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The bud is not growing (it seem dried in and brown, at least on the surface) and the old leaves are dying. It has been like this for 7 months. I had hoped that it would come along now in spring but it is looking worse.
Does anyone know what type of plant it is and what, if anything, can be done to save it? I would really appreciate any input.
That's a fiddle leaf fig. It's too close to the window. It also shouldn't be near whatever that appliance is that's under the window. Here's some specific information about how to look after a fiddle leaf fig and keep it healthy and alive.
Is that some kind of radiator or air conditioner or other electrical appliance I see under the window? If so get all of your plants at least 4 feet away from it. The leaves on your plants near it look like they are scorched from heat or static.
Sorry to say this but from what I can see it looks like all of your plants that showed up in the pictures are suffering and in poor health, not only the fig.
Is that a south facing window? What kind of climate are you in? Is the air in your home really dry and dusty? Do you have tiny insects on your plants and in the soil? Is there crusty salt on the surface of the soil?
Thank you, I am glad I have a name on the plant. Yes, there is a radiator under the window which is not turned on.
It was turned on previously this winter though. It is good that you point out that the plants are close to the radiator, had them so close so that they would get some sunlight during winter.
The other plant had been abandoned outside in the middle of winter so I brought it in to see if it will recover.
The window is facing south south east. The climate is temperate (latitude 59 degrees). I would say it is a bit dry indoors, yes. There are no insects on the leaves or in the soil, nor have I seen any before. Hmm, there is a bit of a white powder on the soil, I would not call it crusty though (I attached an image)?
It is useful to get advice on how to improve the general conditions of the plant. I will definitely follow this. Is there something specific that I can do to get the bud going, I was thinking about some hormone treatment or similar?
I'm sorry, but honestly, I don't know if it can be saved as it looks quite sick and dying and the soil doesn't look good. No hormone is going to force the plant to grow a new leaf when the plant is so sick. The trunk of the plant has salt crystals creeping up it and the soil shows iron oxide and salt crystal accumulations in it (which might be from over-fertilizing and over-watering) and the scorched leaves look like the plant has root rot and UV light and fertilizer salt burn.
I think if you're determined to try to save it then it needs to be repotted immediately into fresh clean soil with plenty of loose organic material and some sand and tiny volcanic stone pebbles mixed in, not only peat and no manure. Fiddle leaf figs require the soil to be evenly moistly humid at all times (like the humus rich soil in the jungle environment that these figs naturally come from) but well draining and not standing soaking wet.
The drain pan that the pot is standing in needs to be replaced with a plastic drain pan, as the one you have looks like it is a metal pan that is encrusted with wet rust and toxic metallic salts that will leach back up into the soil every time the plant is watered.
I can't tell if the plant pot it's in is plastic or metal, (it looks rather metallic) but if it is a metal container you need to replace that with a non-metallic container - plastic, clay, glass, wood .... whatever, but not any kind of metal.
They prefer bright light but will burn in direct sunlight and heat. If the air is dry then all of the plants could benefit with misting them at least once a week with water on the leaves to increase humidity. If all your other plants are in the same kind of soil that the fig is in then they may all need to be repotted into fresh soil as well.
Zoisite, Thanks a million. It have started with some new leaves so I am pretty happy.
I have repotted it in fresh soil with a lot of humus and no manure. I have carefully watered it without the addition of nutrients letting it drying out a bit in between but not too much. There is also summer here so better light conditions.
Good signs! Wish I'd kept mine I had a couple years ago. If that is a very modern looking radiator heater next to the window I would get the plants away from it when it's being used as the other poster suggested.
It's hard to keep indoor plants healthy without regular outdoors time in fair weather of course.
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It's nice to see it's getting some new leaves. Thanks for the update.
