Insofar as how it would impact root health, there is no difference between plastic and high-fired clay/ceramic. If you can see no crazing (myriad small cracks reminiscent of a fish net with small holes) in the glaze, you can eliminate anything toxic making its way from the pot to the grow medium. If you haven't fertilized or used any type of tonics, insecticides, leaf shine, detergents, etc., it's a very good bet you have unwittingly over-watered due to the fact there is no way for water to evaporate or be used by the plant as the new medium is not colonized by roots and remains a hostile environment to roots due to lack of oxygen. My suggestion would be to lift the plant from the pot to see it the lower reaches of the soil column are saturated. If so, see figure D below. Remove the soil from the new pot, place an over-turned pot in the bottom of the pot so it fits snugly, and cover the drain hole of the over-turned pot with something that won't rot (it does not need to allow water to drain through the hole in the over-turned pot, but it's ok to use a screen if you wish). Mix enough of the soil that falls away from the roots or remains in the large pot with an equal measure of perlite and fill to the top of the over-turned pot, then reposition your plant on top of the pot. and back-fill with the remaining soil w/o the extra perlite. The shaded areas in the images above represents perched water. By comparing D to A, you can see the over-turned pot significantly reduces the amount of excess (perched) water your soil will b e able to hold, so air will return the the soil much faster. The operational words for the moisture level of a grow medium is damp/moist, never wet/soggy. After having put the pot to work as ballast, start checking moisture levels with a "tell" you can make from a wooden dowel rod. It is far superior to a finger or a "moisture meter". More about using a 'tell': Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Questions? Al

I have mixed feelings about fake plants in general. It does seem like there are some beautiful high quality ones out there that really bring life to a space in pictures, I am also not excited about having anything fake in my own home. That said, unless your fake ficus brings you joy, I'd get rid of it. It seems like they were very popular in dreary offices in the 90s and I'm afraid that's what they look like to me. If you want to switch to a very "in" fake tree, I agree with DK Haas that the fake fiddle leaf fig tree is all the rage right now.

Unless something really bad happened during the repot - like the roots dried out badly, I expect the plant to make a quick recovery, I have a F diversifolia I moved directly into full sun a couple of weeks ago. All it's leaves are going yellow and falling off. I'm not concerned a bit about it. Unless there's something seriously wrong with your medium or how you're watering, your tree should be fine. I'm not saying that to make you feel good - I'm saying that because that's what usually happens more than 9 of 10 times. Also, my diversifolia puts out figs non stop. If yours has figs, remove them. They are a strong energy sink and the tree will expend too much energy on maturing the fruit as opposed to growing new roots. Al

Well, I wish I could say I knew "the answer" ... however, not only don't I know it, I don't know all of "them" since your question probably implies several questions at once. What I *do* know though is that we are lucky to have here one Al, a master of bonsai ... which means he is also a master of all container plants. His username is Tapla. Al not only knows a lot, but he is very patient about explaining it all. Most of my plants are only alive because of him. My photo is up in the plants' post office for sure. So, first thing to do is read his posts, and I would start with this one: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1389927/trees-in-containers-iii#n=221 Although who knows there may be a new version. Ficus questions are very very popular here, and in the House Plants forum. Come to think of it, there may be a specific Ficus in Containers thread too. Also, see this thread, which has links to some of his best threads: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5570006/al-s-tapla-greatest-hits#n=15 Another thing is, if you are really worried, post photos. It's hard to tell what's going on without them. Also ... there may be nothing wrong. Sometimes they just drop leaves when the light changes.