Leaves Metallic Looking

13 years ago

I purchased a Celeste fig tree, info below, at our local nursery this past Saturday. Since then, the leaves have taken on a sort of metallic sheen. I'm thinking maybe it's the shock of moving from dabbled sun in the nursery to full sun on my patio? I did some research and couldn't really come up with much information. I live in Southern Virginia and the temps have been upper 80s/low 90s with pretty strong sun most of the time, but I did try to put the tree at an area where it gets morning and late evening sun and not the strongest afternoon sun.

A few of the leaves have also turned yellow and fell off, and from what I've read it could be due to overwatering.

Any help is appreciated!

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Comments (7)

AmericanFigLover
13 years ago
Does it wipe off? It could be residue left over from watering or if the tree sits under something that allows water to fall on it. Don't allow the pot to sit in standing water as your roots may start to rot and cause the plant to die. Give some break in between watering.
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
13 years ago
Looks like rust.
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hoosierbanana
13 years ago
It looks like a strong dose of copper fungicide spray. If it gets worse it could be because the copper is causing problems.

BTW, you have a Brown Turkey, not a Celeste. Your tree has 5 lobes and red eyes.
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
13 years ago
F. carica leaves can vary from 3 to 7 lobes regardless of cultivar. Are you going to put your tree in the ground? If not, does that cache pot have a hole in the bottom?
kurfsec
Original Author
13 years ago
Copper fungicide makes sense. It did come from the nursery and it's unknown what they used. Now that it's out of there I don't plan on using any kind of chemicals on it.

What could the rust be from? Residue from the garden hose maybe?

No, I didn't plan on putting the tree in the ground. Temperatures can still drop here during the winter, so I was thinking of overwintering in a greenhouse or sunroom. The pot WILL have holes, but not as of now. I don't keep the plant in the pot when it's raining or while watering, only during sunny days to attempt to keep roots cool. Once my drill is operational, I'll stick it in there.
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
13 years ago
The tag on your tree says it's hardy to Z7. When it got down to 9 degrees a couple winters ago here, it didn't kill any fig trees that I know of. This is a plant it and forget it yard tree, occasional pruning for shape, and/or to keep it shorter if you want. Keeping a deciduous tree alive in a pot over winter is much more difficult and risky.

Rust periodically makes fig leaves reddish like that. There's probably some stuff to buy and put on it, but I'm sure it's nothing I'd want to eat while eating figs, and since there's no problem with tons of figs on the trees, can't see any reason to bother. Also, the trees are huge, we'd need some kind of really big ladder to do anything to them.
hoosierbanana
13 years ago
Fruit is too large and wrong shape for Celeste. Overall leaf shape is wrong. Tag is wrong.