Fiddle-leaf fig

The fiddle-leaf fig grows in the lowland rainforest of western Africa, where it starts life high in the branches of another tree, sends roots down to the ground, and eventually stands on its own. That upbringing is the key to it. A plant that begins in the canopy expects a great deal of light, steady warmth and air that moves, and it has no experience at all of being carried from room to room. Almost every complaint about this plant comes from indoor conditions that are too dark, too changeable, or both. It has a reputation for being difficult, which is fair, but the difficulty is narrow and specific rather than general.

Light

Put it as close to a bright window as you can without direct midday sun falling on the leaves. Beside an east window is close to ideal, and a metre from a south window in the northern hemisphere or a north one in the southern, with a sheer curtain, works well. The mistake that kills more of these than anything else is treating it as a floor plant for a dim corner. At two or three metres from the glass it holds its existing leaves for a while, makes no new ones, then starts dropping the old ones from the bottom.

Turn the pot a quarter turn every week. The leaves are large and heavy and the plant leans hard towards the light if you let it.

Water

Water when the top 4 to 5 cm of compost is dry, then soak thoroughly until water runs from the drainage holes and tip away what collects underneath. In a warm bright room that is roughly weekly in summer and every fortnight in winter, but a large pot in a cool room holds water far longer than people expect, so check with a finger rather than trusting the interval.

Use water at room temperature. Cold water on the roots of a tropical tree in a cool room contributes to the dark soft patches that appear in the middle of leaves, which are the most common complaint after leaf drop and are almost always a watering problem rather than a disease.

Feeding and repotting

Feed monthly at half strength from spring to early autumn, always onto damp compost, and stop entirely over winter. This is a fast grower when it is happy and a heavy feeder to match, but feed applied to a plant that is standing still in a dark room simply builds up salts.

Repot in spring every second year while it is young, moving up one pot size, and top dress a mature plant instead by scraping off the top few centimetres and replacing them. It dislikes root disturbance and typically sulks for a month afterwards, dropping a leaf or two, which is normal and not a reason to intervene further.

Pruning and propagation

Prune in spring. Cutting the growing tip out, just above a leaf node, is how you turn a bare pole into a branched tree, and two or three side shoots usually break within a couple of months. Wear gloves: the milky sap irritates skin and stains.

Cuttings root reasonably well. Take a stem with two or three leaves in early summer, blot the cut until the sap stops, and stand it in water or push it into damp compost, with gentle bottom heat if you can. Air layering is the better method for a tall plant with a bare lower stem, because it gives you a full sized new plant and lets you cut the old one back at the same time.

Ailments

The two things everyone asks about are leaf drop and brown spots. Leaf drop is a response to change, so the cure is to stop changing things. Brown spots come in two kinds that need opposite treatment: dark soft patches spreading from the middle of a leaf mean too much water, while dry crisp brown at the edges means too little water or air that is too dry. The rest, including spider mites and bacterial leaf spot, are in the ledger below.