Ficus Benjamin - Home Care

To design offices, houses or apartments, a plant called Benjamin's ficus is often used.

Origin and appearance

The evergreen belongs to the species Ficus, the family Moraceae. Habitat - East Asian countries, the north of the Australian mainland.

Ficus Benjamin

According to ancient Chinese science, Feng Shui tree represents wealth, money. Well disinfects and cleans the surrounding air.

The plant has a round trunk of gray, with single strokes of brown color. Due to its flexibility and the ability to grow with other shoots, plants with intertwined trunks are created from it. Florists grow bonsai from it.

Young shoots are erect, quickly lignify with age. The crown is thick and wide.

Leaflets are leathery, glossy, thin, oval in shape with a pointed end, located on small cuttings. They grow on branches in one plane. The edges of the leaf are smooth. The color and size of the sheet are determined by the type.

The flower of Benjamin's ficus is nondescript. Fruits are paired, round or oblong, up to 2 cm in size, called siconia.

The growth rate of domestic species is low. If you take good care of the tree, then it grows by about a meter in 10 years.

In the homeland, ficus is a tree or shrub up to 20-25 m high. A house plant grows up to 2-3 m. If you do not carry out molding and pruning, it grows to the height of the room.

Species and varieties

Ficus Benjamin has many varieties that differ from each other in the shape, size and color of the leaves and trunk, growth rate.

Ficus Natasha

Variety Natasha refers to dwarf varieties. It has glossy leaves of a small size of green. Young shoots have brighter and brighter leaves, while older shoots have dark green leaves. An adult plant reaches 40 cm in height.

Siconia

Ficus Kinki

Also applies to dwarf ficuses. It can grow up to 35-40 cm. Leaflets reach a length of 4 cm. They have a dark green color with yellow-beige or salad trim.

Ficus Ali

This species is also called ficus Benedict (Binnendiika) and loosestrife. Named after the discoverer Simon Benedict. The bark of an adult tree has a dark color with light stains. There are several varieties of ficus Ali, which differ in the color of the leaves (plain or mottled).

Bonsai

Leaflets are long (up to 30 cm) and narrow (5-7 cm wide).

Ficus Baroque or Baroque

The leaves of the ficus baroque differ in their original form. They are twisted by a tube, bagel or spiral. The sheet on the front side is glossy, has a light green color. On the back, it is more dull and has a less saturated green color.

The plant weakly branches, therefore, to create a beautiful bush, several seedlings are planted in a flower pot. The growth of the tree is quite slow.

Ficus Benjamin White

This is the combined name of several varieties in which the predominant leaf color is white. These include varieties:

• Starlight;
• De Dumbbell
• Curley et al.

Ficus De Dumbbell

Ficus Benjamin Mix

It has several varieties with different color sheets. The subspecies is the least demanding in care. It is characterized by rapid growth and long life expectancy. The leaves are oval, thin, up to 10 cm long.

Ficus Binnendian Amstel Green Gold

A tree with thin, drooping shoots, has a bushy shape. The plant is long-leaved, with thin leaves in the form of a boat. The leaf length reaches 25 cm, the width is up to 3.5 cm. The color is light green with dark green spots.

Ficus Benjamin Variegate

Leaves of this variety contain both genetically normal cells and mutant ones that do not synthesize chlorophyll.

Variegated variety

Therefore, they are always colorful.

Ficus Benjamin transplant after purchase in a pot

What you need for landing

First you need to choose a plastic or ceramic flower pot that is 3 fingers larger than the root ball.

Soil is purchased in a specialized store, or it can be done independently. To do this, mix peat, sand and rotted manure, taken in equal parts. To the mixture add leafy soil, taken 2 times more than peat.

Expanded clay, pebbles, small gravel, pieces of foam, charcoal can be used as draining materials.

Optimal place

For a plant, it is advisable to choose a place where it will grow even before purchase. When moving to another place, the tree is in a stressful state, it can become sick and lose leaves. Stress is one of the reasons why leaf fall can occur.

For a plant with monochromatic leaves, the eastern or southeast window sill would be the best place. If the leaves are variegated, then the pot is installed on the southeast or south windowsill. In any case, the crown should not be exposed to direct sunlight, so as not to scorch the leaves.

Young plant transplant

Signs of burns - the leaf begins to turn yellow and dry at the edges, pigmentation appears on it, and the leaf dies.

If there is not enough light for variegated ficus, then the leaves will lose pigmentation and become monochromatic.

Also, the tree is afraid of drafts. Therefore, a flower pot cannot be installed near balconies and under air conditioners.

Step-by-step landing process

Ficus is transplanted into a new pot after purchase and then until the age of five (every year in spring or summer). When plant growth slows down, transplantation can be performed 1 time in 2 years.

Immediately after purchase, replanting a tree is not recommended, as it should get used to a new place and acclimatize. During this period, the plant may fall leaves. This is a reaction to a change of residence. Adaptation lasts 1.5 weeks or a little longer.

The transplant is performed in the following sequence:

3. Preparing a flower pot. First, drainage is poured at the bottom, on top is a small layer of soil.
4. A tree is taken from the shipping container, its roots are inspected, rotten ones are removed. Sliced ​​areas are dusted with charcoal powder.
5. The flower is placed in a pot. The roots are straightened.

4. The remaining soil is filled up, tamped a little on top.
5. If the soil was originally moistened, then it should be watered no earlier than 2-3 days after planting.

Reproduction of ficus Benjamin

The plant can be propagated in the following ways:

• cuttings;
• air layering;
• seeds.

Cuttings

This is the easiest way to reproduce. Cuttings are cut no shorter than 7-10 cm with 3-4 leaves from the top of lignified shoots. A distance of at least 2 cm is left from the first sheet to the cut.

Cutting into cuttings

At the place of cut of the stalk, milky juice appears. It is removed and the stalk is placed in a glass of water. After a while, the roots of the cut shoot will appear.

Seed cultivation

Seeds before planting are soaked in water with a growth stimulator. When planting, they are embedded in the soil to a depth of 0.5 cm in increments of 1.5 cm. A spray bottle is used to moisten the substrate. From above the container is covered with polyethylene or glass. Periodically air the greenhouse.

After emergence, the container is placed on a well-lit window sill. The light must be diffused. The temperature is maintained within + 22-25 ° C. Watering is carried out as the soil dries.

After the appearance of the first leaves, a pick is carried out and the strongest seedlings are transplanted into separate pots.

Benjamin Ficus Care

At home, care for Benjamin's ficus is simple. It consists in the proper organization of irrigation, the creation of optimal temperature conditions and lighting.

Rooted cuttings

How to water

The plant loves moderately moist soil. Therefore, in the summer for ficus Benjamin you need to organize frequent watering. Water is needed so that after watering it goes into the pan. If the summer is dry, then the plant is sprayed.

Top dressing

For normal development during the growing season, the tree is fed with complex mineral fertilizers every 2 weeks.

Crown formation and trimming

To form a beautiful crown of a tree, you need to regularly trim. First, in a young plant, the top is cut off for 2 buds. Then pruning branches is carried out periodically every 3 years. It is advisable to carry out this operation in the spring.

Formed Ficus Crown

Trimming Rules:

• cut at an angle;
• pruning is performed on the place where the kidney is located;
• use a clean sharp tool for work.

Winter preparations

Ficus is an evergreen plant, therefore, if in the winter he began to shed leaves, then this may be due to a lack of lighting. In this case, the tree organize artificial lighting. The total daylight in winter should be about 12-14 hours.

In winter, air humidity should be 60-70%, so the plant is additionally sprayed from the spray gun. With a lack of moisture, the tree discards leaves.

If the flower pot is located on the windowsill, then you need to protect the plant from touching cold glass.

If the pot is on the floor, it is advisable to raise it. You can install it on an insulating pad made of fabric or wood.

If the sticky leaves of ficus Benjamin

Ficus diseases can be caused by damage to the plant by insects, microorganisms, fungi and mold.

The defeat of the fungi can be determined by the spots that appear on the leaves of brown, red, yellow flowers, which grow quite quickly. After that, the leaf dies.

Sometimes the appearance of fungal diseases provokes damage to the plant by insects. So, for example, if an aphid or scutellum has settled on a tree, then the leaves are covered with a sticky, sweet coating. If the plaque is not removed on time, then the plant will eventually be affected by a soot fungus.

Affected Sheets

In this case, you must first remove the cause, that is, aphids or insects. For treatment, the leaves are washed with soapy water. Processing the plant must be repeated several times until the complete removal of the insect and plaque. Also, the affected tree is treated with Aktara or other similar means.

How to reanimate if the leaves are completely fallen

With improper care or damage to the plant, leaf fall can drop foliage in a few days. A set of reasons can lead to this. The resuscitation process consists of the following steps:

1. Finding out the causes of leaf fall. Perhaps it is caused by poor (insufficient or excessive) watering. Check how properly organized watering. To do this, pierce the ground with a wooden stick at the root and pull it out. If it is dry, then you need to water the plant.
2. If leaf fall occurred due to parasites, then first get rid of them. Then the plant is periodically sprayed with Zircon, Epin or similar drugs that will help fight stress.
3. Adjust the conditions of detention.
4. If there are no positive results, then you need to get the plant out of the pot and examine the root system, remove the rotten roots and transplant into a new pot.
5. The bare tree can be placed in a plastic bag and create a mini-greenhouse until it is fully restored.

Ficus - a very beautiful and not very demanding plant, fits perfectly into the interior of any home.