Fiddle Leaf Figs

Fiddle leaf figs are native to the rain forests in West Africa and Australia. They have become one of the trendiest plants for decoration in the last years for two main reasons, one is their showy leaves, the second their adaptability.

In the wild, fiddle leaf figs grow can grow as a large tree and can live 50 years or even longer, and produce flowers and a green fig-like fruit.

Some fun facts:

In the wild, fiddle leaf fig trees are epiphytes. An epiphyte, also called air plant, is any plant that grows upon another plant merely for physical support. This means that they grow on top of other plants, where there is plenty of sunlight. As they grow down, they may strangle the plant as they compete for resources.

Another fun fact is that if a fiddle leaf fig is cut, they will sprout from the trunk. Oftentimes when this happens, they will grow back with several more leaves and be fuller than they were before. You can also take the cutting, place it on water and grow a new plant.

This is a wild, resilient and easy to care plant. But of course, growing them indoors can be a challenge if you don’t know what you are doing.

When it comes to care, especially indoors, there is a lot of conflicting advice online; some people say that it’s hard to grow fiddle leaf figs and most people end up overcomplicating the subject with all types of advice. But in the end, it thrives under the same basic rules than most of our house plants

CARE:

One of the most important things is to provide good drainage. In the wild, these plants have unlimited constant drainage at all times, so their roots are never sitting in water, they’re never too wet, and they’re never too dry. They get misted and bathed every day by the rain and air moisture.

But inside our homes it is a different story. Inside our homes plants are watered more or less once a week, then we wait until the soil dry out before watering again. The problem is that we don’t see if it’s dry or moist under the surface of the soil, so most people tend to either overwater it or underwater it. Always check for moisture a few inches into the soil before watering. 

TEN RULES FOR FIDDLE LEAF

• Excellent drainage pot
• Fast draining soil
• Never overwater
• Give maximum indirect light
• Treat problem as soon as they arise
• Repot when necessary
• Feed the plant
• Rotate the plant so it gets evenly spread light
• Clean the plant’s leaves
• Be constant