Hi All,

I have a Ficus Benjaminia that is probably 12 or so inches tall. The plant seems to be doing well. However, when I initially brought the plant home several months ago, I either didn't properly care for it or it was adjusting to the new environment and dropped a lot of leaves. Since then it stopped loosing leaves and is now growing healthily.

My problem is that at the base of the plant, the leaves still haven't grown back on the lower 25% of the plant, although the top 75% has leaves. So, it looks kind of sickly at the base.

I'm wondering: Can I do anything to encourage leaf growth at the bottom of the plant?? I haven't been fertilizing this plant, only watering it. Would clipping the new growth encourage the rebuiling of the leaves at the bottom?

Hi ryanC92

Leaf drop is very common with Ficus any time their moved but this is the best time of year to fix that. Make sure your plant is in the spot you plan to keep it for some time and air layer the top growth with at least two leaves. If you use a rooting hormone the tips should root in about three weeks and be ready for potting or you can just trim off the tops.After removing the tops feed with a high nitrogen fertilizer and by the end of this growing season branches will have started in from around the lower trunk.