creeping fig (ficus)

Any advice on culture and growing of the creeping ficus varieties, F. pumila.? They always look so nice in hanging pots, but I've never seen them actually growing in a home environment, just greenhouses. Anyone out there have success with them? I've heard they are very susceptible to to scale.

I had a hanging basket of the variegated form of F. pumila for a few years. It did real well until it got left out in the rain and I was away for a couple of weeks.

Here's the info in Plant Files for this plant: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2029/

and the variegated one: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60368/

I kept one in a hanging pot on my front porch (on the east end) for a couple of years. It seemed to love it where I had it and sure was pretty. It survived one winter without being brought inside (course, it's a lot warmer down here, lol). It was real pretty until I forgot to water it during a terribly hot spell and it got in such bad shape I couldn't save it. It never was bothered by scale. I plan to get another one this summer. I also had one a few years ago that I grew inside (again, east facing window) and it did real well too. I took it to my kitchen sink every so often and washed the dust off the leaves with a gentle spray. I had it for about 5 years before having to give it away when we moved to a rent house while we built our current home. It trails so I just snipped off the long ends every now and then and rooted them to share with friends and family. They are easy to grow.

Thanks for the tips and reference links. I plan to grow it in my sunroom where I don't think it'll be a problem. I had wondered if it had a problem with scale, like the tree forms of ficus do, but I guess not.

You do know that this vine can get REALLY big. The pics in the plant files (with the exception of Monocromatico's) are all of the juvinile plant. They eventually can become a large vine with much larger leaves. I don't know if growing them inside changes any of this.

Lonny

I seem to remember seeing creeping fig growing in greenhouses against the walls and looking very "refined". Maybe at Longwood Gardens? Maybe if they're left inside and potted, they don't grow larger? Has anyone seen them in a greenhouse situation?

I have seen this plant myself take over a 16 foot long wall in two years - would be very careful in the gound of a greenhouse... keep it off walls or it can really tear up a wall fast... just my two cents. Love the look of it but really bad in the garden world.

I wonder if there are not TWO types of "creeping fig" out there. Seems one variety is small-leafed and non-fruiting, while another develops large leaves and fruits. Is the common name "creeping fig" getting confused with the actual Ficus pumila? Plant File photos show both types and the feedback is wildly different! I don't know what to do! Plant it in my sunroom on the brick walls or not! Does anyone have it growing for more that a few years and that it has stayed small-leaved and not damaging?

I planted Ficus pumila in my greenhouse, hoping to cover a wall. I was having a serious scale and aphid battle, and never could get rid of them, despite every technique I could think of. One day, I inspected the Ficus, and it was absolutely blanketed in them. Out it went! Any 'permanent' plant that attractive to bugs is out!

That's what I was afraid of... the dreaded scale! Now, I have the negative info that will cause me to avoid Ficus pumila in my sunroom. Thanks for the sad news.