fiddle leaf fig tree live plant Like with most other plants, Fiddle Leaf Figs do require some general maintenance. One important routine you can do for your Fiddle Leaf happens to correspond to its most obvious feature: its leaves. With great leaves come great responsibility — in the form of habitual dusting. Since their leaves are so large, Fiddle Leaf Figs need to be dusted regularly. When dust accumulates on plant leaves, dust particles make it difficult for the plant to absorb sunlight and perform photosynthesis. Since Fiddle Leaf Figs love light so much, regular dusting goes a long way in helping your plant stay in top shape. In addition to dusting leaves, it’s also a good idea to rotate your plant weekly or bi-weekly. Rotating your plant gives it even light exposure, meaning one side won’t be growing drastically more than another, leading to a sturdy and symmetrical Fiddle Leaf Fig. If you’re wanting your Fiddle Leaf Fig (or any tree, for that matter) to begin to grow branches, you can do a couple of things. Try giving your plant more light first — trees naturally grow branches, and if they’re receiving a lot of natural light, they’ll have more energy to potentially spend on creating branches. Another way to encourage branching is to cut off the topmost point of growth on your plant. This will force the plant to stop growing directly upwards, and instead, it’ll begin to branch out from the sides. To learn more about pruning and branching check out our pruning journal post. For those who don’t do so already, aerating the soil once every couple of months keeps the soil from becoming compacted. Compacted soil eventually creates small pockets of soil where water never reaches, which can negatively impact your plant’s ability to take in water, among other things. Aerating can be accomplished with a lot of different objects, whether it’s an official soil aerator, or something similar in size and shape, like chopsticks. Gently insert the aerator into the soil, slowly pushing it further in to avoid damaging too many roots. Do this in an assortment of spots around the soil, and it’ll help keep your plant healthy and happy by breaking up any spots where the soil has clumped together. Lastly, our suggestion on fertilizing your Fiddle Leaf Fig and other houseplants is the ‘less is more’ approach. It’s best to not overwhelm your plants with additional nutrients all at once. We highly recommend using a slow release pellet fertilizer, such as the Osmocote Plus Indoor Smart-Release Plant Food in the spring and summer months by mixing them into the top layer of the plant’s soil. Typically, these pellet fertilizers last for several months. NOTE WELL ROOTED ESTABLISHED SEEDLING TREE ONLY