How long had it been at its current location?
What kind of soil is it in?
What has your weather been like? Soggy soil?
Did it leaf out this spring just fine and then drop its leaves?
Any sign of discoloring of the leaves before they dropped? Were they splotchy or light green?
We are gonna have to have more information to know what happened to your fig. Once we get enough info, if we don't know, there is also a Fig Forum where all the fig peeps hang out.

figs in zone 3a ...

is this an indoor plant???? perhaps you left that out of the facts ....

was the soil swampy??? prior to death

ken

Sorry!

It's an indoor plant... a brown turkey fig. And it's in the same soil it's been in since I bought it last summer? It gets watered regularly, but the soil isn't ever swampy or super wet. It lives next to a giant south facing window, and has been there for at least 5 months (during which time it was growing like mad).

Like I mentioned earlier, it has a problem with spider mites a month or two ago. But I cleared that up and it started growing tons of leaves... and then one day, they just started shriveling (one by one) and then dropping. Now it is completely naked.

In the past it also had a mealy bug problem, which is also no longer existent (I also don't leave it in the care of others anymore.... that solved so many, many problems!).

Its never been a very leafy plant, and it's certainly never produced fruit. But it's never been this sad looking.

I've never found that a deciduous plant responds well to being grown inside all year round.

This question might be better placed in the houseplant forum, but I do know that some types of indoor figs are notorious for dropping leaves.

fledgeling, the poster said that it was a Brown Turkey fig. Not a houseplant, but trying to grow it as one.

All houseplants are outdoor plants (often native to warmer areas) that are grown indoors. I agree that the Houseplant Forum might be better able to venture guesses, and the Fig Forum would be anther possibility. Actually, I think I'd try the Fig Forum first. I know some of the participants over there do grow figs in containers.

The first thing I would look at is the moisture content of the soil at root level. Figs don't like wet feet (roots). While the top of your soil may look dry, the lower portion may be too wet. I'd do a little excavating and see what the moisture level is like towards the bottom of the pot.

If that turns out not to be the problem, I'd consider other things, including soil-borne mealy bugs. How do you know you got rid of the mealy bugs you mentioned? Just because they are no longer visible on the foliage, doesn't necessarily mean they are gone.

Hmmm. Never would I have thought that Brown Turkey fig should be considered a year-round indoor resident. At least not without some consideration for its deciduous habit and chilling requirement.

Please keep trying to convince me! :-) I'm ready for a change of mind, but need some coaxing.

Thank-you all!

I did some digging (in the dirt of course!) and it is a tad moist. Perhaps too wet? I will be sure to let it dry out. I also sat and studied the soil and saw no soil-borne mealy bastar...ehe..bugs.

I'm well aware that it is a deciduous tree, but I didn't think that really factored into the equation with it being an indoor plant. I think it's probably still a bit too chilly outside for the fig tree (it's only JUST stopped snowing randomly!). With that in mind, I'm sure the house has been cool enough through the -30C winter to fulfill it's chilling requirements?

Brown Turkey, and other Ficus carica, do not have a "deciduous habit" or a "chilling requirement". Like many other evergreen trees, they have the ability to become deciduous in colder environments to deal with cold temperatures. As a mater of fact, Brown Turkey is one of the most popular fig cultivars grown in Hawaii where they never go dormant. While there may be some advantages for trees to have at least a small period of dormancy, it's not a requirement. And, while it IS easier to grow figs outdoors in their preferred environment, that doesn't mean they cannot be successfully be grown indoors year round. That said, a moderately cool garage might be worth looking into in this case for easier care.

Vmzral, did you examine the root system? Did you see any sign of rot? While continually wet soil can lead to root rot, you don't want the soil to completely dry out. The soil a root level should be moist, not wet. If there is root rot, figs will drop their leaves because their unhealthy root system will not supply enough water even though the soil has an excess of water. This is one of the main reasons for failure when propagating figs from cuttings. It's so tempting to water more when you see wilt, but if the soil is too wet already, the problem just becomes worse.

Another problem that might have had some effect on the health of your plant is lack of light. I know you said it was in a large south-facing window, but I wonder if that's enough in this circumstance. I'm not familiar enough with the light situation in your area to know, but I can imagine that the amount of light it could get inside, through a window, that far north, and during winter, might be a potential issue.

Alright, I excavated further and examined the roots. They appear to be just fine.

It is currently basking under my grow light... I makes sense that during the winter it wouldn't get enough light. But lately we've got sun until 8pm or so.

Barring the light issue, do you have more suggestions?

:)

We have a fig forum? Man, there are so many forums here -redundant ones too- it's almost unbelievable. There's a heavenly bamboo forum as well, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

Anyways, if too much water is not the issue perhaps too little is the problem. Drought-induced defoliation? You have not had this plant all year, so is the window site it is at heating up quickly due to the increasing amount of sun this time of year?

The Fig forum stays pretty busy. It makes sense to have one. I think the Lucky Bamboo Forum is almost a joke. From what I understand, it was the result of a massive effort from the real Bamboo Forum people to rid their forum of all the pesky lucky bamboo questions.

Speaking of the Fig Forum, it sounds like it might be time to present this problem to them. Some of them are going to have lots more practical experience that may allow them to guess what's happening with Vmzral's fig.

Vmzral, if you figure it out, let us know! I grow figs and would be interested in what's happening with yours.

you said: It is currently basking under my grow light

---

my experience with indoor lights.... though i cant say i grow trees indoors...

is that the light has to be within inches of the leaves for any impact ... unless you have some high powered lighting ...

your suggestion that it is basking in insufficient light might be faulty ...

any leaf that receives consistent insufficient light.. will. sooner or later be shed ...

ken

Keri_adrian, are you saying that it's possible that the tree is getting enough light? Regardless, I am having a hard time accepting a lack of light as being the issue, as this has never happened before. Not even in the winter when it would receive the smallest amount of [natural] light possible in the entire year.

Brandon7, I have posted to the Fig folks. Sadly, they are not nearly as quick or helpful. Below is the most conclusive answer... and the argument against it:

"vmzral,
I wouldn't worry too much. I kept my first Fig tree indoors as a potted plant. That was before I learned that they should go dormant and have a rest. Mine would loose all its leaves about this time of year just before it was warm enough to put outside. The first time it happened I thought it was dead but after being outside for just a little while it put out new leaves and figs. So don't give up, just wait a little bit and see what happens."

"It isn't normal at this time of year. Figs have pretty good built-in calendars, and unless you are fiddling with light, day length and such it shouldn't be happening.
But it isn't clear what IS happening. Was the leaf drop sudden, or did they look wilty, get dry then drop?
If it was sudden, it sounds like the plant might have been shocked. Did someone open the window on a cold day (or something else unusual)?"

I'll watch the fig forum thread for a day or two and see if anyone comes up with any good ideas. Maybe some of the more experienced people will chime in soon.

Thank-you!

From the sounds of it "wait and see" may be the best/only course of action.

Common Fig is native to warm, sunny Mediterranean climate with mild winters. Consider being plucked from this environment and placed in a pot, under grow lights and stuck in cold, wet, cloudy, snowy, Canadian home, I'd be unhappy too!
Sam

Sam,

The issue is not that my fig tree lives
a) in a pot
b) in a heated, and warm, Canadian home
c) in a cold, wet, cloudy, snowy location - which by the way, it's not - and oh, wait, the plant is inside, where it is warm, dry, and snow-free.

It's that for no apparent reason, with triggers or changes, the tree has dropped it's leaves when it was previously happy, green, and growing.

Hopefully, by now, you understand that this plant responds quite well to a true (deciduous) dormant period in the winter.

Contrary to what you want so much to believe, Ficus carica is not a happy houseplant. Not unless you can provide those Hawaii-like conditions year round. Oh, wait-it's languishing in your warm (maybe overly dry?), Canadian home under an artificial light. Natural insolation is limited, at best.

Though Brown Turkey can be coaxed into semi-evergreen behavior under the optimum conditions, it would be far better for you to have more realistic expectations. Developing a balanced routine that is more appropriate to the plant could result in something quite rewarding for you both. Maybe.

Rhizo, while I agree with your general idea, I'm not sure there isn't some specific reason (besides the fact that it's not in ideal conditions) for its condition. Sure, if you moved it to different conditions, it might do fine, but there has to be some reason that the plant seemed to be doing great and then sudden dropped its leaves. That's what Vmzral is trying to determine.

Oh, and BTW, the Brown Turkeys in Hawaii aren't close to being semi-evergreen. They are evergreen, and it doesn't take any coaxing.

As I mentioned above, a moderately cool garage might be worth looking into for easier care next winter, but the fig still has to be maintained until next fall. So, it would be helpful to find the root cause of the problem and not just mark it off to general less-than-ideal conditions.