I, too, am new to figs, but my general experience is that when leaves start to curl it may be due to some type of pest.

Do you see anything on the underside of the leaves?

When you water, do you water deeply?

I'm not familiar with figs to know if they behave as an evergreen in your area or are decidious. Could this be part of the cycle where the leaves die off?

Could be too little water, transplant shock, going dormant (it is Fall).

Thanks.

I'll look for bugs. Didn't know that leaves would fall in winter... good to know... I would have thought it was dead.

It's still in the 90's here during the day, 60's at night.

I'll keep you posted on it's condition.

Rogerio, I'm from New England and not familiar with Arizona growing, but I didn't think it was possible to give a fig too much sun.

It Is Possible when roots are disturbed.It goes in shock and drop all leaves.
If you keep watering you can kill it all the way in that stage.
So moderation is the word when newly planted.
Shade help too.
Best regards

One thing I did not realize until I moved "down south" and did some research on it was that the main environmental signal which triggers the onset of dormancy is day-length, and not a temperature shift to colder weather, or the first frost of the year. T

his is actually quite important for those of in in colder climates, since the plant naturally begins to enter dormancy well before the first frost. If not, the plant would enter fall still growing tender young growth that would be killed by the first hard frost. Then this could be a starting location for rot and disease.

There are other stressors that can trigger, or delay dormancy... For example, a reason "experts" recommend pruning after the plant has gone dormant or in early spring, is that pruning before the natural initiation of dormancy alters the inherent hormone levels controlled by the buds that pruning removes.

Pretty groovy huh?

Phoenix is quite dry and hot! Leaf curl can result from mites. Also, look at the branches and leaf stems for scale. These little pests creat casings that resemble little barnicles. This disease will also cause leaf curl and leaf drop, and can spread to other fig trees as well.
If the edges of the leaves look brown and not yellow, and you don't suspect scale, get some Safer's soap and spray the tree, over and under the leaves and repeat every week for two or three weeks. This soap will not kill the tree but will do away with the microscopic mites that may be colonizing at the leaf edges.
Scale is a different story. Spray with Safer's soap now but when the tree goes dormant, you will need to spray with Neem oil.
The best of luck to you. Let us know what happens. Panache is a wonderful fig and does well in warm climates. I have Panache and mine is a large-medium size fig with a blood red center. The taste is awsome.

Thanks everyone for posting.

I moved the pot to the edge of the patio so it gets a little more sun.

I'll cut back on the watering allowing it to dry completely before watering again.

Top leaves are still okay, it's only the bottom leaves that seem to be "curling" on the edges.

My last "failed" project was a guava tree. I'm originally from Brazil and love guavas. That tree was in the ground and fully exposed to sun. It did well for 2 years. I got ONE little guava out of it. Watched it daily to only discover a desert ground squirell ripped me off... I caught him climbing for more... The tree died two summers ago. In it's place went a Ficus... lost it to a freezing we had last February.

How do you all do it??? It's a heartbreak!! LOL Makes a desert gardner want to stick with lantanas, oleanders and cactus....

Thanks again everyone.

I'm kind of thinking out loud here, but do you plan to put your fig in the ground?

I would think the 100+ F degree summers would wreck havoc on a containerized fig. At least in the ground, the thermal mass of all that soil would dissipate some of that heat.

There's also a technique mentioned in this forum where you keep the fig in the pot, but make holes in the container and partially bury the container. I think it's used for cold areas where you can pull up the pots and bring them in during the winter.

Maybe the experts in this forum can set me straight on my musings.

Also, I know this is the fig forum... but you mentioned cactus and it got me thinking of a recent trip to a supermarket.

I was walking through a supermarket and saw Dragon Fruit.
Never saw it before and I didn't buy it since I didn't know what it was.

However, looking through the internet, it's a funky looking fruit from a cactus which sounds pretty easy to grow.

Just thought I'd mention it if you're looking for something different in the sunny AZ.

100 degree weather did not bother my contianer figs one bit. They don't get sun all day, but they certainly got around 8 hrs. it's also very humid here. My varieties are Brown Turkey and four others that yet remain a mystery (got from an abandoned farm).

If the leaves are curled under, eat4fun is right. Some kind of bug has spun a web pulling the sides of the leaf together and/or begun to suck the liquid out of the leaf.

Typically under-watering and transplant shock manifest themselves in the form of wilted leaves. If you underwater, the leave will spring back when you water again. If it is transplant shock, the leaves will wilt, wither, and fall off (and sometimes turn white in the process). In extreme cases, they will dry up quickly and turn brown before falling. Generally the terminal buds will remain green and new leaves will grow back.

I have found, in the Houston sun, only a few (and I might venture to say 'very few') trees have an issue with being burned. One in particular is Petite Negri, and I'm hard pressed to come up with another one.

leaf wilt on PN

burnt leaf on PN

The effects of excess heat, as wild forager described, is not always immediately noticeable above the root zone. I found out several years ago that container temperature is important. At the end of the year when I bare-rooted the trees the difference between in root mass between the trees grown in white containers vs. black containers was significant. As time goes by, I'm seeing more and more just how important it is. Root production starts declining around 85°F and ceases somewhere in the 90s. Mind you, the ambient temperature does not have to be above 85°F for the temperature in your container to be that warm. All other things being equal, the temperature inside of a clear container will be warmer than in a black container which will be warmer than in a white container which will be warmer than in a reflective silver container. I'll be able to show evidence of this in a month or two.

I use a fast draining growing mix with the goal being able to water everyday at the time the ambient temperatures are the hottest, thereby decreasing the temperature inside the container.

~james