Whenever I share my fiddle tree on Instagram I get a flood of questions asking how I care for it and how I get it to grow like a weed. Honestly, I think it’s a whole lot of luck and that my apartment is the perfect swampy condition for it to thrive. I recently received a few additional good tips that I thought I should share in case you all are crazy plant ladies too!
Tips on Caring for Your Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree:
Tip No. 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.
Tip No. 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…
Tip No. 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.
Tip No. 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!
Tip No. 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.
Tip No. 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.
Additional Tips for Caring for Your Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree:
Tip No. 7: Water with distilled water–yes, you’re reading that right, haha! Turns out the ”dust” that I need to clean off my leaves could actually be salt. I normally water it with tap water and that can potentially create a dusty film from the salt in the tap water. So now I need to dust every inch of her and start watering her with the distilled water. Distilled water also helps the tree not to burn.
Tip No. 8: In the spring and summer months you should fertilize the fiddle twice a month.
Tip No. 9: Place coffee grounds on the top of the soil. When my friend told me this I was like,” say what now” but I looked it up and so many fellow fiddle leaf growers have said that new leaves sprouted in a week or two of adding the coffee grounds. I haven’t tried this one myself but I might just give it a go when I rotate my tree.
Tip No. 10: If you’ve had your fiddle for more than a year, it’s probably time to repot or root prune. I’ve had mine for over a year and definitely need to do this but I’m scared of shocking her. I also don’t know if I have room for a bigger pot so I might need to root prune which also sounds complicated. I’ll keep you all posted on this one with what I decide to do and how I do it.
This weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the year because I love the time change and the longer hours of daylight. I was hoping to replant ”amber’s urban garden” this weekend but the weather isn’t the greatest so I’m going to wait another week or two. I can’t wait to have my herbs back and to add a few flowers in this year, I’m thinking hydrangeas! Cheers to the weekend!
