Ficus Benjamin

It was earlier in Soviet Our Country that ficuses were a sign of the bourgeoisie. Now this plant is treated quite differently. In Asian countries, where the ficus comes from, they attach special importance to it. For example, if you give a ficus in China, it means that by default you wish the owner long life and prosperity. In Thailand, ficus is a symbol of the state capital. And in Sri Lanka there is a 150-year-old ficus, which is revered almost like a deity.

And oriental signs also say: if you give a ficus to a childless couple, and it will take root well and begin to grow rapidly, then a long-awaited baby will soon appear in the house.

– When buying Benjamin’s ficus, remember – it is small and compact only for the first 5 – 7 years, – warns Tatyana Zhashkova, chairman of the Moscow Flower Growers club. – My ficus is already more than 20 years old, and it has already become a powerful, sprawling tree with a voluminous trunk and a crown right up to the ceiling. So be prepared for the fact that over time your pet may require much more space.

Varieties of ficus Benjamin

Ficus benjamina (Ficus benjamina) is valued for its beautiful leaves – in species plants they are dark green, oval, 5–12 cm long and 2–5 cm wide (1). There are a lot of varieties of this ficus, which is not surprising – this plant is very popular with flower growers. And breeders, trying to please requests, brought out very interesting options:

• Anastasia – with green leaves, decorated with light green border;
• Baroque – small-leaved variety, in which the leaves are twisted into a tube;
• Buklee – with leaves slightly twisted inward;
• Wiandi – a small-leaved variety with green leaves and a twisted trunk, which makes the plant look like a bonsai;
• Golden King – it has green leaves with a bright yellow stripe along the edge;
• Golden Monique (Golden Monique) – with light green-golden leaves, strongly corrugated along the edge, and dark green strokes along the central vein;
• Curly – slow growing variety with strongly deformed leaves mostly white;
• Monique (Monique) – with green corrugated leaves;
• Naomi (Naomi) – with dark green leaves, slightly wavy along the edge;
• Naomi Gold – its young leaves are painted in light green color with dark strokes in the middle, but with age they become green;
• Samantha – with grayish-green leaves with a thin white stripe along the edge;
• Safari – small-leaved variety with green leaves decorated with cream specks;
• Starlight (Starlight) – with leaves for the most part white, very beautiful, but whimsical: at the slightest violation of care, its leaves crumble.

Benjamin ficus care at home

Ficus Benjamin is generally unpretentious, but sensitive to serious violations of agricultural technology. And most often rare varieties are capricious.

Ground

The soil for Benjamin’s ficus must be fertile, moisture-intensive and breathable. You can buy soil for decorative leafy plants in the store, but it is useful to add soddy soil, sand, and leaf humus to it.

Temperature

Ficus Benjamin is thermophilic – in summer it needs a temperature of 22 – 28 ° C, in winter a little lower – 12 – 16 ° C (2). If it gets colder, the plant will shed its leaves. And he can’t stand drafts.

Lighting

This plant needs diffused light. Direct sunlight is contraindicated for him, so he has no place on the southern and eastern windowsills. On these cardinal points, it is better to put it on the floor near the window. And on the western and northern windows, it may well grow on the windowsill.

But this applies to varieties with green leaves. If the leaves of your ficus are decorated with white strokes, spots or a neat border, then this plant needs more light to keep the color. But still, avoid direct sunlight so as not to burn the plant.

Humidity

Ficus Benjamin categorically does not tolerate both drought and overflow. If there is not enough moisture, the leaves begin to turn yellow and fall off rapidly. And if there is frequent stagnation of moisture in the pan, then the plant begins to hurt – the roots rot. Therefore, half an hour after watering, excess water is poured out of the pan.

In winter, with running batteries, you need to spray the plant more often than in summer. You can put a container of water next to the pot if there is no humidifier. But in winter you can water less often – once a week or even one and a half.

Fertilizers and fertilizing

In summer, Benjamin’s ficus is fed once every 1 weeks with a complex fertilizer for decorative and deciduous crops or especially for ficuses. In winter, top dressing is also needed, but much less often – 2 time in 1 – 6 weeks.

Trimming

Ficus grows quickly, young shoots are very flexible. And if they are not shortened in time, the plant will stretch excessively in length. Therefore, you need to trim it regularly. Moreover, the younger the tree, the better. It will be much more difficult to shape the grown stiff giant.

Pruning is done in the spring, in late March – early April. Moreover, they act with ficus, as with trees in the country – they shorten excessively long branches, cut out branches directed inside the crown. In the summer, prune or pinch shoots that are out of the overall neat picture. Pruning and pinching stops at the end of September in order to preserve the nutrients in the branches and leaves.

To prevent fungal diseases, sections can be sprinkled with activated charcoal or covered with garden pitch.

Reproduction of ficus Benjamin at home

There are two ways to propagate Ficus Benjamin at home, and neither of them can be called easy.

Cuttings. It is not at all necessary to cut off only the top for this. Side rails will work too. But it is important to take into account a few nuances:

• the plant must be mature;
• the base of the future seedling should be semi-lignified, that is, still flexible, but no longer green (green cuttings will not take root, but simply die), however, if only lignified branches are available, then there is also a chance with them;
• on the stalk-handle there should be from 4 to 6 unfolded leaves.

The milky juice on the cut should be washed well or removed with a napkin, the lower leaves can also be removed.

If only lignified branches are available, then you need to carefully cut the base into several parts with a sharp knife. To prevent the cuts from touching, a match can be laid between them. Thus, we, as it were, form future roots and stimulate root formation.

Then the cuttings need to be put in water, or planted in a light substrate for seedlings or perlite. If planting cuttings in the soil, arrange something like a greenhouse, covering the top with either a plastic bag or a tall plastic cup or a cut plastic bottle.

If the apartment is warm enough (not lower than 20 ° C), then the roots are formed after 2 – 3 weeks. When they become strong (after another couple of weeks), you can transplant the stalk to a permanent place in a pot. The first couple of weeks, you can still continue the greenhouse effect, covering the seedling, then remove it and send it to the “adult” swimming.

Layers. This option is suitable for an old adult plant that is reluctant to form young shoots, but at the same time everything is covered with adult lignified shoots.

Carefully, trying not to touch the wood, make an annular cut on the bark of one of the shoots, carefully removing the top layer. Treat the exposed plant tissue with a growth stimulator and wrap it with wet sphagnum or a mixture based on it. Carefully fix the structure with a film, firmly fixing the edges with wire or tape.

After a while, the formed roots will become visible through the film. It must be carefully cut below the roots and planted in the usual way. The cut site on an adult plant must be treated with activated charcoal or garden pitch.

Ficus Benjamin transplant at home

The younger the ficus, the more often it needs to be replanted, because the roots grow as rapidly as the branches. It is advisable to transplant young plants (up to 7 years old) every year by transshipment into a slightly larger pot (approximately 2–3 cm larger in diameter, since the roots are actively growing).

Older plants are transplanted 1 time in 2 – 3 years, or even less often. Make sure that the roots do not show up from the drainage hole – this will be a sign that the pot for your ficus is already too small.

If the plant is already more than 12 years old, then instead of transplanting, you can simply replace the layer of the top substrate.

Diseases of ficus benjamin

This type of ficus is prone to disease, so it is important to recognize them as early as possible in order to start timely treatment.

Root rot. If the roots of the ficus are rotten, the leaves very quickly begin to turn yellow, then darken and fall off. And the cause of this disease is usually waterlogging of the soil.

Root rot can only be treated in the early stages. It is necessary to take out the affected plant, cut off all rotten roots, wash the roots in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, dry them, and then plant them in a new pot with fresh soil.

With a strong defeat, the plant cannot be saved. But you can cut cuttings from it and try to root them.

Anthracnose. Signs of this fungal disease are brown spots on the leaves. Gradually, they grow and become like ulcers. Leaves fall. With severe damage, the plant dies.

Fitosporin or Alirin are suitable for the treatment of this disease (3).

Cercosporosis. This is also a fungal disease, and its first symptoms appear on the underside of the leaves – these are black dots. In a diseased plant, the leaves begin to turn yellow and fall off, which can lead to its death.

This disease can be cured with the same drugs that are used to treat anthracnose – Fitosporin and Alirin (3).

Ficus benjamin pests

Most often, Benjamin’s ficus is affected scale insects, mealybugs и spider mites. You can get rid of them with the help of one drug – Aktellika (3). But in the case of a scale insect or in case of mass infection with other pests, several treatments will be required.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about the problems in growing ficus Benjamin with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

Sources of

1. Visyashcheva L.V., Sokolova T.A. Industrial floriculture. Textbook for technical schools // M.: Agropromizdat, 1991 – 368 p.
2. Tulintsev V.G. Floriculture with the basics of selection and seed production // Stroyizdat, Leningrad branch, 1977 – 208 p.
3. State catalog of pesticides and agrochemicals approved for use on the territory of the Federation as of July 6, 2021 // Ministry of Agriculture of the Federation, https://mcx.gov.ru/ministry/departments/departament-rastenievodstva-mekhanizatsii-khimizatsii -i-zashchity-rasteniy/industry-information/info-gosudarstvennaya-usluga-po-gosudarstvennoy-registratsii-pestitsidov-i-agrokhimikatov/