I have a small Fiddle Leaf Fig tree that I treasure. I live in Australia and it's the beginning of winter however I have two new leaves sprouting on my plant. I noticed some very small brown dots running along the veins of the new leaves. Should I worry?? I've done a bit of research but found nothing concrete on what the problem could be or how to treat it. I've also noticed that the soil has started to turn white on the surface, around the edges. It does not appear to be crystalized or furry. Are these two issues related? The plant sits by a large window in my kitchen. I water it once a week and the soil is always Damp. Could I be over watering? Could the plant be too cold? I love my tree so any advise is much appreciated! I've uploaded some pictures for reference.

Plants have their own sense of time that isn't measured by the hour hand on a clock, rather, day length (technically it's the length of the dark period) is what the plant pays attention too. When the day length signals the plant to grow, and other cultural conditions allow it to grow normally, your plant should from that point forward start producing healthy growth. It can't 'repair' the damaged growth, though that will eventually be shed and forgotten as the plant grows. What you're seeing is probably the result of an ongoing shedding process that may well have been instigated by conditions that affected the plant even before you acquired it. Your very best coursed of action is to make a good plan that A) ensures good root health B) takes advantages the plants more robust periods and makes allowances for when the plant would be better off without extra human generated stress C) has you ensuring cultural conditions in the area of light, temperature, and nutrition that subject the plant to the lowest level of stress you can comfortably manage. Fortunately, these things are much easier than they sound, but it's not realistic to expect to see the results of your efforts in a month or two. Choose a course, stick by it, be patient. If the course is a good one, your plant will cooperate. If it's not, it will let you know. Al

I only have edible figs, but I see you have advised people with houseplant figs over and over that this forum is for edible figs. I started looking for where it says that, and don't see anything unless it's the word ficus. Up at the top where it says "This forum is for the discussion of figs, those plants of the genus Ficus." You might add edible in front of the word figs.

The contrast between "people time" and "plant time" can cause the grower some anxiety and frustration until the grower realizes there's a distinct difference and makes the adjustment by giving in to the idea that a plant has its own ideas about how long it should take to bounce back from adversity. Fortunately, the best form of resolution is usually no more complicated than procuring a few more plants so they can work as a team to satisfy your need to nurture. SOIL: I have perlite so I will add in more of that. Not sure if this is a bad idea, but I do have gravel I could mix in If you decide to include some gravel, use it in the bottom 6" of soil where it will displace the organic fraction of your medium that would normally be filled with water. This is a form of ballast. Don't use it as a layer, just mix it half and half with the bottom 6" of soil where the perched water table (excess water) resides. This in itself will reduce the amount of perched water your soil will hold by 1/2), and my neighbor has bark in her backyard that she said I could have some of to mix in if that's a good option for now? Depends ..... all bark is not created equal. Size and type of bark is very important. BALLAST/WICK: In reading through your posts I understand there are several ways to set these up, but I have an extra terra cotta and plastic pot so I figure this might be easiest? You mentioned covering the drainage hole in this post That reference was to the overturned pot you would be using as a form of ballast such that the rim of the pot would be down and the drain hole would face up. You don't want soil to drop through the drain hole in the ballast pot, so cover it. , but I also noticed [here[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/dealing-with-water-retentive-soils-dsvw-vd~1415041) you said another option would be to leave the hole open and put soil underneath so that it acts as a wick. That is the pot-in-pot technique where the main pot is nested into another pot and rests on top of the soil in the lower pot. This soil acts as a wick. If the soil in the lower pot is deeper than the ht of the perched water table, ALL perched water should move from the upper pot into the lower pot. For this application, there should be nothing over the drain hole(s) in the upper pot - the one the plant is in. Would you suggest one over another in my situation? I would go for the pot as ballast + the gravel in the bottom 6" of soil as added ballast, and even a wick if you like (in the lower pot). I have two options for pots to put inside as ballasts, but I'm not sure which would be the best option. The terra cotta pot looks like it may not take up enough room to help with limiting PWT, but the plastic one may be too large? The plastic one is great - cover the drain hole in it. Ideally, there would be an inch or so of soil above the ballast pot. Fill in the sides with the 50/50 gravel soil mixture up to the top (former bottom) of the overturned pot - cover it with an inch of soil with no gravel - set the plant on the soil - fill in around the edges. As long as you're taking steps to eliminate perched water, it doesn't matter how large your pot is. You can put your plant in a 55 gallon drum if you like, w/o concern you'll be over-potting. ...... once I repot the plant into the better mixture and add the ballast, should I water the plant again or hold off given the amount of moisture already present in the soil? Plants do best when the soil is evenly damp/moist - never wet/soggy. Skip watering if your entire soil mass is moist. Keep in mind, with the steps you will have taken to eliminate perched water, over-watering shouldn't be a problem, as long as you're reasonable. You're making a soil serviceable that otherwise wouldn't be considered as such by a very large fraction of effectual growers, so it's best to try to minimize potential limitations. Use a 'tell'. If possible - site your plant away from heat sources, but in a warm spot with plenty of light. If possible, use a room humidifier and keep humidity in the 45-55% range. I keep my basement grow room at 55% by using a combination of home-made passive evaporative set-ups and 2 ultrasonic humidifiers. I have a R/O water system, so almost never have to clean the humidifiers. To eliminate potential for bacterial issues, I add an ounce of H202 (hydrogen peroxide) every time I refill the reservoirs. Al