Alex, I imagine that if I had not cut my baby back 2-3 times each year for the last 20 or so yr., she would be a 40-50 footer. I'm assuming now that she is in the ground, she'll get that size in 10-15 yr. She grew a minimum of 2' each year while potted. Will she grow faster outside? Time will tell.

A note of caution: Growing a FLF in Zone 10 where it has longer days year round and can be moved outside for much longer than in Zone 4 can make a huge difference. This is particularly true if your Zone 4 plant is highly dependent on artificial light for most of the calendar year.

Fertilizer is NOT a substitute for light and is intended only for healthy plants that are growing vigorously. Superthrive is snake-oil. It claims to contain vitamins, hormones and other things that sound good but plants don't need. They have refused to publish their so-called secret formula so it cannot be subjected to rigorous analysis. Don't waste your money.

Not just moved outside for longer, Will. It is outside for good; rain or shine, hot or cold.
I imagine the "outside-growing time" in zone 4 won't be much more than 5mo. tops, naturally, because of the cold.

concerning the Superthrive.

yeah...... you just have to work with what you got.

i'm pretty much stuck with indoor lighting until mammoral day


i'm thinking of getting a second light to shine on it from below seated on a stool., but it has to be a single bulb that can fit into a standard lamp. the highest wattage it can take (the single lamp) is 40 watts.

otherwise it can be a fire hasserd.

Alex, if you can add an additional light, I personally would have it coming from overhead, just on the opposite side of the plant. Keep in mind, in nature, light comes from above, not below a plant.

I found a clamp on light on amazon that is snake like in that you can swirl it around in all direction and it's got red and blue lights.

You probably won't like that light, Alex. Not that those red/blue spectrums won't grow plants, but they simply make the entire area weird-looking. Believe me, I have used pretty much every light spectrum known, and used those red/blue LED's out in one of my greenhouses. I would never want them in my living-area.

They are weird. I bought a large one and tried it in the living room. We hated it. I now use it inside a large grow tent where I don't have to look at it.

I can relate to that, Karen. Remember the lava-lights? Those red/blue LED's are 100X worse. And if you look directly at them for more than a brief time, you can't see a thing for several seconds afterwards. I have never seen that they pose a risk to the eyes, but I have to wonder.

I think they could damage eyes. I try to never look directly at them, or sometimes I wear sunglasses. I don't know if that helps or not, but maybe, lol!

Standard warm and cool white fluorescent lights work well as grow lights. The visible light they emit is more pleasant than the LED plant lights.

Well i rigged up the lighting better so its overhead the ficus not next to it. now the crown is bathed in light and i don't have a weird light. either.

unfortunately i don't have access to an internet cam otherwise i'd send you guys a photo.. my ipad broke while on vacation and my new computers acting up and wont let me use its camera.

Update.

I got a new mister from leitner's garden center. It shoots a fine mist of water wherever you want it. i misted it really good and now want to know how often should i mist those large leaves. should i do it with the lights on it, i don't want the water to fry the leaves.


also sad to say my new light bulb idea isn't going to work. i have been told i have enough light in my room and that's that plus i need to be saving money in case i need to get hearing ades.

perhaps a light meter would be a good investment after the hearing ades so i can tell how much light is really going to the plants.


ficus is doing well. so far, but its only been one week. my corpse flower is huge.

Alex, how are the leaves going to receive heat? Are you saying that the LED that you bought cannot now be used? Misting the leaves are fine, and can be done every single day, but do it in the morning so that the leaves can dry before night. If you have a small fan of some sort, that can be directed towards the fiddle, speeding the drying time.

I didn't buy anything. other than what i have now. i have to check with people before i buy more stuff.

I don't quite understand your living arrangements, Alex, but that's OK. At my age, there's a lot of things that I don't understand.

Provide as much light as you possibly can for your FLF and hope that it is enough. Don't waste your money on a light meter. The only ones that are reasonably accurate are very expensive. Just keep your plant as close to your sunniest window as possible. No need to know what the footcandles are.

The mister will provide little or no benefit to the FLF, which does just fine in very dry air as long as the roots are kept sufficiently moist.

Hearing aids are very expensive, but well worth it if you can afford them. I know from experience. Todays' technology is so much better allowing for improved hearing with very small, unobtrusive devices. Most folks are not even aware that I have them.