Fiddle Leaf Fig Ficus lyrata

Fiddle leaf fig is grown for one thing above all, and that is the leaf. Big, leathery and violin shaped, deeply veined and held stiffly out from an upright, sparsely branched stem, it reads as architecture rather than foliage. Indoors it is the standard floor specimen for a bright corner. Outdoors in Brisbane, the Northern Rivers and other frost free districts it grows fast into a genuine tree, and it is used there as a quick evergreen screen or a pleached wall panel along a boundary.

Indoors, and outdoors north of the frost line

Warm, humid, frost free conditions suit it, which means coastal Queensland and northern New South Wales for planting in the ground, and a sheltered courtyard or a large pot anywhere colder. Frost is the hard limit, since even a light frost marks the leaves and repeated frosts kill young plants outright. Full sun to part shade both work outside, though foliage grown in shade comes larger and softer. Give it free draining soil with plenty of organic matter and moderate, even water, never a cycle of bone dry then flooded. Indoors it wants the brightest position in the house, away from heater outlets, air conditioning vents and draughty doorways, and it dislikes being shifted once it has settled. The failure mode is root related and it arrives in two forms. In a pot, a root ball allowed to dry right out gives you crisp brown leaf margins and sudden leaf drop that people mistake for a light problem. In the ground, a fig root system goes looking for water, so keep it well clear of pipes, pool shells, paving and footings.

Lyrata or benjamina for an indoor tree

Both are sold as indoor figs and they behave very differently. Weeping Fig carries a huge count of small glossy leaves on drooping branchlets and sheds them in handfuls when it is moved or watered badly, so it forgives less and makes more mess, but it clips readily into a dense shape. Fiddle leaf carries a much smaller count of very large leaves, which means every one counts and a lost leaf shows for months, but it needs no shaping at all to look deliberate. Take lyrata for a sculptural single specimen in a bright room, and benjamina for a hedge or a clipped standard. For garden scale rather than pot scale, Ficus macrophylla is the parkland version of the same genus. Browse the rest of our indoor plants for other options in a bright room.

Pruning a fiddle leaf and keeping it fed

Prune in spring or early summer while the plant is actively growing. Cutting the leader back is what forces branching on a leggy indoor specimen, and cuts made in the warm months callus quickly. Wear gloves, because the milky sap irritates skin and stains carpet. Outdoors, shape a screen or a pleached panel with light trims through the warm season and avoid hard cutting in winter. Feed potted plants monthly through spring and summer with a liquid or controlled release fertiliser at label rate, and hold off over winter. Wipe dust from the leaves as well, since they are large enough that a coating of dust genuinely reduces the light reaching them.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 9 sizes, from 66mm Square up to 500mm, priced from $16.95 to $489.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to fast growing screening plants.