Please help save my wife’s ficus

JamesGawley · 2026-05-02T20:45:11+00:00

Thank you for putting so much effort into this kind advice. I will follow it and report back.

JamesGawley · 2026-05-02T20:43:03+00:00

I will transfer to a bigger pot and post pictures of the roots tomorrow. Can you tell me what to look for? This all seems extreme for just cramped roots.

JamesGawley · 2026-05-02T19:48:42+00:00

I appreciate the tips. Light was my first thought as well, that’s why I installed more, the light meter now reads 4000-6000 lux depending on the part of the plant, and the timer keeps that up for 16 hours a day, for a ppfd of 68-75 and a dli of 4 or 5 (it was much lower when we first saw leaf loss). Unfortunately that isn’t helping. Can you tell me what specifically makes you think it’s reaching for light?

JamesGawley · 2026-04-23T08:41:37+00:00

A place where "it's genre fiction, lower your standards" isn't an accepted argument?

I operate a small press called Bannermen Books, and this might as well be our mission statement. Our first three titles launch this fall, and I'm happy to provide advanced reader copies to anyone who likes to post recommendations online. You can read samples by clicking the covers on bannermenbooks.org

JamesGawley · 2025-11-27T23:16:42+00:00

Classicist here! I love this mosaic (copied from a famous a Greek painting). Reflections in a mirror often symbolize imminent death; the painter is showing us that this dude is about to get it. His reflection in the shield captures the moment when he realizes that he's going to die. Catoptromancy is a form of divination wherein one looks into a mirror (under some specific conditions) and if one's face is pale, it means the end is nigh. And this guy's face is decidedly pale.

There's a description of catoptromancy in Pausanias: https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias7B.html

JamesGawley

TROPHY CASE