Help identifying a house plant

katiep_2

I bought 2 house plants off the market a couple of weeks ago but I have no idea what they are!

They have four woody stems that twist around each other to form one - I assume it's been trained this way. At the top of the "trunk" is a mass of dark green leaves that have reddish vein markings on them.

I currently have them in the window of my north facing bedroom so they get light, but not direct. I have watered them once by standing them in some water. The soil is just ever so slightly damp. One of them is doing fine, but the other has just dropped nearly all it's leaves! I'm hoping if I can find out what they are I can revive it!

Horace

I can't tell from your description. How about taking a leaf off each plant and taking it to your local garden centre to see if they can identify them. Failing that take them to your local library and look them up in a gardening reference book.

linda-ann

Could this be it a ficus firn

linda-ann

Heres a web site that might help as well
http://www.ficusnfern.com/

katiep_2

No, bigger leaves than that - the biggest leaves are about the size of my hand (I have fairly small hands!). Almost though, so I'll keep on looking! Thanks for your help so far!

maypole

The leaves look like that of a Weeping Fig

Davesnave

Not sure what it is, but your experience shows why it can be a false economy buying tenderish house plants from a market stall at this time of year. The poor thing probably spent its life in a Dutch polytunnel at a fairly constant 23C, then was transported miles in a cold lorry before being stood out in the cold on a market stall, possibly for days. Nothing wrong with markets or the treatment you're giving it now, except that the window sill area might get chilly too at night. Might it be 4 separate Fatsias woven together as they grew, but not sure because of the red veins.

katiep_2

Hi everybody and thanks for your help so far. I went into a garden centre today, and we think it's a Croton. The good news so far is that no more leaves have dropped since the initial shedding, so I'm hopeful that I can revive it! And now that I (think I) know what it is I know how to look after it!