Ficus maclellandii
“ Indoor ” and “ tree ” are n’t two watchword that always go well together , but I ’d say that the banana tree leaf figure makes it work .
A tall , arboreous plant that remain firm apart from your typical pocket-sized and herbaceous houseplants , Ficus maclellandiican make a strongly pretty assertion in your dwelling house .
contribute banana - form leaves and the common fig moniker to the intermixture , and it may even have your stomach rumble a lilliputian .
Photo by David J. Stang, Wikimedia Commons, viaCC BY-SA.
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Whether it ’s a ocular accent in your indoor hobo camp or the genius of the show , the banana tree leaf common fig tree is merely radiant .
But no matter how you apply this plant life , you ’ll need to know how to cultivate it the right way . We would n’t need such a pretty plant to clear on without reach its esthetical voltage , now would we ?
Photo by David J. Stang, Wikimedia Commons, viaCC BY-SA.
Our guide will take the air you through the basics of banana folio Libyan Fighting Group : their extension , polish , maintenance , and more . Hopefully , you ’ll bump it a - Sir Robert Peel - ing , cringey banana puns apart .
Here are the specifics :
What You’ll Learn
What Are Banana Leaf Figs?
The banana leaf fig – akaF. maclellandii – is a member of theFicusgenus , which contains over 900 mintage of shrubs , trees , and vine .
Hardy in USDA Zones 9 to 11 , banana leaf FIG hail from east India , Bangladesh , south China , and much of southeasterly Asia .
In the wild , they are found uprise in wet , tropical to subtropic surroundings .
Banana folio figure make body of still , light brown bark with distinct lenticels . This species is a member of the “ throttler Libyan Fighting Group , ” a grouping of epiphyticFicusplants that can kill their hosts .
They base themselves around the trunk of a emcee tree , put down sublunary roots while dispatch the host , then go along to rise independently where the hostusedto be as a self - defend , tubular trunk . Talk about brutal !
But do n’t cerebrate that you have to choke out one of your dear tree diagram just to farm a banana leaf figure , though . They can farm just fine in the ground or a container without a host .
With a growth habit that becomes more rounded and Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree - the likes of as it matures , F. maclellandiitypically top out at six to 10 feet tall and four to six foundation wide when grown indoors in a container . But in its natural outdoor home ground , it can produce 40 ft tall and 30 feet wide-eyed !
Banana leaf figs swank simple , spirally - arranged , leathery , glossy , dark green , and fishgig - determine leaf that grow about eight inches long and one and a half inch across-the-board .
I ’d say thatF. maclellandiifoliage look more like bananafruitsrather than honest banana leaves , although banana tree - cape is in the eye of the beholder , I presuppose .
As aFicusspecies , F. maclellandiibears duet of humble immature figs from leaf axils in spring , which turn yellow to redness as they mature .
Within each yield is a hollowsyconium : a type of efflorescence with pocket-sized flowers that confront inwards towards the empty outer space in each fruit . Kinda like a geode , but with blossom rather of dazzling crystal .
In nature , specialised Libyan Islamic Fighting Group wasps pose their ballock within the syconiums , pollinating the flowers as they do so . seeded player set will not pass without this partnership between fig and fig white Anglo-Saxon Protestant , which is why banana leaf fig are effectively uninventive in strange environments without their pollinator .
If pollination does occur and seeds form within the fruit , then the ejaculate will be open via animals such as birds , bats , and terrestrial mammals as they eat the figs , move elsewhere , and excrete the undigested seeds .
A word of warning : handling the yield , leaf , and sap barehanded can get out you with contact dermatitis , so always wear gloves and exercise caution !
Banana Leaf Fig Propagation
Unless you’re able to telepathically keep in line Ficus carica wasps that you ’re okay with suffer indoors , I would n’t try out to grow these plants from seed .
take stem cut , air layering , or just transplanting a youthful start would be my go - to ’s for propagation .
From Stem Cuttings
Use a desexualise blade or pair of mitt trimmer to remove six - inch cuttings from the final goal of healthy - looking shoots .
Do n’t blank out to endure a duet ofgardening glovesto protect your script from the sap !
After defoliate the bottom third of each thinning , scrape off the barque from the bottom inch of each cutting and dip it in a rooting hormone like Bonide ’s IBA powderfrom Arbico Organics .
Stick your cuttings two inches cryptic into six - column inch lot contain a 50:50 mix of perlite andpeat mossorcoconut coir . wash the media , cover the cutting with clear plastic baggies , and set the smoke in shiny , indirect unclouded indoors .
Still keeping the media equally moist , yetnotwaterlogged , take out the humidity cover once roots have formed – which should take about four to six weeks .
preserve with your care , and once the plants begin to outgrow their containers , they ’ll be ready for transplant into their new homes !
Find more tips for propagate via stem cutting here .
Via Air Layering
airwave layering is a simple generation technique for houseplant , or any plants with shoots that are too tough to bend and stratum normally .
Rather than bend outgrowth down to land , air layering brings soil up to the plant !
take a section of stem turn 12 to 18 inches aside from its tip . With a sharp knife , make two cut around the stem spaced one inch aside , along with a vertical scratch connecting the two . Then , strip down away a ring of barque , leaving a one - inch part of barkless Ellen Price Wood .
powderize the wound with root endocrine , clump a handful or two of moist sphagnum moss around the wound , then wrap it all up in clear credit card or aluminium foil .
assure the ends with electrical tape or twist ties – they ’ll require to be easily un - secured for late lachrymation .
Keep the moss moist while roots spring , which could take six to eight weeks or longer . Once the roots are several in long , separate the new works from its parent , just under where the steady down wound stop . From here , it ’s transfer metre !
Transplanting
Once you have your propagated flora or purchase nursery head start , fix a sturdy container with drainage holes that ’s an in or two wider than the transplanting ’s root system .
satiate it with a wet - retaining , yet well - draining growing medium – something like Miracle - Gro ’s indoor potting mix , which you may findvia Amazon .
Miracle - Gro Indoor Potting Mix
Then , dig a trap late enough to match the transplantation ’s root word system , and make it just a bit wider so you ’ve got room to influence .
Remove your transplant from its container , lightly comfort it into its fresh container , then backfill it with dug - out soil .
irrigate it in , set it near a windowpane to have bright , indirect igniter , and you ’re unspoiled to go !
How to Grow Banana Leaf Figs
Now that your banana leafage figure is pot up , let ’s talk about how to keep it happy in its new indoor digs .
Climate and Exposure Needs
As a specimen hardy in USDA Zones 9 to 11 , the banana tree folio Libyan Islamic Group sure as shooting prefer heat over the cold .
So as a houseplant , it ’ll apprise a temperature range of 60 to 70 ° F . If you ’re a utilities - witting thermostat - tweaker , then a broader range of 50 to 80 ° F is satisfactory .
The typical menage humidness should suffice , as these plant are n’t too fussy .
But you may want to keep your specimens away from AC unit , warmer , drafty spots , or any other place where temperature can change on a dime bag .
ForF. maclellandii , lustrous , indirect light from an east- or west - facing window is the name of the ignition game .
Soil Needs
A growing media that can retain moisture , yet let excess weewee to debilitate is idealistic .
Ensure that the medium ’s pH is somewhere in the 5.0 to 7.0 range , and you ’re fortunate .
Water and Fertilizer Needs
Constant , even moisture is optimal for banana leaf figs .
To provide this without going overboard and making the potting soil soggy , allow the top in of media to dry out out before you water again .
Once a month throughout the fountain and summer , an coating of balanced fertilizer really hit the patch .
You ’ll want to hold up off during the fall and winter months , when the flora is dormant though .
Bonide Liquid Plant Food
demand fertiliser ? Check out Bonide ’s 10 - 10 - 10 liquified plant food , available at Walmart .
Growing Tips
Pruning and Maintenance
As your banana tree folio fig acquire big and stiff , it ’s decease to become rootbound … unless you repot it .
Once your specimen loses that inch of infinite between its roots and the container , then it ’s time to size up . verify you expend wise pot soil and ensure that the new dope is not excessively large – one size up will do the trick .
If you care to set your flora alfresco during the summer months , they can go outside when temperatures consistently attain 50 ° farad or high-pitched .
verify to work them in when the temperatures peril to drop below that . They can survive in lower temperatures , but they wo n’t have as quite as many lush leaves .
As an evergreen plant , your banana leafage ficus wo n’t put down its leafage in fall . But to keep things looking lush , you should prune away any numb , diseased , discredited , and otherwise insalubrious - face leaves and subdivision as you acknowledge them .
If any sizeable offshoot encounter to throw off the aesthetical , then feel free to axe those as well .
If fruits come out , remove them to keep the plant looking sharp . These figs are n’t the awesomely comestible kind , and they ’ll detract from the foliage and finally drop if they ’re left on the plant .
Do n’t forget your baseball glove when working with this plant !
When growth slows during dormancy , your plant will naturally utilize up less pee as its transpiration rate decrease , so your lachrymation oftenness will go down , as well .
Always check the top inch of medium for sobriety before irrigate .
Banana Leaf Fig Cultivars to Select
Banana foliage figs are n’t in crack gamy demand for their fruits or landscaping applications , so there are n’t a enceinte bit of cultivars available . However , there are a couple that are deserving noting .
Take ‘ Alii , ’ for illustration . First grow commercially in Hawaii – ‘ Alii ’ actually means “ mogul ” in Hawaiian – this cultivar has become the specimen you are most likely to happen available for leverage .
So if you have a banana leaf fig that you ’ve purchased from a public trafficker , chances are it ’s an ‘ Alii . ’
‘ Allii ’
you could findF. maclellandii‘Alii ’ with a braided automobile trunk that ’s three- to four - feet tallavailable at FastGrowingTrees.com .
you’re able to prefer from a white or beige ornamental pot as well .
Other cultivars include ‘ Amstel - veen , ’ ‘ Amstel Queen , ’ and ‘ Amstel King , ’ which are broader - leaved variant of the received mintage .
With those larger leaves derive a greater surface area for conducting photosynthesis , which in bend come up with a leeway for lower light !
Managing Pests and Disease
Granted , the menage is typically more healthful than the outdoors , but wellness problems can still happen , specially if you get specimens that are already infested or infect .
Here ’s how to handle some plebeian issues :
Insects
As potential vectors of disease , insects can be a double whammy of awful . But on the flip side , managing them can puzzle out two plant problems for the damage of one !
congregate in clumps on stems and leaf undersides , mealybugs have pinkish and segmented bodies beneath their mealy bloodless coatings .
Waxy deposit on the stems and leaf will often become seeming before the existent pests do .
With their piercing - sucking mouthparts , they extract vital fluids from leaf tissues , which can leave infested plant with greensickness , stunted development , dieback , or even imbed expiry .
As they course , they excrete honeydew , which can lead in blacksooty mold . It can even attract ant , if you happen to have an ant trouble .
high-pitched - speed spays of urine can physically pink disclose mealybugs off of plants – you might desire to do that outdoors , though .
Monterey Horticultural Oil
Sprays of horticultural oil or insecticidal soaps will actuallykillthese pests . For Monterey ’s OMRI - lean horticultural rock oil , visit Arbico Organics .
For more information about mealybug management , curb out our guide .
weighing machine insects are round , flattened , and come up in either soft or armored forms .
accumulate in group and with no optical wooden leg , they actuallydolook like lizards or fish scale , or perhaps something you ’d desire a dermatologist to freeze off with liquid atomic number 7 .
weighing machine utilise similar mouthparts as mealybugs to feed from of plants , which can stimulate leafage yellowing , drop , and thin vigor . They also eliminate honeydew .
Horticultural oil and insecticidal soap can also control scale .
They ’re really append onto plant surfaces , though , so strong agua sprays wo n’t cut it here – try gazump them off with a toothpick , or perhaps scraping them off with a dull butter tongue .
Bonide Insecticidal Soap
Bonide offers some multi - purpose insecticidal soapat Arbico Organics .
ask advice about scale control ? We ’ve got you covered .
Far tinier than mealybug or scale , wanderer speck are just visible – to the au naturel eye , they just appear like displace crimson dots . But if you disclose out a hand lens , you ’ll see itty - bitty reddish arachnids .
Often accompanied by blazing webbing , spider mites leave tiny , speckled eating stigma on infest leave-taking . In time , the harm can progress to choloris , necrosis , or even leaf drop curtain .
hard sprays of water should physically remove wanderer mites , while horticultural oils will actually put them down .
wanderer mites still find you down ? Our guide has even more tips .
Disease
Using sterile gardening tools and take disease - free plants from the get - go will go a long way towards prevent disease .
Also known as gray mould , botrytis blight is a circumstance triggered by several dissimilar species ofBotrytisfungi .
You ’ll recognize this disease by the dampen brown muscae volitantes that take shape on parting and stem . Additionally , strand of fungal mycelium will move from infected to sizable tissue , spreading the disease throughout the plant .
It mostly infects works kept in excessively damp conditions , because of overwatering or poorly draining soil .
If this disease does strike , make certain to readily quarantine your plant life . Disease spread can be stop with sprays of fungicides , while severely stricken plants should likely be pitched .
triggered by suffocated roots due to over - saturate soils , root rot is an abiotic stipulation that can eventually kill the plant . Thanks to a antecedent scheme that ’s effectively drown , the leafage and stems can turn chlorotic , necrotic , and finally perish .
stem rot can be prevent , halted , and potentially reversed with right tearing practices . call up : allow the top inch of grease dry out between lachrymation .
For a flora with ascendant rot , it can be helpful to murder it from its container and trim away any all rot roots . If more than one-half of the roots are rot then the flora is probably a goner .
We go into more detail on treating root rot here .
Best Uses for Banana Leaf Figs
If you’relooking for an indoor treethat fly high in brightly lit spots , then a banana tree leafage figure really does the trick .
Bursting with thin , lush leave , this plant life is at the same time dense yet open , in a way of life that ’s quite esthetic .
You ’ll never miss out on view the leaf , either – they hang downward , making it near insufferable to avoid a coup d’oeil at their shining green surfaces .
Quick Reference Growing Guide
It’s Easy To Dig the Banana Leaf Fig
It ’s problematic to not love banana tree leaf ficus , especially if you revalue orotund , shapely ball of indoor foliage and banana - themed houseplants .
Wherever you put it in your home , you ’re sure to cherish the banana leaf Libyan Fighting Group . Give it the right TLC , and it ’s trusted to love you , too . As much as an insentient clump of greenery can , anyway .
Have a thing forFicusplants ? These guides should help oneself you Ficus carica - ure them out :
© require the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Product photos via Arbico Organics , Bonide , FastGrowingTrees.com , Miracle - Gro , Monterey , and Walmart . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
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Joe Butler
