Did the picture upload work this time? I added pictures earlier. Does anyone else have a difficult time using this website? I seem to have a lot of trouble. It’s a fiddle leaf fig tree btw

I can see all the pix (from a laptop). Sorry I have no advice for you, let's pls. allow some time for others to respond.

KarenS, NYC

Looks like you have some sort of scale insect there. The only way I have been successful in getting rid of that is to put the whole plant in the shower,,,,,cover the soil with saran and wash the plant with soap...Safer Insecticidal soap has worked for me.
Then look carefully all over the plant....every week for more of the scale.....and with a Q-tip dipped in alcohol with the scale from the stem.
In a well drained pot ti's hard to over water a ficus.....and stop putting and repotting it. Each time you do that you damage the roots and then can't then support the leaf growth.

Are scale microscopic cuz I haven’t seen any sign of scale Before. I have seen mealy bugs But I am unsure if they would do that much damage esp because I haven’t seen any bugs around it lately and it’s still very slowly dropping leaves. Thank you for your responses thus far.

Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't see anything wrong with your FLF. That one leaf has some brown/damage, but the rest looks good to me. Call me crazy!

Thank you for the comment! I think the plant looks fairly healthy but it hasn’t grown any new leaves since I got it and it has dropped several leaves (approx. 10) since August. All on the lower half. Maybe it’s purely because I’ve stressed it out so much by messing with it. Perhaps I will just let it be and see how it does this growing season. Unless anyone feel strongly that I should put it back in it’s smaller pot And then leave it alone. I just want to treat it right lol

As I stated in my first post I had trouble with mealy bugs when I first got this plant. I tried to diligently get rid of the bugs. The last few week or so I have seen tiny little spots that look like mealy bug eggs (See photo). No sign of their mamas but I’m sure they’re there! Man, those little beasts are tough to get rid of! Would it be better if I placed the tree outside to attempt to rid the plant of mealybugs or would the shower be better? thanks for your advice!

On a happier note, it appears my tree is FINALLY growing a leaf!

Linda - Unless I missed some images somewhere, I can't see where the 'scale' diagnosis comes from, and I don't know what a "well-drained pot" is. Pots with a drain hole drain to the degree the soil allows them to drain; and, store shelves are filled with overly water-retentive media in which it's extremely easy to over-water a Ficus. Most hobby growers don't draw differentiation between potting up and repotting. My guess is that Caitlin potted up, which would stress the plant negligibly, so returning it to a smaller pot to fix the excess water retention is not a big deal insofar as a threat to the plant, and is something I'd recommend. If she DID do a full repot with root-pruning and bare-rooting, it's still better to deal with the >3 week watering intervals by returning the plant to a smaller pot or a medium that drains better. Finally, if a grower is overly zealous about root pruning the plant and doesn't prune an appropriate volume of foliage, the plant might shed some leaves; however, the damage to roots that occurs during a well-executed repotting actually has a rejuvenating effect on root growth. Even if there wasn't, the plant's chemical messengers keep the plant apprised of the root-to-shoot volume ratio. Root growth always precedes shoot growth, so the plant would not grow new leaves until the volume of roots was able to support the new growth. As you see, I disagree with much of what you said.

Caitlin - when a plant is producing moor food (plants make their own food during photosynthesis) than it needs to keep its systems orderly, is stores the food (sugar) in the roots and the cambium by creating new cells, which is how growth occurs. If a plant is not conspicuously growing, it's close to its break-even point or actually losing mass as it sheds parts in order to cope with the lower amounts of energy available. As days get longer, you should expect more growth, if the plant is not being asked to deal with cultural conditions it's not genetically programmed to deal with.

Leaf shedding can be caused by nutrient deficiencies, chill (especially when it occurs suddenly - like cold drafts or a trip to its new home in the winter), a change in light levels, root congestion, soil compaction, a high level of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil, under-watering, over-watering, and a few more. Most shedding is due to light issues or a drought response due to over-watering. My guess, based on what you've offered so far is over-watering.

I'll wait to hear your thoughts before I go any further. You might find this piece I wrote about Caring for Ficus in Containers to be helpful.

Al

I repotted in a larger pot. I didn’t do any pruning of the roots but I did “loosen” the root ball. When I pulled it out of the pot in feb I did cut some of the roots that looked soggy, brown, and broke off easily but I was very very conservative. It went back and forth from the window to the shower d/t a mealy bug infestation. It also was in a south facing window but that spot was next to a sliding glass door and easily got hit by the draft every time the door was opened. So it got moved... Obviously it has been through a lot. But it hasn’t moved from its spot in over three months. Its “new”ish home I think gets plenty of light: it’s in a north facing window that gets significant reflection from our white fence. About half of it sits in front of an east facing window and is approx 7 feet away from a south facing window. All of which get lots of sunlight throughout the day. therefore I believe the pot and the media are most likely the problem. I’ve left the plant alone for the last two months and it is still VERY slowly dropping leaves which tells me it wasn’t unhealthy because I was stressing it out so much as I likely have bigger issues at hand. I want this plant to thrive so I am willing to change out his media and put him back into the nursery pot. I just didn’t know which was the better choice. I just wants what’s best for him as cheesy as that sounds. Anyhow, thank you for response! it is greatly appreciated! I did read your article, a few times, because you are very smart and use smart language haha. I will look over it again so that I get an even better grasp and have less questions to ask!

thanks again,

Caitlin :)