How to Import a Variegated Fiddle Leaf Fig
The variegated fiddle leaf fig is one of the most difficult plants to obtain here in the United States, but it’s just so beautiful that you’ve gotta try! My first attempt was a complete failure, but my second attempt was a great success! I’ve learned a lot throughout this process and now I’m here to share my top tips for improving your chances (including one bit of information that is CRUCIAL!!)
I hope that this post will help all those who are brave enough to try and welcome one of these gorgeous plants into their home!
This post will cover:
-proper documentation
-assessing potential sellers
-shipping options
-payment
-list of sellers
Where to buy: US or Thailand?
This guide will focus on purchasing and importing plants from Thailand, but first I want to mention the option of purchasing within the United States.
Variegated fiddles ARE sold in the US, but it’s rare and pricey. The first challenge will be finding one for sale. Your best bets are Ebay and Etsy. There are often “dry spells” of weeks or months when none are available. I would know because I spent a long time trying to get my hands on some of these :)
The next obstacle will be the price. These rarely sell for less than $400-$500 and can easily cost $2000 or more. If you’ve ever hunted for these on Ebay then you already know what I’m talking about.
The benefit to purchasing in the US is that the shipping speed will be much faster and you will not have to worry about passing a customs inspection. You are paying a huge premium for a US plant but you are ALMOST guaranteeing that it will arrive alive. If the price doesn’t bother you, this can be a good way to go.
For me personally, I would never pay $500 for a single plant when I could purchase 3 or 4 of them from Thailand at a similar price. Even though it is much riskier, this makes more sense to me. Plus, I have a strong habit of calling on universal forces to bless and protect my transactions!
Purchasing from Thailand
Generally speaking, buying plants from Thailand gives you a lot more plant for your money. You can expect to save 50-75% AND receive a larger plant for the price. Sometimes you can save a lot more. Plant size is never guaranteed, but almost 100% of my purchases from Thailand have exceeded my expectations. The US dollar goes a lot farther in Thailand so you can be certain that this is a very good deal for the sellers as well.
Initially this was all quite scary for me, but I’m now a firm believer in buying plants from Thailand! If you can handle a bit of risk, it can be a very satisfying venture.
Now, on to the specifics about fiddles!
Avoid this MASSIVE paperwork mistake or US Customs WILL destroy your ficus!!!
I learned this one the hard way. I never received my first order of var. fiddles, just an empty box with a note from Customs declaring that my plants were refused entry and destroyed on the spot. Even though I paid for the phytosanitary certificate!! Heartbreaking.
Thankfully, I was able to speak with an agricultural officer at USDA who was happy to answer all of my questions about importing variegated fiddles from Thailand. I still feel really grateful that he spent literally 20 minutes answering every question I had. Thank you, good sir!!!
When you order plants from Thailand, you should always obtain a phytosanitary certificate. This is an official document which declares that your plants have been inspected and treated for pests/disease and they are certified to be clean and ready for travel. In most cases the standard document is fine, but there are special rules for importing any ficus into the US.
This is the crucial bit of information that hardly anyone is aware of, even the sellers.
All plants from the ficus family have certain restrictions. The real issue is that “ficus carica” is fully restricted and prohibited from entering the US. All of the ones you have ever seen were either imported LONG AGO or grown here. Under no circumstance will you be allowed to import a ficus carica from Thailand.
The reason this is important is that the standard phytosanitary certificate will simply list your plant as ”ficus spp.” and it will be destroyed.
When the officer at customs sees a package with an unspecified ficus, they don’t take any chances; it gets disposed of immediately. This ruling is listed in the USDA manual and basically says that if any plants within a certain family are restricted, then the documentation MUST list the full plant name or else it will be destroyed.
Since my first package just said “ficus spp.,” it was game over right there on the spot.
Luckily, there’s an easy fix:
Reach out to your seller in advance and make sure they agree to have “ficus lyrata” listed on the certificate. That’s all it takes and you’re good to go. It doesn’t need to specify “variegata” if you were wondering. It doesn’t cost the seller any extra and if they’re not happy to do it for you then move on and find someone better to give your money to. All of the best sellers will actually be thanking YOU for giving them this valuable information which directly helps their business and their customer experience.
Now, even though I felt like my conversation with the officer gave me the official USDA seal of approval, I was definitely nervous when my tracking info showed that my plants were in customs. But it worked! The documents listed “ficus lyrata” and all 3 of my babies were allowed to enter the country without issue. Hallelujah!
Now that we’ve sorted out the paperwork, let’s talk about shipping.
Express shipping is mandatory
Don’t even think about paying for standard shipping. Seriously. It isn’t a viable option for these plants. Mine arrived on the 7th day and two of them had lost ALL of their leaves!! I believe this is the main reason that these are so hard to come by - they just don’t travel well. If shipping these to the US was easy, there would be a lot more people selling them here.
Express shipping is basically your insurance policy. If you’re already investing hundreds of dollars into your shipment, why risk having them die in transit? Nothing can guarantee their survival, but every bit helps. If you choose to save $40-$50 by sticking with standard shipping and then your plants die, you’re going to feel like a real dummy!
I really just want to stress this point one more time. You should always plan to pay for express shipping for any orders containing variegated fiddles (or other expensive plants, really.) Factor this into your budget before you get started. $150 is a lot to pay for a dead plant. $200 for a healthy plant is a much better deal. (prices will vary, but I think I’ve made my point)
Understand the risks
Even if you paid me to find some var. fiddles for you and make the transaction happen, I wouldn’t guarantee a thing. It just can’t be done. You can follow my instructions perfectly and still receive dead plants, or nothing at all. Even with the correct paperwork, the inspector could find some random bugs or mold in your package and it would be up to their discretion to dispose of the package.
Sometimes the plants arrive looking okay but then deteriorate quickly. It can be challenging for anyone to know how to handle this situation. Generally, people will start changing their care routine to figure out what the plant needs and accidentally make things worse. Two months after receiving my plants and I have 1 beautiful growing fiddle and 2 leafless sticks.
Know how to handle plants in shock
Variegated fiddles go into shock more easily than other plants. When any ficus goes into shock, the first thing it does is shed some or all of its leaves. In a matter of days, your beautiful new plant will turn into a barren stick. It is extremely important that you understand that this is actually just a natural response to stress and not a sign of any lasting problem. Chances are your plant is very much still alive, and it is counting on you to nurse it back to full strength.
You will need to keep your plant warm (75F) and provide higher humidity if you can. The warmth is mandatory, the humidity adds bonus points. Make it tropical!
The main key here is that you don’t overwater it. Without leaves, your plant will use moisture much more slowly than normal. This can create some issues if you planted it into something that stays wet for several weeks at a time. It is much better to use something that only stays wet for a few days so that you can water more often without fear of causing root rot. The best way to accomplish this is with some type of gritty mix. Leca could work well but I haven’t personally tried it in these situations.
My personal recommendation would be to plant it in pure perlite with all the dust sifted out. This gives you several advantages:
Since perlite is a sterile, inorganic medium, you can place your plant into a humidity bin with a very low risk of mold. I’ve been keeping mine at over 90% humidity and it really helps them grow more quickly. You will need to open and vent the bin periodically to refresh the supply of oxygen and clear out the humidity. I usually just pop the lid off for a few hours in the evening. You want to avoid letting moisture condense on the foliage. Check on it daily to make sure everything is going well and air it out as needed. Once you are comfortable with your setup you can relax and allow the magic to happen.
Perlite is incredibly light and fluffy, allowing you to check the roots if you need to. If you don’t see any signs of growth after a couple of weeks, you can easily lift the plant out to check on the roots. This shouldn’t be done often, once is enough. You just want to check to make sure the roots are growing. I currently have mine in an inorganic gritty mix and it’s much too heavy to allow me to check the roots safely in this way. For the two trees that still have no leaves this just leaves me wondering, hoping, and praying. I wish I had just used perlite!
Perlite has high air content and low moisture content. It will be nearly impossible for you to overwater a plant in pure perlite. Roots love having constant access to both air and moisture. Even in a humidity bin you could safely water every 2-3 days. Just allow the uppermost layer to dry out between waterings. If you don’t sift out the dust then you can run into issues here because it will hold more water and clog up the spaces between particles. You might be able to purchase pre-sifted, chunky perlite. Check online for local hydroponic stores.
Patience. Recovery takes time.
Even if you provide the perfect care for your new plants, it may be weeks or months before you see any signs of growth. This poses the greatest risk to your plants because most people will continually tweak their care routine during this period. The plant needs time to acclimatize to its new home and constantly changing conditions will make this more challenging. Emotionally, it is very draining to care for something that is not showing signs of improvement. Plants are programmed to grow. We need to trust and let it happen.
Make sure to pay using Paypal
This tip is not specific to these plants, but applies to all international transactions. You should only trust sellers that accept Paypal. Make sure the transaction is a “purchase” and not just “send money to friends.” This way, if something shady goes down, Paypal has your back.
For example, if the seller promises you a glorious 4ft. tall fiddle and then sends you a 6” twig. You should file a dispute right away and you can get all of your money back. Paypal does not tolerate shady business transactions like that. Unfortunately, there are lots of idiots out there that want to play silly games with other people, and Paypal is a great source of protection during these exchanges.
If, however, your plant loses leaves during shipping, gets taken by customs, or dies because of a sudden heat wave, they will not refund you. Those are all risks we must accept as buyers. By no means is this an exhaustive list, please check with Paypal directly and be sure to read the list of terms and conditions set forth by your seller.
3 Potential Sellers:
The Facebook Seller I received my 3 fiddles from
Variegated Thai Constellation Monstera
Seller I had a very positive experience with, who sometimes sells them but has lots of other cool plants also.
BKInterplants
(You can watch my unboxing and review video here)
The seller I used for my failed attempt, who has since promised to include “ficus lyrata” on their paperwork, and who has successfully gotten a healthy musa aeae to me.
Asean Plant Export
Final thoughts
I hope that this post helps prepare you for the challenge of importing one of these gorgeous plants into your home. There’s a reason that these are so rare! If you are confident in your skills as a plant parent, and you don’t mind taking a bit of a gamble with your money, there is a potential payoff here that can be huge. Hopefully this gives you a clear idea of what to expect. I sure would love to see a lot more of these in homes throughout the country!
Best of luck to you and happy growing!
