September's
Plant of the Month

Ficus benjamina

Weeping Fig
Ficus

 

This ancient tropical is one of the most popular and easy to care for houseplants. Some people say it has the ability to remove tobacco smoke from the air. The juices of the plant are known to be irritating. This plant will absolutely love you if you give it a  luke warm shower once a month. Over-watering is the only enemy of this plant.

This plant will drop it's leaves if it is put next to drafts from heating registers or over watered. Changes in it's environment will also cause a Weeping Ficus to drop it's leaves. If your plant is growing fine do not move it. If your plant drops it's leaves within a few weeks of bringing it home do not give it more water, be patient and it will come back.

  Size:  Can reach 30 feet can be pruned to stay 4-5 feet.

Habit: Upright arching.

Leaves: Elliptical-obovate. 2" long x 1" wide

Culture: Bright indirect light (like through a thin shear), consistently moist soil with good drainage.

Utilization: Houseplant

Propagation: . Cuttings anytime of the year.  Occasional pinching maybe needed to keep the plant from becoming too leggy in low light situations. Use pruned tips as cuttings. Cuttings will easily root in a glass of water and should be in moderate light until rooting.  More info on propagation.

Disease and Insects: Scale; treat be rubbing all leaf surfacesand stems with   rubbing alcohol (70%).  Root rot is a problem if it is in standing water so empty saucers.

Climate Range: Indoors but can be moved to filtered light in the summer. Expect some leaf drop when you bring back indoors for the fall.

Cultivars:

  • I have a Dwarf variegated cultivar but am not familiar with the name.

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