Ficus Ginseng losing leaves.

[Adi]

Hello everybody!

I've had this ficus ginseng for a little over an year and a half. Since 2 weeks ago leaves started turing yellow and falling and 2 of the tubes have started getting soft. I don't know if it is underwatering or overwatering since i never changed the plant position and no parasites are present. The weather has been a little gray lately so i guess that could be a factor.
I would really appreciate any advice. I really want to save it if it's dying since it is a present from someone dear to me.

Thank you!

 

[Carol 83]

Too much

2 of the tubes have started getting soft.

Too much water. What kind of soil is it in?

 

[Adi]

Too much

Too much water. What kind of soil is it in?

Thank you for your response!

Just after i posted this i squeezed the bulbs and they were mushy. Two of the three bulbs were rotten almost completly. Indeed it was overwatering.
From now on i think i'll move every new plant to different pot as soon as i've bought it. The soil around the roots was very dense and full of sand which helped with the rot when i gave it too much water. To answear your question, i don't know what kind of soil it is but water dripps from the bottom of the pot after like 5 seconds after watering it. It is not a dense one (sand was only around the roots, nowhere else).
I cut the rot out of the 2 bulbs, left with only 1 bulb and 2 stumps and cleaned the roots. Since this 3rd bulb is alive and pretty long the cut part remains out of the pot so, i tryied to ground layer it with some soil and some aluminium foil. My hopes are quite low but i am kind curious what the result of this experiment will be .

If you have other sugestions i'm open to them.
Thank you again!

 

[19Mateo83]

Thank you for your response!

Just after i posted this i squeezed the bulbs and they were mushy. Two of the three bulbs were rotten almost completly. Indeed it was overwatering.
From now on i think i'll move every new plant to different pot as soon as i've bought it. The soil around the roots was very dense and full of sand which helped with the rot when i gave it too much water. To answear your question, i don't know what kind of soil it is but water dripps from the bottom of the pot after like 5 seconds after watering it. It is not a dense one (sand was only around the roots, nowhere else).
I cut the rot out of the 2 bulbs, left with only 1 bulb and 2 stumps and cleaned the roots. Since this 3rd bulb is alive and pretty long the cut part remains out of the pot so, i tryied to ground layer it with some soil and some aluminium foil. My hopes are quite low but i am kind curious what the result of this experiment will be .

If you have other sugestions i'm open to them.
Thank you again!

As long as you cut back to green wood these ginseng ficus can take it. There is several folk here including myself that have just outright cut the tubes off and replanted without any issues. Over watering will cause the rot to continue. Try watering only when the soil is dry. You can use a chopstick stick in the soil to see how moist it is and when it needs water.

 

[Carol 83]

There is several folk here including myself that have just outright cut the tubes off and replanted without any issues

Yep.

 

[Adi]

As long as you cut back to green wood these ginseng ficus can take it. There is several folk here including myself that have just outright cut the tubes off and replanted without any issues. Over watering will cause the rot to continue. Try watering only when the soil is dry. You can use a chopstick stick in the soil to see how moist it is and when it needs water.

Wow, looks like ginseng ficuses are pretty damn resilient. It does look like it stopped losing leaves soon after I operated on it but I didn't want to give myself false hope .
Regarding watering, how dry should the chopstick be when it is time to water the plant?

 

[19Mateo83]

You want your soil to be damp, but not wet. Ficus like moisture but they don’t like wet feet if that makes sense.

 

[Adi]

You want your soil to be damp, but not wet. Ficus like moisture but they don’t like wet feet if that makes sense.

It actually does makes sense. Thank you for your kind answers!