Hi all,

I have a beautiful ficus microcarpa ginseng that I inherited after a ceremony. It has slowly but steadily been losing leaves despite watering, misting and using Pokon bonsai liquid fertiliser (though there are a small number of light green leaves shooting thankfully). I have stopped using the fertiliser during the winter months as directed on the bottle. Attached are pics of how it originally looked and also photos taken this morning. I've had the tree for 8 months now.

Tree is kept indoors and is not subject to major temperature changes.Is there anything I can do to return it to green leafy goodness?

Thanks

T

Does it get several hours of full sun each day? Else invest in plant growing lights. Make sure the temperature is 18C and up. Ensure the air does not get dry (Humidity over 50%).

If that does not work, consider visiting a forum on houseplants. Bonsai typically are kept outside. Keeping tropicals healthy indoors is a challenge for most.

if you can erect a small plastic tent to go over your ficus and place on a window ledge or conservatory away from any direct sunlight and away from any forms of direct heat , rads etc she will winter fine , keeping the temp above 15c , in the spring when there is no chance of a last frost and night tempos are above 15c place her outside away from any direct sunshine , if you can get yourself a green polythene lean to greenhouse in the summer you can start defoliating her and get fresh new growth , feel free to contact me and i can give you more in depth advice , dont worry to much though as they a very hardy plants

Why would you recommend keeping them out of sunshine?
These trees need all the light they can get in order to get healthy.

leatherback wrote:

Why would you recommend keeping them out of sunshine?
These trees need all the light they can get in order to get healthy.

I don't know where the OP is located, but in high summer they struggle in full midday sun, here in the tropics.
In spring, fall and winter, full sun, outside.

hi
ficus like light and lots of it but direct sunshine is a no no in my experience of the ones i have in my collection , hence when bringing them in for overwintering i always make sure they are on a bright window sill but not direct sunlight , i have made the mistake of putting one of my ficus in direct sunlight only to get some rather black leaves much the same as when they in to low temps , some species like the umbrella like a very bright conservatory and from what i have heard they tolerate well full sunshine , the one in this forum like mine have never tolerated direct sunshine though , i believe it due to them living beneath the canopy from where they are from , again not all but certainly all the small leave varieties i keep as bonsai do not like direct sunshine

Hm.. pokon is a dutch brand of fertilizer, so I guessed the person was at elast in Europe. Meaning.. Indoor cultivation during winter.

I have NEVER had problems with full sun in ficus. Maybe a few leaves when transitioning to outside after winter. But not during summer.

And an understory plant.. Not really:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_microcarpa#/...Ficus_microcarpa.jpg

hi
again , this is my personal experience around 22 yrs , some ficus are found mainly beneath the canopy as some are found in open , my growth has been far vigorous in a well lit area out of direct sunshine rather than in full son , but again this is my experience , my pepper trees i acclimatized and full frost proof now , again this is my experience

Thank you for your advice.

Would foliar feeding help? I am unfortunately limited in my capacity to keep the plant outdoors.

tripmann wrote:

Would foliar feeding help?

Probably not. From what I read, foliar feeding is inefficient, and it is a myth that has been debunked. I'm not 100% sure if I agree with that though.

However, would it not be better to ask questions about your plant on a forum where they have adequate knowledge? There are forums about ficus houseplants, like this one:

garden.org/forums/search.php?q=ficus+ginseng