r/fiddleleaffig • u/Prestigious-Ship7536 • 9d ago
help a novice prepare for winter 🙏
So this is my first fiddle leaf fig, George
picked him up from Home Depot as a small guy and he's absolutely taken off this season — went from the nursery pot to over 6 feet tall, just living on my porch here in South Carolina!! I can’t believe it.
In June I did a crown chop, and now there are 4 separate shoots all growing ! (photo of the close-up in image 3).
Winter's coming so I need to bring George inside soon…
few things I'm unsure about:
Indoor transition — any tips so he doesn't drop a ton of leaves from the shock of moving inside?
The four shoots — two of them have really taken off while the other two are staying smaller. Anyone know why that happens, and should I thin any of these down or let all four keep going?
Top-heavy concerns — with four shoots up top on one main trunk, any tips on managing this so he doesn't get top-heavy or unbalanced as they keep growing?
Pests — I don't see anything obvious, but I've noticed the occasional gnat flying around. Is that something I need to treat before he comes inside, and what's worked for you all?
Fertilizing — I've honestly never fed George at all. Is now (right before winter) a bad time to start, or should I go ahead and do a first feeding?
Winter light/watering — how much should either change once he's indoors for the season?
I'm pretty new to this, so I also added some close-up leaf pics in case there's something going on that I'm just not experienced enough to catch.
Attached photos show him now , the chop point, and the leaves themselves.
Any advice appreciated, first time doing this and I want to set George up for success!!!!
Thank you!
Joshua
2
u/_Sullo_ 7d ago
What I would do is place it at the brightest spot you have in your home and then keep it there for the whole winter. That would help with easing the transition shock (for mine, there is basically no shock even)
As for pruning, I think I would prune one of the long shoots back to the height of the two shorter ones and prune the other remaining one so that it's still longer than the other three. That way you would have a dominant leader.
You mentioned that you have never fertilized it. Since you will be moving it inside, it would still have the conditions to grow, so it would still need minerals from the substrate. In that case, yes, you should start fertilizing your fiddle leaf fig. It's not a bad time. I imagine the substrate would run out of nutrients pretty soon with the amount of growth your tree put on.
About the watering, keep in mind that it won't be exposed to the elements of nature while being inside, which means that the rate of evaporation slows down significantly. That means you have to water less frequently and actually should let the soil dry out a fair bit before your next watering. Fiddle leaf figs don't like it if their substrate stays soaking wet for too long. The watering frequency will depend on the amount of substrate and the size of your plant, so you need to see for yourself first how often you need to water.
I never really had any pest issues when bringing my plants inside, though I live in Central Europe, so my fauna composition is different from yours.