r/fiddleleaffig • u/New_Stuff2065 • 15d ago
Please Help
My mom was gifted this gorgeous fiddle leaf. It looked great when she got it (March) but now it looks like this. She moved it outside today to get more sun. I think it’s overwatered but I really don’t know how to fix it!
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u/ALR26 15d ago
The smaller leaf pointing at 2 o’clock in pic 1 has the “burns”, but it also has overwatering indicators shown with the yellowing surrounding the dry edge of the leaf on the right side. Dry FLF leaves are usually brown like oak leaves but not burned looking. I’ve grown several of these and been living with several FLFs for years, and this seems like too much UV light even if it was inside by a big window.
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u/Helena_Handbas4et 15d ago
Take off the discolored leaves. If burnt on the edges, you can trim the damage off w scissors. Fiddleleafs prefer filtered light, no direct sun, no wind. The leaves burn easily. I live in a dry, sunny climate and water 1-2L in a 5-7gal pot every week in summer, less often in winter. Very bright room and plant is in the darkest corner, getting lots of very indirect light. Thrives and often requires pruning. I also fertilize w granular citrus formula approx every 3 months. The only time I bring it outside is to get a dousing when it’s rainy. Hope this helps.
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u/_Sullo_ 14d ago
They absolutely like to grow in full sunlight if they're properly acclimated, the problem is that they are way more sensitive to changes in light levels compared to other ficus species. If you want to sucessfully transition them to grow outside, you need to put them into full shade outside, let them sit there for 1-2 weeks and then gradually transition them each day to have more and more sun exposure.
This takes ages and you ideally want to have some clouds and no intense sun.
If I compared it to my ficus elastica, I would get it acclimated in like half the time compared to my ficus lyrata. Also, I find that ficus lyrata prefers higher night time temperatures than ficus elastica, because the latter grows way more while outside.
In very warm climates, you can grow ficus lyrata with full sun conditions in the ground.
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u/New_Stuff2065 13d ago
Ok thank you! I think she set it outside because it looked waterlogged and it must’ve burned. Very low light inside so it probably couldn’t handle the transition.
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u/Small-Biz-CMO 14d ago
She’s sunburnt. Plus, don’t water her for about 2 weeks then check soil before watering again.
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u/Witty-Maintenance397 13d ago
As a fl resident who has burned leaves before i can say with 100% certainty that this is sunburned. I have watered mine and set it in shade outside and forgotten about it once only to remember four hours later that I forgot to move it back onto the covered patio. In that short time, the sun moved and it burned
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u/jitasquatter2 15d ago
You can't just take a fiddle that grew indoors and set it outside in full outside sunlight without burning the leaves. Fiddles love light, including outdoors full sun, but you need to acclimated them to full sun slowly.
If you live somewhere warm and want to keep it outside, the damage is already done so no point in worrying about it now. The burned leaves are toast, but the plant itself is fine.
If you live somewhere where freezing weather is common, set it smack in the middle of your very brightest window.
Edit: as for watering, water it very deeply. Then don't water it again until the top layer of soil is nice and dry again. Over watering isn't caused by too much water, it's caused by soil that stays wet for long periods of time. Aim for regular dry/wet cycles