Claire, I would suggest you post these questions in the house plant section as the fig forum is for edible figs. They are very good folks over there and I bet they can help you. Good luck.

What's most "common", by a very, very large measure, is to do what I described. In fact, it's very uncommon for hobby growers with trees/plants in containers to try to identify and isolate a deficiency then treat it, and when they do, it's usually because they were influenced by someone with good intentions. To suggest something is good or right because it's 'common' is a logical fallacy called 'appeal to tradition'. Grand theft, cheating on your taxes, driving while impaired, or choosing junk food over healthier fare, are all "common". It's worth repeating what I said above about hobby growers adding this and because someone said it would be good for my plant. The effort usually end up being limiting, not beneficial. There is no substitute for a sound nutritional supplementation program, and 99.999 hobby growers will never achieve one by dosing with elements/compounds chosen because they provide 1 or 2 nutrients. "To go through all of the above instructions each and every time a deficiency occurs seems quite unconventional, unnecessary, and frankly far from the norm." Poisoning the well by suggesting what I described is somehow a laborious chore that must be repeated with great regularity is very misleading. Mixing the fertilizer solution requires no more effort than mixing a solution of water and Epsom salts. You flush the soil thoroughly ONCE, one time. Then, you fertilize with Foliage-Pro 9-3-6, which ensures every nutrient essential to normal growth is A) in the soil solution, and B) immediately available for uptake C) at a ratio extremely favorable to the plant. After that, Amy needs only to water appropriately and fertilize regularly - standard care. The suggestion to simply dose with Adding Epsom salts does nothing to correct any existing nutritional problems not related to Mg, and has a significant potential to add to whatever problems might exist. What I suggested ensures she'll be on solid ground with regard to all nutrients. It's always important to remember that anything in the soil solution in excess of what the plant needs has only the potential to limit the plant; and an excess has the same potential to be limiting as a deficiency. IF, we were talking about trees in the ground or an orchard, "appropriate" would be having a soil test done and adding the nutrients suggested by that soil test facility. I can't imagine an orchardist looking at a few leaves, determining the cause is a Mg deficiency, then start spraying Epsom salts on the leaves. Without tissue analysis to confirm nutrient deficiencies pro growers are very often dead wrong in determining what's causing symptoms to appear in leaves, and that's when they have the leaves in hand and a history of the plant. Here, we have another hobby grower diagnosing from an image in the internet with no cultural clues or background and writing prescriptions for a cure, when the wisest thing by far would be to get the plant on a sound and very easy nutritional supplementation program ASAP. Finally, you're asking Amy to bet with you that the most limiting issue of all issues with the potential to be most limiting (including cultural issues) is a deficiency of MG. If it isn't, it's an absolute certainty the application of the Epsom salts solution will be a limiting factor. See Liebig's Law of the Minimum for confirmation. AL

To me, it looks like they used self-sticking drywall tape (the stuff where you see the dots) and then coated the walls with a thin layer of textured quickrete. Is the piece that’s broken away very hard if you try to break it?

When leaf margins curl downward, especially if leaves droop abnormally from the base of the leaf to the leaf tip, there is probably an issue affecting root function or root health. The main causal suspects would be over-watering or soil compaction causing an inadequate supply of oxygen to roots, a root infection, or a TDS (fertility) level too high, which can limit water uptake. After 6 months, the plant should be stable in the pot. I would remove the rocks as they reduce the exposed soil surface which reduces evaporative water loss - your friend when you're over-watering. If you're over-watering, there are 2 potential fixes. 1) Start checking the moisture level of the medium deep in the pot, at the bottom, with a wooden tell. More on that below. 2) If the plant is of manageable size, water over the sink, allow it to drain, then put Newton's First Law of Motion to work, draining excess water from the pot. See below. Do check for mites, as the plant looks mighty mitey. You might need a jeweler's loupe or a magnifying glass to see them. 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. Newton's First Law For conventional container culture, it's a given that saturated/partially saturated media rob roots of the oxygen they need to function normally and efficiently. At best, soil saturation robs your plants of immense measure of potential in areas like growth, appearance, yields, ….. At worst, plants unable to cope with the strain of drought stress caused by saturated media will succumb to it. This isn't a 'scare tactic, it's a very simple and straightforward observation that will be difficult to disagree with a straight face. Newton's First Law of Motion states that an object will remain either at rest, or in motion at a uniform rate and in a straight line unless acted upon by an external offsetting force. In this case, we will designate the 'object' as excess water in your potting medium. At risk of my being redundant, the 'law' can be seen as a simple statement about inertia, that objects will remain in motion and in a straight line unless a force acts to change the motion. To put the law to work for you/your plantings, you should water to beyond the point of total soil saturation - so the medium has been completely saturated and at least 15-20% of the water you have applied has exited the pot. Unless your soil is purposefully constructed to eliminate all/nearly all excess water, it's extremely probable, when the pot has stopped draining, there will be too much water in the potting medium for the plants' liking. To eliminate this excess water: immediately after a thorough watering, hold the pot in one hand over the sink, lawn, or over-sleeping significant other and move it downward, then sharply reverse the direction to upward. You'll immediately note that a good measure of 'excess' water will “continue downward in a straight line” and exit the drain hole. The sharper the reversal of direction, the more water exits the drain hole. When you have repeated the exercise until water no longer exits the drain hole on the reversal of direction, you will have eliminated all excess water and your plants will regard you with a newfound sense of awe. Al