Weeping fig
Sources last read 13 September 2026.
Difficult One of the harder ones, and one of the reasons the diagnosis tool exists.
Also called Benjamin tree, Chinese Banyan, Fig, Indian Rubber Plant, Java fig, Java tree, small-leaved rubber plant, tropic laurel and waringin.
Weeping fig is toxic
- Toxic to cats. Toxic principle: Proteolytic enzyme (ficin), psoralen (ficusin). Clinical signs: Gastrointestinal and dermal irritation. ASPCA
- Toxic to dogs. Toxic principle: Proteolytic enzyme (ficin), psoralen (ficusin). Clinical signs: Gastrointestinal and dermal irritation. ASPCA
- Toxic to people. People and pets (dogs): can cause skin allergy; harmful when eaten. RHS
What the sources say about its care
The sources disagree about light for this plant. Both readings are shown in the table below. This is the norm in houseplant advice rather than the exception.
- Light
The sources disagree. These do not describe the same conditions: Clemson Extension says "Medium light" and RHS says "Full sun". Both are shown; this site does not pick between them.
Medium light 100–150 fcClemson Extension · read 13 September 2026Full sunRHS · read 13 September 2026- Water
- Moist but well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H1C — 5–10°C 5–10 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- ToxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- ToxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- People and pets (dogs): can cause skin allergy; harmful when eaten.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Edges of the leaves brown while the middle stays sound
The weeping fig browns at the very tips first, and the brown line creeps back along the edges over weeks. The tissue is dry and brittle, not soft.
Penn State Extension notes that most indoor plants benefit from more humidity than a home heated in winter provides. The leaf edge, furthest from the veins, is where the shortfall shows.
Telling it apart: Whether it crumbles or smears. Crisp is water lost; soft and dark is cold or rot.
Penn State ExtensionWeeping fig brown leaf tips and edges: causes- New leaves are smaller than the old and further apart
Compare this year's growth on the weeping fig with last year's: new leaves are smaller, thinner and a paler green, and the gap below each one is longer.
Light is the budget every other process is paid from. Under the medium light its source names, the plant spends down reserves and shows it in thin, pale growth.
Telling it apart: Whether it leans. A plant reaching for a window is answering a light question, and it leans before it pales.
Clemson ExtensionWeeping fig leggy, leaning growth: causes- The leaves deepest inside the canopy turn yellow and hang
Colour goes before shape on a weeping fig. The leaves deepest inside the canopy yellow evenly, stay soft to the touch, and the compost two inches down is still wet from the last watering.
Kept wetter than the moist but well-drained its source describes, the root tips die back. A plant with fewer working roots cannot drink, which looks from above exactly like one that has not been watered.
Telling it apart: The smell. Healthy compost smells of earth; compost that has been wet too long does not.
RHSWeeping fig leaves turning yellow: causes
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Weeping fig.
Routine care
- Watering
- Water only as much as needed to stop the soil drying out fully.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Feeding
- A light feed once new shoots appear and again at summer's end may help. Weeping fig is a widely grown houseplant thanks to its good looks, low care needs and tolerance of poor conditions; its stems can be twisted together for effect.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- Stem cuttingsNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Increase from seed, or from semi-hardwood or leaf-bud cuttings.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Late autumn or winter is the best time to prune lightly for shape and size. It tolerates shearing and is often grown as a hedge or rounded shrub, but such hard pruning shortens the plant's life.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by twospotted spider mites, thrips, aphids, armored scale, fern scale, banded greenhouse thrips and Cuban laurel thrips.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Under glass, scale insects, mealybugs, thrips and glasshouse red spider mite can occur. Diseases: honey fungus can occur.RHS · read 13 September 2026
Move something and watch
Loading the simulator. It needs JavaScript; the care table above does not.
About the plant
Ficus benjamina, commonly known as weeping fig, benjamin fig or ficus tree and often sold in stores as just ficus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae, native to Asia and Australia. It is the official tree of Bangkok. The species is also naturalized in the West Indies and in the states of Florida and Arizona in the United States. Its small fruit are favored by some birds. Ficus trees have proved to have environmental benefits in urban areas, such as acting as biomonitors. The species is also associated with some allergens.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- Trop. & Subtrop. Asia and N. AustraliaWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Tropical & Subtropical Asia and Northern AustraliaNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026S & SE Asia through Malesia to N Australia & SW PacificRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- wet tropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- Tree; habit multi-trunked, weepingNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Bushy (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 60–360 in; width 36–360 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 2.5-4 metres; spread 1.5-2.5 metres after 10–20 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers black, green, orange, purple/lavender, red/burgundyNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers green in summerRHS · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Weeping fig
Other Ficus
Chinese banyanFaded, yellow-white areas on the sunny side of the canopy
Common figA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Creeping figLeaf blade tips go crisp and brown
Fiddle-leaf figEdges of the leaf blades brown while the middle stays sound
Rubber plantCrisp margins that appear in winter
Ara BanyanSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
More of the Moraceae family
Banana leaf figSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Congo FigSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Delta FigSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
- No photograph yetFicus binnendykiiSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Indian LaurelSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Peepul TreeSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Plants with similar care
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Clemson Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.