Home » Gardening

Fiddleleaf Fig: Care Tips For This Fabulous Houseplant

ByNell Foster Published on

I love Fiddleleaf Figs! They’re definitely a houseplant that makes a statement. Their huge foliage makes my heart go pitter-patter. Here, you’ll find plenty of Fiddleleaf Fig care tips.

The Fiddleleaf Fig, or Ficus lyrata, is one of my very favorite houseplants and always has been. I’m crazy for its huge, tough, leaves which are shaped like violins and look like road maps.

The Fiddleleaf Fig plant is especially favored by people by those who are fans of a groovy, modern environment. I believe it would fit into a Palm Springs lounge with ease. It has a very different look from its more common leaf-laden Ficus benjamina cousin, that’s for sure.

Some Of Our General Houseplant Guides For Your Reference:

P1000171 b_new
 2 Fiddleleaf Figs are better than 1!
P1000166b_new
  As you can see, even the smaller Fiddleleafs have huge leaves.

Be sure to watch the video below which was shot in a grower’s greenhouse for more care tips. There’s a bit of noise in the background but that’s the water running down the walls which is part of the cooling system as well as ventilation fans.  These plants grow outdoors here in Santa Barbara so if you stroll all the way to the bottom, you’ll see pictures of one in the great outdoors.

You can find the Fiddleleaf Fig in various forms like single-stemmed, multi-stemmed, full to base and standard (that’s industry-speak for “treelike”). As they age, the lower leaves tend to fall off and their stems twist and gnarl a bit. Quite a cool look.

Here’s the encapsulated version of what they need:

Light

Medium to high. One reason why they die or look bad is not enough natural light.

Water

Average. More on watering houseplants here.

Fertilizer

I give most of my houseplants a light application of worm compost with a light layer of compost over that every spring. Easy does it – 1/4 to 1/2? layer of each for a larger sized houseplant. Read about my worm compost/compost feeding right here.

Pests

They’re susceptible to mealybugs & scale.

If you want more info on this plant and many others, which you’ll welcome into your home, please check out our book Keep Your Houseplants Alive. It’s a practical guide written in simple terms with lots of pictures.

P1040686_new
This Ficus, like all the others, produces fruit.
P1040688_new
 Love that glossy foliage. Each leaf is a fan in itself!
P1040689_new
Here’s what it looks like in all its outdoor glory. They get even bigger in Hawaii.

Happy (houseplant) gardening,

Signed by Nell Foster

This post may contain affiliate links, you can read our policies here.

Similar Posts

16 Comments

  1. Nell, all the leaves have fallen off my fiddle leaf plant. Is it savable? What can I do to get it to regrow leaves??

  2. Hi Maribel – Fiddleleaf figs can be fickle to maintain indoors. If the stalks are shriveled & soft, it can’t be saved. Give the plant as much light as possible & don’t let it dry out. And, don’t prune it for now. Nell

  3. Hi Nell,

    Please could you help me as I don’t think I’m caring for my ficus very well! I bought it from a nursery several months ago and it has not grown at all! It spouted one new leaf last week which then fell off! How do they grow into bushy trees? Mine is a single stemmed/trunked plant but I would love for it to gain some branches!

  4. Hello Nell,I have this Fidle plant in house I love this Plant,I`m a question and for fruit produce this amazing plant Nell,I want to know it.Thank you

  5. Hi Luthmilda – I think you’re asking how to get the a Fiddleleaf Fig to produce fruit indoors. Outdoors they produce readily. Indoors, it’s much less common & the ones I’ve seen with fruit, have been older specimens in high light. Nell

Comments are closed.