To spice up the apartment, I and Pricegal bought a large and rather expensive) benjamin ficus (Latin name ficus benjamina, strangely enough) this summer. We were warned that it would be hard to take care of, but it thrived during the first months, growing quickly and spawning buds. Recently, however, it has stopped drinking. The dirt stays moist for a very long time after watering, and since the flowerpot isn’t entirely watertight, we can see large amounts of water ending up on its tray.
It’s gotten colder and darker as we approach winter, could that have something to do with it? Do these plants “hibernate” in some fashion during the winter? Should we perhaps cut some of the longer branches? Should we wait for the top soil to be completely dry before watering, even if it takes a very long time?
Dopers, you helped me when my dog was starving (by the way, he got worse and has now been, sadly, put to sleep). Can you save my plant?
You’re probably drowning it. Ficus in general, and the benjaminas in particular, are fussy houseplants. They don’t like to be moved and will promptly drop half their leaves when they are* moved. They like light but not too much. They like heat but not hot. They need water but not too much. So try this…
Let your plant dry out. Really, really dry out. Then, next time you water it, water it very deeply. Soak it. Then let it dry out again. Really, really dry out.
More houseplants are killed by too much water rather than too little. I have boatloads of plants in my house, including three large ficus. I set them outside all summer and bring them back in before the first frost. And during the winter, I might water them once a month, if I remember. They do fine. (Well, the ficus all drop their leaves in a snit when I bring them in again but I don’t let them frighten me.)
It is better to let the plant go dry than to keep its soil sopping wet. Most tropicals come from areas where winters are dry. They take a sort of rest, or at least slow down during winter (which is their dry season). So, the plant isn’t growing at maximum this time of year.
Let the soil dry out before you water it again. Not bone dry, but you should be able to just barely feel any moisture.
I would also invest in a good pot and place it on pot feet (bought in threes at most garden stores), and keep the pot bottom OUT of the water. Letting it sit in an inch of water only invites stagnant foul conditions which can rot out the roots at the very bottom of the pot (and with most plants the roots tend to congregate in the lower half of the pot).
Our office has an old Ficus benjamina that gets water maybe every couple of weeks or so. It’s been there since i’ve been there, and doesn’t take a lot of care. People do way more harm than good by babying their plants. Let up with the spoling, it only harms them.
Yes, let the soil dry completely and then drown the soil to re-moisten.
An excellent way to assure that you are thoroughly wetting the soil is to sit the pot into another pot, bucket or pail that is watertight and large enough to hold the plant’s pot. Place the pot into the larger container and fill the container with water, allowing the water to soak throught the plant soil from the bottom and forcing out any air pockets.
If you just pour the water in from the top until it drains the water will seek the easiest path to the bottom and will bypass a lot of soil, leaving it dry and hard. Be careful tho, the water can float the plant if added to quickly and cause it to tip over.
Then I bought a soil moisture meter for about $5 at the nursery. It’s an electric meter gizmo on a 1-foot metal rod. No batteries required. Several probes around the pots revealed very uneven moisture levels and generally waaay too much water. Now they get a lot less water and have thrived the last for 3 years.
The meter certainly isn’t calibrated, but it is repeatable and replaces my fumbling intuition about how moist today is versus two weeks ago. It also lets me measure the moisture where it matters, down at the root ball, rather than on the surface, which is essentially immaterial.
All in all, I’ve gotta say it was one of the more effective $5 purchases I’ve made. Tastes great, lasts a long time.
Yes, you are almost certainly overwatering. If there is water coming out of the bottom of the pot and sitting there then you definitely are.
I have a fairly large Ficus plant - in a pot about a foot across and my rule of thumb is to give it a couple of pints of water whenever I remember… which is usually every two to three weeks. In this time the soil has gone very dry and shrunk away from the sides of the pot… and perhaps even a leaf or two has dropped, which is what usually reminds me!
Anyway, the plant thrives on this treatment. I suggest you do the same. In general, plants need far less water than most people imagine.