Oh! Sorry I didn't mean to be vague. I'm in South Africa on the tropical East Coast (so it's mid-summer here). Thomas is an albizia adianthifolia (or... flat-crown). Thomas is also a hail-survivor (donate to the African Hail Survivor Fund today!) I don't have a photo of Thomas right now but I can take one when I get home. Right now he's a metre high stick with some tufts of leaves growing out (except at the top, no leaves at the top :( ) but the canaries seem to like him. Here is a link that might be useful: Albizia!

which pine???? if Pinus koraiensis OD ... then it doesn't surprise me ... gorgeous tree as a koraiensis ... not a good OD .... after 10 weeks of drought.. a lot of my yellow variegated plants.. had most the yellow burned off ... shall we presume that is not the issue with yours???? ken

You should not have to be watering every day unless you soil is extremely fast draining (sand and rock). Additionally, peat moss is acidic and tends to compact over time.. Fig trees prefer a more alkaline, faster draining soil. If your temps are in the high 90's and into the 100's, watering every other day should be enough. If cooler, every third or fourth day might well be enough, but again, this will depend on soil type. You can probe a bit around the base of the tree to determine if it needs water. If the soil is damp, let it go another day. If it were my tree I would (as carefully as possible) remove as much of the peat moss as I could without disturbing too many roots. I would back fill with native soil mixed with a bit of compost, and then mulch around the base of the tree. You can also add some garden lime to help with soil ph. It wouldn't hurt to cut the top foot or two off your new tree either. If it's in shock and your roots are under performing due to the peat moss, it is probably not delivering sufficient nutrients up into the tree...hence your leaf drop. With a shorter tree, there will be less tree to feed. Don't worry...a healthy fig tree will put on two to four feet of new growth after it's first year in ground. What is your soil like in your yard? If it becomes sticky when wet, adheres to your shoes when you walk through it, and dries real hard...mix more compost in and consider planting the tree several inches above ground level and building a mound around the base with a compost soil mix. Some will disagree with me, but I like to build a moat around the base and fill with water a couple of times a week. This allows the water to soak in deep. The moat should be at least three feet in diameter for a newly planted tree. After a year or two you can break down the moat or fill it with compost or mulch to help keep the soil cool and moist. I mulch 4-5 inches thick with straw as a ground cover. It ain't real pretty, but it's effective. This should give you some ideas. Good luck with your tree. Dave

Am I understanding correctly that you did a full repot, which includes removing all existing grow media, root pruning, and a change of medium? If yes, and especially considering a highly stressed plant will have little in the way of natural defense against insect herbivory and pathogens, your priorities should be to ensure the grow medium is damp/moist - about as damp as a well-wrung out sponge, not wet or soggy, the plant is warm (21-26c), and it gets plenty of light. Resist the urge to water until a wooden "tell" inserted deep into the pot bottom comes out barely moist. More on using a "tell": Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. I'll link you to two short pieces I wrote that provide 1) An Overview of Good Growing Practices, and 2) an Specific Overview of Long Term Care of Ficus in Containers. Hopefully it's not too little, too late. If you have other questions you think I might be able to answer, please don't hesitate. I have at least 40 containerized Ficus covering at least a dozen species or cultivars. Al