If you recall, I bought a Fiddle Fig Leaf plant {tree?} back in October. Surprisingly it is still alive – although my husband claims it’s on its death bed. Whatev.
So, I thought I would share a few updates since the last post. Cosmetic, care-related, and about the cats {because a few of you asked}.
Occasionally, one of the leaves will turn more yellowish and/or get brown at the tips. The brown seems to work its way up the leaf. Typically I’ll just pull it off after awhile and it snaps off fairly easily. Thankfully, I have had one or two new leaves to fill in some of the bald spots. But, with all the pruning over the last six month, it’s definitely not as hefty as it once was {see below}.
You can see I also ended up pruning the bottom of the tree {this happened shortly after I bought it}. This was mainly due to the cats. Like I mentioned in the original post, there were reviews online about whether or not fiddle leaf figs are safe for cats.
In the end, it seemed like they were only dangerous in mass quantities {like a cat would have to eat the whole tree}. However, for the first month or so, we closed the office during the day while we were at work. I would then supervise the cats at night while I was on the computer to see what their interaction was. Their interest was minimal and by removing the bottom leaves, they couldn’t reach any others and seemed to ignore it even further. After a month of no interest, we left the office doors open all day. No problems since. At this point, the new basket has become their scratching post so I occasionally worry about it tipping, but other than that, they have left it alone. As a precaution, I would not buy a tree with leaves within your cat’s reach.
Up next? I’ll officially re-pot it. The black plastic container it came in is likely too small. I need to upgrade the pot and add some nice dirt.
Not sure you can make the commitment to a real version? There are so many great faux fiddle leaf fig options now as well! I’ve round up a few below.
I am definitely still a fan of this plant {tree?}. Are you, or has it been overdone?
Do you have any fiddle leaf fig tips or things to avoid? With such finicky little plants, I would love to hear other’s successes {and fails}!
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whoa whoa whoa – you found a local nursery that sells these for $49?! I had to grab a tiny one at Ikea the last time I was in Minnesota because I couldn’t find one anywhere in town. Thanks for the update on how to care for them, I’m off to Mulhalls this weekend to grab one…
Yours is doing very well. I have mine for over a year and it is thriving. I soak mine approximately once a week( will cut back a bit now) and I do turn mine… And yet it grows at least a new leaf a week!…I hadn’t read those points! Love your basket, mine is in plain white.
Hi, your fiddle leaf is lovely. But a couple of things. Notice how the leaves are very droopy in the second picture. Your plant needs water. You can probably go a bit longer than a week between waterings (check the top inch of soil and see if it’s dry), but when you do water it, give it a lot of water, soak the soil and let it run through the pot, give it about 20 mins and any water that doesn’t soak back up into the plant discard.
Once I started doing this with my plant, my leaves stopped drooping and point up like your first pic. Also I’m not sure where you read you shouldn’t turn your plant, but in a corner like that, I would turn it. The back of the plant needs sun too. Good luck!
Thank you SO much!! Unfortunately, I think mine is a goner. After I wrote this post I must have jinxed it and it all went downhill. I loved it so much that I think I’ll get another and I’m hoping it will thrive with the advice you have provided. Thanks again!!
I’m sad that your fiddle fig went to plant heaven. I have only been able to find little baby ones here at Home Depot. You should have replanted it in a slightly bigger pot, added some nice soil to it. Having a nice buffer of soil around it will keep the moisture a bit longer, helping it on those days it is not watered. But I have also heard that replanting it into a too big pot will shock it. Keeping it in the nursery plastic pot is a no no. And yes, rotate that baby! It really look beautiful though!