Ficus Benjamina Frost

faethon

Hi,

I have three Ficus Benjamina plants that have suffered below zero temperatures in Athens Greece the area where I live.
Temperatures rarely reach that low level here.
However all plants lost their leaves.
Are they going to recover? How should I treat them now if I have some chance of saving them?

Thanks

Faethon

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Cathie

You mention temperature, but it's not clear if your plants were left out in the cold, or how cold it was...? Other than that I wonder how oftn you water them - do you give the soil a chance to dry out in between watering times? Are you watering well when you do it? What kind of soil are they in and does it drain quickly?

faethon

Hi Cathie,

Thanks for your reply,

The plants were left out. The temperature during those cold days it may have reached -2 or -3 below zero Centigrade.
Watering is happening when the soil dries out by placing the pot in a container full of water for a few minutes. It drains very well afterwards.

So how do I treat my plants now?

F

BunjinEnt

Get them somewhere to keep them warm for the rest of the season. Lots of sunlight, reduce the watering until they have leaves because they are not respiring as they were before they lost their leaves. ALSO do not fert until they return to health. There may be some die back of branching, but I bet they did not die. Be patient.

-Wm

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faethon

Thank you Wm

Faethon

ekillians

aw man - tough break. Many years ago i lost my first tree ever just like that. It too was a ficus and I came home just an hour or two after the temperature started dropping drastically. Unfortunately mine never recovered. I hope yours does tho. Don't give up - ficus can take a month or two to recover from trauma and they tend to be resilient trees.

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The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, 'In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this afternoon!'
-- John F. Kennedy

Rock Chester

Ent nailed it, great advice.

I had this happen winter before last. It is so mild in the winter here that I never move my trees. they stay out on the benches all winter. Well we had a freak cold and the ficus just turned brown and dropped.

they took fooorrrever but they came back. Took all sumer to refoliate. So be patient.

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