Question
Last summer I put my six-foot fiddle leaf fig, which is normally indoors, outside on an east-facing porch under a canvas umbrella, where it loved the indirect sunlight. One day, however, it ended up not under the umbrella and about half of the leaves got sunburned. Should those leaves be removed (will new ones grow in their place)? The plant has 5 stems, 4 of which are 6-feet high. It's spot indoors is unfortunately too low in light (in a north-facing room with large windows), so the leaves are more sparse than would be ideal, but it's otherwise a beautiful plant, though now sunburned. What would you recommend? Many thanks, Carolyn

Answer
Carolyn,

You will need to wait till spring when you can put it back outside to do anything. At that time cut the 6 feet high branches back by half or at least a third. Put it in full sun. Then cut every leaf off the plant but leave the stem. Within 3 weeks the fig will start growing new smaller leaves that will not sunburn because they are used to sun when they start growing so they will not sunburn. Fertilize the plant weekly with miracle grow over the summer and follow the instructions on the box and the plant will grow just fine. By next fall it will be as large as it is now and probably bushier. I reccommend that you do some pruning over the summer to get it in a nice shape. The more you prune it the bushier & healthier it will get. If you have more questions feel free to write again. Good luck.

Darlene