This focus pumila or creeper fig can grow in almost any environment, but does best in 55-75F tempt. If you didn’t wear protective gloves and your skin is now irritated after too much contact with the creeping fig sap, you need to wash the sap away under running water. 06. Vigorous and fast-growing, Ficus pumila (Creeping Fig) is an evergreen self-clinging climber or trailer that grows relentlessly, covering everything it encounters (walls, trellises and other structures) by adhesive aerial rootlets. While there are multiple reasons that could cause this, the most common and likely one is that your creeping fig is receiving too much water. Creeping fig may do reasonably well in limited amounts of direct sunlight, but it won’t be able to tolerate it all day long. The creeping fig is still going to grow remarkably fast as compared to many other plants, but you won’t have to prune it as often. Green leaved Ficus pumila does also good in light shade. An Asian native, this evergreen vine is tough in the right conditions, but it needs regular pruning to keep it under control. If your creeping fig grows vertically on a fence or wall, you can place trays with water next to its base. Learn more. If the irritation and inflammation persist and don’t get better after a day or two, you may want to seek professional medical help to make sure that there won’t be any permanent damage to your skin. If you do that after the plant’s growing season is over, the future new plants may not grow roots and just die. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Still, it may not tolerate plenty of direct sunlight that well, and of course, just like any other plant, it won’t be able to survive in complete darkness or minimal light. Wearing safety goggles may also be a good idea because the sap could cause some serious damage if it comes into contact with your eyes. When growing creeping fig as a houseplant, it will need bright, indirect light. Act carefully, or you might actually damage the wall or fence your creeping fig is clinging to while pulling the leaves away. How to care for indoor and balcony container plants. For bigger potted creeping figs, such as those used in topiaries, biannual repottings are the way to go. For indoor plants (or very patient outdoor plant owners), there’s also another method that won’t even require any chemicals to be used. Creeping fig is an evergreen plant that will help you decorate fences, walls, and pillars. The creeping fig most indoor gardeners are used to, with tiny leaves and thin stems that cling to various surfaces, is the juvenile form of the plant. Medium indoor lighting, moderately moist soil. 75 % of the pots height. How to Care for Creeping Fig Creeping fig is one of more than 800 different kinds of fig plants. Ficus pumila “Variegata” does not like it that cool and needs a winter minimum of 10 °C (50 °F). The plant’s wandering stems and small leaves create an interesting lacy pattern as the vine grows across the wall. However, with propagation, you can replace your houseplant indefinitely. Get some general-purpose liquid fertilizer and feed the plant once a month in spring, summer, and early fall. New bought or recently repotted plants don’t need to be fed for the first year. Let the soil moderately dry between the waterings to max. As an online nursery, we do not restrict any live plants by its hardy zone. Watering the Creeping Fig As we already mentioned, the Creeping Fig is happiest in moist soil with good draining properties. Creeping fig (F. pumila) The most popular vining fig species, it produces long stems with alternating small and soft green round leaves that grow fast and vigorous. Reduce watering if placed cool during winter. Ficus pumula 'Quercifolia' Oak Leaf Creeping Fig. If your creeping fig grows inside in a pot, good drainage is even more important. Ficus pumila “Variegata” cuttings Green leaved Creeping Figs can either be grown warm the year round or given a winter rest period with a minimum of 5 °C (41 °F). If you live in a colder climate where the creeping fig would freeze in winter, you can still enjoy the gorgeous green leaves of this plant; just plant it in a pot and keep it inside! Consequently, if you need creeping fig to grow in a very shady spot that’s shielded from sunlight by a tree or your house walls, you can still have it cover that fence as long as you provide artificial lighting. If you discover it early on and it hasn’t affected much of the plant yet, you may simply use a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol to kill off the mealybug quickly and effectively. Trees.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. It needs no support to adhere to a wall. It is a skin inflammation that may be rather difficult to treat, so creeping fig is even included in the FDA list of poisonous plants (NCBI.gov). The larger your creeping fig, the more careful you have to be when repotting it so that you wouldn’t damage the plant’s structure. For the best results, allow the top two cm of the soil to dry before watering the plant. Creeping fig is not very demanding as far as lighting goes. For indoor care, keep your creeping fig's soil moist but not overly wet. Creeping FigBotanical Name: Ficus pumila. Ficus pumila – Indoor House Plants. For small potted plants that dwell inside, repotting is recommended every year. Combined with an extensive trimming, annual repotting should help keep the plant’s growth spurts in check, allowing you to keep the creeping fig relatively small and compact. There are several varieties of the main Ficus pumila species, but they’re all similar enough to ignore the minor differences in leaf shape and coloring. Neutral: On Sep 18, 2001, tiG from Newnan, GA (Zone 8a) wrote: Ficus pumila 'Variegata' is a variegated evergreen vine that clings to any surface. However, doing this will require extra care and manual dexterity, as you can easily damage the leaves and stems with the tweezers. During summer you will often find around the Botanical Garden weeping figs (Ficus benjamina) growing in decorative containers, as they look reliably good all season long.Most of you, however, grow weeping figs as a houseplant. The Best Indoor Vines and Climbers (With Pictures of … We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Otherwise, it will spread on to your other plants and steadily multiply until it kills them. If your creeping fig is starting to display too many dark leaves, it is a clear indication that your plant needs some pruning. Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree - Optimal Growing and Care Tips, 14 Low-Maintenance Water Plants - Growing Tips + Photos, 8 Indoor Hanging Plants That You Can Grow Indoors, 7 Medicinal Plants You Should Have In Your Garden, Non-toxic to humans, both stalks and leaves are edible. A charming indoor plant, creeping fig is also commonly used to cover concrete walls and fences. Eastern Asia (China, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam). Small leaves and and wiry like stems will creep anywhere you allow them to. Apart from placing trays for the potted plants, you also need to make sure that the creeping fig doesn’t sit on a dry window sill for long hours. Otherwise, your skin is likely to come into contact with the sap produced by the plant and become inflamed. Weeping ficus or fig is one of the most popular houseplants found in homes, offices, and interior landscaping. You can simply locate the white spots on your plant and remove the mealybug with a pair of tweezers. It is sometimes confused with Ficus microcarpa, which is actually less weepy and more upright. Your fig tree needs all the major nutrients. Unlike much of its family, which grows as upright trees and shrubs, this little plant is a groundcover or vine, depending on how you grow it. If you need to remove a significant amount of creeping fig growth, you’ll need dedicated gardening equipment. Finally, get more ideas on how to successfully plant, grow, and care for a creeping fig with our Creeping Fig: A Field Guide. Toxic to dogs, cats, and horses (. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to remove mealybug from your plants. If your creeping fig has spread too fast too soon and covered up the surfaces you didn’t intend for it, you’ll need to act fast and remove the extra growth as soon as you can. It’s also one of the smallest members of the ficus family. To help them do that, you’ll have to place the pot with the cut-offs in a warm spot with lots of indirect light. It can also be used as a groundcover. Always make sure to remove excess water from the tray after you’ve watered the plant. This plant will cling to just about any vertical surface, so the possibilities of using it for exterior design are almost limitless. This should be enough to keep your creeping fig growing happily for at least another year. Email The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly. However, if you need your creeping fig to remain compact or if you prefer it to have the young, fresh leaves rather than the meaty, older ones, you will need to prune the plant from time to time. If everything goes well, your stem cut-offs should develop some roots in 2-3 weeks. If you have several large creeping fig plants growing outside, removing mealybug from them may be a little more challenging. Creeping fig can cling to different types of surfaces really well, and the longer you wait, the more difficult it is going to be to free the affected area. When your tree reaches a suitable size then you can prune it. Shriveled Up Leaves that Keep Falling Off, Creeping Fig Causes Skin Irritation after Pruning and Trimming, 9 Different Indoor Tropical Plants - Growing Guides & Photos. These are the young leaves which are inevitably going to mature and turn into thicker, darker ones that no longer have the initial appeal. When you get around to planting the creeping fig, make sure you also plant wire support to “train” the vines and guide them up the wall. Fiddle-leaf fig (F. lyrata) has large, violin-shaped leaves and grows in an upright form. You don’t have to buy more creeping fig plants to have them cover your whole fence or wall. Once spring comes, and your creeping fig starts growing new leaves, you can cut off some stem tips and place them in a sterile mix for propagation. If you have pets or small children in your household, you’ll have to make sure that the indoor specimens of creeping pig are situated well out of their reach. It’s a fast-growing creeping vine with small, leathery dark green foliage. Other Names: Climbing Fig, Fig Ivy and Creeping Ficus. If your creeping fig grows outside, you obviously won’t have to repot it. Creeping fig loves humidity, so if you want to grow it in dry climates, you will need to provide some artificial sources of humidity. And see our previous Gardening 101 posts on Ivy, Wild Grape Vine, and Wisteria. Once you’re satisfied with the area you freed, be sure to keep pruning your creeping fig plant on a regular basis during its growing season. Despite consistent, aggressive growth, creeping fig is better pruned in spring and summer, and not just whenever you feel like it. Indoors they’re best grown in a hanging basket, or given something to attach to and climb. If you fill the trays with pebbles, you can even make them into a cool element of your garden landscape design. It is one of many favorite choices for the indoor … This site uses cookies to analyze traffic and for ads measurement purposes. You will want to fertilize your creeping fig in the spring and summer about once a month. It’s usually a good idea to reinforce the wiring further up the wall to give the plant strengthened support. Once the new plant has well-established roots, you can plant it outside or repot it into a bigger pot with proper soil and treat it as a young creeping fig plant. In the case of outside plants, restricting access to them might be difficult or impossible, so you may want to choose another plant for your landscape design implementation if you think your children or pets might accidentally come into contact with the plant (ASPCA.org). Evergreen fig vine is normally a decorative climbing plant but if allowed to mature and pollinated by a fig wasp will grow edible figs. The good news is that it is possible to have creeping fig plants grow and even prosper under artificial light that’s strong enough. Creeping fig is considered poisonous, so you should protect your arms and possibly face when trimming the plant leaves and stems. The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly. Make sure that the creeping fig is planted in soil that can provide good drainage, as the plant won’t grow well if its roots are constantly surrounded by wet, soggy soil. 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