Day 435: Ficus woes
May. 24th, 2021 11:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eve_primeI have a potted variegated ficus, which used to live on my kitchen counter until it got too big. It can't live outside year-round, but J's allowing me to keep it in his entryway during the colder half of the year - where it looks great, by the way.
Last year, however, when I moved it outdoors, most of the leaves abruptly turned white then soon fell off, although thankfully it soon sprouted new ones. Alarming! My theory was that I'd waited until it was too warm outside and that the 80 degree day that week was a shock. So this year I was careful to wait to move it outside until the highs for a few days were unlikely to exceed 70, but the nights would be not much below 50. But it happened again!
I looked it up online and learned that it's a form of sunburn. Sunburnt ficus leaves! Even though it's on the north side of my house, there's enough sunlight compared with J's house interior that the plant goes into shock from it. I hope that writing this down will remind me next year to let it acclimate to sunlight more gradually. Poor tree.
Last year, however, when I moved it outdoors, most of the leaves abruptly turned white then soon fell off, although thankfully it soon sprouted new ones. Alarming! My theory was that I'd waited until it was too warm outside and that the 80 degree day that week was a shock. So this year I was careful to wait to move it outside until the highs for a few days were unlikely to exceed 70, but the nights would be not much below 50. But it happened again!
I looked it up online and learned that it's a form of sunburn. Sunburnt ficus leaves! Even though it's on the north side of my house, there's enough sunlight compared with J's house interior that the plant goes into shock from it. I hope that writing this down will remind me next year to let it acclimate to sunlight more gradually. Poor tree.