I was at Home Depot and they had a discounted fig tree tucked away in the corner that was being used as a trash can, and it broke my heart! They had old succulent plants thrown away in it along with wrappers, other trash, etc. I’ve never had a fig tree. I’m a new plant mother in general with 2 snake plants that I haven’t killed yet so I must be doing something right! I’m a smart cookie, I’m assuming the tree was discounted because something is wrong with it. That mixed with my character flaw of constantly needing to *save* things, we should make a perfect match! I am feeling I may be in over my head with this one, though. I’ll shut up and get to the point now!

Problems:

ROOTS?!?! There are tons of roots showing at the top of the *soil*.. is this normal? Should I re-pot? I hear my figgy does not like change so I don’t want to make any sudden moves.

Upset/Brown Spots/Bubbly/Curled Leaves!!

It doesn’t have that relaxed “gone with the wind” look to it as the other “healthy ficus lyatra plants” do on google image search. It looks uptight, cranky, and dry.. it’s starting to show minimal brown spotting under some of the leaves.

White cast!!! My tree has a white cast/powdery residue on its leaves. I sprayed them down with water (I know, I have read mixed reviews on this process) and wiped it off, but it won’t go away!!!

Sunlight?! Am I providing enough sunlight in this window? I read not to put it in the spots the sun rays are directly in. What would you guys reccomend?

If you have stuck around this long, bless you my child. You might as well stick around to write me a response and help me save this figgy tree, too!!

Any help is greatly appreciated!! I may have bit off more than I can chew but I hope you can understand, and I hope that someone out there might be willing to walk me through this process! Thank you for your time.