Making a Fiddle Leaf Fig Branch Out

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I love following home decor accounts on Instagram... I love clean lines, minimalist, Scandinavian, cozy homes. I love black walls and I love large plants!

So, when hubby and I were down in Indy back in October and I found this fiddle fig for $20, I brought it home.... washed it down with Basic H and found it a cozy spot to live by my east living room window...

Oct. 7th, 2018
Here's a little fact about me.... I have always had a green thumb when it comes to outdoor plants, but I usually kill houseplant within a few months.... except for devils ivy.... I've still got the original plant from when my oldest daughter was born and that's been almost 19 years ago.

But over the last couple years as my health has declined, I've spent much less time outdoors and started focusing more on house plants....

So, with every new leaf, I celebrated. With every month that I kept it alive, I celebrated.


I liked that it had two stems when I first bought it.... it made the whole plant look full. But as is grew bigger the stems started growing out in opposite directions. So, I decided to go ahead and re-pot it as two plants.

The largest fiddle leaf fig was at the perfect height to start branching out.... but I was clueless how to make that happen.

May 2019
I read that if you cut a slit in the main branch on the fiddle leaf fig, it would send out a new branch, so I cut it, waited over a month and absolutely nothing happened.

So, I decided what the heck, let's chop the top off and see what happens.... which was actually pretty scary. And of course after I took the scissors to it and was holding the top in my hand, I pretty much freaked out... but, I put the top in a glass of water, hoping and praying it just may make me another brand new baby fiddle leaf fig tree.

June 22,2019 - after I chopped the top off
The chopped off top...

I spent the next couple weeks, sure that I had sealed its fate. It was doomed to die.

......then another week later, I saw four little starts!!! Three coming out the top and one right above the slit that I cut back in June.



July 13, 2019
Within 3 months it had seven new branches with thirteen new leaves! And it is growing great!




And I have manage to have kept him alive for one year! Go Me!

So, for those of you that are waiting for your fiddle leaf fig to branch out... bite the bullet, grab your scissors and chop off the top.... try not to freak out, and wait for the magic to happen!

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Here's what happened to the top...

The top took F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to grow.... it just sat in water for weeks, then, thinking that it was probably a goner anyway, I tore off the bottom leaves an stuck the stem back in water for another month....


But... it  finally rooted!! I planted it in a pot and sent it home with a friend!
(And forgot to take a picture!)



Edited to add: As of March 2020, all my fiddle leaf figs are still alive and I have cut two more tops off and will soon be potting them up!

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