Beginner Gardening: Ficus - the rubber tree and the rock fig, 0 by tapla

tapla wrote:
Hi, Diana. In a kindly way I have to say your plants do not look ok. They are highly stressed/strained and show signs of one or more chronic issues.

I'll limit my preaching to the observation that the best way to deal with the problems you have now, is to keep them from happening in the first place. The most important factors that determine your plants growth and vitality levels are your soil choice, watering habits, your nutrient supplementation program (fertilizing) and light. End of sermon. ;o)

By what you've offered so far, it sounds like we can eliminate light as the issue. This leaves us looking at something soil related and/or your watering habits. Often, they are inextricably intertwined, as I suspect is the case here. If you water a plant and 3 weeks later the soil is still wet, you can be sure you have root issues and the soil is inappropriate and too water-retentive. Now is not a good time to be repotting weak plants, but I can offer tips that should help you get your plant through the winter so you can get it outdoors where it will gain enough energy to tolerate repotting and root-pruning.

Before I go any further, I want to be sure I didn't offend you with my sermon, and that you'd be open to considering following some advice if I explain why I offered it and present it in a way that makes sense to you. BTW - I've helped people turn around trees like yours hundreds of times, both in forum settings and in 'real life'. ;o)

Ball's in your court.

Al