My Year With A Fiddle Leaf Fig

Disclosure: PlantyFriend.com may get commissions for purchases made through links on this website. Don’t worry though, we only post links to items we love! Speaking of things we love, here’s a few of the things covered in this article: Fiddle Leaf Fig Starter Plant: https://amzn.to/2URBOqg Happy Frog Soil: https://amzn.to/3l8Fqia Perlite: https://amzn.to/3lf1OGu   Hello planty friends!   Ficus Lyrata, commonly known as the Fiddle Leaf Fig is one of the most alluring houseplants. You know you’ve seen it, that bushy, tall tree brightening up the corner of every picture on Pinterest. Side note, it is NOT a good idea to stick this plant in a corner. It is known for being picky, and this can make it intimidating to invest in those humongous, heavenly ones you see lining the walls of every Home Depot and Lowes. I purchased my Fiddle Leaf Fig one year ago, and today I will tell you how my experience has been, what I have done, and tips/tricks that will save you time and money.  

1. Overall Experience
2. Purchasing
3. Repotting, Soil, Light
4. Challenges

  ……………………………………………………………………………………………   Overall Experience   Overall, the Fiddle Leaf Fig is beautiful, temperamental, and resilient.    My FLF is one of the most striking plants in my collection, and it commands everyone’s attention when they walk in the room. The large, fiddle shaped leaves are its most prominent feature, and I have been pleasantly surprised to watch the older leaves grow larger over time. However, the new leaves are often small and covered in brown spots when they first come in (I will talk about what causes this later). Also, it is quick to drop leaves when moved or neglected.    I wouldn’t say this plant is a slow grower, but I wouldn’t say it is fast either. I feel like when the plant is very happy and all of the conditions are perfect it’ll give me a new leaf every couple weeks. But there were definitely long stretches of time when it seemed like all this plant was doing was losing leaves with no new growth. However, she always bounced back as long as I was attentive to her needs.    Taking all of this into account, I would still describe this as a resilient plant because I have pendulated from abandoning this plant to drowning it in love. And yet, a year later, it looks pretty good.   Purchasing    I purchased my Ficus Lyrata from Lowes in September 2019 for about $25, and it was about 3ft tall. When shopping for your Fiddle Leaf Fig can either buy a small plant that you’ll develop over time, or you can buy a larger plant.    The main benefit of buying a smaller plant is that it is cheaper. Also, you can control how your FLF will develop over time. Smaller plants are typically  bushy, and you can continue to maintain the busy appearance or trim the lower leaves to make it appear more tree-like.    The full size trees (5 ft+) near me go for about $100, but prices fluctuate and this all depends on where you live and shop. It can be nice to start off with a larger plant if you want something huge and beautiful right from the start. Also, and this might just be me, I feel like larger plants are more resilient, so there’s more wiggle room while you’re learning how to care for your plant.    At the time I got my fiddle I was still pretty new to houseplants, so I opted to purchase a smaller and cheaper one, knowing that it has a history of being “difficult”. I would suggest going to a nursery rather than one of the big box stores, make sure to check the soil and leaves for pests (Stay tuned for an upcoming article all about pests, prevention, and remedies), and choose a plant with good potential.    Repotting, Soil, Light    Repotting your plant ensures that it has optimal conditions for growing. You should give your plant about two weeks to adjust to its new environment before repotting. Unless you notice pests or disease, then repot immediately. Waiting a couple weeks helps avoid putting your plant into shock, and with something as sensitive as a Fiddle Leaf Fig it is better to take it slow.   Choose a well draining soil and pot your plant in a large pot about 3 inches wider than the nursery pot. You never want to repot into something smaller than the current pot, and you don’t want to go too big either. You can make a great homemade soil mix by combining any brand potting soil, perlite or pumice, orchid bark, and mosquito bits to give your plant everything it needs. Terra Cotta pots are typically preferred because they absorb excess moisture from your soil,this helps prevent root rot.    Give your Fiddle Leaf Fig bright, indirect light. I know… the same vague term everyone uses. What this REALLY means is to place your plant near a window that gets a lot of light exposure throughout the day, but not extremely hot sun. Northern facing windows get the softest light, and South/West is the hottest. I have my FLF about 5 feet away from a SE facing window right now, and it seems pretty happy.    Challenges     There have been so many challenges with this plant. Even now, I feel like it isn’t exactly thriving, yet it has come so far.    The new leaves tend to come in covered in brown spots. I have read that this is caused by the roots taking in water too quickly. Perhaps bottom watering could help alleviate this issue, but overall it is just a cosmetic one. All of my leaves have outgrown this discoloration as they mature.    My Fiddle Leaf Fig unfortunately had a large amount of fungus infiltrating its root system when I purchased it. It looked like small white eggs everywhere in the soil. I attempted to treat the issue with hydrogen peroxide as well as rubbing alcohol, but the problem didn’t go away until I repotted it. I will have a more detailed post on this later.   The FLF is quick to drop leaves which can be disheartening. My Fiddle has dropped a couple in the past month and I’m not totally sure why. They were only lower leaves, so I’m not too concerned. Maybe I was neglecting the plant in some way, maybe she’s just a drama queen, but most likely it was caused by my puppy who is curious and destructive.    ………………………………………………………………………………………… Thanks for reading, and comment below if you have any questions!  Stay tuned for future posts on tips/tricks, pest maintenance, and everything I did wrong the first year.