How to Grow and Care for Ginseng Ficus

01.11.2023 - 15:39 / gardenerspath.com / Kristine Lofgren

How to Grow and Care for Ginseng Ficus Ficus microcarpa

Ginseng figs (Ficus microcarpa) are popular houseplants that you most commonly see for sale potted up as quick-growing bonsai.

They’re also known as curtain figs, Indian laurel, Chinese or Malayan banyan, or just banyan trees, though true banyan trees are actually F. benghalensis.

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The first time I ever saw a ginseng fig was a tiny bonsai with multiple twisted trunks with different widths. I thought it was charming.

The next time I saw one, it was a behemoth in Hawaii. I never put the two together until I was considering my next bonsai project and came across some information about these trees.

You could say that the ginseng ficus has many faces.

F. microcarpa can be a mild-mannered houseplant or a massive tree that can spread hundreds of feet. But these plants aren’t troubled by being constrained and kept indoors.

They do just as well in your home or office as they do in their tropical homes.

Coming up, here is what we’re going to talk about to help yours thrive:

Trees in the Ficus genus are some of the most popular houseplants.

Both fiddle-leaf figs (F. lyrata) and rubber trees (F. elastica) are ficuses.

Ginseng figs are native to southeast Asia, Australia, India, Japan, Nepal, and the Himalayan region.

They have been introduced to California, Florida, Hawaii, Spain, South America, and the Caribbean.

These plants typically start out as epiphytes, growing on other plants to access light and nutrients.

As they mature, they send down aerial roots that allow them to anchor and transition to life as a terrestrial tree. Plants that