my fig tree is in trouble. This is a year old tree which was doing great until recently. Note that much of the damage seen above is from a major hailstorm in the summer.

But what concerns me more is that white stuff and brown wilting. I'm such a newbie gardener it's probably some common thing. No obvious pests visible. It's still producing figs. Can I save it?

Is it sick or is it at the end of the season and ready to shed leaves?

Ooh that was fast! It's sick.

Second question: assuming its salvegeable I want to prune off the lower branches you can see in this picture. When would be the best time to do that?

Other than those damaged leaves, I'm not sure it's sick. I grow a number of figs in my Zone8 area and several of the trunks on my healthy fig trees look like that. Is what you are calling "white stuff" something that washes off, or is it just the appearance of the bark on that type of fig? It's not uncommon to see older fig bark turn whitish gray.

I typically prune in April, but I'm not sure why you want to prune off those healthy looking side stems. Over time, fig trees typically put out asymmetrical branches at weird angles and I let them do what they want so that I can maximize growth. The main pruning I do is on leggy branches which means I would at least prune the top branch with all the damage about half way back just above a node, which should encourage more bushiness. Just don't expect the new growth to produce fruit that year.

This post was edited by kudzu9 on Sun, Oct 19, 14 at 16:43

It's fine. The "damage" you want to fix is due to the hail storm.

NO! the white stuff on the leaves was damaging it before the hail storm, so it has to be from a pest or disease.

If you guys are unexcited about it, I'll just leave it and see if it survives the winter. It just looks so pathetic now. :(

I thought you were supposed to prune off lower branches that would make a mature tree look unbalanced.

a newb arguing with jean ... what do you figure.. 50 years of experience between their two levels ... lol ????

i agree its probably all physical damage from hail ... noting that growth since looks just fine [and that would be the key for me] ... unless you have a pic from before the hail to get opinion on the pre-existing condition????

if that wall gets any sunshine on it.. you might also be baking it ...

i would not prune that tree for shape.. for up to 2 or 3 more years ... think about it.. a year old tree... and you cant wait to cut off most of its canopy ... your expectations are in human time.. instead of tree time... think of every leaf as a food making machine.. to turn sunshine into sugars.. to grow the roots to make the tree of your future ... you go loping off half of them.. then you MIGHT reduce vigor ... every one counts for a year or two ...

lets get it growing .. fully established ... which takes few year.. and then we start 'shaping it'

i might also be inclined to remove fruit on a first year tree .. but i have never grown fig to know if its OK to have that many fruit.. on a tree planted this spring ... often we defer on fruit.. the first year .. heck.. it almost has more fruit than leaves... lol ...

there is a very active fruit forum.. and also a tropical fruit forum... you never know.. where you might find the right guru ... so shop around ....

good luck

ken

please, I wasn't arguing, and am grateful for the experienced people here, but I do know for a fact that the white discoloration appeared before the hailstorm. I've been watching it pretty closely.

I'm just anxious because I love my little tree and thought there was something wrong with it. If you say not, I'll relax about it and let it be.

I really appreciate it.

Violet-
The ends of the branches look healthier to you because they are this year's growth and darker. I suspect all the gray bark is the natural look of last year's growth. As for maintaining symmetry on a fig tree, don't drive yourself nuts trying. Let it do its thing as suggested above.

Well, I took another look at it this morning. I don't know what the "white stuff" is -- and to be clear, it's on the leaves, not the trunk, and it appeared before the holes in the leaves from the hailstorm, but . . . I think I'm just going to let it progress through fall and winter and see how it does. If I still have the same problem in the spring, I'll let you know.

Really not anxious to cut anything off either, so will let that be. I'll visit the fruit forum, too. Fig forum does not appear too active.

Thanks!

As far as the "white stuff" and the "brown wilting" that you referred to initially, I think it's just naturally damaged leaves, often when the plant doesn't get enough water for a couple of days and parts of the leaves get dessicated. I've had that happen to me many times with potted figs I have in my greenhouse where I forget to water for a day or two in the summer, and I get leaf damage that looks just like that. The leaves may hang on and look bad, or fall off after a while. You had hale damage on those leaves because the damaged areas were more dry and fragile, but there doesn't appear to be anything more going on than that.

Regular watering of young figs is important for the first couple of years. It looks like the leaf damage is most pronounced in areas furthest from the roots. I see a dripper in the picture, but is it possible that there was some time in the year -- even just a day or two -- when it got hot and you may not have provided enough water to the plant?

well, that's certainly possible, although it's been regularly watered; very hot in the summer here of course.

Violet-
How long ago has that fig been in the ground?

Violet-
How long ago has that fig been in the ground? And when was it you first noticed damaged leaves?

This post was edited by kudzu9 on Mon, Oct 20, 14 at 19:22

it's been in the ground one year - -since last October. I first noticed the white damage on the leaves at the beginning of summer, around June or July. The hail storm was in August.

It's been watered fairly deeply twice a week since spring, with some extra water during the hot summer.

Ok...I'm sure it's not a disease issue. Try for more frequent watering next year and see if that doesn't help.

that is what I will do. Thank you everyone for all your help.