Ficus Benjamin is one of the most common and popular indoor plants, which has high decorative qualities and is able to please its owners with green foliage throughout the year.
However, its cultivation is a rather laborious process, especially in the first months after planting, but if you know all the nuances and subtleties of caring for the plant, this process will become simple and easy.
A bit about ficus
Ficus Benjamin (his photo is in the review) is an evergreen plant of the Mulberry family. In vivo, it can be found in the tropics and subtropics of China, India, Australia, Asia, and the Philippines.
In nature, this is a large bush or tree up to 10-20 m high, in room conditions it can grow up to 1.5-3 m. Benjamin's ficus crown is wide and very beautiful. The trunk of the plant is gray with slight touches. Branches are inclined down. The leaves of Benjamin's ficus are dense, glossy, oval with an elongated tip. Color from light green to very dark. The central vein is not expressed explicitly.
Indoor varieties
Ficus Benjamin has a huge variety of varieties that differ in size, shape and color of leaves, the shape of the stem. Let's consider some of them.
- Exotic. The leaves are flat and soft, the color is deep green, the length is up to 8 cm, the width is up to 3.5 cm. The internodes are up to 4 cm. The bush grows quickly.
- Daniel The leaves are dark green, plain, glossy, dense and flat, the edges are straight. It grows very quickly - it grows by almost 30 cm per season.
- Monique It differs in more tender, thin, hanging branches and light, elongated, slightly wavy leaves along the edge.
- Nicole. Leaves are more elongated, with a bright edge.
- Safari. The variety is distinguished by three-color coloring and obvious spotting.
- Baroque. It is considered the most unusual, original and difficult to grow variety. Each leaf of this very miniature plant is twisted in a spiral.
Location in the house
Before bringing this plant into the house, it is necessary to determine its location - Benjamin's ficus, the photos of which are provided in the article, very hard to tolerate the change of places, and after moving most often drops foliage. If this trouble happens soon after the purchase, then you should not be scared and upset, because this is normal. Providing proper care to the plant will help him adapt. A place in the room must be chosen well-lit, but without direct sunlight. The plant does not like drafts and cold. Air temperature should not be lower than 15 ° , relative humidity - 50-70%.
Care Features
In order for Benjamin's ficus to be able to constantly delight with its chic green crown and to rivet all the eyes of the guests, he needs to ensure timely and proper care. It is not very complicated, but the plant still needs to provide certain conditions.
Lighting and temperature
Depending on the color of the foliage, the optimal plant location zone is selected taking into account the lighting. For dark green ficuses, light partial shade and diffused light are suitable, and bushes with variegated light leaves, on the contrary, are very demanding on the light intensity, but areas with direct sunlight should be avoided.
Ficus Benjamin is a heat-loving plant, in summer the optimum temperature should be 25-30 ° C, in winter at least 18 ° C. At insufficient temperature, leaves are discarded.
Watering
In summer, watering the ficus of Benjamin should be moderate, as the surface of the top layer of the earth dries up. Abundant spraying is recommended in the morning and in the evening, washing of leaves.
Water the plant to evenly moisturize in several stages, draining excess water from the pan passing through the drainage.
In winter, watering is reduced. Water is used settled or filtered, the soil is loosened before irrigation.
Watering the ficus should be careful, because with an excess of soil moisture, its root system is prone to decay. Between watering the soil should have time to dry.
Plant nutrition
For the normal growth of the plant, the formation of a lush and dense crown of saturated color, it is important to take care of proper nutrition. For this, universal flower fertilizers are used. They are introduced from spring to late fall. At the same time, mineral and organic species alternate.
The introduction of concentrated top dressing is carried out when watering the plant. The dosage is calculated depending on the growth rate: the faster the ficus grows, the more often it needs to be fed.
Crown formation
By pinching, pruning, twisting branches and trunks, a plant can easily be given a diverse look.
There are some of the most common ways to form a ficus crown, including:
- single and multi-tiered shtamb;
- Bonsai
- domed and spherical crown;
- various sculptures.
Tree formation is best done in spring. The easiest way to form a young plant is because it grows actively and rapidly. Pruning contributes to the awakening of sleeping buds, from which new shoots then grow and the plant becomes more magnificent. In addition, with the help of pruning, you can ennoble a very overgrown and unattractive ficus. The secateurs before this procedure must be disinfected with alcohol or a weak solution.
In the plant to be trimmed, you need to determine the main bush, you can not cut it more than 20 cm, but the side branches are cut according to creative need and desire. Slices after trimming need to be processed with crushed coal.
From the ficus, you can form a standard plant by removing the lower branches and forming a dense crown by trimming.
The interwoven trunks of several plants look very interesting and spectacular. To obtain such a decorative effect, several young ficuses are planted in one pot and, as they grow, their trunks are twisted, braided into a pigtail or other shape.
Ficus Benjamin: Transplant
Looking at how the plant grows and grows prettier, one should not forget that not only the number of branches and leaves is added. Month after month, the ficus grows in the volume of the root system, and the soil, even with constant top dressing, begins to gradually deplete.
To fix this situation will help the transplant ficus Benjamin.
Usually it is produced when the roots of the plant are densely braided by an earthen lump, and they appear from the drainage hole. But it is better not to allow this and carry out a planned transplant.
Before transplanting ficus Benjamin into another pot, you need to choose the right container. The younger the plant, the more actively it grows the root mass, so it is transplanted into pots every year, 2-3 cm more in diameter than before. Adult ficuses are transplanted 2-3 times less often. At home, this is carried out in spring or autumn.
The best primer for ficus is a ready-made universal one bought in a specialized store. But it is possible at home to independently make a mixture consisting of equal parts of leaf and sod land, sand and grassroots peat. At the bottom of the tank must be laid drainage.
The transplant of Benjamin's ficus is carried out as follows: after watering, the plant is removed from the old pot, the old earth is removed, the flower is carefully transferred to a new container and sprinkled with fresh soil.
After transplantation, the plant adapts and it can begin to shed leaves. There is no need to worry about this; the ficus will soon develop rapidly again.
Reproduction of ficus Benjamin at home
The most favorable time for the propagation of ficus is spring and the beginning of summer. This is due to the fact that it is during this period that active growth of foliage and roots occurs.
Propagation of Benjamin ficus at home is best done using cuttings, as the cuttings give good roots in soil and water. The second method is seed, but it is used extremely rarely.
How to root Benjamin's ficus?
The upper cuttings, on which there are leaflets, are cut off and put in a container with water. The leaves should not get wet, otherwise rot may occur. As the water evaporates, it should be periodically added. Callus tissue in the form of growths will appear on the stems in 2-3 weeks. In this place, roots form after some time, after which the stalk is planted in the soil substrate.
If the stalk is planted in the ground, to create the effect of greenhouse conditions, it can be covered with a jar. Before rooting the ficus of Benjamin, you need to prepare the soil. It is advisable to disinfect it by heating in a steam bath for 30 minutes.
Problems When Growing Ficus
Ficus Benjamin has some growing difficulties that you need to pay attention to:
- Dry leaf tips in winter indicate a lack of humidity in the room. Most often this is due to the shutdown of heating. In this case, it is necessary to increase the frequency of spraying and organize artificial lighting. This will help the flower to wait for spring.
- If a plant suddenly begins to drop leaves, this should alert its owner. So the flower can respond to sudden changes in the conditions of detention, for example, to a decrease in temperature, the appearance of a draft, a change of place, plentiful watering in the winter, when, on the contrary, it was necessary to reduce the amount of moisture.
- Change of season of any plant causes yellowing and dropping of leaves. Ficus is also no exception. But if at another time Benjamin's ficus turns yellow - what should I do? There are two main reasons why this happens: the first is an excess of water that can destroy the plant, and the second is too low a temperature. It is necessary to eliminate these causes.
- If the flower does not grow and develop for a long time, you need to evaluate whether the size of the pot is correctly selected. If the pot is too large relative to the size of the plant, the roots will begin to wither, stop developing and die. On the contrary, close capacity prevents the formation and development of the crown.
If, after correcting errors in the care and maintenance of the flower, there is no improvement, you need to pay attention to the presence of diseases and pests.
Diseases and pests of ficus
Among the most common diseases that affect Benjamin's ficus, the following can be noted:
- Anthracnose . Dark brown spots appear, developing into ulcers. If untreated, the ficus will die. Methods of control: removal of affected leaves, treatment with fungicide, reduction of spraying and watering, frequent ventilation.
- Cercoscorosis . Black dots appear at the back of the sheet. Treatment - as with anthracnose.
- Dropsy . With this disease, cork growths form on the back of the leaf. Treatment: removing affected leaves and ensuring proper care.
The main pests of Benjamin's ficus are spider mites, thrips and aphids.
The most dangerous among them is the spider mite. The pest damages the flower very quickly and adapts to many chemicals. That is why the fight against it should begin when the first signs of the disease appear. To destroy this pest, you can use alternative methods, for example, garlic tincture, treating the foliage with laundry soap or apply an insecticide.