Hi Friends! It’s back to the daily Monday-Friday grind after a fun filled weekend. Since it was Mother’s Day weekend and my brother was home visiting for a few days we headed up to our hometown to enjoy some time with family. We also enjoyed having a large backyard, more than 600sqft, drive-thrus, and diet cokes in styrofoam cups from Chick-fil-A. It’s the small things in life that always bring so much joy….you know, like the styrofoam cups.
Ryan has been dying to get a “living something” for our apartment (not counting the two living humans and french bulldog, lol). I’m sooooooo not a plant lady so I’ve been dodging the idea, but finally, I caved! We looked at various plants to decide which one (s) we liked and didn’t like. The only one that I really loved was a fiddle leaf fig. Turns out these “fashion-forward” plants are a tad bit high maintenance. Well, that has been an understatement!
I am happy to report that we’ve had our fiddle leaf for a little over 5 months and it’s still alive and dare I even say thriving. That’s right, we’ve had new leaves grow! Plant parent win!! Now, I am by no means an expert on fiddle leafs but I do have a few tips on how to care for one.
If you love these trees too but have been nervous about buying one, DON’T be! Because seriously, if Ryan and I can keep it alive, so can you! We are total plant rookies! We’re still learning what works best for our fiddle but I think we’ve finally found it. Hopefully some of the brown spots will go away soon. That bright green leaf is one of the new ones that just sprouted.
Tips on Caring for Your Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree:
1. Watering–you have to give it just the right amount of water. Not too much and not too little. The gardner at the plant store told us to water it once the top inch of soil dries out, then water it again until water comes out at the bottom. It likes to have a moist but not soaked soil.
2. Sunlight–indirect sunlight is best. Too much hot direct light can burn the leaves and cause them to fall off. Not enough light can also cause the leaves to fall off. See what I mean about being high maintenance…
3. Keep it out of drafty areas. Drafts can cause the plant to dry up, leaves to brown, and then eventually fall off. This goes for both air conditioning and window drafts.
4. Dust it, dust it realllllll good. The leaves are so large on a fiddle leaf that they do require some periodic dusting. This will help keep your plant “breathing” and will prevent any weird funguses and/or pests from growing. Ain’t nobody got time for either of those problems!
5. Go ahead and spritz it’s with water every other day. This helps to give it that faux tropical climate that these beauties thrive in.
6. When figuring out if you need to water the plant, check the soil from the bottom of the pot. If it’s dry, give it some water. If it’s still pretty wet, let it dry out a little more.
There you have it, my tips for keeping this finicky plant alive. If you have any tips I’d love to hear yours!
Xoxo,
AP
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