Indoors
Fiddle-leaf fig
Ficus lyrata
- Cat: mildly toxic
- Dog: mildly toxic
- Light: bright, no harsh sun
About the plant
The fiddle-leaf fig comes from the rainforests of West Africa, where it grows many metres tall. Indoors it is known for its huge lyre-shaped leaves and its fussy nature: it resents draughts and changes of place. Damaged stems ooze an irritating white sap.
Fiddle-leaf fig and pets
- Cat
- mildly toxic
- Dog
- mildly toxic
- Signs
- milky sap (ficin, psoralen): stomach and skin irritation
The ASPCA entry covers figs (the genus Ficus); the sap of the fiddle-leaf fig irritates the same way.
If a cat or a dog ate this plant and shows signs, contact a vet straight away.
Instead: safe for cats and dogs
Care
- Watering
- about every 7 days in summer (April to September), every 12 in winter
- Light
- bright, no harsh sun
- Air humidity
- normal
- Temperature
- 16–27 °C
- Feeding
- April to September, every 4 weeks
- Repotting
- every 2 years, in spring
- Grown
- in a pot
It hates draughts and being moved: after a change of place it drops leaves. Water when the top of the soil has dried, and turn the pot so it grows straight.
This is a rough guide for a flat in Poland. In flowers every plant also has its own watering interval, which learns from how the soil was.