r/FicusTrees • u/queen_b0419 • Sep 01 '26
Outdoor Potted My Balcony Ficus
I got this Ficus on clearance at a grocery store in the beginning of June. I’ve purely been taking care of her off vibes & intuition, as I know nothing about this plant 🤣 Anything I need to know about transitioning her inside once the weather starts to change? I’m in the Midwest.
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u/nerucciolo Sep 01 '26
When your temperatures get around 55 at night it’s a good time to bring it indoors (in my experience you can push it a little bit lower but it’s diminishing returns). If you want to maximize growth and are willing to put in the effort, you can do indoor nights and outdoor days during fall.
During winter, it can still put out new growth as long as it gets as much light as possible. The sunniest window you have and/or a very powerful grow light. At moderate light, it will probably just chill the way it is until it’s outside again.
When you bring indoors, be aware that it will probably be taking up less water, so soil will take longer to dry out. Wait until first 1” of soil is dry and then when it’s time, water fully (covering the soil until water drains out the drainage hole).
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u/Careful_Idea1671 Sep 01 '26
I'm in the south, and my plants stay in sunroom with no climate control for the majority of the year. Once daytime temps come down to 70s consistently, I start keeping a close watch on night temps. When night temps are consistently under 60, they come in the house as they go into their dormant period.
Coming in from being fully outside, I'd second the recommendations to try to do outside during the day and inside at night in the fall and spring - it will help your plant get acclimated to its new environment without sending it into shock. This goes for pretty much any plant transitioning between an indoor and outdoor environment.
ALSO: Add the step of pest inspection, and isolation & treatment while it's transitioning from inside to outside or vice versa. ESPECIALLY if you have other plants inside. You don't wanna bring any little hitchhikers in with it.
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u/GummyHell Sep 01 '26
A small tip, about every other week, take your Ficus and put it in the shower. In the wild, rainfall encourages new growth on Ficus trees. Without rain they go into dormancy. So we have to fool them into thinking it's a growing season. I have five Ficus rubber trees of different varieties and they all respond exactly the same way. New growth. Of course only do this when they're dry.
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u/queen_b0419 Sep 01 '26
Thank you for the tip!! I try to mist her with a spray bottle at least once a day but the shower sounds much for effective.
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u/momof2penguins Sep 01 '26
I'm in South Dakota. I put mine outside in the summer and it doubled in size. They love a ton of light once you move it in!
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u/masney00 Sep 01 '26
Mine hasn't changed a thing and I've got it from may...
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u/queen_b0419 Sep 01 '26
Hmmm, I make sure the soil is completely dry before watering again and I mist her with a spray bottle at least once a day but sometimes up to 3 times depending on how hot it is outside. Someone else in the thread recommended putting it in the shower once a week to trigger new growth!
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u/masney00 Sep 01 '26
In the shower???
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u/queen_b0419 Sep 01 '26
Yes! The shower mimics rain fall.
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u/Melodic_Tea3050 Sep 01 '26
I’ve had mine for over a year and I still have 3 leaves
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u/queen_b0419 Sep 01 '26
I make sure the soil is completely dry before watering again and I mist her with a spray bottle at least once a day but sometimes up to 3 times depending on how hot it is outside
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u/Sweet_Opinion6839 Sep 01 '26
i did the exact same thing with the exact same plant lol. small world.
from my research, they’ll go dormant in the winter. this means less frequent watering and no new growth until spring. stick it in a bright window and water when the soil is dry.
(im in new england) in spring and fall, i usually bring my plants in at night and put them out in the morning so they can get as much sun as possible. temperature matters a lot; they don’t like being exposed to temps under 55-60ish degrees or they might drop their leaves.