With the advent of blogging and pinterest as we know them, I feel like I get these crazy strong obsessions that just have to be satisfied. This happened quite recently for me with fiddle leaf fig trees. I was seeing them everywhere--like every other person in the world knew of their magnificence and one day my eyes just awakened to their presence. So of course, a few days go by of looking at images like this:
And this:
...and well, I knew that my life would not be complete without one. Such is the nature of obsession. A quick google search proved to me that actually buying fiddle leaf fig trees posed some problems. Trees were priced at several hundred dollars on the sites I visited. My obsession began deflating -- I wanted a tree but not if I had to give up shopping for several months. Then I read that you can purchase these plants while they are small for relatively cheap at stores like IKEA or Home Depot. So yes, I went to the hardware store with this sole intention in mind.
I wasn't in the garden section of Home Depot very long before I realized that reports of their selling fiddle leaf fig trees may be mythical. At least in North Carolina. After circling all available indoor tropical plant varieties for a good 20 minutes without finding some perfect fig tree squirreled away in a hidden corner, I convinced myself that I must have found one, Home Depot just didn't tag them specifically with their name. Yes, the only tag on my plant to indicate its species was a price tag labelled "tropical plant." It was 4 feet tall already, and a healthy $15. Sold.
I was so smugly happy with my purchase, that I avoided the sinking feeling that my plant probably should have said "fiddle leaf fig" somewhere on the tag. I still don't know what plant I bought, but as you can see, there are some obvious signs that I did not get the right one, haha.
A Real Fiddle Leaf Fig:
My "tropical plant" knock off:
Looking back now, I should have noticed some obvious differences at the store, but I just wasn't leaving Home Depot without a plant, and I like to think I achieved a similar effect. I have thought about trimming the bottom foot or so of the plant free of leaves so it looks less like a giant green feather duster. Thoughts and opinions on this pruning would be appreciated!
Even though I don't have a real fig tree, I did find that I really like my plant, so I guess everything is right in the universe. My fig tree obsession is momentarily sated due to this end result:
So in summary, if you want a very inexpensive fiddle leaf fig knock-off, just head to Lowes or Home Depot and get the tall one called "tropical plant." For $15 you can re-pot and have a very hearty and quick growing "tree" of your own!
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I wasn't in the garden section of Home Depot very long before I realized that reports of their selling fiddle leaf fig trees may be mythical. At least in North Carolina. After circling all available indoor tropical plant varieties for a good 20 minutes without finding some perfect fig tree squirreled away in a hidden corner, I convinced myself that I must have found one, Home Depot just didn't tag them specifically with their name. Yes, the only tag on my plant to indicate its species was a price tag labelled "tropical plant." It was 4 feet tall already, and a healthy $15. Sold.
I was so smugly happy with my purchase, that I avoided the sinking feeling that my plant probably should have said "fiddle leaf fig" somewhere on the tag. I still don't know what plant I bought, but as you can see, there are some obvious signs that I did not get the right one, haha.
A Real Fiddle Leaf Fig:
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Even though I don't have a real fig tree, I did find that I really like my plant, so I guess everything is right in the universe. My fig tree obsession is momentarily sated due to this end result:
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| The Final Product |
