#270796
Mar 25th, 2009 at 07:19 PM
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Hi. I just brought home an approx. 8 foot ficus benjamina. I bought it from a condominium building that had too many plants. They had a service taking care of it and it looks really healthy. Before moving it, we pulled the plastic pot out of the large ceramic (I think) pot and drained out a whole bunch of water. I have never cared for such a plant and I know a lot of the leaves will drop off, as I've read. Anything I should be doing specifically to help this plant acclimate? As far as water, how much does it need approximately as in volume, like a half gallon? It's in an 18 inch pot. I bought a water meter and it says the soil is wet so I'm not watering it yet, but I don't want to underwater or overwater when I do. My husband has a fresh water fish tank so I plan on using the water from his water changes as I heard that's good for plants. It does not have a saucer on the bottom, wondering if I should get one. Anyway, any advice would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to kill it:( Thanks!
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Joined: Jul 2005
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Deep Purple
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Deep Purple
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,477 |
i don't know too much about f. benjamina...i DO know you can expect it to drop a LOT of leaves. this particular one is very finicky/sensitive to changes in it's location - regardless of whether it's a change in actual location (even just a couple of feet can cause them to molt and a completely different place definitely will), lighting difference or heat difference.
i would try to duplicate it's position in your home to as close as possible as to where it was previously. by that i mean that you should place it where it will get the same type and amount of light as it did previously - if it was in an eastern exposure, put it in the same in your house...same for northern, southern, western. if it was in a semi-shaded area, then the same in your house.
as for temps, it'll probably be about the same in your house, so that shouldn't be too much a concern.
the soil sounds definitely too moist - allowing it to dry out a bit will be a good thing. do you see any roots coming out of the bottom drain holes?? if you do, i'd plan on repotting it in about 2 months (let it get adjusted to the new location first instead of putting it through additional shock with the repotting).
i don't have one of these...i do have ficus elastica and i allow the soil to dry out a bit before doing a thorough watering. once the soil is dry down a couple inches, i water again and mine is in a 10 inch container. i would think something else in the same family would have the same needs.
are you keeping it in the cermaic piece that it was in before? if so, i would put a good handful of small rocks in that and set the plastic container on top of them - then it won't be sitting in any excess water that drains out after watering. if you don't have that outer piece, i would put it on some kind of tray/dish to catch excess water - no reason to be damaging rugs or floors with the moisture that will work it's way out of the drainage holes!
Zone 6b
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Thanks, Joclyn. So far so good. No leaves have fallen off yet. I guess it will take a few weeks? I don't know what direction it was facing there, but I put it in the best place I had. It is rather large, didn't have too many choices:) I will take your rock suggestion for the bottom and get a tray. I'm not sure if it's roots are coming through the drain holes. I will check for that too. I would never be able to lift it and look at the same time -- too heavy:) But I'll have my husband help me. Appreciate your response!
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,477
Deep Purple
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Deep Purple
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,477 |
it could take a week or two before the leaves start dropping...or, maybe you'll get lucky and duplicate the previous conditions well enough that it won't be stressed too much!!
if it's that large, you'll definitely need two people to check the underside of the container as well as putting it up on rocks on a tray!
Zone 6b
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Joined: Mar 2009
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We got rocks under the plastic container. It didn't have any holes!! I couldn't believe it. I had my husband drill a bunch of holes in the bottom for good drainage. So it's now in the plastic container, sitting on rocks inside the ceramic pot, which as no holes. The leaves started a couple days ago turning yellow and falling but nothing really too major yet, a handful a day but it still looks good. I keep testing the soil with the water meter and it still says "wet" or when I bring it up more towards the surface "moist", so I haven't watered it. It's been a week and a half and I just feel like I should water it, but I'll wait. Oh, and I got some earthworm casings(think that's what it's called) to put on top of the soil, hope that helps:)
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,477
Deep Purple
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Deep Purple
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,477 |
i'm glad you took a look at it and then had hubby drill some drainage holes!!
it'll take another week or so for it to dry enough for another watering...and the leaf loss is completely normal...just keep an eye on the soil moistness and water when it's needed. it may look a bit scraggly for a while - they bounce back really nicely though, so, even if all leaves drop, by mid-summer, it'll be back to normal.
Zone 6b
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