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Ficus Bonsai Tree Losing Leaves - Now What?

The Ficus Bonsai tree losing leaves is not something too pleasant to have to experience. Your tree is something precious and to have it drop the leaves isn't something that you want to have to deal with. But… it happens for whatever reason and when and if it does you should be aware of what to do.

This tree is usually pretty tolerant of a lot of things, but it can get stressed for whatever reason. When the tree gets stressed, the leaves will usually get a bit waxy and then fall off. If this happens to your Ficus then it's very important to remember what you were doing with the tree in the last two weeks. Did you shift the tree? Was there a sudden drop in temperature? Did you overwater (or underwater) the tree? Were you pruning it? If you conduct this simple exercise, then chances are that something will have happened to the tree that is out of the norm.

In most cases, it will have been as simple as shifting the tree. I don't know if you've ever moved a piano before, but if you have you'll know that pianos tend to lose their tuning if they are shifted. This is not because of bumping it around but actually due to the sudden change in temperatures. It's the sudden change from warm house to cold truck to warm house again that does it (which is also why it's a myth that moving a piano in the same room will cause it to lose the tuning - not true). Also, if you keep a piano in the middle of the house away from extreme variations in temperature then you'll find that it doesn't need tuning as often.

This is exactly the same as with your Ficus Bonsai tree losing leaves. If you've moved your tree, chances are that the leaves fell off. Also, your tree might be in a house that gets extreme variations in temperature - in most cases if the temperature has dropped below 60 degrees Fahrenheit the leaves will fall. This is especially important during winter time. Keep a close eye on the conditions that your tree is living in.

If you haven't moved it then chances are that you overwatered the tree, wired it or otherwise caused it stress in a different way. If your tree has lost its leaves then the worst thing that you can do is to PANIC. If you panic and immediately start to water, spray, trim and repot and move then you WILL make it worse. The tree will grow the leaves back as long as you are consistent. This means a consistent watering schedule, regular fertilizer application suitable temperatures for the tree.

DO NOT suddenly feel the need to improve it every day - while you may feel that it's important to 'help' the tree along, sometimes the best thing to do is simply to let the tree do its own thing. If you do that then you stand a very good chance of letting the tree get its leaves back. Remember that leaves don't regrow overnight - it can be several weeks or months for the leaves to come back. Just don't give up on your tree - the leaves will re-grow.

The Ficus Bonsai tree losing leaves isn't something that you want to deal with. But if it does, just treat it like you should treat your tree normally - get rid of anything that is stressing it and get the balance right for your tree and the amount of work you put into it. The leaves will come back - so don't fret too much.

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