Well, mine looks like its enjoying itself....I haven't thrown it out the greenhouse door yet but probably this week. It has some new growth

Looks good, Gina. What's happening with the nearby Rhapis Palm that looks yellowed? Perhaps it is just the photo.

Its a variegated Rhapis, @WillC. I raise them. I have 5 different ones. Some have a high degree of yellow, some are green and white. All are 'pedigreed', cultivated over time from the regular green Rhapis to have different patterns of variegation and different colors. I think (without going out and looking) that that one is Nanzan Nishiki, but it may be Zuikon Nishiki. I have divided many pups off over the years and started a lot of new clumps. A better photo, this is the Mother plant that produced that clump

Thanks for the insight, Gina. I have not seen variegated Rhapis before. I suspect that they may not be sold for indoor use because they require more light. But then again they might start showing up in retail shops tomorrow!

Their tradition in Japan goes back over 400 years. All were raised from green palms, all have names that usually end in Nishiki. I got mine many years ago, c2006 or so, from someone in South Florida who was raising them. They are pretty hard to find, and not cheap. There used to be a few dedicated nurseries raising them for sale, but I know at least 2 I used to follow closed over the last 10 years. The regular green Rhapis is totally 100% hardy here, I have a lot of them out in the yard, but these are less so. They can take down to the low 30's, but below that they struggle and suffer a lot of burn on the fronds. I trailed some outdoors for a few years and it became obvious that they need protection. I have some now in a big 35 gallon planter on my front porch that I can drag inside the front door if necessary, otherwise, all the others are planter in the ground in the greenhouse. Their variegations are generally stable unless they get over fertilized then they may have some extra green show up. Some are quite stoloniferous and can throw offsets as much as 5-7 feet away from the mother clump via underground stolon. I find them in all sorts of out of the way places

Hello again,

I'm writing again about my FLF which I stressed by root pruning it a couple of months ago. I posted a photo of it while it was dropping most of its leaves. It is now in recovery and has put out a few new leaves and there are quite a few buds developing throughout the plant.

This was a nice tree shape prior to it's temporary demise. My question is if anyone can tell me how crazy the tree is going to look with all the new areas of growth that will come in. Will it be covered with those thin little branches that don't look particularly good? Is there any way to keep this with just a few branches like it has now? I don't know where, when or if I should cut back the branches to create a certain form or just let it go naturally. Any advice would be appreciated.

And Will, I did find a big, shallow rubber tote that I can use for watering so I have solved that problem.

@adsin - That is certainly one of the more unusual looking FLF's that I have seen. If only you had pruned the stems and not the roots!

Every new bud that emerges has the potential to produce a leaf and/or a new stem at that point. And some of those buds may shrivel and die. There is no way to predict. You will have to wait and watch. At least the new buds are a good sign that it is recovering.

I agree with Will. Let those new stems/branches grow out and then, when you see the shape, do whatever pruning you want. Never prune the roots. Why did you prune the roots in the first place?

Thank you for the replies. I appreciate it. I will wait and see what it ends up looking like and I'll be sure to post a picture later on.

Ken, I pruned the roots because the roots were pushing the tree up from the pot (as in the tree was tipping and the soil level was rising to the rim of the pot) and a branch in the middle was dying off. I read on another forum that root pruning was necessary from time to time. In the past I had just cut off a few inches from the bottom and repotted but this time I cut out circling roots and a couple of big woody ones.

Everyone seems to have their way of growing fiddles, @adsin. In all my years of growing hundreds of them, 25+ years, I have never pruned roots. I have a "momma" fiddle that is over 25 years old and she's never had her roots pruned. Before she went into the ground this fall, she was in the same pot for over 10 years. Was she root-bound? Absolutely. Did it bother her? Not at all. I simply had to water her more frequently. She grew approximately 2', each and every year.

@drdawg, isn't it true of most Ficus that they don't really care about having cramped roots? The banyan is a big ficus, that starts as an epiphyte on another plant and only makes a tree when its adventitious roots hit the ground and proceed to go everywhere. I have never grown them until I got this 'fiddle leaf' Ficus lyrata as a kind of 'let's see what all the fuss is about', and mine has been totally happy being ignored in its original container out under the oak trees

I am wondering about the "roots pushing the tree up" and "the soil level was rising". This unusual plant must have some very strange genes, I have never heard of any plant doing that. In my experience soil levels drop as the plant consumes the nutrients and the medium disintegrates. It seems like all the energy in this plant is directed downward towards the root structure rather than in making new leaves. Very strange indeed.

I too am unaware of fiddle leaf ficus plants being pushed up. Perhaps I've just not noticed. Some plants do indeed grow above ground, supported by roots. Check out my screw pine, Pandanus.

That is too cool, you are having too much fun there Ken.

All the action is south of you, Alice.

I used to have one of those. Stilt roots RULE

LOL Ken you are right.

Well, we put an offer on a home today and it was promptly accepted. Nothing grand like your property but we wanted smaller this time as we intend to be snow birds and spend summers near our son in Asheville. The house sits on a small pond and the garden is lovely, the present owner is a MG. There were birds and butterflies everywhere. A family of Mallard ducks nests in the garden and we saw a couple of Canada Geese on the water today. The back yard is leafy and green, very pleasant on a hot afternoon. It is in St. Johns, midway between JAX and St. Augustine. We close in late June. It is freshly painted but we'll probably re-do it in a different color. We might change out the floors too. Right now part is oak and part is carpeting, I think we will do it in all hardwood. Stay tuned, as the fun begins.........

Congratulations, Alice.

Post photos! It sounds gorgeous.

This forum has been so helpful! I live in British Columbia Canada (I believe we are zone 4). I bought a fiddle leaf fig about a month ago and a half ago. I initially had it in a window that was not getting much light, but about three weeks ago I moved and now he has access to a brighter window. I also repotted it in a pot that has what I am hoping is enough drainage. He has grown about 6 new leaves in the last 3 weeks and one of them is now the largest leaf. About 2 weeks ago he started getting rust coloured spots on the backs of his older more established leaves (I'm assuming its plant edema?) I was not the best at watering him initially, he lost a new growth leaf that dried up and never fully bloomed so I thought I wasn't watering enough and I was not consistent. Below are the older leaves covered in the spots only on the backs(not visible from the front):



Now I am hoping to stick to once a week watering. Over the last week the new big leaf has started to develop the rust spots and went from beautiful and smooth to having dents in it. It has been a week since last watering and the soil feels dry 2 inches down. I am scared to water again, but also that I am not watering enough. Below is the new leaf starting to get spots:




Any idea on what the dents are probably from, when I bought it one of the leaves looked like that, but I assumed it was a weird deformed leaf? Really hoping the brown spots aren't root rot? They don't look like other root rot pictures, but could it be the beginning of that?
Suggestions on watering? Overall he is continuing to get new bright green leaves( has three more sprouting), but I am afraid to wreck this new growth.
Thanks a bunch!

When I brought him home:
Today:

to NGA, @Danielle13.

Over the last 6-7 yr., I have said this numerous times, and I'll say it again. Over a 25+yr. period, growing many hundreds of fiddles, I have never seen root rot. Never.

Fiddles are "water-hogs" and in my opinion, as long as you have well-draining soil, bright light, and adequate drainage holes in your pot, you simply can't over-water a fiddle. You sure can under-water them though, and again, just my opinion, you are too fixated in over-watering, and thus, are under-watering your plant, Danielle. I have always tried to keep my potting soils slightly moist when it comes to fiddles. As soon as the top surface of your potting soil feels dry, water. And water enough that water freely runs out of the drainage holes. Because our heated homes are so dry (and with AC for sure), there is little humidity for this tropical tree. I would spritz the leaves with water every day if possible. This will temporarily raise the humidity around the plant, and though it's not like "tropical" humidity, it might be helpful.

Because these leaves are so huge, every single tiny blemish is greatly magnified. Don't fret these blemishes. Also don't fret your plant losing lower leaves. Losing old, lower leaves is just normal with these trees. Because your plant has been stressed, that lower leaf lose was just speeded up. Keep in mind that these plants are usually grown in climate-controlled environments, environments tailored to the tropical nature of these trees. Your home will not have anything close to this environment, and thus the stress on your plant. She'll acclimate to your conditions and that lower leaf loss will slow greatly.

Can you grow this tree outside when the weather warms up? That sure will benefit your fiddle. A shady spot (perhaps under trees) that gets morning sun and/or very late afternoon sun will do wonders for this tree. Not only do trees afford the shade but because of leaf transpiration, the humidity will be raised as well.