grow a violin - leaf Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyyah al-Muqatilah bi-Libya ( Ficus lyrata ) can be one of the most rewarding achievements in indoor horticulture .
With its large , lyre - shaped leave and the potential to reach impressive heights , this houseplant is a staple fiber in many homes – and many Instagram feed .
We link to vendors to aid you find relevant product . If you buy from one of our links , we may earn a commission .
f you want a full tutorial ongrowing and caring for this plant , take our guidebook . In this clause , we ’re going to focus on pruning these photogenic houseplants .
Here ’s what we ’ll hide :
Tips for Pruning Fiddle-Leaf Fig Trees
Fiddle - leafage figure can be finicky , and you might waver to trim them at all . What if it stresses them out ? How do you prune them decent ? We ’ll cover all of this and more .
get ’s get started !
Why Should You Trim Your Fiddle-Leaf Fig?
As with many types of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree – and fiddle - leaf figsaretechnically trees ! – garnish and pruning can helpF. lyrataplants to stay healthy .
By remove drained or diseased leaves and branch , or cut back to promote better airflow between the foliage , you may keep this notoriously particular houseplant well-chosen .
Or , at least it wo n’t be angry with you , your sign of the zodiac , the entire world … Fiddle - leaf figs may have a quaint name , but I ’d say they ’re among the most opinionated plants around .
Pruning can also help you to keep your common fig from outgrow your house . F. lyratacan maturate up to 12 feet tall under ideal indoor growing condition . And in its aboriginal range – the lowland rainforests of westerly Africa – F. lyratacan develop up to 50 feet tall !
It wo n’t do this in your home base , but it can grow up to two feet a twelvemonth until it get hold of its ripe height . If you do n’t want your ficus to overshadow , well , everything , pruning is a must .
you’re able to also develop a gnome variety if you do n’t want to wish for a giant tree diagram inside your firm . But there ’s nothing quite as reverence - revolutionize as a tall , healthyF. lyratacontributing to the decor in a stylish dwelling house .
As long as it ’s not pushing against your ceiling , that is .
Another affair to debate is cast . violin - leaf figs are often sold as smallish , shaggy or columnar houseplants with a individual key stem turn , but many gardeners sexual love cultivating theirs to make a tree - similar configuration .
We ’ll labour into all that in a moment . First , rent ’s dive into the when and how of pruning your belovedF. lyrata .
When to Trim Your Tree
you could remove a diseased or drained folio at any clip . Trimming aside these harbingers of nausea or infestation is better done sooner than later , in fact .
If you blemish a leaf that looks yellow , chocolate-brown , or diseased in some other way , trim back it off with a clean , sharp pair of pruners .
But when it amount to clip the actual branches , wait until growth resumes in the spring and summertime . Even though you ’re growing yourF. lyrataindoors , it may go dormant or semi - dormant in the winter when there ’s less light .
Pruning branches when the plant is love its winter rest can stress it out , or even send it into shock . This can extend to sickness – or even the death of your treasured houseplant .
Since it ’s not growing actively during dormancy , the deletion wo n’t bring around as quickly as they would in the spring or summertime , with the return of that bright , dribble spark it get laid so much .
These plants require at least six hour of bright daylight through a windowpane , preferably one that front south or east .
So , try not to get pruner - happy until spring , and then you may give your plant a fresh trimming for summer !
How to Prune
Before you get started , it ’s a upright estimation to lay a few plane of newsprint on the ground around your industrial plant to protect the floor from fallen debris and the milklike latex paint sap that will inevitably ooze out .
check that to keep the toxic latex paint away from your skin , and out of reach of children and animate being . wear gloves and long sleeve is recommend .
It ’s also important to use a penetrating , cleanpair of pruners . If you are n’t sure if you cleanse them after the last time you used them , go ahead and clean them with soap and hot water . Dry them exhaustively before employment .
If you ’re pruning to foreshorten an overly tall flora you ’ll be work with the central body or stem . Depending on the shape of your plant , this may be the only offshoot the tree has .
To make a cut , site the area of the branch you desire to trim . Then , tilt in confining and study the trunk . You ’re looking for an internodal outer space , or a post on the trunk that ’s between two nodes .
Nodes are slightly raised ring in the barque of anF. lyratatree that develop into leafage or leg .
Make a diagonal cut correctly in between the two node , and pass over the sap away with a damp rag . Within a few weeks , expect to see new sidelong branches growing from the node just below your cutting .
Sometimes , you ’ll need to cut lateral branch .
F. lyratais known for straining toward the light . You should be sure to circumvolve the plantation owner every few days if you want to avoid having a lopsided plant , but alas , sometimes life happens and we forget to turn out our plants , and they terminate up leaning hard to one side .
Or mayhap you need to clip sidelong branch off because the leaf is overcrowded .
By removing a branch or two , you’re able to further better airflow between those gorgeous , tremendous leaves , which can serve you to avoid upshot with pestis and disease .
Just take care not to prune more than 10 percent of the fiddle - leaf common fig tree at any given time .
To prune sidelong branches , make a cut just above the outgrowth neckband .
If you rationalise too close to the trunk , you risk wounding the tissue in the limb collar , and a wounded arrest can allow disease pathogens to get into the trunk .
cut back too far away and the leftover arm may rot , potentially causing the branch collar to decompose as well , which can also pave the way for infection .
If you simply need to prune a few dead or morbid leaves off of your plant here and there , just nip them off at the radical with your pruner .
Shaping Your Fiddle-Leaf Fig
to begin with , I bring up thatF. lyratatends to grow in a columnar or bushy shape when kept as a houseplant , and that many growers like to encourage a classic tree physical body , complete with a clearly defined canopy and automobile trunk .
F. lyratadoes this on its own in the wild , dropping its lower leavesand develop into its born contour as a banyan tree .
Like the famous “ regular ” banyan , F. benghalensis , wildF. lyratabegins its life as anepiphyte . A seed lands in the canopy of another tree , germinates , and grows toward the world , sometimes strangling its host plant in the process .
Obviously , your houseplant wo n’t do this , but the tree Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe is esthetically pleasing . How can you twist a bushyF. lyratainto a magniloquent , graceful specimen ?
First off , if you ’ve just purchase a coveted violin - foliage , do n’t rush to go pruning it into a tree diagram shape .
get it produce to two - thirds of the desired stature , whatever that means to you within the confines of your space . This allows the trunk to arise thick and strong .
If you want it to develop tall , keep in nous that it ’s best to top the tree diagram out at least eight to 10 inches by from the ceiling .
This not only bet better , but it also keeps the top leaves from bend and getting crushed against your ceiling .
So , for example , say you be in a home with nine - foot cap and need to top your tree out at about seven or eight metrical foot . found on these measure , you wo n’t want to start dress for lateral increase until the bole is at least five substructure magniloquent .
To prune your fiddle - leafage fig to make a tree form with branch lateral growth , wait until spring or summer – when the plant is actively growing – and make a cut at least six inches down from the crown of the tree .
You cansave this cutting and propagate it!verify to cut in an internodal blank .
Resist trimming off the leaves below the gash . You want them to stay so that the works can photosynthesize to farm Energy Department so that it can grow those lateral branch .
YourF. lyratawill begin to ramify from the cut within a few week . Sometimes you ’ll get one limb , but it ’s not uncommon for this Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree to sprout two or three raw sidelong branch .
Once the fresh outgrowth develop leaves , you could prune away one or two leaves from the base area of the tree diagram .
As the canopy matures , the leaf and novel branches will compound in color . When you find this , feel free to lop another leaf or two off of the low portion of the trunk .
Over time , as the canopy bear on to develop , you could keep pruning leaves off the trunk portion of the tree . Eventually , you ’ll develop a decent , clean bole bear out a Y - shaped canopy .
Note : some advanced gardener care to use a subroutine known as “ notching ” to produce sidelong branches . With this method acting , the nurseryman ca-ca a deliberate incision right between two nodes . The estimation is that this cut will instigate the tree to grow lateral branches without sacrificing height .
Sometimes notching work , and sometimes it does n’t .
F. lyratagrows quickly and we know that pruning for lateral branch ontogenesis provides consistent effect , which is why it ’s our recommended method acting for make that endearing canopy .
After pruning , make certain you keep throw your plant stellar care – appropriate water , fertilizer , and spark – which will aid it to bring around more quickly from its wounds .
Fiddly Fun
It can be slimly terrifying to abridge into your fussy fiddle - leaf fig , but the results are worth it .
As long as you await until the correct time of the yr , habituate a neat yoke of pruners , and give your plant life the tending it involve all twelvemonth long , both you and your plant life will be alright .
And for more info aboutgrowing houseplants , see out these guides next :
© Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Uncredited pic : Shutterstock .
About
Laura Ojeda Melchor
