benjamin's fig

order: rosales
family: moraceae
genus: ficus
species: benjamina

First Story

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7 april 2012

Finally a benjamin's fig of my own! It was love at first sight. Actually I inherited from a friend of mine who needed to clear all the plants in his workplace, because their company was moving to a new building where they implement the "no own plant" policy. Since he's already got a giant benjamin's fig at home, he said 'yes' right away as I asked him if he'd give it to me. I can imagine that in the workplace, the plant got a lot a sunlight and warmth which is why it's already thrown up so much of new growth in March. The fresh lemon green against the dark leaves from last year gives such a vivid contrast. It's got two trunks growing from below, a twin. Lovely!

I want to give it a new pot because I don't like the plastic pot it's growing in currently. I've been looking around for one. I'm thinking of one that is shallow and glazed. Wider but not taller than its current pot. Something as shiny as its foliage. For colour I prefer something natural. Brown, dirty green or blue. Handmade. I've seen candidates, but am still not 100% happy. I'll keep on looking and avoid making decision too soon out of urge to rid the plastic piece and regret it later when I find a better pot.

Update

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5 september 2015

Over the past 3 years my benjamin's fig has evolved tremendously. The two trunks have gained weight and effectively fused together. I have been doing the "cut and grow" on it throughout the growing seasons. As soon as days got warmer I'd put the plant out in the garden. Weekly feeding gave it energy to consistently throw up new fresh green leaves. Clipping several times during summer were enough to result in really dense foliage. However the leaves have also become a lot larger. I rather have them small so the trees resemble bigger trees. Last year in spring I managed to finally transplant it into a new pot. When doing that I made sure to spread out the roots horizontally. With surface soil washed out over time roots got exposed. The pot is rather shallow and the plant quite aggressive. Therefore only after a year the plant has become root-bound again. One thing I didn't manage to do this year which I should definitely make up for in spring next year is to trim back long roots and replace the soil.