Ficus Benjamin - comes from countries with a tropical climate: India, Philippines, China.
In nature, it grows in the form of a tree up to 20 m high, and its domestic varieties reach a size of no more than 3 meters.
Ficus Benjamin is decorative thanks to its foliage.
It happens both in monophonic coloring (variety Danielle), and motley (Anastasia, DeGantel, Golden King, Redidan, Starlight).
This plant fits perfectly into any interior.
Given the physiological needs of ficus, growing it at home will be easy.
Ficus Benjamin - home care: reproduction, planting, transplantation
At room conditions, Benjamin's ficus is propagated by cuttings. It is better to do this in March-April. Cuttings are cut with a secateurs 10-20 cm long. Scissors are best not to use for this: their blades squeeze the branch when cutting, resulting in partial peeling of the bark and rooting slows down. The milky juice that appeared on the cut of the cut should be washed off with warm water. Rooted cuttings in water, peat tablets or in a substrate (turf, leafy soil, sand in equal proportions). To stimulate root formation add rootin or succinic acid (1 tablet per liter of water). In these preparations, the cuttings are soaked for 12-20 hours. When rooted in water, a tablet of activated carbon is added to it and often changed.
Benjamin cuttings rooted in peat tablets
Young plants are transplanted annually, and adult specimens - once every 2-3 years. Spend this operation in the spring. The plant is transferred to a larger pot neatly - the roots of the ficus are quite fragile. After transplanting, the plant can fall over a couple of weeks. In tubular specimens, once a year in pots, the topsoil is replaced with a fresh one.
A newly purchased plant in a store should not be immediately transplanted from a transport pot to a new one. Ficus is difficult to tolerate the stress associated with a change of residence. Therefore, he must first adapt to the microclimate of your home. It is transplanted no earlier than after 14-20 days.
Ficus Benjamin - home care: temperature, lighting, soil
Humidity. Ficus Benjamin as a native of the tropics loves high humidity. Therefore, it is necessary to spray it as often as possible from the spray gun and arrange for it a warm shower.
Lighting. Bright and diffused lighting is also necessary for Benjamin's ficus. With its lack of variegated varieties lose their color and turn green. On the southern windows in the summer from midday sunlight the plant is shaded. For equilateral development of the crown, the ficus must be periodically rotated. In winter, it is necessary to arrange additional lighting with phytolamps.
Temperature. Ficus Benjamin feels good in the temperature range + 20-27 ° C in the summer, and not lower than + 14-16 ° C in the winter. Sudden temperature changes are unacceptable.
The soil. Ficuses, with their root system sensitive to excess moisture in the soil, prefer fertile, moisture-permeable soil with a high degree of aeration. The pH should be 5.5-6.5 (neutral or slightly acidic). You can use ready-made primers sold in flower shops to plant ficus. The composition of such soils and the content of nutrients in them varies depending on the manufacturer. Their main components are different types of peat, expanded clay, sand, humus, complex fertilizers. Therefore, if it is not possible to purchase sold substrates, you can use universal soils or prepare the soil for ficus on your own. To the aforementioned components, leaf and turf soil are added in equal proportions.
Ficus Benjamin - home care: watering, top dressing, pruning
Watering. It is necessary to water Benjamin's ficus carefully: its root system is prone to decay with an excess of soil moisture. Between watering, the soil should have time to dry. You can check this in the "old" way by feeling the soil with your finger at a depth of 3 cm. However, there is a high probability of a common mistake: from above the soil may already be dry and require watering, but at a deeper level it remains wet. If you water such a plant, we get waterlogging. For those gardeners who find it difficult to determine soil moisture and adjust the irrigation regime, moisture indicators and regulators will come to the rescue. They can look differently, depending on the manufacturers.
Among such devices, in addition to conventional ones, there are also sound ones: singing a bird or a frog croaking will remind you of the need to water your green pet.
Sound soil moisture meters
Irrigation water should be settled or filtered and at room temperature.
Fertilizer. Ficus Benjamin is fed in the spring-summer period 1 time in 2 weeks. To do this, you can use universal fertilizers for ornamental-deciduous plants or special ones for ficuses (for example, preparations from the Bona Forte, Pokon, REASIL, Agricola series).
When choosing top dressing, the nitrogen content in it must be taken into account. During the period of active vegetation, its concentration should be higher than for the winter period. The newly transplanted ficus can be fertilized no earlier than two months. From September to March, in the absence of additional illumination, the ficus is not fed.
Ficus pruning. To form the bushy crown of ficus Benjamin, he needs regular pruning. It must be carried out in the spring-summer period. Cut branches depending on the desired shape of the crown, but not more than 1/3. Old specimens will be helped by anti-aging pruning, thanks to which young shoots grow from axillary buds. Thinning also needs to be done inside the crown to provide sufficient lighting for the leaves.
Often, to solve a design idea, several ficuses are planted in one pot. Their trunks are twisted into bundles, twisted into different braids using trellises, clamps.
Braids of several ficuses braided into a braid
The main problems when growing ficus Benjamin at home
Ficus Benjamin is a rather capricious plant. Deviations from optimal growing conditions quickly affect the appearance of the plant:
Foliage falling most often due to rearrangement of the pot, drafts, temperature changes, lack of lighting, cold watering, untimely plant transplantation.
Drilling the tips or edges of leaves indicates that the ficus is hot or an overabundance of fertilizer. Also, this phenomenon is characteristic with insufficient air humidity. In this case, it is necessary to spray the plant more often and ventilate the room, but so that the green pet does not stand in the draft.
Slow development, small new leaves talk about nutritional deficiencies. If the plant is greatly weakened, then top dressing is applied in half the dose recommended in the instructions for the drug. To increase the deciduous mass, ficus can be poured with mullein infusion (1:10) or fertilizer with a high nitrogen content can be used.
Yellowing and premature fall of leaves caused by waterlogging of the soil. Also for this reason, growths - dropsy can form on the underside of the leaves. To help the plant, it is necessary to adjust the irrigation regime.
Deformed leaves and underdeveloped shoots in ficus Benjamin in winter are signs of an excess of nitrogen. It is necessary to stop feeding the plant and put it closer to the light source.
Damage to ficus by pests also change its appearance. Upon attack spider mites pale dots appear on the leaves in the places of the bites. Foliage turns yellow, falls prematurely. A spider web appears on the plant. Ticks multiply rapidly in low humidity and high air temperatures. To control these pests, acaricides are used (Fitoverm, Actellik, Vermitek, Sunmayt).
About the appearance of another of the malicious pests of ficus - thrips - signals the whitish surface of the leaves, on the lower side of which adults lay eggs. The infected plant is isolated, treated with insecticides (Actara, Spark, Vermitek, Mospilan).
Shields kept on the trunk and underside of the leaves. In the process of life, they secrete sticky juice, on which the soot fungus likes to settle. The fight against scale insects is phased. First, a swab dipped in alcohol mechanically remove pests. Then carry out the first treatment with a systemic drug (for example, Actara). After 7 days, they are sprayed with another insecticide (Confidor, Commander).
Of the diseases, the ficus is often affected anthracnosecaused by pathogenic fungi. This disease is characterized by the appearance on the leaves of dark brown spots, which gradually merge and increase. As a result, the plant dies. The infected leaves are removed, the plant is sprayed with a fungicidal preparation (Rovral, Fitosporin). It is also necessary to reduce watering, ventilate the room more often.
Gray rot develops in high humidity and high temperature. Affected parts of the plant are covered with gray mold, darken and die. They are removed, watering is reduced.
Waterlogging and low soil temperature conducive to development root system rot. With moist soil, the plant looks wilted. An infected plant cannot be treated. It is destroyed along with the earth.
