Thank you Swansons Nursery for providing a gift card to facilitate this post.
I’ve been holding onto this post for awhile. And that is because I was deathly afraid of killing my fiddle leaf fig tree and didn’t want to write a super excited post after getting my tree and then a few weeks later have to tell you guys that it died. WELL it’s not dead yet! Rejoice! In fact, the little guy is growing!
Swansons Nursery reached out to see if I wanted to try their Grow With Us Program. You snap a pic of a gardening or plant project you’d like ideas for and tag it #heyswansons on Twitter on Instagram. Then they respond to your questions and put together a Pinterest board specifically for your project. You don’t have to have a project in mind to use #heyswansons, you can ask questions too. Like I asked if it would be smart to buy moss for our fiddle leaf fig. They responded with the exact scenario that happened when we did buy moss – it looked pretty and then got moldy. -_- Basically #heyswansons is here for all of your gardening needs, even small things like “should I buy moss or is that something for high level garden people only?”
We have two balconies so I thought about asking for tips for a beginner putting together a little outdoor herb garden (future project!) but I really wanted to know more about indoor plants. Specifically fiddle leaf fig trees. And if I was going to ask about fiddle leaf figs and have Swansons go all out on a Pinterest board, I might as well do further plant research and figure out what other pretty plants would thrive in our south/west exposures. The Pinterest board not only gave us insight into plants for different light in our apartment, but also gave us some direction on what pot to purchase along with our plant. We actually ended up getting one of the pots we both liked from the Pinterest board (image above)!
The people at Swansons were incredibly helpful. Especially because we had no idea what we were doing, but they guided us through picking the right pot and accessories for our plant. We ended up getting a bunch of stuff. The fiddle leaf fig tree. A pot for the tree. A plastic container to go under the plant in the pot. A thing to go under the pot in case it leaks. A cork thing to keep the pot from scraping the floor. And soil, fertilizer, and some moss to go on top of the soil to make it look prettier. The moss did look really pretty but it got moldy so we decided to go without it until we figure out how to be plant people.
If we do what we’re supposed to, the fiddle leaf fig will grow and eventually need to be re-potted. I have big goals for this little fig. We’ve had our tree for a few months now and we’ve only lost one leaf, but it’s also grown a leaf so I guess that evens out. They suggested we water it every ten days or so, but this is a plant that shouldn’t be over saturated so I prefer to check the soil and see if it needs water. Basically this means that we’re not watering it on any set schedule, just whenever we know our little fella needs a drink.
The first time we watered it I thought we watered it too early cause the soil stayed moist for a long, long time. But we watered it almost a week ago and it’s bone dry now and in need of more. I basically have no idea what I’m doing but I’m insanely grateful that it’s still alive. It feels like an accomplishment for both of us cause we aren’t great with plants. I killed a cactus once.
My concerns from here on out include what to do in fall/winter when there’s a lot less light in our apartment. And when do we fertilize and change/add soil. These will probably be questions I send to #heyswansons as time goes on. They’ve been incredibly helpful already and it’s an easier resource than searching the internet for answers. In the past I’d probably be nervous to reach out and expose my lack of knowledge but I gotta keep this plant alive! And #heyswansons is not only helpful, the people are really nice. I can’t say that enough!
If we can conquer the fiddle leaf fig, I think we may be able to get a few more houseplants. We currently have two total. One which used to be Dan’s Mom’s plant which I’ve somehow kept alive, and our figgy. I love the look of the Ficus Moclaime and Ficus Audrey, both best suited for bright, indirect light. But I’m also curious about a rubber plant or Ficus Elastica. They have gorgeous dark leaves. As you can see, this whole #heyswansons thing has kinda turned me into a plant nerd. I refuse to live my life with a black thumb! Plants are too awesome to not have in your home.
Be sure to follow Swansons on social media; Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. And for helpful tips and tricks, check out their NW Gardening Tips page of their site and their Pinterest boards.
Also, I’d love to hear about your gardening/plant woes, successes, or tips so leave a comment. Let’s talk plants!
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