This article on houseplants caught my eye from the Vancouver Sun. As I read over much of the piece I had to agree with the columnist. He mentioned the plant craze of the 70’s and 80’s, plants cleaning toxins indoors and a new generation of homeowners developing an interest in houseplants.

Along the way the usual suspects of houseplant varieties were briefly discussed along with the names of a few updated cultivars including like the spider plant, golden pothos, Ficus, Dracaena, peace lily, ZZ plant, Sansevieria and lady palm.

The piece touched on the exotic to add color - Bromeliads, Anthuriums, crotons but somehow forgot to list orchids as one of the most plentiful plants available for home color today.

Here’s where I sometimes get ticked as I read articles like these. In general, much of the content is on the mark. However, I cannot allow some things to be written and at least not respond. I’m sure some readers will diagree with me but so be it!

About half way through the article there is this… which I quote- “And there is still a lot of demand for standard workhorse specimens like Boston ferns, golden pothos, dracaena, and old faithful standbys like the “majesty palm” (Ravenea rivularis.)”

I’ll agree with ferns, there has been a surge in the popularity of ferns. Pothos agreed! Again it’s one reason it could be one of the most popular houseplants grown. The Dracaena varieties - they do so well Dracaenas have 4 in the Top 10 of the clean air study …. but then there is the Majesty Palm listed as a workhorse! The only workhorse the Majesty palm may be as an indoor plant is the exercise required to throw it out - it sucks! and I said so years ago! Go for a Chamaedorea (bamboo), Rhapis or Kentia palm if you want a palm!
Finally there was the - BUYING AND CARE TIPS

In general the buying tips are accurate except for this quote, the one that set me off on the post!

“Beware of buying plants that have just come off the truck from Florida. Cheap, stressed-looking plants are a clue. Most imported houseplants need at least a couple of weeks in a greenhouse to acclimatize and sometimes need to be cleared of spider mites and mealy bugs.”

I’ll admit the care does not seem to be very good in some of the big box stores but if the plants are coming off the truck - CHEAP and Stressed Looking - the buyer buying the foliage should be the one to blame. As a grower of houseplants for many years most foliage does not LEAVE THE NURSERY as CHEAP STRESSED plants.

Also after reading the above paragraph you would think all the foliage is full of disease and pests. It sounds like growers only sell junk! And you the consumer get to benefit from it! Growers work way to hard to be categorized as selling trash and cheap plants only fit for the compost heap!

Now any plant moving from one environment to another will undergo some stress. I would also agree that allowing plants to acclimate some to their new environment in a greenhouse would be great. But the above statement leads me to believe that a couple of weeks in a greenhouse in Vancouver will miraculously turn the garbage houseplants the brainless plant buyers purchased into gems is pushing the point of reason.

I’ve discussed my thoughts on purchasing houseplants and what you should look for.

Here’s one on Phalaenopsis orchids and other plant buying tips! Much of the article is fine however a few points can get you in trouble!

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