Hi all, I have three ficus lyrata plants which I have had outside all summer, and moved indoors for the cool season about a week and a half ago. Two are a bush shape in my living room, and one is a tree in my kitchen. Last week, on a plant in the living room; I noticed small holes in the leaves, some minuscule webbing near the stems/trunks, and upon removing it from its rolling stand to water, noticed whitish, almost invisible insects on the rolling tray (spider mites?) I used Safer insecticidal soap concentrate to spray the leaves, did a soil drench with a bit of concentrate mixed into the watering can, then gave it a shower in the tub. Just now while checking out the tree in my kitchen, I've noticed these white patches on the leaves (both tops and undersides), and some brown spots on the undersides as well. The brown spots could be oedema from when I first got it about a year ago. I brought it home with some on quite a few leaves. There is none on any of the new growth since I've had it. But it's the the white patches that are concerning me! It appears healthy otherwise. I began cleaning the leaves off with a damp cloth, and then thought to post here. There aren't any holes in the leaves, just these white patches. What could it be? I just gave it a shower a few days ago (these plants are like my third, fourth and fifth children, obviously) and so I'm hesitant to do another soil drench, as it won't need another soaking for about a week and a half. thoughts?

I'm no expert, just got my FLF a couple months ago but check for mites. They can be hard to see but they will be on the new growth. If you have them mix 50/50 water and 70% isopropyl alcohol. Spray the tree every 4 days until they're gone. Make sure you spray every leaf. Top and bottom, branches, stems, leaf axils, everything. Mine had mites when I first got it. I sprayed with to 50/50 mixture and it got rid of them. This also could be a watering issue. You can find lots of good information on here about proper watering, proper soil, and such. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1493078/ficus-trees-in-containers My new growth looked like yours when I first got my plant. I'm not sure if it was the mites or a watering issue. I just ignored them. My newer growth, since changing my water habits and getting rid of the mites, has been spot free. Hope that helps.

Was it in full direct sun in its former life or in the shade? Light coming through glass is filtered even if the glass is clear, so if got significant outdoor sunlight befdore you got it, overwatering seems more likely than sunburn. So, how do you water? Does the pot have a drain hole? The brown patches look just like the photos in the other FLF threads on the first page of this forum (and dozens more on the pages after that), almost every one of which is due do overwatering, so don't feel like you're the first person to have the issue. I almost feel like starting a thread aimed at new FLF owners! Anyhow, the goal is to control soil moisture so the roots don't die from drought or suffocate from lack of oxygen in saturated soils. I'll bet the soil in that pot is very fine, peaty, water retentive potting soil that stays saturated in the bottom half of the pot long after the top inch or two is bone dry. The good news is that there's an easy, quick and reliable way to check soil moisture and prevent any more drowned roots. Here's a thread about caring for sick plants that will explain what's going on, and here's an excerpt from a post by tapla (Al) specifically about when and how to water. Try his method and your plant will love it. And don't hesitate to ask more questions! "You can tell you've watered too much (or too little - the response is the same - a drought response) when leaves start to turn yellow or you begin to see nutritional deficiencies created by poor root metabolism (usually N and Ca are first evident). You can prevent overwatering by A) testing the soil deep in the container with a wood dowel ... wet & cool - do not water, dry - water. B) feeling the wick & only watering when it's dry C) feel the soil at the drain hole & only water when it feels dry there. Soils feel dry to our touch when they still have 40-45% moisture content. Plants, however, can still extract water from soils until they dry down to about 25-30%, so there is still around a 15% cush in that plants can still absorb considerable moisture after soils first feel dry to us. Water slowly until the soil is saturated but no water (or very little water) has exited the pot drain. Wait 10-15 minutes and water again so at least 15-20% of the volume of water used ion both applications flushes out the accumulating salts. After the pot stops draining, you can return it to its normal spot and arrangmt. Wait until time to water again & repeat the routine."

Roots were kept moist throughout. Cleared off every bit of soil we could and untangled roots, then removed lower portion. I did recognize that it was more like regular soil and have been letting it dry fully (2.5 weeks before 2nd watering). I check by digging my finger in as low as I can. For the first year I was watering every 2-3 weeks. I would not be surprised to hear that I overpotted. The pot used to contain the plastic one that the tree came in for the first year, and I moved into the containing pot instead when repotting since the plastic one was a mess and cracking.