Help! Fiddle Leaf Fig Issues: Bown spots and cracking

10 years ago

Bought this at a trusted florist but didnt really inspect until I got it home... Ive had it a week or two, it's just to the side of a bright south facing window with some direct light through cracks in the blinds but only from morning sun. I water it when the top inch or two seem fairly dry to just slightly moist. It is near a radiator but the heat hasnt been used and the closest window is closed so no cold drafts or excess heat, etc.

There seems to be a lot of problems with many of the leaves. Some of the large leaves on the middle main tree look pretty good but on many of the surrounding leaves and newer leaves (especially lower/outter on the plant or on the undersides) there are brown spots and some cracking in other places. Ive provided pictures. Google searches yield some info but its hard to diagnose accurately because many symptoms have multiple possible causes.

lastly, theres some small nodes on all along the trunk which ive provided as picture number 5... Just didnt know if that was normal. The main issue are the brown spots and cracking. Thanks!

Featured Answer

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

10 years ago

You have some mechanical injury (think of bruising in humans), and probably oedema from over-watering. I'm guessing oedema , even though it looks like mite scars, because mites don't usually bother anything but very young foliage on F lyrata. The first picture appears as though some of the new foliage is deformed. If so, that lends support to the oedema theory, caused by over-watering. In compacted and/or over-watered soils that lack adequate oxygen, Ca is very difficult for plants to take up. If Ca isn't in the nutrient stream at all times, cells can't form normally and first symptoms usually include malformed parts. Blossom end rot is symptomatic of a Ca deficiency that is often caused by over-watered soils.

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Comments (8)

User
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you so much! You think i can save it? By Ca do you mean Calcium? How would you remedy? ie. Water it less or add some sort of fertilizer... Etc.
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
10 years ago
Yes - Ca = calcium.

Where do you live? ..... don't need an address - just a general idea.

Al
User
Original Author
10 years ago
I live in NYC.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
10 years ago
The plant is still very viable. IOW, I wouldn't assign it a 'circling the drain' status - just stressed. If you agree with the following - just ask for more directions. I'll lay out what my plan would be.

For now, get your watering under control by using a wooden dowel rod (hardware or big box store) sharpened in a pencil sharpener as a 'tell' Stick it all the way to the bottom of the pot. If it comes out moist, withhold water until it first seems dry. To ensure the level of dissolved solids (mineral salts from fertilizers and tap water) isn't too high, flush the soil repeatedly with room temperature water. Slowly/evenly pour a volume of water equal to at least 10X the volume of the pot the plant's in through the soil, then fertilize with a recommended dose of an appropriate fertilizer. Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 is an excellent choice for almost all houseplants.

Plan on repotting around Father's Day. Repotting is more extensive than potting up because it includes bare-rooting the plant, pruning the roots, and transplanting into fresh soil. Your choice of soil is a huge factor in how easy/difficult it will be to maintain excellent vitality, so learn something about container soils between now & then. I can direct you to some very good information if you wish.

In the meantime, you might find the info at these links to be of more than casual value if you're serious about keeping your plant healthy.

A basic primer

About growing ficus in pots for the long term

That should keep you occupied for a night or so. ;-)

Al
User thanked tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
User
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks so much! Im going to read up and also so what it will take to get all that stuff done in my apartment. Def will buy that measuring stick asap
User
Original Author
10 years ago
Also, i just read parts of your links... Looks like great stuff ill finish them when i have a lttlle time. I definitely made the mistake of repotting from a 12 inch fairly root bound plastic pot into a 15 inch pot that has a ton more room, not exactly the next size up... Probably should have tried to find something slightly smaller. I filled the sides in with a different potting soil too so i guess i need to change that.

Since you know a lot about ficus, I have a bonsai ficus that i could use some advice on but ill take care of the f. Lyrata before i bombard you with more questions lol.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
10 years ago
At your leisure. I have a number of ficus bonsai (25-30?).

Al