Common Names: Fiddle Leaf Fig, Rubber Plant, Ficus Tree
Botanical Name: Ficus Lyrata, Ficus Elastica, Ficus Altissima
Ficus plants have always been a staple for interior design because of how structural they can grow and the characteristics of their beautiful foliage. They can be the main attraction and the focal point in a room, or they can complement a variety of plants within an urban jungle home.
A Ficus can grow super fast if it’s given the right living conditions and the tender love and care that it needs. They can turn from a plant on a table top, into a tree that can fill an empty corner of a room. In its natural habitat, they can grow up to 70 feet tall, but as a houseplant, you can expect your Ficus to get up to 6-8 feet tall depending on your ceiling height.
Warning: Ficus plants are poisonous if ingested so keep away from pets and small children.
Light
They need bright indirect light for the majority of the day. So a Southwest facing window will be the perfect spot for them. And make sure to rotate your Ficus everytime you water it. This will promote even growth all around the plant, and will encourage it to grow upward instead of leaning to one side where it’s reaching for the sun.
Water
Let the top 2-3 inches of the soil to dry out before giving your Ficus a good soak of water until it drains out of the bottom of the drainage hole. Make sure to not let the whole pot dry out completely because the Ficus likes the soil around the roots to stay consistently moist. If leaves are turning yellow, that usually means too much or not enough water. So doing the finger check in the soil is a good way to identify the issue.
Temperature
This is a plant that originates from tropical climates, so Ficus houseplants like to be warm and would prefer temperatures above 60-degrees F. Avoid placing your Ficus near any vents, drafty windows or exterior doors, particularly during the colder months. And since they’re tropical plants, they love humidity. So make sure to increase the moisture in the air by placing them near a humidifier or placing them on top of a pebble tray with water.
Fertilizer
Your Ficus will thrive even more when you feed it organic fertilizer once a month during the growing season. Although the growing season is typically during Spring and Summer, indoor houseplants can grow on their own schedule. So if your Ficus is still pushing out new growth, then continue to feed it. We like using worm castings as a slow release organic fertilizer, or fish emulsion which is an organic liquid fertilizer.
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