Even in the event you did occur to present your fiddle-leaf fig the precise situations to provide fruits, they don’t style good like those from their cousin the frequent fig, F. carica.
F. lyrata fruits are tart and astringent.
How one can Develop
First off, it helps to know what fiddle-leaf figs don’t like.
They don’t like an excessive amount of direct solar, an excessive amount of shade, too little water, an excessive amount of water, drafts, drastic modifications in temperature, too little air humidity, being moved, mud on their leaves, or your style in throw pillows.
Okay, possibly not that final one. However I wasn’t kidding after I mentioned they are often choosy.
Hold studying to learn the way to keep up situations that these crops do like, so you possibly can assist your new houseplant to thrive.
Soil
Search for a soil combine that features some perlite and peat moss or coconut coir to enhance drainage.
Miracle-Gro Potting Soil
Miracle-Gro’s Potting Soil Combine is an efficient choice, and it’s obtainable from Residence Depot.
Water
Watering is probably the most important problem with rising F. lyrata.
Fiddle-leaf figs are significantly finicky about their water wants. Of their pure habitat, they will tolerate drought, so when unsure, err on the aspect of too dry over too moist.
The easiest way to inform in case your plant wants water is to stay your finger within the soil.
If it feels dry on the prime and moist – like a nicely wrung out sponge – at two inches deep, you don’t want so as to add any water.
Wait so as to add extra till you possibly can stick your finger within the soil and really feel that it’s dry within the prime two inches and simply beginning to dry out under that.
Water evenly across the base of the plant, on the soil stage. Don’t sprinkle the foliage.
You too can use the underside watering methodology to direct water in the direction of the roots.
Humidity
In winter when indoor air tends to be a lot drier, calmly mist the leaves each few days with a sprig bottle.
Fiddle-leafs that develop in situations which are too dry will develop wrinkled and crumpled leaves.
Mist within the morning, so the foliage has time to dry out earlier than the night.
When you reside in a dry local weather, you may wish to take into account buying a humidifier. Your pores and skin and your fig will thanks. Something under 20 % humidity is simply too low for houseplants.
Smaller crops could be placed on prime of a tray crammed with pebbles and water as a substitute of utilizing a humidifier.
The water evaporates from the tray, humidifying the air round your crops.
Arranging crops in teams also can assist to extend humidity.
Gentle and Warmth
Put your fiddle-leaf fig in a spot the place it’s going to obtain loads of oblique daylight, with only a little bit of direct daylight within the morning.
An excessive amount of direct daylight may cause the leaves to burn, flip brown, and fall off.
Conversely, a darkish basement nook simply gained’t do. If it doesn’t obtain sufficient gentle, the foliage will flip yellow and the leaves might fall off.
Keep away from retaining your plant anyplace that temperatures might change too dramatically.
Your plant shouldn’t be uncovered to excessive temperature fluctuations, temperatures under under 55°F or above 85°F.
Fertilizing
There are two various kinds of merchandise that I like to recommend to fertilize your crops: slow-release granular fertilizer, or liquid fertilizer.
Each work nicely, so it’s as much as you to resolve which inserts your schedule.
Liquid fertilizer must be utilized each different time you water through the rising season, whereas granular merchandise are a once- or twice-a-year process, relying on the producer’s suggestions.
Fiddle-leaf figs do greatest with a 3-1-2 (NPK) formulation. This encourages the plant to provide massive, wholesome leaves and many new foliage.
Aquatic Arts Liquid Fertilizer
Aquatic Arts makes a liquid fertilizer particularly to be used on Ficus crops. It’s obtainable from Amazon in eight and 16-ounce bottles.
You don’t have to fertilize within the first few months after planting, and normally you can too skip fertilizing within the winter.
Repotting
Each few years you’ll have to repot your plant.
You’ll usually see roots extending out of drainage holes or circling the perimeter of the container above or under the soil line.
F. lyrata can produce aerial roots, or roots that develop from the stem of the plant above the soil and lengthen downwards into the soil. These aren’t an indication that your plant must be repotted.
It’s greatest to do that mission within the spring. Choose a container a couple of inches bigger than the present one.
Ease the plant out of its current pot. You may have to run a gardening knife gently across the perimeter of the pot to loosen the soil.
After you have the plant out of its pot, gently take away the soil from the roots.
A part of the aim of repotting is to refresh the soil, so that you wish to take away as a lot of the outdated potting combine as attainable.
Then, trim away any lifeless roots earlier than repotting.
Cultivars to Choose
The species plant is the most typical in shops, however preserve a watch out for the couple of various cultivars that exist.
They’ll make a captivating addition to your indoor jungle in the event you’re searching for one thing slightly uncommon.
Fiddle-Leaf Fig
Species crops can be found from Quick Rising Bushes.
Bambino
When you’re a fan of the fiddle-leaf fig however want one thing a bit extra compact, try ‘Bambino.’
It solely grows to be about 24 inches tall, with proportionally smaller leaves. And as a substitute of maxing out at 18 inches, the leaves on this plant develop to about eight inches in size.
‘Bambino’
The foliage can also be a bit rounder than that of the usual plant, with out the distinct fiddle-like form.
You’ll find crops in six-inch and three-gallon pots obtainable from Quick Rising Bushes.
Variegated
This cultivar stands out from the others due to its multicolored leaves, that includes a darkish inexperienced heart and creamy yellowish-gold edges.
As is the case with many variegated sorts of crops, it does higher with a bit much less gentle than the true species plant.
Put it someplace with robust, oblique gentle, however to keep away from leaf burn, don’t expose it to direct solar.
Upkeep
Take a humid fabric and gently wipe the leaves a minimum of as soon as a month.
When you don’t, mud can block entry to daylight and clog the “pores” within the foliage or stomata, slowing photosynthesis and inflicting the plant to battle to outlive.
Fiddle-leaf figs can develop shortly. It’s common to see them shoot up a foot or two in a yr.
When you go away your plant in a nook and don’t rotate it, that progress can shortly turn into uneven because it tries to succeed in for the daylight.
There are two methods to cope with this. First, rotate it steadily. And second, make it even by pruning sometimes if it begins to look uneven.
Past sustaining symmetry, there are many different causes to prune.
