Agree it is just cool growing temps that cause it but it does no harm to them. The plants green up quickly when planted outside and the weather warms. If you want to warm just the growing area a bit without heating the whole house just enclose the plant area a bit with a plastic drop cloth and let the lights provide a bit of heat to them. That means leaving the lights on a night and off some during the day. Get a timer. ;) Dave

JR Actually, from the photo, they donâÂÂt really look too bad :-) However, your growing medium (vermiculite, perlite, peat moss) contains no nutrients, so adding at least some water soluble fertilizer would probably be helpful at this stage. Usually 1/4 or 1/2 of the recommended dosage is used for small plants like this. Your T5 lights need to be about 3 or 4 inches above the plants. T8 bulbs can be kept closer than that but T5âÂÂs do get a little warmer so you have to be careful not to get so close that they can burn the plants. If youâÂÂre pretty sure the wicking method of irrigation is not keeping the medium too wet, IâÂÂd suggest adding a little diluted water soluble fertilizer. These plants are a pretty good size so IâÂÂd probably use something like about 1/2 strength of 10-10-10 or 1/4 strength of 20-20-20. Just my opinion of course, hope it helps, Art

Yes, so cal San Fernando valley. The fig's ph tested at 6.75, which is within the range of N absorption. My water is pretty alkaline at 7.9 so it tends to counteract all the acidity I put into the ground with compost and fertilizer. the tree gets plenty of water, I test monthly with a probe. my cure-all is worm tea, but I'm worried a shot of N right now will be a killer in the heat. i'm going to try a heavy watering in the morning. my wife is sort of devastated as the figs are turning mostly inedible. Past years were super sweet and tasty (big thumbs up on the V de B) and we had a huge crop coming this year.

That could be drought stress or fertilizer burn. skuiiy: We bought the plant with the shown plastic pot and kept it in there since it seemed to be doing well & producing flowers and fruit. A plant from the nursery producing fruit is often doing so because it's stressed. When tomatoes are stressed, they fruit because the plant rushes to reproduce before it dies. So assuming it's happy because it's fruiting could be incorrect. Even if the pot is OK now, it won't be much longer unless that plant is a dwarf or small determinate. skuiiy: -Gave it liquid fertilizer. -Added about a spoonful of epsom salt to the soil/mulch mix it's in and mixed it in a bit. Epsom salt is really only necessary if the plant has a magnesium deficiency. If not, it could cause problems. Also, it's possible you've given the plant too much fertilizer, which can manifest as leaf burn skuiiy: now I'm watering(about 2 cups of tap water, instead of just 1)every other day starting today to see how that goes. First: Pot it in a much larger container. Gently knock off as much of the current potting mix as possible so that almost all of the mix is fresh, as this will help correct the problem if nitrogen burn is the problem. Use a normal, fluffy, well-draining potting mix, not a mix advertised as moisture-retaining, and not anything labeled as "garden soil". Mix water into the mix well before putting it in the pot, as peat-based mixes can initially repel water if they're dry. Second: Don't measure your water or water on a set schedule. To determine when to water, stick your finger down into the mix a couple inches. If it's dry, water and water very deeply, until the water is running freely out of the bottom of the pot. If it's still wet a couple inches down under the surface, hold off. In your climate, when it gets hot, don't be surprised if you have to water daily. As for fertilizer, you can give the plant a dose according to instructions once a week or every two weeks (depends on how frequently you have to water), or you can water at very dilute strength with every watering (dilute more the more frequently you have to water).