Fiddle Leaf Fig | 5 Essential Tips to Care for Your Ficus Lyrata
My Fiddle Leaf Fig is the King of the House. Our dog Rufus think he’s the king, but he’s wrong…
To start with, the Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree came first; 11 years earlier than him to be precise, (we bought it as our first year of marriage gift)! Second, he’s so much bigger and way more majestic with its tall and sculptural shape than the little white Westie with the big, big ego!
While we all love our Westie in our house as part of our family, my attachment to the Fiddle Leaf Fig is more rooted to the intimacy of the early years of our marriage, when it was all about my husband and I, and our time together. Then we had kids and the Westie came along, and the uniqueness of those early years of marriage vanished…
However, the Ficus Lyrata, commonly named Fiddle Leaf Fig, is still King in this house!
This plant is native to Western Africa, where it grows in tropical rainforests. It is no surprise it loves heat and high humidity.
Why is it called Fiddle Leaf Fig? Because its waxy, dark green leaves resemble the shape of a violin. Can you dispute that?
I feel so lucky I have had this plant for 12 years! I bought it when it was still hard to find because it wasn’t popular and nobody gave a hoot about it yet! The best part of it is that I have had 12 years to gain a good knowledge and expertise on caring for it. I’ve attuned to its needs to make it thrive in less than ideal conditions! It wasn’t all cupcakes and rainbows; I had a hard time with it at some point! But I was able to figure it out!
So here are my 5 essentials tips to care for one of the most beautiful and majestic house plants you can have!
I promise you that once you figure out the perfect spot and watering frequency, and don’t move it, your Fiddle Leaf Fig will be one of the lowest maintenance plants in your home! It sure is for me!
Here’s big ego Rufus the Westie dog posing in “his” room with the real King of the House, the Fiddle Leaf Fig.
tip #1 - It Loves Lots and lots of bright light
Fiddle Leaf Fig loves bright light! Bright light, not medium light. This is the most important tip and the one I am going to stretch the most!
The ideal location for this plant is a window. However, you need to make sure it’s not a West or South-West facing window or the scorching sun will burn the beautiful leathery leaves. Like many other plants, it is important avoiding direct sunlight. However, it is fine for your plant to be exposed to direct sun light in the early morning hours.
I can speak to the incredible amount of natural light this plant needs based on my personal experience. We used to live in a smaller house in a fairly treed property. It was great as we were surrounded by trees and the house never really got hot. The downside was that we didn’t get much natural bright light into the house. Even though my brand new Fiddle Leaf Fig was sitting near a window, I witnessed it slowly dropping leaf after leaf until it became quite spindly. It was a sad and painful process to watch…but I had come to terms with it.
We eventually moved and I took the scrawny tree with us. I placed it where it sits today; by the South facing window in the front room. Slowly, it started to perk up and within months new leaves were budding…It was the substantial shift in light exposure that transformed the scrawny Fiddle Leaf Fig into a lush tree again. The best part is that even after 8 years in the same South facing window I find new buds and branches forming along the bare branches were once the original leaves fell.
My Fiddle Leaf Fig sits right in front of a South facing window. It receives direct sunlight from 9:00am until 12:00pm, which has clearly worked for it. However, keep in mind I live in Canada, where the sun is pretty weak in winter and the air conditioning is blasting in summer…The temperature variations from winter to summer are extreme! We go from -40ºC/-40ºF in winter to 32ºC/90ºF in summer! And my Fiddle Leaf Fig is doing great always sitting by that South facing window…
Tip #2 - it doesn't like to move at all!
Wait a minute!
You may think I am confused! I just told you that moving my Fiddle Leaf Fig saved it and now I am telling you that you should not move your Fig?!?
Yes, don’t move your Fig! I moved mine because we literally moved to a different town and because it needed more light. If your fig sits in a bright, indirect light spot and it’s thriving, don’t move it for the sake of re-arranging your Living Room or upgrading the look of your space. It won’t like it!
There are only three reasons to move your Fiddle Leaf Fig:
- You are moving from one home to another
- Your plant needs more or less light
- Your Fig needs to be spinned around so that all sides of the plant can have equal light exposure.
My Fig surprised me by popping this new branch in the middle of a spindly branch where originally all the leaves dropped!
Hey Plant Loving Woman!
Are you a middle age mom?
Do you constantly feel overwhelmed and anxious?
Do you believe in the healing power of nature?
To reveal your #1 Personal Houseplant that best
helps you reduce your anxiety.
Tip #3 - it needs just the right amount of water
Your Fiddle Leaf Fig needs the perfect amount of water to thrive.
By now, you must have figured out that the Fiddle Leaf Fig is finicky; perfecting the right amount of water this plant needs, takes time and practice…
I water it once a week.
I have a big tree, so I give it 1 full litre/4 cups of water once a week in the summer when the heater is off, hence the humidity is higher. In the winter I double it up; 2 full litres/8 cups of water once a week.
Over watering your Fig will cause leaves to go yellow and drop. Under watering your Fig will cause leaves to turn yellow and brown and drop.
On the bottom right portion of the picture you can see those two brown spotted leaves. Those are the signs of under watering during our winter holidays….🥺
TIP #4 - it thrives in high humidity
I have to talk about this because it seems to be an essential requirement for this plant!
Everywhere I read about the Fiddle Leaf Fig plant, and based on its origins, it is apparent that it thrives on high humidity. It may very well be the case. I am not going to dispute that.
However, I live in a very dry home, within a very dry climate. I don’t mist my Fiddle Leaf Fig and I don’t have a pebble tray filled with water underneath its pot to promote humidity. I only stick to watering once a week and I keep it in a tight community with other plants. Together, they raise the room humidity level, I am sure. My Fiddle Leaf Fig is very healthy.
Imagine how much lush-er would it be if I’d provide more humidity to it?!?
I encourage you to increase your Fiddle Leaf Fig humidity levels by periodically misting its leaves and by placing a pebble tray filled with water under its pot. Make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the pot in order to avoid roots contact.
Tip #5 - one size does not fit most!
When I bought my Fiddle Leaf Fig tree back in 2007, small Fiddle Leaf Fig plants weren’t an option. So I went big or I went home!
You need to plan where your Fig will be in your home. For two reasons:
- You need to make sure you have a very bright indirect light spot for it.
- You need to have the right space for it.
If you want to go big or go home, like I did, make sure you have extra ceiling space for growth as your Fiddle Leaf Fig tree will grow quite big, not so slow…and remember, you can’t just move it somewhere else!
If you rather go small, plan for growth!
A Fiddle Leaf Fig is the perfect plant for a desk in a bright home office. It gives the space such an architectural touch with its leathery, veiny leaves! Its dark green is perfect against the stark and bright white walls and desk.
These are the essentials you need to know in order to care for a Fiddle Leaf Fig on a day to day basis.
I recommend you check the Fiddleleaffigplant.com website for more detailed informations or tutorials on repotting, propagating, fertilizing and troubleshooting your Fiddle Leaf Fig!
Hey Plant Loving Woman!
Are you a middle age mom?
Do you constantly feel overwhelmed and anxious?
Do you believe in the healing power of nature?
To reveal your #1 Personal Houseplant that best
helps you reduce your anxiety.