Banana ficus dropping yellow leaves

I was given a banana ficus and about 2 weeks after moving it into my office, some (but not all) leaves are turning a mottled yellow color and are dropping off. Is this normal for these when moved? Does it need more/less water? Fertilizer? Thanks!

I'm not familiar wtih banana ficus and I can't see your picture well enough to really see if it's a plant I know or not, but other species of ficus do tend to drop their leaves when they're moved, so it wouldn't be unreasonable for this one to behave the same. I would definitely check your watering though, too much or too little water can cause those symptoms too so I'd hate for you to think it's just the move when it turns out there's something else going on as well (overwatering is probably more likely than underwatering).

Thanks, I've been watering once a week, but I may be giving too much water. I'll try cutting back, here is a better picture, taken prior to the yellowing. Thanks.

I wouldn't necessarily cut back on watering unless you test whether or not you're watering too much--your problems could just be because you moved it. Depending on the type of potting mix you have and how much root mass the plant has, once a week could be too much water or it could be too little. Next time you would normally water, stick your finger down a few inches into the soil and see if it still feels moist. If it does, then hold off on watering, but if it feels dry then go ahead and water (and if it feels really dry, I'd check for your next watering after 4-5 days instead of a week.)

I'm not familiar with Banana Ficus either but if it's like every other ficus I've ever seen or owned, they go into shock if you move them from one location to another ... I can move my weeping fig (ficus benjamina) just two feet from one place to another and it begins to go into shock right away and does exactly what you describe with leaves yellowing and falling off. New leaves always grow back. My ficus trees stay out on my back deck year round and will also lose a lot of leaves in the winter but always sprout new growth come spring!

hmmm ... just found it in Plant Files: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62921/ and I DO have this plant! I've known it as Ficus Ali.

Supposedly, the advantage to growing the banana leaf ficus is they don't drop leaves like ficus benjamina, but my banana leaf is doing the exact same thing as yours is. I recall the same thing happened last year, but by the middle of May it had filled in completely. I put mine outside in part sun around April 15th and watered it freely. This year I will do the same, but I will fertilizer it before setting it outside. You may also want to check for spider mite, I can't tell from the picture above, but I do know spider mite damage causes a mottled yellow look to the leaves. You didn't ask, but in case you're wanting additional plants, they propagate very easily. I now have 3 plants from the original plant.
Chris

This message was edited Apr 3, 2008 12:11 AM

I agree with all the above, also if it was new to you, how long has it been in the same pot, it may need re potting into new compost for indoor plants, a feed every 2 weeks is also good for a growing plant, once a few weeks have past, any move/shock to the plant will have given time for it to re settle again, dont have it too close to the cooler if inside and I would give it a misting over every few days to give it some air moisture, when you mist the plant, this is a good time to see any red spider mite webs as they are like silk threads they are hard to notice, but when you mist, the tiny particles of water stay on the webs and are easier to see, if you find this, then you need to treat the plant for red spider mites, AND any other plants in the same room. good luck. WeeNel.