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

Sorry to hear about your burning bushes, cleanqueen. I'm sorry I can't offer any help, but I feel your pain. Our Callery Pear has suffered from something this season, and is dropping its leaves super early. I can tell you we had an arborist out for a consultation, and they are very helpful at telling you what's going on with your trees and shrubs. Good luck!

The Neem Oil should work well for mites, as well as other pest problems and to retard the spread of fungal diseases. Just be sure to thoroughly coat the undersides of the leaves. That's where the spider mites do their dirty work. I had to give up on Neem oil in the summer months because it burned my roses in our summer heat, (badly). Winter is a good time to try it out first. Some alternatives to Neem would be Avid, available from Rosemania, which is very expensive initially ($99), but lasts forever and a day. If that price makes you choke, you can also use Ortho brand sprays that indicate they kill mites. I think the cans of ready-to-use Rose Pride spray will kill mites (and it's only 5 or 6 bucks). The problem is, as Diane mentioned above, Ortho will kill off many bugs which attack mites. And spider mite populations bounce back very quickly. If you're going to use Ortho, you might try it weekly for maybe 3 weeks to try to break the mites' reproductive cycle, then stop and see if the insect populations can recover. Mites are generally only bad in warm to hot, dry weather conditions. So best not to spray year-round. It would be overkill. Maybe after you've used that miticide a few weeks, switch to blasting with water as often as you can(it's no more time-comsuming than spraying, in my opinion). If you're too busy to do it 3-4 times per week, then weekly is better than nothing. Anyway, I'm rambling. I hope the Neem oil works well for you, because I think that will do less harm to the predator population than Ortho would. Let us know how it turns out for you. Good Luck!

Well, losing the leaves could very well be a good thing. If you didn't see any infestation, there probably isn't one. I'd think the yellowing, spots and loss of leaves could be from the shipping stress and getting aclimated to it's new location. If there are bugs, they're coming off with the leaves. Obviously you're cleaning up all the fallen leaves. Just keep watching for new leaf buds. Maybe the plant got chilled somewhere during shipping. As far as I know there are two kinds of Miracle Fruit growing around here. One grows tall and upright into a tree around 10 to 15 feet tall. It has larger leaves than mine does. Mine is a bush about 3'X3' and grows more horizontally than tall. It has smaller leaves. Flowers and fruits prolifically off and on all year, more in the summer. It really appreciates a minor element spray in the spring when new leaves are flushing out. Regular fertilizing a few times a year. And heavy mulch. That's about it. It's really a special bush to have. I enjoy them a lot with key limes and water or in mojitos!