Ficus leaf drop

I know Ficus go through an adjustment period after first getting them however, is it common for them to drop
say 90% of their leaves? Have a lot of new growth coming in so I'm not too worried, curious mainly.

What kind of Ficus and where are you keeping it? Is that environment significantly different from that of wherever it was purchased?

It's a Golden Gate ficus I bought from Brussel's Bonsai, USA. I'm pretty sure its not getting the same light
it did at the nursery, medium to low light now, North East window. Leaves have been turning a blotchy yellow
and falling off, don't seem to be losing any of the new growth though. Think at first I watered it a little too
much but have since figured out its water needs.

I have figured out over the past few years that too much water will turn ficus leaves yellow and they drop, and too little water will turn ficus leaves yellow and they drop...its usually a water stress thing. In their way this is how THEY teach you how to water them.

Brussels would have had it in a hot and humid greenhouse, the change in humidity and light exposure causes the sudden freak out and leaf drop. Ficus are unable to move their leaves to catch the sun, so when light conditions change, as in a move indoors or a different exposure, they drop the current leaves (usually interior older leaves) and re-grow new ones in better positions. Ease back on your watering until you see the new leaves develop.

My BIG Benjamina just had her seasonal flip out (outdoors luckily) and probably dropped a 5 gallon bucket full of leaves over the course of a month. Does it every year. Yours will be ok I'm sure. It would be happier if you could get it into a southern exposure though.
-Jay

Thank you for all the info..... it helps. Think I'll mix a little Xanax in the water next time I water
see if that helps!! haha j/k

I don't have much experience with ficus (only picked up my first one about a month ago), but I'd agree about the lighting - north/east window might keep it alive, but it would do much better with a lot more light. I have mine indoors now for the winter, it's under a 4-tube fluorescent fixture with a few other tropicals (which all did well with this set up last winter). Did you pick it up, or was it shipped from Brussels? Days in a dark box would probably cause enough stress alone to cause massive leaf drop.

BTW, I repotted mine (tiger bark ficus) within a week of getting it, it was severely underpotted. Had to keep it indoors for a while too because of bad weather (cool, wet). It only lost about 10% of its leaves even with that. We'll see if it decides to drop more now that it's indoors for the winter.

Chris

my ficus constantly sheds its leaves. if you say it has new shoots then i dont i think it's dying

Black Ice wrote:my ficus constantly sheds its leaves. if you say it has new shoots then i dont i think it's dying

I think your ficus will forever drop its leaves...because you are living in the north pole.