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Scientific name	Ficus microcarpa
Common name	Ficus microcarpa, Chinese banyan, Malayan banyan, Indian laurel, curtain
Temperature	25-35 °C
Humidity	40-50%
Light	Bright, indirect light but can tolerate some partial shade.
Watering	Water everyday &keep moist
Pests	Indian laurel thrips and the leaf gall wasp, and several scale and mealybugs
Pet friendliness	Toxic to pets and humans
Maximum plant height	100cm
Potting mix	Potting soil/red soil/manure/perlite
Pot requirement	Good drainage&repot every 1-2 years
Nutrition	Apply manure for first 15 days and npk for next 15 days
Pruning & training	Remove dead & diseased leaves with sterile shears
Common color & season
Description	This ficus is a curiosity in that it is usually grown commercially as a bonsai tree. It has been planted outside shops and restaurant windows, principally because it grows compactly and can easily be pruned to shape. Often available in a spherical shape on a stem, ficus microcarpa shares all of the requirements of f. M. Var. Nitida, and the same applies to its ability to withstand frost and sun, tolerant of many soils, it grows well in sand and does best in a fertile, moist soil. Tolerance to salinity is only medium. F. Microcarpa var. Nitida requires full sun and is tolerant of high temperatures and low humidity, although it thrives better with high humidity, as in gulf regions. It should be irrigated regularly in summer and will require deep watering only occasionally in the winter. Propagation is by cuttings and air layering. It has light, almost round, thick leaves, which alternate up the stem and a brown to reddish bark dotted with small horizontal flecks. It can be propagated easily from cuttings. It suffers from several diseases,indian laurel thrips and the leaf gall wasp, and several scale mealybugs and fungus rot. Probably a variety of ficus microcarpa, it seems to have originated in nurseries catering for indoor plants and was then exported to nurseries in the gulf states, where it has thrived in the coastal climate and made an excellent hedge plant.They tend to spread out and are easy to train as a ground-hugging shrub. For best results, f. Panda is best planted in a sheltered position, in the humid environment of a well irrigated garden. F. Panda is also a good screening or background shrub that needs almost no pruning to stay dense and trim.