Native Plants
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Monday - July 27, 2009
From: Grenada, MS
Region: Southeast
Topic: Best of Smarty, Non-Natives, Watering
Title: Why is my Weeping Fig crying leaves?
Answered by: Joe Marcus
QUESTION:
I have a weeping fig that I bought Memorial day in Birmingham, Al. It has 8 or 9 trunks growing altogether. It sits on a porch with eastern exposure, only about 2 hours of sun. It has been losing leaves steadily since I got it. They turn yellow and then fall off. I was watering it daily. Now I water it about once a week. But the leaves are still falling off. Could it be our bad water that is spoiling the plant? Thanks for any help you can give me.ANSWER:
Weeping fig, Ficus benjamina is not a North American native plant species and is outside our area of expertise. However, we may be able to help some.
Mr. Smarty Plants once saw a cartoon of a weeping fig with the caption, "Ficus benjamina - Latin for, its leaves fall off." Leaf drop is a universal truth of this species. It will drop leaves in response to just about any change in its environmental condition: light, water, air temperature, relative humidity, you name it. Leaf drop is a weeping fig's way of saying, "I don't like being messed with!" Fortunately, ficuses rarely show any ill-effect from their leaf-shedding. They usually soon produce new leaves and going on doing whatever the heck it is that ficuses do all day. Watering once a week sounds about right.
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