Question
QUESTION: hi will..

i just brought home several new ficus trees and some of them are dropping a few leaves (i know this is normal and i'm not too worried about them.  however, i that i bought (this was one week ago)seems really bad.  it has many brown leaves and looks really droopy and sad.  it is loosing ALOT of leaves.  is this normal? should i be concerned?

the plant is about 8-9 feet tall, it is in a 17" pot.  also, i have been shaking the tree so that the dead leaves fall off...is that the right thing to do?

thanks a lot!

ANSWER: Hi Sarah,

You are correct that leaf drop with new Ficus tree is normal for the first several months while the tree adapts to its new environment.

However, you are also right to be concerned if many of the leaves are dry brown and the stems are drooping. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you the cause because I don't have enough information. Here are some possibilities:

The tree is not getting enough light because it is taller than the windows or is more than a few feet from a sunny window. Maximum indoor light is required for good Ficus tree health

Either the soil is not absorbing the water because it is running straight through and into the saucer or the soil, is staying constantly wet and the roots are rotting. Either of these watering extremes can cause the symptoms you described.

Your Tree may have a disease called phomopis dieback. If there are cracks and lesions on some of the larger stems that is a good indication of this disease. There is no cure for phomopsis so you would have to return the tree or destroy it so it does not infect the others.

Shaking the trees to help remove the dead leaves is fine. It will have no effect on the health of the tree, but it does mean that you won't have to pick up fallen leaves quite so often.

Please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions.

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Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi will,

thanks for the quick response.  this plant is in a corner of a room with large windows on both sides of it.  i have only watered it one time and the water did not run right through the soil.  the soil was pretty dry when i got it.i wish i would have added some sort of additional nutrients when i watered it, but i didn't think about it because he looked healthy 1 week ago.  i don't see any signs of the disease you mentioned.

are there any other measures i should take?  could this be a stress response to being moved, or is it too extreme to be that?  

thanks

ANSWER: Hi Sarah,

Corner locations can be problematic because the side of the tree that faces the corner gets almost no light at all. Your tree would be better off directly in front of one of the windows rather than off to one side. Are your windows taller than the tree? Are the windows completely uncovered throughout the day? All of these factors are important for a light sensitive tree such as Ficus.

Lack of nutrients is not the problem. Additional nutrients are not going to help.

It is possible that the soil had been allowed to stay too dry for an extended period of time prior to your acquiring it. If so, that could account for the dead leaves.

I don't have a good sense of the extent of the symptoms so it is hard for me to assess if this is a reaction to the move or something more serious. Posting a good photo of the entire tree would help.

All you can do is make sure you are maximizing the light and watering thoroughly as soon as the soil feels dry to the touch. I also suggest that you prune back any branches that have lost all or most of their leaves.

~Will



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi will,

thanks for the answers, this is very helpful!  the corner that the plant is in is actually a corner of windows.  so he has a window on either side and the windows are almost as tall as the tree.  

is it normal for a ficus to lose as many leaves as it is losing if, in fact, the soil was too dry for too long, and the moving stress is a factor?  i live in north caroline and this tree was purchasd to be a "model" plant in something we have out here called "furniture market".  (furniture manufacturers display their stuff, people come from all over the world, and they buy plants to spruce up their displays)  then, this nursery sells the plants at steep discounts.  it is possible that the plants got little attention as the furniture people know that the plants are not theirs and that they will go back to the nursery after the market.  the nursery is top notch, but they literally have hundreds of plants and maybe they get neglected before they are sold.

at what point will i know that he just isn't going to make it?  :(

Answer
Hi Sarah,

That's good that the windows wrap around the corner, so we can at least rule out light as a problem - almost. The top of the tree is not going to get enough light. Ideally the top of the tree should be about a foot below the top of the window. This is because the light comes in at a downward angle. You might consider pruning back the top of the tree to make it shorter. Pruning alters a tree's appearance, but it does not harm it in any way.

"Used" trees are always problematic because there is no way to know their history and their care. When they come straight from a nursery, you can be pretty sure about their care. There is no telling how much light and water yours got in the furniture showroom and for how long it was in that location.

I suspect that the problem yours is having is not fatal, but it way take quite some time for it to stabilize and come back. Pruning will help it recover. As I mentioned, prune off any long, mostly leafless stems and branches. In addition, prune back the overall height and width and thin out the smaller interior branches. This pruning will make the tree smaller, but it will also help minimize the leaf drop and make its progress easier to monitor. Of course, good light and water must be maintained.

Look for a decrease in the number of dry brown leaves and then a decrease in the number of falling yellow and green leaves. In addition, you should see signs of healthy new leaf growth at the ends of branches. These are all signs of recovery. But lots of patience will be required. Once it has recovered, you will be rewarded by a healthy tree that should completely renew itself and live for many years under your good care.

~Will