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Last Updated:May 3, 2023

Best Potting Soil for a Fiddle Leaf Fig

featured-best potting soil for a fiddle leaf fig

Some potting soils dry out too fast depriving your plant of water. But others may retain too much moisture. The following text will tell you all about the best potting soil for a Fiddle Leaf Fig.

The best potting mix for a Fiddle Leaf Fig is a mix that’s well-draining and porous. It has a soil pH between 5.5 and 7.0. The mix with optimal physical and chemical properties contains enough macropores with oxygen. This helps roots grow healthy. Fiddle Leaf Fig plants dislike staying wet for extended periods. So dense soil that retains too much water is not a good choice. Poor aeration and drainage are the least ideal for your Fiddle Leaf Fig tree. You want to avoid poor performance potting mix. Otherwise, your plant’s health may be affected. You may also need to replant it again.

So what is the best potting soil for a Fiddle Leaf Fig? There are potting soil mixes of various qualities available. But not all are suitable for your Fiddle Leaf Fig plants. One of the best mixes to choose for your Leaf Fig is Mother Earth Groundswell Performance Soil. This is an all-purpose potting soil. It contains ingredients such as peat moss, perlite, pumice, and worm castings. It also has some aged forest products, guanos, and meals. These ingredients provide great aeration to your Leaf Fig.

Soil and potting tools

A quick recap of the best potting soil for a Fiddle Leaf Fig:

  • Good aeration
  • Proper drainage
  • Right density and porosity
  • Enough nutrients.

What Is The Best Potting Soil Mix Recipe For A Fiddle Leaf Fig?

The best potting soil mix recipe for a Fiddle Leaf Fig contains the following items:

Just mix them all together and you’re good to go. Making a homemade potting mix may look tricky at first. But it’s actually quite simple. You just need to combine all ingredients together. Remember to stick to the right amounts.

Making homemade potting media takes longer than buying pre made potting mixes. But it’s certainly beneficial. It gives you the opportunity to make a unique blend. A blend perfect for your plant species, size, and specific environment. You can control the proportions and types of ingredients. You can play around until you come up with just the right combination. You’re missing the opportunity to customize a potting mix when you use a commercial mix. Making your own mix will let you meet the unique needs of your plant.

Here is the video on how to make your own soil mix:

Can I Use Regular Potting Soil For Fiddle Leaf Fig?

Yes, you can use regular potting soil for Fiddle Leaf Figs. You should always add other materials to it. Use perlite, bark, vermiculite, or another ingredient. It will help you improve drainage and air holding capacity. Most regular potting soils won’t meet fiddle leaf figs root requirements for oxygen. Avoid using general-purpose, pre-mixed soils alone for Fiddle Leaf Fig trees.

Ficus tree in the pot

Can I Use Succulent Soil For Fiddle Leaf Fig?

Yes, you can use succulent soil for Fiddle Leaf Figs. But you may need to water it more frequently. No need to worry about this if you make your own mix or buy Mother Earth Soil. Succulent soil mixes dry out pretty fast so this may work well for Fiddle Leaf Figs too. However, consider the well-draining quality of the succulent potting mix. It may dry out too fast for a Fiddle Leaf Fig. That’s because soil characteristics may greatly vary depending on the manufacturer. Soil mixes dry out at different speeds from one brand to another.

Can I Use Cactus Soil For Fiddle Leaf Fig?

Yes, you can use cactus soil for Fiddle Leaf Fig trees. However, this fast-drying soil almost certainly requires you to water more often. Being a succulent, cactus enjoys well draining potting soil. But how fast the soil dries out widely varies depending on the brand. Some manufacturers offer cactus potting mixes that are extremely fast-draining. If you choose soil of this kind, your Fiddle Leaf Fig may not get enough water. Wrong soil can seriously harm your plant. Make sure to observe your Fiddle Leaf Fig tree closely. Increase the frequency of watering if necessary.

One of my Fiddle Leaf Fig trees

Is Pumice Good For Fiddle Leaf Fig?

Yes, pumice is good for Fiddle Leaf Figs, due to the following benefits:

  • lightens the soil
  • increases porosity of the soil
  • improves aeration and drainage
  • reduces negative effects in case the soil cracks, shrinks, etc.
  • easily accessible thanks to many pumice deposits around the world.

Pumice is a very lightweight porous rock. It gets formed during volcanic eruptions. Its physical and chemical properties make it widely used for horticultural media.

Keep in mind that pumice is an inorganic amendment. You won’t be adding any nutrients to your Fiddle Leaf Fig soil by amending it with pumice. But that’s just fine – adding nutrients is not the goal here. It will assist you with drainage and aeration. Both are extremely important for plant’s root health. If your Fiddle Leaf Fig doesn’t have proper drainage, you may notice root rot. An easy fix is to add pumice. It will help you get well-draining soil.

Ficus Lyrata in soil

Is Vermiculite Good For Fiddle Leaf Fig?

Yes, vermiculite is good for Fiddle Leaf Figs. These are some of its characteristics and benefits:

  • increases soil porosity
  • helps hold water and fertilizer in the potting soil
  • near-neutral pH
  • contains some calcium and magnesium.

This clay mineral is another lightweight addition to the best potting soil for a Fiddle Leaf Fig. It is a highly versatile material that comes in different grades. The coarse grade is more suitable for a Fiddle Leaf Fig. Make sure you only use horticultural-grade vermiculite for Fiddle Leaf Fig potting mix. The reason is that other grades don’t necessarily exclude toxic contaminants.

Yours Truly,

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6 Comments

  1. Marty Spence May 30, 2023 at 9:40 pm - Reply

    I bought an eight foot Fiddle Leaf Fig last August. It was grown by Costa Farms. I contacted them to see what soil it was potted in. I was told it was 80% coco coir and 20% potting soil.
    What are your thoughts on these contents! Seems like it’s holding a lot of moisture. I’ve had some leaves getting dark brown edges as well as yellowing. I don’t see anyway I could repot an 8 foot tree by myself. I usually like to repot my plants as soon as I bring them home. I use a moisture meter weekly.
    Help!

    • MrHouseplant June 24, 2023 at 6:54 am - Reply

      Hi Marty, both fertilizers are very similar. They both have an NPK ratio of 9:3:6. I recommend both of them as excellent for Fiddle Leaf Figs as well as for all tropical foliage plants. If you used to buy the one I previously recommended (Dyna Gro Foliage Pro): https://www.mrhouseplant.com/recommends/dyna-gro-2/ you can continue buying that one. It’s also fine using The Sill Fertilizer.

  2. Kathy Barnard July 21, 2023 at 1:37 am - Reply

    I was given a fiddle leaf fig to salvage from over watering. I removed the brown damaged leaves, removed it from the pot and am repotting it with potting soil with additional vermiculite.
    1) should I remove all the old soil?
    2) It’s 6′ tall with 7 leaves left mainly at the top. Should I cut the main stem back or will it resprout leaves on the bottom or just put out new growth on the top?

    • MrHouseplant July 24, 2023 at 4:17 am - Reply

      Hi Kathy, If the plant was overwatered, yes, you should remove all soil and repot into a well-draining mix. I don’t recommend cutting off the top, that would leave the plant with none or a small number of leaves, and increase chances of overwatering. When there are no leaves, there is no transpiration (water loss through the leaves), so the soil will stay wet longer.

      If the soil stay wet longer than a week, move the plant to a terracotta pot.

      In order for the leaves to resprout on the bottom of the stem, you need to notch the tree. Here is a video on how to notch an umbrella tree, the process is the same: https://youtube.com/shorts/5mlxR1YcizU Make sure to read the full video description for details on notching. It can take several months after notching to get new growth. I hope this helps 🙂

  3. Kathy July 28, 2023 at 3:13 pm - Reply

    Thank you. Also if it has the damaged leaves with brown edges and leaf spot from over watering , should I remove them or leave them

    • MrHouseplant July 30, 2023 at 2:14 am - Reply

      If a small part of a leaf is brown, don’t remove the whole leaf. The rest of the leaf is still green and photosynthesizing and producing food for the plant. If most of the leaf is brown, and you really don’t like it visually, but the plant still has a lot of leaves, it’s ok to remove some leaves.

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