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Species library › Ficus › Ficus variegata
Other Well documented

Ficus variegata

Common red-stem fig

A fast-growing tropical fig tree that ranges from India and southern China through Malesia to Queensland and the Solomon Islands. It is a non-strangling tree up to 30 m tall that bears clusters of figs on the trunk. At home it is grown as a sapling or bonsai needing warmth, strong light and steady moisture.

Ficus variegata
Photo: WingkLEE, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

It grows in lowland and hill rainforest, along rivers and in regrowth. As a pioneer it grows fast in gaps and at forest edges, and adults reach the canopy. It is dioecious and cauliflorous, pollinated by Ceratosolen fig wasps.

Recorded at 0–1,381 m (median 108 m), so it is mainly a lowland species.

India and Andaman–Nicobar IslandsSouthern China, Hainan and TaiwanRyukyu IslandsIndochina and MyanmarMalesia to New Guinea and the Solomon IslandsQueensland

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its Public domain licence, unmodified.