ok. thanks


will do.


Drdwag I think your're smarter than most, when it comes to plants, i admire your collection and ability to care for as much as you do, given your age., keep up the good work.


i know at 32 i couldn't care for hundreds of tropicals by myself,lol. 20 is enough for me. I may have to give away some of the more light hungry plants in favor of shader tolerating plants.

like peace lillys. diffenbochias, ect. i want to try bat flowers but they get really big and hate dry air and i need something that stays small.

Alex, be sure to ask your audiologist about "hearing amplifiers" , these devices are very similar to hearing aids (mine was designed by the same people who designed my pricey hearing aids) but because they are not called hearing aids they do not have to be researched by the FDA thus they are far cheaper. They run in the $300 - $500 range instead of thousands. My amplifier works as well as my hearing aids and actually I prefer it in noisy situations like restaurants. You do not need a prescfription for the amplifiers. Some audiologists get a commission on aids and obviously they push the more expensive products so it may be difficult to get a recommendation for an aplifier.

Thank you for the subjessions. i will see about what can be done



lets try to keep this thread fig/houseplant related Ok. thank you.



the fig is looking good. i have started it on a weekly plan for watering once a week. do you think that's too much water given that its on a humidity tray with water all around. its not touching the water, its bottom is on a flat cystral keeping it above the waterline

i wish i could give you guys a photo but my computer is messed up i need to get the camra fixed.

Alex, I have always tried to keep my fiddle leaf ficus plants constantly moist at all times. That is dependent on the potting soil being very open, very well draining, and having pots with adequate drainage holes. I custom make all my own potting soils (and landscape soils for that matter), so I can achieve the soil mix that I know is right for my tropical plants. That being said, the fiddle's need for moisture is so dependent on how much light she receives. It also depends somewhat on humidity and air-movement. A fiddle that get's loads of indirect sunlight will transpire far more than a fiddle that gets low light. Thus, the need for water varies greatly. For those that are sort of new to growing tropical plants inside (and keep in mind that the vast majority of our "houseplants" are tropicals), I simply tell them to look at the potting soil. If it looks like it's getting dry, water. If it looks moist, don't.

Ok sounds good.



its still moist so i'll wait a little bit. not much has changed but its only been a week sense i got it.


someone pinched the lead stem on it awhile back at the wholesalers probably and so its branched out to become bushier. it isn't just a lead shoot all the way up.


its really lush, thick and green the leaves are sticking up and erect. i have not looked at the root ball yet but i subspect its root bound. if i do re pot i'll only do it in spring/ April/May, use a fast draining mix.,


drdwag do you sell soil mix for fiddles. .

Alex, I do sell my custom mixes, but those are orchid mixes, not potting soil. The shipping for potting soil would make those mixes too expensive, particularly in the volume that someone would need. I will send you, via T-Mail, a pretty simple formulae for a typical mix used for fiddle leaf ficus trees. You should be able to find these ingredients at most big-box stores. If you can't find a particular ingredient, let me know, and I'll see about getting that/these to you by spring-potting.

Okay, so I was swatting a few annoying flies a week ago and I accidentally hit my poor FLF which caused it to break halfway through its stem 😭😭😭 I didn't know what to do so I just tried to put it back upright and tried to observe coz a new leaf has been developing too. A week later it seems to be okay and the new leaf is getting bigger BUT it seems to get support from the lower leaf. Not sure if I should just cut the broken stem and make a propagation with it or just secure it. What do you experts think? I didn't want to cut it rightaway because I like the height and it would take time for it to grow again..








After 1week

Eveth, since it seems to be doing OK, I would leave it as is, being careful not to jar that semi-broken stem. I have never tried to do what you are doing, and thus have no direct knowledge of outcome. But perhaps the stem will mend and be serviceable as the ongoing central stem. Post an update in a few months so that we know what happens.

Thanks @drdawg, would you know of any way to keep it more secure? I just tied it with that string I saw from the kitchen and it doesnt look like I tied it tough enough for the fragile stem.

Something like painter's tape, 1/2" wide, might work. I just don't know. It would be an experiment for me to do this.

Recovery will depend on how deep the break is into the stem. If it is a serious break, then the leaf immediately above the break will die back first, although not immediately. If that happens, then it is probably best to propagate the upper portion before all of it gradually dies.

I agree with Ken that for now, it is best to leave it as is. Any soft material wrapped around the break should be sufficient to support it until it completely heals.

Thank you both!! I noticed after a few days since I posted this, the new leaf up the top started to wilt and feels so soft, more like a soft cloth. I decided to cut it off and put it in water hoping it will develop roots soon 💔

It won't root. At least not in my experience, but there is certainly nothing wrong with trying.

@drdawg 😱😱😱😱 oh nooo. Really? I thought I can still save it by propagating it like that

Eveth, I tried every way possible to propagate Fiddle Leaf Ficus, and trying to root cuttings, and those cuttings have to be from fairly mature branch cuttings (which yours is not), had a success rate of perhaps 25%. The only way I found to increase that rooting success rate was to air-layer branches. That was a productive way to propagate my "mother" fiddle.

Still, try to root it and let's see what happens. Just because I had little success doesn't mean that you won't be successful. I love experiments!

I concur with Ken that air-layering is the best way to propagate FLFs.

How big is the top section you are trying to propagate? Can you post a photo that shows its size?

The primary problem with propagating by cuttings is that the large leaves tend to dehydrate before roots get a chance to develop and supply them with the water they require. Keep the cutting in damp potting mix and the pot and plant inside a large, clear plastic bag that you blow up and then seal. This plastic tent will maintain the moisture in the soil and in the surrounding air and give the roots a chance to develop. If you do this, make sure that you give it lots of bright indirect light, but no direct sun that will cause the interior to overheat and "cook" the plant. This is a bit unwieldy but can greatly enhance your chances of successful propagation of the top cutting.

Gosh, Will, that's a awful lot of trouble to go to with the hope of getting a rooted cutting. My understanding is that this broken central stem is pretty much all new, green growth. I have never, ever had success in rooting stems such as this. Believe me, in the 25+ yr. of growing this "mother" fiddle leaf ficus, I have tried every thing in the book to root cuttings. I switched to air-layering years ago and it got to the point that 100% of what I air-layered, rooted. I have probably sold almost 100 of these rooted cuttings, some almost 4' tall, in the last 5 yr. Propagation is what I do.

Ken is the FLF Whisperer, just look at the pictures on his website.
http://www.tropicalplantsandmo...

Alice

A week after I placed the cutting in water and it's showing these little white stuff? Are those roots? I haven't heard of air layering before and I'm pretty amazed of the results when I saw photos and videos of it as I search. So happy to be in this group, there's so much to learn
I'll try your tent suggestion @WillC, it seems like the leaf below the new one has shrinked or the new leaf has just gone bigger.