Propagating a Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree – Part 1: What Happened to JUNGLE?

I looked long and hard to find a MEME to show how I’m feeling about how my fiddle leaf fig tree, JUNGLE, is looking right now. I’ve been holding on to him for a while now, thinking that he would make it, but it’s looking dim for ole boy.

 

Have you ever tried propagating a fiddle leaf fig tree? Obviously, yes, I can just buy another, but I’ve been having fun bringing plants back to life. So, why not try and bring new lives from this one tree?

But, first, let me back track…

What happened to JUNGLE?

[warning]Want to see what Jungle looks like now? Check out the updates here![/warning]

I got my fiddle leaf fig tree from Home Depot about a year and a half ago and he was BEAUTIFUL. Nice and plush and healthy-looking. I don’t think I was ever happier to throw $39 at a register in my life!

Here’s what JUNGLE looked like when I got him (black studded pillow available in my shop).

I used to “do for the gram” all the time with photos showcasing how glorious JUNGLE was!

Boy how things have changed.

It first started right before we went to vacation in Orlando last October (while we were still in our last place).

I noticed that the leaves were browning, so I THOUGHT that I wasn’t giving him enough water. So, I watered it a bit more than I usually did. Instead of every week of 2 cups of water, I started doing every week and was completely soaking the soil with water.

So, right before we left for our vacation, I pulled the entire tree out of the pot and noticed it was suffering from root rot!! There was moldy roots all throughout!

So, after doing lots of research (before we left for vacation – this was literally the night before we left), I learned that I needed to pull all the moldy roots off and then let the roots completely dry out.

After removing all the moldy roots, I put JUNGLE back in the pot with no soil and let it lean against the wall until I came back.

When we came back from vacation, a week later, I potted it in the same pot with some light container soil (don’t remember what kind, sorry), but didn’t water it.

I actually didn’t water it until about another week and a half later.

Then, I gave it about 2 cups of water and didn’t water it again until I felt that the soil was completely dry.

So, I continued on just like that until (and after) we came to the new house. It was doing fine until we moved to the new house. New growth and errrrything. There’s just not enough light for him here.

I have two sets of French doors in my living room and they give off the most shady light. I HATE it! it’s actually not as bright as it looks here. I had to brighten up the image in photoshop.

I’ve been losing a leaf or two every week and it’s been killing me. (The one in the picture is not JUNGLE. That’s my other fiddle fig leaf tree, JUICY. She’s thriving SOOOOOO well!)

So, nothing has been working. I’m not overwatering. I don’t believe I’ve underwatered. So, I’m trying something different with JUNGLE.

I’m putting him outside. Where he can get lots of light, but not any harsh sun, because my back patio is shaded.

And, now that he’s outside, I’m also going to try and propagate for new fiddle leaf fig trees.

[warning]Jungle has made a lot of progress, sort of! See what I’m talking about here in part two of this post![/warning]

I did some research and am following the tips from Fleur of Our Urban Box and Ananda of A Piece of Rainbow. Propagating a fiddle leaf fig tree seems easy enough and if all goes well, I should be able to get 3 new trees (fingers crossed) from these three branches.

To propagate my fiddle leaf fig tree, I cut off three of the branches. One of them was hollow, so I think it was dead, but I’m still going to try.

I threw the three branches in a small vase of water (a clear vase, so I can see the progress) and will leave them outside on my patio table. I’ll change the water every other day or so. I might end up changing the water everyday, depending on how dirty the water gets.

Now, I know this seems easy, but seriously, it really is this simple. At least this part is easy. The wait, I’m assuming is the hard part. I’ve read that it could take up to 6-8 weeks to start seeing roots. And, that’s what you need to wait for. The roots. Then, you have to wait even longer for the roots to develop even more, so that the branch can be planted in soil.

So, I’ll wait.

This’ll be a 2-3 part series. 2 parts if I don’t have roots in 2 months and 3 parts if I do! The 3rd part would be an update of how the tree(s) are doing after they’ve been planted in soil.

[disclaim]Check out part two right here![/disclaim]

If you have a dying fiddle leaf fig tree, you should try propagating a branch or two. Especially if you’re planning on throwing it out anyway.

Will you be following along? Follow me on Instagram, because I’ll definitely be sharing behind the scenes updates while I wait for roots to form. Follow me here.

Have you tried propagating a fiddle leaf fig tree? Or, another plant? I’d love to hear all about it! Leave me a comment!