The Ficus benjamina , is the most cultivated plant in the interiors of our houses, they are easy plants to care for and grow quickly and can reach 30 m in height in natural conditions. It has pendulous branches and thick leaves 6-13 cm long. When fruiting, rarely indoors, it produces small fruits, similar to figs, which are the favorite food of various birds in Malaysia and Thailand, where it is native.

 

It is a strangling tree plant, which in its juvenile stage develops by climbing on a tree emitting roots that in contact with the ground thicken and harden to be able (once drowned to the tree to which it is attached) to remain upright.

 

Its leaves are thick, glossy dark green with a very long apex. The whole plant after a cut causes the release of latex (milky liquid) that can cause irritations.

 

During the winter it keeps its development to a minimum, but when spring arrives, its more or less spectacular outbreaks begin again, which will not stop until well into autumn. The new leaves are light green that contrast with the much darker old ones.

 

 

 

It needs very bright places, trying not to get direct sunlight, unless it gradually gets used to the sun's rays, so as not to cause burns, although in hot climates it can be grown outdoors, supporting full sun, although prefers semi-shade.

 

Ideally, temperatures should not drop below 13º C and in summer a temperature around 24º C. Ficus benjamina can live outdoors in climates where there is no frost (temperature that does not drop below 0º C), even at full Sun. Otherwise, in colder climates it can be taken outside in good weather, in semi-shade and in autumn put it inside the house again.

It is not demanding in terms of humidity, but it welcomes a fine daily mist, except when the temperature drops below 15º C, since fungi can appear.

 

 

The waterings during the growth must be continued, since the plant transpires more humidity and therefore the substrate dries more quickly. If the substrate remains very dry, it can cause its growth and a rapid yellowing of its leaves may appear and even cause it to fall in a few days. It is true that the plant can recover with some ease by emitting new leaves, but it loses its ornamental beauty during this period of foliar renewal.

 

The subscriber must be done every 15 days in spring. If it can be, make it a special one for green leafy plants. You have to add iron to the water once a month, so you will avoid a possible yellowing of the leaves due to its deficiency.

 

 

The reproduction of the ficus is carried out by cuttings in spring with high humidity or by air layering, which consists of placing soil on a branch in height by means of a container to the branch that we want to cut, so that it roots and can be cut once it is rooted.

 

 

As an indoor plant in many houses due to its easy cultivation and its quick adaptation to the interior, or in hot climates as an isolated outdoor plant.

 

 

The Ficus benjamina when it has a problem reacts normally by throwing leaves. However, even if it is totally defoliated, do not throw it away, it has the ability to sprout again. The most usual thing is that it yellows and throws the leaves caused by an excess of watering.