Weeping fig tree

[Dul2020]

Hello

I am a complete house plant novice, but I've so far managed to keep most my houseplants alive just by doing the very basics of watering them and ensuring they have enough sunlight. About a year ago I bought a lovely weeping fig tree for my living room. It stayed looking very healthy for all the time it was in my care, but after I returned from a 3 month holiday, most the leaves on one half had fallen off and that side was looking particularly bare.

I am pretty sure that the tree had not been watered for the last month of the three months I was away. Two months have passed since then and I have been regularly watering it but the same half still remains very bare.

Is there anything I can do to bring it back to it's original health? Or is it too late?

I am attaching before and after pictures to illustrate.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Chuck]

I'd say the reason it is bare is because it is not getting enough sunlight like the other half is getting. Rotate the tree.

 

[Polina]

I had such a problem. I think it might be because of watering. But it doesn’t look that bad

 

[Dul2020]

I'd say the reason it is bare is because it is not getting enough sunlight like the other half is getting. Rotate the tree.

I don't think that's the case. It was fine until I went away and the houseguests did not water it!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Poor watering may have been the origin of it's problems, but even in the first picture the side near the light is doing better. It may well be that rotating it will assist its recovery, even if it wasn't the cause of its problems.

 

[Dul2020]

Poor watering may have been the origin of it's problems, but even in the first picture the side near the light is doing better. It may well be that rotating it will assist its recovery, even if it wasn't the cause of its problems.

Thank you that makes sense! And should I do anything with all the branches where the leaves died? DO I need to cut them off?

Here's what it looks like turned around!

 

[Chuck]

If the limbs are dead they are dead and will not come back. Scratch the bark on the bare limbs and see if it is a greenish color. If it is that particular limb is still alive and will probably come back if it has light.

 

[Dul2020]

If the limbs are dead they are dead and will not come back. Scratch the bark on the bare limbs and see if it is a greenish color. If it is that particular limb is still alive and will probably come back if it has light.

Thank you for your reply. They are pretty dead... Should I cut off the dead limbs in full? Will new ones replace them?

 

[Chuck]

There is no such thing as pretty dead. Either they are or they are not. If a limb is dead it will not come back. It will do nothing except take up space. If a dead limb will be replaced it will be replaced whether or not you remove the dead one or not. New growth will come only from plant tissue that is alive. When people remove dead limbs from plants it is for 2 reasons. Cosmetics and removing light restrictions. It is best to remove all dead material but just make sure it is really dead. Most of those bare limbs are not dead. Observe how they were bending towards the light and only the ends of the limbs have leaves? That was caused by not rotating the plant and allowing the entire plant to have sufficient sunlight. I am fairly confident that those "dead limbs" are not dead at all and with a little time will leaf back out again and when they do rotate the tree once per week. There is a product called Super Thrive which you can probably get online. Get some and use as directed.

 

[Dul2020]

Thank you!