Ficus bemjamina

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loucaskar
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Ficus bemjamina

Post by loucaskar »

Hallo everybody. Is it possible for a benjamina fig to lose some of its leaves; i noticed that a tree of mine is loosing leaves the last few weeks.not many but still.i suppose i water it too little.i make sure the soil gets completely dry before watering and the whether is realy hot now days.

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Re: Ficus bemjamina

Post by Ryceman3 »

Hi loucaskar,
I think perhaps you are right and may need to water more often. Waiting for it to be dry before watering is a good idea during winter but more liberal watering throughout summer might be a better plan particularly when it is hot. Is it humid where you are? Have you changed your tree's position?? Moving from shadier spots to sunnier can cause leaf drop in figs as they shed those that large not tolerant to the light and regrow more hardy foliage I think. I only have a few figs, perhaps somebody with more direct experience might offer more info/advice.
Good luck!
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loucaskar
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Re: Ficus bemjamina

Post by loucaskar »

Ryceman3 wrote:Hi loucaskar,
I think perhaps you are right and may need to water more often. Waiting for it to be dry before watering is a good idea during winter but more liberal watering throughout summer might be a better plan particularly when it is hot. Is it humid where you are? Have you changed your tree's position?? Moving from shadier spots to sunnier can cause leaf drop in figs as they shed those that large not tolerant to the light and regrow more hardy foliage I think. I only have a few figs, perhaps somebody with more direct experience might offer more info/advice.
Good luck!
Hallo ruceman3 and thank you your time. The air here is dry.no humid at all but i spray my plants once a day at least.i just remembered that i moved the tree into a shadier position. It was in ful sun all day before. Something else...for 6 days i had tree watered automatically and when i got back i started water it myself again. Perhaps those 2 changes stressed the tree...i don't know.the thing is that i saw, this morning new buds emerging from the fallen leaves.i suppose that's a good thing.

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Re: Ficus bemjamina

Post by dansai »

Benjimina do shed leaves readily when conditions are changed. May be stressed by less water too but should bounce back fine. Figs will survive drier conditions but in summer ild be watering prettily heavily. If you use an open mix a heavy watering at least once a day is preferred.
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Re: Ficus bemjamina

Post by loucaskar »

dansai wrote:Benjimina do shed leaves readily when conditions are changed. May be stressed by less water too but should bounce back fine. Figs will survive drier conditions but in summer ild be watering prettily heavily. If you use an open mix a heavy watering at least once a day is preferred.
What do you mean by "open mix". The soil is pretty absorbent and well drained as well.

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Re: Ficus bemjamina

Post by dansai »

A lot of bonsai growers now use a very open mix with particle size from 2 to 6 mm. Most commercial potting mixes have particle sizes above 6 mm and lots of fines with a high percentage of organic material Commercial nurseries pot up regularly or turn over stock quickly so the finer mixes don't cause issues as they break down. Bonsai growers use inorganic material as a component of or the entire mix is inorganic which retains its structure over time. This insures free draining properties are maintained and so it is very hard to overwater. Mixes with organic material that breaks down can become clogged and prevent free draining and can cause root issues. If your mix is free draining you can water a fig heavily on a regular basis and it will benefit greatly from it.
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Re: Ficus bemjamina

Post by loucaskar »

dansai wrote:A lot of bonsai growers now use a very open mix with particle size from 2 to 6 mm. Most commercial potting mixes have particle sizes above 6 mm and lots of fines with a high percentage of organic material Commercial nurseries pot up regularly or turn over stock quickly so the finer mixes don't cause issues as they break down. Bonsai growers use inorganic material as a component of or the entire mix is inorganic which retains its structure over time. This insures free draining properties are maintained and so it is very hard to overwater. Mixes with organic material that breaks down can become clogged and prevent free draining and can cause root issues. If your mix is free draining you can water a fig heavily on a regular basis and it will benefit greatly from it.
Well i have all my trees in a 50/50 organic and inorganic soil.if not i would have to water the tree 3 maybe 4 times the day. The soil drains very well and i water when it gets totally dry.

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Re: Ficus bemjamina

Post by loucaskar »

Today i found this leaf on my tree.the same kind of leaves started to appear on my retussa ficus too. They drop eventually...i dont know what to imagine.i hope it is because of the change of the position.I really cant imagine how is that i may overwater them.Image

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Last edited by loucaskar on July 14th, 2016, 6:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ficus bemjamina

Post by loucaskar »

And thats my retussa ficus.any ideas why is this happening;ImageImageImageImage

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