How to Revive a Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree: A Before and After Story

Revive a Fiddle Leaf Fig

Nothing is more inspiring for the owner of a fiddle leaf fig tree than a good before and after story!

These trees are known for being a bit fussy and developing problems that can reduce them to a leafless stick. Fiddle leaf figs come with quite a learning curve, so sometimes we need to see how resilient they can actually be.

Here’s a story of a fiddle leaf fig from one of our readers, Roxanne. Read the tips on how to revive a fiddle leaf fig.

Roxanne’s sister had a fiddle leaf fig for over 15 years! At its peak, the tree was over eight feet tall with lots of perfectly green, glossy leaves.

Then Roxanne’s sister became very busy, and her poor tree was neglected.

It stopped getting watered regularly and Roxanne’s nephew pulled off all the leaves until it was just a naked trunk.

At this point, many plant parents would give up and start over with a new tree, but Roxanne decided to take on the challenge and nurse this poor tree back to health.

But first, they even had to cut down the main trunk to get it into Roxanne’s car!

What did they have to lose, right?

To make matters worse, the root ball actually fell out of the pot during the transfer!

If a tree can bounce back from that, it can bounce back from anything.

Time for a Turnaround

When Roxanne got the tree home (now just a stick), she repotted it in fresh soil, watered it every week, and waited with her fingers crossed.

After about a month, the stick started to show signs of life.

The trunk started growing new leaves and getting taller. Two months later, the tree has several new leaves and is starting to look like its old self. It was time to revive a fiddle leaf fig.

As a bonus, Roxanne was able to propagate the piece they had to cut off the tree and get it to grow.

The story of this sad, dying fiddle resulted in not just one, but TWO healthy, happy fiddle leaf fig trees!

It doesn’t even look like the same tree. I love this inspiring story and it shows how tough these trees can actually be.

This story perfectly illustrates the most important factor to caring for these trees: Patience.

Plants don’t always operate on our schedule and sometimes progress happens slower than we’d like.

With determination and proper, consistent care, you can have a completely new tree in just a few short months. This story was clear that you can revive a fiddle leaf fig.

It’s also a reminder to keep Fiddle Leaf Fig Plant Food on hand to help keep your fiddle leaf fig healthy.

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