Willow Leaf Ficus Help: yellowing leaves

[TeT12a_sPiN]

Hey everyone. I've been growing plants most of my life, but just in the past 8 or so months, I decided to really commit to bonsai. I purchased a few ficuses; a couple tiger bark and one willow leaf with a decent sized trunk, all pre-bonsai.

I received the willow leaf in the end of August and it was outside in full sun until mid October. I live in zone 6b in New Jersey.

I have been growing plumeria for 7 yrs now, so I actually had a grow tent in my basement, to grow them and some tropicals over the winter. So I made up my mind that when it got cold, I would just transition all my tropical trees to the grow tent for the cold months.

I just purchased new lighting and a better humidifier and whatnot, so I was still getting used the settings, but in about 3 to 4 weeks, I noticed some yellowing leaves on my willow leaf.

I thought it was just your normal leaf drop, but it gradually just kept on doing it.
Everyday I would check it out, and there would be another 6 to 10 leaves that were yellow and a little spotted brown.

The ficus was really pot bound when I received it, and once this started happening, I thought it might help to repot it. I know that if a tree isn't healthy it should not be re-potted, but I really didn't know what else to do.

Anyway, just wanted to give some background on what the situation is. I figured I'm way past saving this willow leaf because it just has gotten worse. I was thinking it may be the drastic change of environment compared to the outside? I have 2 LED lights that are 450W each in a 4 × 8ft tent with the temp around 85F and the humidity anywhere between 50 and 80%. I'm including pics below and just wanted to know if anyone can pinpoint something I did wrong. What blows my mind, is that a couple trees seem to be struggling, while my cascade tigerbark and a few propagations along with my bougainvillea are friggin loving it so I'm super confused! Any info is greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time everyone!

The first pic I'm including is the willow leaf a couple months ago when I first brought it inside and into tent.

PS- the last pic is some yellowing leaves I believe to be normal on 2 of my ficuses. Am I correct? Because every 3 or 4 days, I notice a handful of new yellow leaves on that tigerbark in the back. All this along with this new system has me thinking something in my setup is a little off that is causing this. Let me know if you can. And again, I really appreciate it, thanks.

 

[Michael P]

Personal experience for what it is worth: I have both willow leaf ficus and F. microcarpa, not tiger bark but other cultivars. I over-winter them in sunny windows, probably not a good conditions as your grow tent. All the microcarpa show a few yellow leaves through out the winter, but don't lose significant amounts of foliage. The willow leaf ficus always show significant leaf drop and by February they are sometimes as bare as yours. But they do recover well when they can go back outside.

I think willow leaf ficus simply are more sensitive to being moved indoors. The only improvement I can suggest to your set up is to move the trees much closer to the lights, just a few inches away. You might see a quick turn around.

 

[TeT12a_sPiN]

Really? Closer?? I had my lights hanging down about halfway closer, versus where they are in the pics. I thought the intensity was too much so I raised them. Reason being, I started to notice newer leaves having a bit of burnt edges, and some leaf curl...idk.

I'm just not completely sure if the setup I have is helping or hurting most of them. Some show healthy growth, some seem to be struggling. This multiple diff tree thing is hard lol.

I was just told willow leaf pretty much lose all their leaves over winter..how much truth to that is there? If so, that would be a relief. It is completely bare now; not a single leaf left. It does give me a bit of hope that there seem to be buds at all the tips of the branches.

I appreciate the reply and sorry for not responding back quicker.

Maybe I'll start a new thread to see if I can get any info on my grow tent overall.

Thanks.

 

[Shibui]

I don't have willow leaf but others have confirmed they often go leafless in winter then come back as the weather warms up in spring. There are other not so good possibilities but hope this is OK.

I note the pots are sitting in saucers or trays of one sort or another. Roots sitting in water through cool months can quickly cause roots to rot. Make sure the soil gets to dry out in between watering. I get more yellow leaves where my ficus stay wet in winter. Last winter I kept them quite dry - even to the point of wilting a few times and they came through the cold much healthier.

 

[Michael P]

Leaf loss in winter varies with indoor conditions. My willow leaf come through the winter better if I am careful about watering--not too wet and not too dry. As long as the twigs are green and supple with healthy buds at the ends the tree is alive and able to recover even if it is completely bare.

Leaf scorch from too much light usually shows up in the center of the leaf blade. (Too much light is almost impossible with artificial light sources.) Browning at the edges is usually from some other cause, the most common being improper watering. Shibui is right about the saucers, I didn't notice them. I use trays under my bonsai during the winter, but the trays are filled with gravel that keeps the bottoms of the pots above any standing water. This way I can water freely until it runs out the drain hole but the roots are always above the water in the tray. The extra humidity may help a little too. I started doing this a number of years ago and it solved a lot of my winter problems.

Change one thing at a time in your set up, wait a few weeks and see if there is any improvement. If not, change something else. I would start with watering and saucers, then adjust the lights. To help with watering, try the chop stick trick. Put a wooden chop stick or dowel deeply into the soil and leave it there all the time. To check the need for water, pull it out. If the end is wet, that's too much. If the end is moist, that is good, no need to water. If the end is dry, time to water.

In general your set up looks good. With a few tweaks I think you will be successful.

 

[MHBonsai]

You have a great start with your tent - can you give us more info on your lighting? I agree with the others, you can move those lights really close. My ficus will grow to within just a couple inches of my lighting usually before getting leaf scorch. It could be dropping leaves just from the low light conditions.

Look for healthy growing tips on the ficus that have dropped leaves - that's the key to seeing if it's dying or just dropping leaves from a response to stress. Double check it's not scale insects, I've had ficus drop leaves like this from scale.

What's your watering system/schedule like?

The willow leaf that's dropping leaves may also be from root issues. When I've gotten ficus from nurseries, I'll often re-pot right away just to see what I'm working with on the roots. I clear out all of the heavy organic nursery soil, check for root rot, but keep the root system basically intact and slip into a well draining soil that I know how to control. Pumice/lava/pine bark/DE/akadama/etc depending. I find that's easier to manage in a tent with high humidity, and you can cross one thing off the list of challenges.

 

[HardBall]

My willow leafs play dead every year around the solstice...all the leaves fall off and begin growing again in February. Be careful with the water during this time.

 

[Marquise]

I’d check for spider mites I had the same problem when bringing mine in for winter. I didn’t notice any while they were outside but about a week or two after putting them in the tent one of my ficus started losing color and leaves, it must of been the perfect environment for them to multiply

 

[Michael P]

I’d check for spider mites I had the same problem when bringing mine in for winter. I didn’t notice any while they were outside but about a week or two after putting them in the tent one of my ficus started losing color and leaves, it must of been the perfect environment for them to multiply

Good point! I had spider mite and scale problems in the past that definitely contributed to leaf drop. Now I use a systemic pesticide in the fall before I bring the tropicals in the house. Bayer Protect and Feed works well for me. It does contain a neonicatinoid that is toxic to bees and contributes to colony collapse disorder. Don't use it on any plant that is flowering and might attract bees. Ficus are not attractive to bees so no worries there.