Ficus natalensis subsp. leprieurii

This 'ficus triangularis variegata', surprisingly a new addition to the GT plant encyclopedia, is proving to be quite an intriguing plant for me. It has not grown for the last year and a half. It dropped all its leaves after the monsoon rains. This is new growth. Some branches died. Should I remove it from the pot and inspect the roots or should I just give it a shot of mild fertilizer and observe?

Hi @drumadixit I read up on your plant, my first thought was "ficus...on no, fussy buggers...lol!" Your variety is suppose to be easy maintenence...over watering will cause leaf drop, does not like Temps below 50 degrees F.

Oh and you only want to fertilize when it is actively growing or showing new growth. Hope this helps :)

I've never seen it before.

Yes Theresa, @treefrog44 that's the reason why I am pondering if I should fertilize or repot. All the growth of leaves that you see is new growth.

Love the leaf. Treefrog44 said if actively growing you can fertilize. But I would Google it and see if you can find source other than wiki that says what kind and how much to use. Also good you have in pot so you can remove from monsoon rains next time. If pot is well draining and soil was able to dry out before next watering it would be my guess not to repot while it is recovering. If any more branches died after new growth started then I would look at roots. But don't want to stress it again

Uma this is me trying to use my common sense from what I knew and what I have learned on gtags. I never saw this plant before. So like I said I am just guessing since no one with knowledge answered yet and I don't know who to resource on it well maybe you could try mikethegardener and see if he is familiar with it? 🤗

Also Treefrog44 doesn't give advice unless she knows or looked it up and she said she looked it up. She is always very helpful if you didn't know yet.