How To Repot A Fiddle Leaf Fig (Planter Size, Soil, Drainage, & Fertilizing)

Do you ever dream of growing your fiddle leaf fig from a little to a gigantic size? Fiddle leaf figs are happy to remain pot-bound in a small planter, but if you want them to reach their full potential, you'll need to move them into a bigger planter so they may spread out and fill out. 

This is what occurred with my fiddle leaf, and I've described every action you must take along with the "why" for each action. When you do the same, your own fiddle leaf will soon show results through new growth and gorgeous glossy green foliage. 

We'll discuss the following topics:

Before we continue, here are a few affordable possibilities if you happen to require your first fiddle leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) or you want to arrange FLFs in a large planter (I prefer them potted in groups of three):

Choosing the right container size

What size planter to use when repotting any plant is one of the most often asked topics. The aim was to repot the plant when I was an intern at a botanical conservatory so it wouldn't need to be moved for at least two years. But it's difficult to predict growth over a two-year period, especially if you don't have a PhD in botany. 

The advice I frequently read is to just scale up 1-2 inches bigger than the pot it is currently in, or 2-3 inches for larger pots. The issue with this is that it hardly mentions the size of the plant's existing pot and ignores the size of the plant itself. In other words, it's more of a "one size fits all" approach than a "sizing up the current plant situation" approach. 

Take my fiddle leaf fig as an example. It urgently required transplantation. My fiddle leaf, who I adoringly refer to as Mrs. Figg (Harry Potter reference), was underpotted because she was growing so quickly; if I had simply increased her size by two or three inches, it would have been ineffective. 

The 8"pot was constantly drying out as a result of her rapid growth throughout the year and a half that I owned her, and because of her top-heavy nature, the tree occasionally toppled over. 

Plant to pot ratio - a visual guide

The ratio of the plant's size to the pot is a factor in determining what size pot to transplant your fiddle leaf into. 

A good visual guideline is to make the pot 1/3 the size of the plant. (Or, for a smaller spreading or trailing type plant, the container should be 2/3 the size of the plant.) 

For a total height of 18" from the bottom of the pot to the top of the plant, a 6" pot would look excellent with a plant that is 12" tall (shoots alone, not the soil and roots). 

This is only a general recommendation, so it probably won't work for a plant that grows tall like a tree or for a recent transplant where you want to promote future development. However, I believe it's useful for the following reasons:

It advises when to transfer a plant into a larger pot in the following ways: 

b) It gives a visual warning when a pot is too big for a plant, which could prevent your plant from becoming overly soggy for an extended period of time.