Creeping fig vine, also known as fig ivy, creeping ficus and climbing fig, is a popular ground and wall cover in warmer parts of the country and a lovely houseplant in cooler areas. Creeping fig plant (Ficus pumila) makes a wonderful addition to the home and the garden and we try to keep it in stock for you to use in your garden.
If you choose to enjoy your creeping fig indoors, the small leaves and lush green growth make for both a lovely table plant or a hanging plant. Indoors, it will need bright, indirect light. Indoors, the soil should be kept moist but not overly wet. It’s best to check the top of the soil for dryness before watering. If the top of the soil is dry, water. Fertilize your creeping fig about once a month in the spring and summer but not at all during fall and winter. In the winter, you may need to provide extra humidity to your creeping fig plant.
For extra interest, you can add a pole, a wall or even a topiary form to your creeping fig houseplant container. This will give the creeping fig vine something to climb and eventually cover.
If you live in USDA plant hardiness zone 8 or higher, creeping fig plants can be grown outside year round. They are often used as either a ground cover or, more commonly, as a wall and fence cover. If allowed to grow up a wall, it can grow up to 20 feet tall.
Outdoors, creeping fig like full or part shade and grows best in well-draining soil. For an optimum plant, creeping fig should get about 2 inches of water a week. If you don’t get this much rainfall in a week, supplement with the hose.
Creeping fig is easily propagated from plant divisions.
As creeping fig vine gets older, it can get woody and the leaves will get older. To bring the plant back to the finer leaves and vines, you can heavily prune back the more mature parts of the plant and they will regrow with the more desirable leaves.
Be aware before planting a creeping fig plant that once it attaches itself to a wall, it can be extremely difficult to remove and doing so can damage the surface that the creeping fig attaches to.
Creeping fig care is easy and it brings beauty and a lush backdrop to its surroundings.