Reviving Growth in Houseplants

Ficuses and the like, whose growth has stalled, whose leaves are dropping and whose appearance is miserable — can be revived in several ways:

• Move it to a larger container, if the roots have filled the current pot completely.
• Pinch off the plant's growing tip, encouraging growth from lower nodes (the tip itself can serve as a cutting for a new plant).
• In severe cases you can divide the main stem into short segments, each with 1–2 nodes. Place the segments in a good soil mix and obtain many new, young and fresh plants.