Death of a Houseplant

Astral

Don’t laugh at me but…I have purchased a total of EIGHT, yup I said 8 fiddle leaf figs this year and I have killed 5 of them so far. One of the remaining 3 plants is on it’s last legs. smh

I don’t understand what I am doing wrong? I admit, i might the 1st 5 may have died from over-watering. But I have tried placing them in different rooms w/ diff sunlight options, etc but nothing works.

I love this plant so much and I don’t want to give up. But my wallet keeps asking me…”When is enough going to be enough!” I’ve even googled myself to death trying to find tips on how to care for them and always end up with nothing :(

At leats you’ve had your tree for a good period of time. Mine only seem to last about a month or two! lbvs

Christina

Hack it. My mom works in a greenhouse and has given me a fiddle-fig. Hack the branches and it will encourage new growth. It likely did become stressed, and these are somewhat tropical plants so it really should *NOT* have been outside. (My mom’s greenhouse gets theirs from Florida and the transition for FL to OR is a stressful couple weeks or so as they get acclimated.) Don’t give up on this plant, it WILL come back!

Mel

I’ve never posted to your blog, so let me first say, I enjoy reading your posts. You’re talented, egaging, diplomatic, and never snarky (my biggest disappointment in bloggers). Nice job. Next, I’ve been accumulating more indoor plants over the past couple years to improve air quality in our home. When I’ve tried all other tricks for reviving ones that are stressed, I move them into our bathroom for a few days, the humidity from our showers does wonders!

Also, another tip for getting rid of bugs or fungus is a vinegar and water rinse through the soil. Good luck!

Emma

I agree with the previous posters – don’t give up yet! Fiddle leaf figs are temperamental and hate, hate, hate being moved (even from room to room, let alone house to house). Ours went through a sad phase when we moved but has completely recovered.

I’d leave it until the spring. They do go dormant in the winter, so any recovery won’t happen for a few months yet. If you can’t bear to look at it, move it to a room where it’s less obtrusive. Don’t water until the top inch of the soil is dry (stick your finger in the pot to measure). Fertilize, but only in months without an “r” (great rule of thumb for all houseplants!) They need indirect, bright light – no sunbeams shining directly on the leaves.

Good luck, little plant! Grow grow grow!

Kaycee

I bought one from IKEA, it had 3 in 1 pot. It was fine, then eventually started dropping leaves and then I was left with 3 sticks. I said whatever and stuck it outside in the backyard and forgot about it.. a few weeks later I went outside and 2 of the 3 sticks had leaves again! I left it out there a while longer to fill out and all but the 1 stick came back to life. I repotted the 2 into separate pots and they’ve been doing wonderful. I’ve been keeping them outside and letting nature do its thing. I do live in FL, though. I seriously thought they were done for, it was a nice surprise.

Hannah S

These trees can be very fickle when it comes to light but if all of that has stayed the same, I would def recommend putting the tree in a bigger pot and even if all the leaves have fallen out give it until spring to rebloom some of the leaves. Dont give up hope!
http://www.southernfolly.com

Von

Keep the fig, it’s FAR from it’s last leg. My fiddle has suffered a similar fate, after last Christmas when I moved it from the window to put our Christmas tree up. It died, lost half of itself and was so scraggly. They don’t grow much in the winter, so I waited out the ugly phase. And it was UGLY.

This spring I got new soil, I let go of my hopes and trimmed off the stick (the dead crunchy part I had been praying would sprout new leaves), and I gave it much attention and better light. A year later, it’s thriving and beautiful again. The roots were tangled in with the roots from the dead half, and then it caught the mushroom fungus from a bad bag of soil (I feel your mushroom pain), but after all of that, it’s back on the good path. In the winter, I still water infrequently, but I mist it daily with a water spray bottle. It’s not dead yet, and very vibrant so I think it approves. I bought a replacement (just in case) Ikea fiddle this spring, and immediately did a few things better, and it’s done nothing but thrive. Water less, move around less and it’s almost as big as #1 in a few short months.

Catherine

I just ordered a smallish one from Home Depot for $15, and it’s doing well so far. I read a suggestion to water it with a cup of water once a week, and then increase to two cups as it gets taller. I agree that you should keep it a while longer and see if you can nurse it back to health. A new pot and fresh soil might help, too. Good luck!

Rosie

http://www.gardenista.com/posts/7-secrets-how-to-save-a-dying-fiddle-leaf-fig-tree

Janine

My name is Janine and I murder orchids. Everyone says they’re so easy to keep alive and I have killed three Phalaenopsis orchids that I know of, and I’ve stopped buying them, but orchids are pretty major in interior design, they’re very very popular, and I want to confess that I am considering getting plastic orchids because I can’t handle the guilt of decimating another beautiful plant. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, and I’m so so so sad.

Yours in the shared guilt,
J

Dawn

I would put in a pot with a drainage hole and water once a week. Imake sure the pot is big enough, but not huge. That’s what has worked for mine.

Sara

I agree with other comments….pot looks way to small for the size of the tree and I would be concerned about the pot not having anywhere to drain the water. From everything I’ve read they really don’t like sitting in water. Mine is small enough that I literally put it in the sink, shower it with water and then give it quite a while to drain.

Haley J.

That plant should be salvageable with a few changes.

1) Buy a bigger pot– one with drainage holes– and repot the plant with fresh potting soil. Yes, the plastic trays that go underneath them are not beautiful, but at least they are clear. It will give you a better idea of how your watering affects the tree. Too much and/or too quickly, and the water will pool at the bottom and rot the roots. Never let water stand in the tray, either.

2) Find out what kind of fertilizer it likes and give it a bit of diluted fertilizer at the beginning of its growing season.

3) Learn how and when to prune it, then cut it back so it looks less leggy. This will probably also occur at the beginning of its growing season.

chris

That is too bad – those big leaves are so pretty. Here in San Diego fiddle leaf figs can live outside and do. I never really noticed them until they became the fancy blogger trees. When was that? 4 years ago? There are several large ones at the SD Zoo and even some houses in the neighborhood have them planted outside. I just had to put ours outside because the kitten decided the soil was a litter box weren’t deterrents weren’t working. Hope mine doesn’t mind all the moving around and I hope yours recovers!

Alana

Chiming in with all the feedback for a bigger pot. One about twice as big, if not three times, with drainage holes. Then put a layer of small rocks along the bottom to help with drainage. That Miracle Grow formula that helps hold moisture is really great. Then maybe stake it and tie very loosely so the woody growth straightens up and feed it well. When you pull the plant out of its current pot, gently pull the roots free and ruffle them a bit so they are stimulated to grow into the new space given to them by the new pot, otherwise they’ll keep growing in a ball. I bet It’ll bounce back!

Tena

Let it Go! Let it Go!