The famed fiddle leaf fig!
I drew this cutie the first week I moved into my new #Portland apartment in July 2019. Even better than the drawing is the memory of sitting on the hardwood in front of my new massive windows with the sun streaming and lo-fi on my speakers. I drew this as a still life directly from my 2.5 foot tall fiddle leaf fig that I have had for a few years now.
In the Wild
That beautiful plant that you have in your living room can grow as a tree up to 50 feet tall, and 35 feet wide!!
There are about 850 different species of Ficus, aka figs. Most of them are native to tropical climates, which gives many Ficus species great #houseplant potential and this one is definitely no exception! Ficus lyrata, commonly known as the fiddle leaf fig, is a woody plant native to west Africa with huge, glossy, medium-green leaves with wavy edges. In tropical environments like Hawaii, they can get huge with dense canopies, but indoors they usually have a more spread out form, and stay under 6-10 feet or so, dependent on the space they're in.
Fiddle Leaf Fig Care
Ficus lyrata can actually be pretty fickle, or at least that has been my experience. Truthfully, I am still trying to figure out how to make one I currently have (pictured below) completely happy. I have also definitely killed one before (not even sure what happened.) Both of the ones I have had were about 2-3 feet tall with one main stem, but I just got one from work that has 7 stems and stands at 4 feet tall, and have seen much much bigger!
In the wild, these plants can grow relatively quickly, but in indoor environments, they typically grow much more slowly. In general, plants with larger leaves are more expensive because if a leaf is damaged, it is much more noticeable, so they have to be handled more gently during growth. This slow growth combined with the size of the leaves can push the price point of a large lyrata through the roof. One of the real upsides (and most dangerous parts) of working as a horticulturist is a really nice discount on plants from work! I got this one from the Cal Poly Plant Shop for maybe $10, but I've seen comparable ones for sale for anywhere from $30 to $75.
Sunlight
Fiddles, like a lot of house plants, like lots of bright, indirect light.
This means they do really well in an east facing window that gets cool morning light, and not the baking hot rays of the afternoon sun. But if you're like me and live in a studio apartment that only has windows on one wall, you might not have the luxury of choosing which direction your plants are getting light from. If you have south-facing windows, the direct sun in the afternoon could give your fiddle sunburn, and cause it to dry out too quickly, so you can just move it farther away from the window, or put up some light filtering curtains. Just don't make the change from a really high light area to a low light area very quickly, as the plant can go into shock and drop all its leaves. If you have very low light conditions in your home, this may not be the plant for you, unless you want to get some supplemental grow lights.
It's also important to dust your fiddle leaf figs very regularly! The leaves are so big that they can trap a lot of dust, which blocks sunlight and reduces their photosynthetic abilities.
Humidity
Remember, these plants are native to the tropics. One big difference between your house and a tropical rainforest (other than the obvious) is the humidity. Just like how fiddles don't like dry soil, they also don't like dry air. To up the humidity for your plant, there are a few things you can do. If you have a window with enough light and enough space, you can keep your fiddle in your bathroom. The steam from your showers should keep it extra lush. But if bathroom space is a hot commodity in your home, you can get a humidifier. I have a really simple and sleek one from amazon that cost me $30 and holds about a half gallon of water, but it is discontinued so I can't link it for ya. There are also a few ways to make DIY humidifiers if you look it up on google (I don't know everything.) You can also use a spray bottle and mist the leaves every so often, but that is a pretty temporary solution, and be careful to not leave puddles of water on the leaves where bacteria and fungi could develop.
Water
The key to caring for lyratas of any size is watering. Because they evolved in rainforests, they do not like to dry out completely. You can tell if you are under-watering your ficus if the edges of the leaves start to get brown, or if the leaves start to drop.
Plants of all kinds have 3 basic needs: light to their leaves, water to their roots, and air to both. Most plants, especially houseplants, cannot survive without air in the soil.
If your soil is completely saturated, there isn't any pore space left for air pockets that are critical for gas exchange at the roots. Roots that aren't allowed to breathe are prone to root rot, which in turn will kill your entire plant.
Overwatering can be even more dangerous than under-watering.
This is what we plant people mean when we say a plant doesn't like "wet feet." If your plant does not have proper drainage to get rid of excess water, their feet will stay wet, and they are much more likely to get root rot, which is very hard to remedy without sending the plant into shock. My ficus is indirectly potted, meaning it is in a tall 8" plastic liner pot that is inside a decorative white ceramic pot. The ceramic pot I bought does not have a hole in the bottom, so if I put too much water in, there would be nowhere for it to go to be poured off or evaporate. To fix this, I repotted the ficus into a larger plastic nursery (aka liner) pot that had drainage holes, and put that inside the decorative pot. This way, I can pull the liner pot out and pour off the extra water.
This is how I would recommend you plant all your house plants if the pot you like does not have a hole in the bottom!
I think I'll make an entire post dedicated to how to repot plants later on, so keep an eye out!
So, how are you supposed to know how and when to water, you may ask? Touch the soil!
Always touch the soil of the plant you're about to water. Even if they are on a very regular schedule, it is always a good idea, as water use can vary along with the temperature , amount of sunlight, and amount of airflow in your house. As a general rule, do not water if the soil is still wet to the touch. You should let the top 1-3 inches of the soil dry out before you water again, depending on the size of the pot. For my 8 inch pot, if I stick my finger in and it's dry to about 1.5 inches down, I'll water it. But for the 18 inch pots I deal with at work, I always use a soil probe to check the water levels deeper in the pot. You can see more details about soil probes on my upcoming "Houseplant Gear" post!
When it is time to water, you still don't want to completely saturated the soil. If your plant is indirectly potted like mine, and has plenty of drainage, you can take it to the sink and make sure that any extra water runs out the bottom so that there isn't standing water in your container. The key is to always leave room for air in your soil.
Once you and your fiddle have gotten to a point of mutual agreement on when and how much to water, to make it easier on yourself, you can get yourself on a schedule. Once a week for small plants and once every other week for bigger plants seems to work well for me and gives me some wiggle room.
When it comes down to it, house plant care is all about trial and error. Growing conditions in a greenhouse are very different than your home, and the transition for plants from the grower to the seller to you can be rough on them. It can take a while for you and a plant to get used to each other, but if have patience, once you do, your love can flourish!
If you have any other questions about Ficus lyrata, leave me a comment below!
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