To help with this, try to keep your ficus tree’s environment as stable as possible. Lastly, fertilizing can cause severe leaf drop in indoor ficus plants. Avoid removing lower branches or leaves. If the whole base is affected, it may be best to dispose of the entire plant. These conditions include underwatering, overwatering, too little light, change in season, fertilization, pests, and fungal problems. Often times a simple wound on the plant will allow entry of the infestation into the plant but is dismissed as many think the initial swelling is simply a callus forming as the plant heals itself. The growth pattern of the Midnight Beauty is upright, and it has a strong apex dominance. These layers cannot be separated from the insect body. The sclerotia are used by the fungus as protection to survive unfavorable conditions such as lack of moisture and heat and are resistant to penetration of fungicides. See, a ficus tree hates change. Keep in mind though that when you bring it back indoors at the end of the summer you will see leaf drop then as the plant works to acclimatize. Now that you understand the common reasons why your ficus may be dropping leaves, let’s touch on the basics about caring for your plant to help minimize future occurrences. A fungal disease, anthracnose is characterized by necrotic spots on the leaves and commonly causes tip dieback in ficus plants grown indoors. It thrives in a wide range of soils and conditions, but prefers a sunny, open position in moist, well drained soil. Spider mites feed on the fluids found inside the leaves of ficus plants, piercing the waxy coating to access the internal fluids. Ficus Midnight. One month ago, leaves started to drop, and I noticed ones on the plant were sticky to the touch. USE IN: Plant in a full sun to partly shaded position in the garden or in a container for indoor or patio planting. The ficus tree enjoys consistent daytime temperatures from 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit and cooler evenings. I freaked out the first year. This leaves many ficus owners asking, Why is my ficus losing leaves? There are two different types of scale insects that infest ficus trees: soft and armored scale. Solution: Your rubber plant has been overwatered; To avoid root rot, go easy on the watering as soon as you notice this problem. Crown gall, leaf spot, anthracnose, and southern blight are the most common problems. Midnight Beauty. Read through the following common causes of leaf drop to get a better understanding of why your ficus may be dropping leaves, and how to minimize future occurrences. If you do want to give them a dose of fertilizer make sure to feed plants early in the spring as they begin growing again after the cooler, winter months. California Garden TV 4,465,489 views. And, once you have placed your ficus tree in your home, do not move it. So a week ago I bought a new ficus at a plant market, it was beautiful and full of leaves. Ficus leaves get wrinkled frequently, and then they will dry and fall. While most houseplants appreciate a dose of all-purpose fertilizer every four to six weeks during their active growing season, ficus trees don’t like being fed regularly. Encountering trouble with pests is a sure bet your ficus will start dropping leaves, as a stress response to the infestation. Ficus ‘Midnight’ as the name suggests has extremely dark, almost bluish to black glossy leaves. Incorrect watering – Under watering or over watering both can cause a ficus tree to lose leaves. The Ficus ‘Midnight’ is hardier and easier to grow than the Ficus Benjamina. Day lengths continue to shorten, temperatures drop in response (most homes are kept cooler in the winter than the summer), and the relative humidity levels plummet as winter takes hold. Just as damaging as underwatering, overwatering your ficus tree can cause significant leaf drop especially in the winter months. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. As the temperature changes and day lengths shorten your plant will gear up for what it thinks is an impending dry season, triggering survival mechanisms. Low frost resistance and drought tolerant. Changes in their native climate signified the plants needed to prepare for an upcoming dry season when water would be scarce. This evergreen tree is also frost hardy and resistant to leaf dropping. ‘Midnight’ has dark, curly leaves. I have a Ficus Tree in my yard, full sun, and I live in Arizona. The challenge with root rot is that it often goes unnoticed because it occurs beneath the soil surface and out of sight. If this is affecting your tree, the leaves on the ficus tree may be yellow in addition to falling off. Genus: Ficus Species 'Var': benjamina Common Name: 'Midnight Beauty' Quick Facts: Dense foliage and a tight conical growth. People allergic to latex should also be wary of ficus plants as they are related to rubber plants. Why is my ficus dropping leaves? There are a number of fungicides that can be used to effectively treat ficus plants once anthracnose is observed. Greenery turning brown due to the sunburn. Figuring out a good watering schedule is a tricky task when growing a ficus indoors and the primary reason most owners see leaf drop. These drastic swings in temperature trigger that survival mechanism in plants, resulting in the dreaded leaf drop. ... Not Leaves // Complete Growing Guide - Duration: 21:51. 'Midnight' grows dense, bushy, and upright, and it may ultimately reach a height of 8 feet. It drops leaves to prepare for the dry seasons that occur in its native habitat, to reduce foliage that needs moisture to live. View Bonsai Plant Dropping Leaves Pics.I just got a bonsai ficus tree and i am noticing that i have a lot of leaf dropping. The plant does very … The cottony fluff protects them from moisture loss and excess heat. Its growth pattern is upright and woody with a strong apical dominance. It was in my porch which gets good light most of the day, but there is no new leaf growth. smartgardenguide.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com and other Amazon stores worldwide. To prevent leaf spots avoid getting foliage wet when watering ficus plants; treat with a copper-based bacteriacide or remove infested leaves once symptoms appear to minimize plant damage and spreading to neighboring houseplants. As the infection progresses the swelling becomes irregular in shape and begins to turn dark brown or black as the plant cells perish. Mealybugs are similar to their relatives the soft scales but they lack the scale covering and retain legs throughout their life cycle allowing them to move around. It’s not unusual for plants to drop upwards of 20% of their foliage when trying to adjust to changing conditions brought on by abiotic or biotic stressors. Try to maintain as even an ambient temperature as possible with no more than a 5 – 10℉ swing in temperature. For growing Ficus trees, it’s important to provide adequate lighting. The pests pierce leaves, stems, branches, and tree trunks to feed on the sap within these plant tissues, damaging the plant overall. When your ficus is infected with crown gall, tumor-like lesions commonly known as galls, form on the surface of stems or internally within the stem tissue. The causes for dropping ficus leaves are many, but when you know what they are, this can help you pin down the reason your ficus tree leaves are falling off. Let’s learn more about outdoor care for weeping figs. Weeping figs (Ficus benjamina) are elegant trees with slender gray trunks and a profusion of green leaves.Weeping fig tree care depends on whether you are growing them indoors or outdoors. Eventually, the mycelia form small seed-like, brown structures called sclerotia. Every winter the lighting is reduced, especially indoors, which affects your plant. In this case, you should move the ficus tree to a location where it will get more light. I have a standard ficus that is losing its leaves and some of the leaves are drying up and curled then fall off..It is outside on the back covered area and getts morning sun,I have had it about 15mths..do you know what is going on with it? If you have overwatered the tree, root rot may have set in and you will need to treat the ficus tree for that. It also misses that hot, new ficus that was sitting next to it. You bought it at a greenhouse and brought it home. Its upright growth pattern make it a good choice in narrow spaces. Pests – Ficus trees are susceptible to a few pests that can cause a ficus tree to drop leaves. Often, a sure sign of a pest problem will be that the leaves on the ficus tree will be sticky or have liquid dripping off them as well as falling off. To tell the difference in types of scale look for honeydew secretions; soft scale secrete a large amount of honeydew, armored scale do not. The humidity and temperature in your house also changes at this time and this can cause ficus trees to lose leaves. If you have a ficus tree, you have probably experienced leaf drop, because if a ficus tree decides it is in stress, one of the first thing it does is drop its leaves to survive, and it will do this fairly quickly. Change in environme… It started dropping leaves, but they told me this would be normal because it was getting used to the new climate. This disease occurs more frequently in warm, humid conditions like leaf spot, but often follows tissue damage from other causes. 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