If you're not flushing the soil when you water, ALL the dissolved solids in your tapwater and fertilizer solutions remain in the soil. This eventually affects the osmotic process (water moving into cells), and can even reverse it. The result is, the plant can't move enough water to distal parts, so those parts die. Most commonly, that would start with leaf tips and/or margins. Over-watering can cause the same symptoms because low O2 levels in the soil affects the plant's ability to take up water and nutrients. No way to tell what it is most likely to be w/o more info. I'd suggest you prune it back (if the image is current) and repot. Then, make sure your watering is under control and you're fertilizing regularly. Light, of course, is very important, as are appropriate temps. If you've been lurking, you probably already realize how much influence soil choice has on your plant's ability to realize as much of its genetic potential as possible.

Al

Thanks Al, I have pruned it back, cut off about 5-6 feet, and am still seeing some problems with the upper most leaves turning yellow/black and the leaf ends on a lot of healthy leaves are curling. (photo below)..

I have been searching for ingredients to make the 5-1-1 mix in my area before repotting, and have been having a heck of a time finding small enough pine bark, and the right type of perlite. But I just found what I was looking for in those.

I do have a question about the sphagnum peat, and the lime. The only sphagnum peat I'm seeing comes in large bales, even at the local greenhouses. Do I need to buy a bale and split it up? and how exactly should it look, do i rip it/grind it into fine particles 1/4 - 1/8 inch? and how much lime do I use with whatever I'm doing? also, i read that it needs to sit for 2 weeks? will my trees still be alive in 2 weeks? THANKS as always for anyone that can answer these questions.

Well, I created my batch of Al's 5-1-1 and did the root pruning.

The soil that was in the pot to begin with seemed to be made of at least 50% pearlite. It did drain ok, but held the water too long I think. I'm looking forward to the 5-1-1 and using a tell to really know what's going on with my plant.

(root ball after completely removing soil)

I had just enough of the 5-1-1 for the large pot that my FLF is in, but my poor FLF suffered quite the leaf loss as I had to turn him several times to get the dirt off the root ball. Roots were thick and I'm not sure if they looked good or not, but I followed directions in Al's root pruning discussions as best I could and cut off a bunch of the thick big roots, and pruned probably 1/3-1/2 of them. Then planted in the 5-1-1 and watered. I also put the pot on blocks inside the decorative planter, so that it will never be sitting in the runoff again! That combined with using a tell should fix the problems I was having.

I have the Foliage Pro 9-3-6 to apply in a few weeks, maybe after the 2nd or 3rd watering. My wife loves the little jug it came in. It's tiny. I now need to make a new batch of 5-1-1.

Al, I have a few questions for you.

1. What should I expect over the next month? Is my tree going to start dropping leaves? (maybe I should say "Trees" as there are 5 of them in the same planter.) I think it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for them to shed some as the root system has just been hacked up a bit. But it's nice to hear from the experts.

2. Attached are pictures of missing leaves at the top of stalks. They broke off during the root cleaning/pruning. Will new growth occur there at the top? or do I need to cut it back to just above the closest attached leaf?

3. How do I force back budding into areas that lost leaves and now look as if they have holes? If this is a process, when is the best time to start it, and what should I expect?

Again as always, Thank you anyone for your help and advice. I feel like I've taken a few horticulture classes with all the reading I've been doing on these forums, and especially thank you Al (tapla) for your wisdom and your sharing on these forums. It is truly a blessing to find someone who is so knowledgeable and willing to share that knowledge with complete strangers.

Thanks again,

Mike

Any plant will sulk fir a while after a bare-root repot and root pruning. You will probably see some leaf loss over the next couple weeks, but don't worry. Give it a month and it will start growing better than it ever has.

In the mean time its water requirements in the next couple weeks will be greatly reduced, so be careful to check with a skewer and water only when it needs it.

The empty spots will fill in by themselves. The act of lopping off the top of the plant will force it to backbud.

Hi all- @tapla and others, hoping to get some input...thank you.!

I have had my fiddle leaf fig for over a year, and it's been sitting in a south-facing window for the past 6 months very happily. I am guilty of underwatering it at times and I've noticed that the new leaves will come out a little browned. I don't water it very often, about once every 10 days, but when I do I thoroughly soak it.

However, something has been happening for about a week now that is very disturbing. The leaves (mostly on the top) have started developing black spots, which then turn into brown dried out spots. I've attached a few photos of it, including it happening to a new leaf over the course of the day yesterday. At first I thought it was sunburn but now I don't think it is.

One thing I did accidentally was the last time I watered, I was lazy and did not check whether there was standing water in between the two pots. I also got another fiddle leaf fig who seems to be in the same condition as this one.

Please help!

Here is the plant

Brown spots on a new growth leaf

And here are brown spots on a new growth

Well, my FLF has suffered to say the least. He's dropped almost every leaf that was present before root pruning and repotting, but the good news is that every trunk has new growth emerging. I was worried for a while, but it seems that he's gonna make it!

One question I do have is around red in the new growth.. It seems to be normal, but one of the stalks is producing VERY red leafs, that are slowly turning green, does this indicate a lack of nutrients?