Problem with my Benjamin fig

[kaIInka]

Hey,
I am a new member here so first of all hello everyone and I decided to join because of the problem with my plant. My knowledge about plants is not that great and everything that I know comes basically from my parents but I would like to ask for advice.
I have a Benjamin fig in my room for last couple of years but recently I noticed that something bad is going on. A plant has shed a lot of its leaves and looks as it looks like it's withering away.
I really can't find any reasons myself so I'm asking for your help. I don't think it has a fungus because I read something about it. I would also say that it has good conditions when it comes to soil and irrigation
Let me know what do you think or maybe any of you had the same problem

 

[Meadowlark]

Welcome @kaIInka. Post a photo if you can.

 

[cpp gardener]

The usual problem with them is insufficient light. But please post a photo to eliminate other possible issues.

 

[oneeye]

The way I do it with my ficus plants is to replace the top half of the soil in the pot, or if the container is small, I will change as much of the soil as I can and then repot in the same pot with new potting mix. Like cpp said, Ben Ficus loves a lot of light and if your light gets weaker the plant will drop leaves to compensate for the reduction of light due to the incoming Winter.

 

[Sheal]

Welcome kallnka.

Ficus 'Benjamina'

They are very temperamental plants. They need a lot of light but not direct sunlight, so preferably close to a window, and once in the right situation don't like being moved. They don't like draughts either.

They prefer starvation and being pot bound. This one above close to 6ft in height, I had about fifteen years and never fed it, rarely watered it and changed the soil maybe three times.

Another type of fig was growing successfully out of a stone wall with no soil close to my husbands office.

It is also possible to take cuttings from them but they will bleed a sticky, white sap until the wound heals.

 

[angelo]

Hey,
I am a new member here so first of all hello everyone and I decided to join because of the problem with my plant. My knowledge about plants is not that great and everything that I know comes basically from my parents but I would like to ask for advice.
I have a Benjamin fig in my room for last couple of years but recently I noticed that something bad is going on. A plant has shed a lot of its leaves and looks as it looks like it's withering away.
I really can't find any reasons myself so I'm asking for your help. I don't think it has a fungus because I read something about it. I would also say that it has good conditions when it comes to soil and irrigation
Let me know what do you think or maybe any of you had the same problem

Hey,
I am a new member here so first of all hello everyone and I decided to join because of the problem with my plant. My knowledge about plants is not that great and everything that I know comes basically from my parents but I would like to ask for advice.
I have a Benjamin fig in my room for last couple of years but recently I noticed that something bad is going on. A plant has shed a lot of its leaves and looks as it looks like it's withering away.
I really can't find any reasons myself so I'm asking for your help. I don't think it has a fungus because I read something about it. I would also say that it has good conditions when it comes to soil and irrigation
Let me know what do you think or maybe any of you had the same problem

HI kalinka, the problem is definitely reduction of light intensity and probably overwatering too, they hate too much water.

 

[oneeye]

Here's photos of a Ben Fic cutting that's going into its 3rd Winter. It was the size of a pencil when It first grew roots. I grow them in full Sun all Summer and bring them indoors for Winter. I never fertilize these, but I do refresh the potting mix every Spring. The same goes for rubber trees, which can yield super results. This plant will have to be pruned this year just to get indoors for Winter. I will have plenty of cuttings.

I put a plant on market place just to see what would happen and was suprised to see how much these plants bring and how fast that sale.

 

[oneeye]

I want to share something I picked up with ben ficus plants over the past years. I'm sure you are familiar with how plants can get stronger from wind and heavy rain hitting the plants. The term is thigmomorphogenesis, and it's a process where the plant responds to mechanical stress by growing more wood and yielding shorter height. A lot of energy and productivity are going to wood and root production to support the stress and always yield shorter plants.

The last photo above is an example of what I'm talking about. I have found that if you lean a ben ficus next to a pole and secure it with a bungee for the whole growing season, the plant will not follow thigmormorphogenesis laws. The result is always faster-growing and super-tall plants with a lot of foliage that are much bigger and beautiful in half the time. In the Winter, indoor plants don't need strong stems and are easy to manage the weight.

 

[Meadowlark]

... The term is thigmomorphogenesis, and it's a process where the plant responds to mechanical stress by growing more wood and yielding shorter height.

I see something very similar in my veggies...i.e. they grow much stronger if allowed to go through the "mechanical stress". I never knew what it was called ...but thanks to @oneeye now know it has a name thigmomorphogenesis.

Learn something every day.

 

[Sheal]

Nature has its own way of dealing with things if us humans leave it alone.