Ficus 'Audrey' -- Overwatering? Fungus?
I recently got this ficus 'audrey' and it's been developing these brown spots. Basically it starts as a tiny spot (usually more visible on the underside of the leaf) and then spreads rapidly. Around 4 leaves have been affected now, and I just noticed a tiny new brown spot on another leaf today (first image). The affected leaves also feel more limp and they seem to turn lighter green (in the 2nd image you can see it almost looks like a mosaic of dark/light green).
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
Comments (10)
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agololxhi thanked tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
jenleung4473
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Shorter days causing ficus to loose leaves?
Comments (7)I'm not sure what you mean by "prune branches back to 2 leaves". This is a 6-7 foot tall tree. Can you explain? In early summer, any branch with 5 leaves on it can be pruned so each branch only has 2 leaves remaining. IOW, if there are 7 leaves on a branch, prune 5 off. 8 leaves - prune 6. This will cause most (probably all) the axillary buds behind the pruning cuts to activate, along with lots of adventicious buds. You'll force your tree to become more compact at the same time your pruning efforts are doubling the number of branches. Not a bad trade for some long, leggy winter growth, huh? Unless you are sure that an emergency repot is required because of root rot issues - wait for 2 - 3 weeks after you prune in the spring to repot if you root-prune. If you undertake no root work, you could pot up anytime, but I would strongly urge you NOT to do it before spring. there are two reasons not to: A) Ficus b. tolerates root-bound conditions marvelously with little protest, so a tight pot is little cause for concern. B) Potting up now, especially in light of your suspected over-watering issues, would probably leave the plant over-potted, not a good thing during the portion of the growth cycle that sees the plant resting and using little water from the soil. Al...See MoreAudrey Ficus leaf fungus?
Comments (3)My Audrey looks like that too! Is it really normal for this plant? that would be a big relief!!...See MoreFicus Audrey - help!
Comments (4)If you're watering when you can still feel moisture in the top SEVERAL inches of soil, you're likely over-watering; this, because the top few inches of soil can be dry and the bottom few inches completely saturated. Use a 'tell' to 'tell' you when your plant needs water. More on that below. It's a cut/paste job of a reply I wrote and saved, so forgive the odd formatting. It's also not getting all the light it wants. Your plant will tolerate/enjoy full outdoor sun, and would reward you for siting it there. Your tree should be acclimated to a full sun position if you don't think you could tolerate seeing all the leaves fall off from sunburn before it puts on a new, pristine flush of foliage. You should start fertilizing after a couple of weeks, and read up on how to repot so root congestion doesn't become a major limitation. These articles should be helpful: Growing Basics About tending Ficus in pots. 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 air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support good root health, which is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to a build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil, 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. Al...See MoreHelp with a Ficus Audrey
Comments (7)The leaves could be mite damage, especially if where it was previously sited was a low humidity environment. You might need a loupe or magnifying glass to see them; or, you could do the paper test. Any sign of stress, any time the plant presents symptoms, is a call to action. Stress symptoms are visual proof the plant is dealing with cultural conditions at or beyond the limits Mother Nature programmed it to tolerate. The grower's only job is to identify the source(s) of stressful conditions and remedy those conditions to the best of his/her ability or to whatever extreme that grower deems appropriate. Any advice to repot 'in spring' should be qualified. Early spring is a terrible time (worst part of the growth cycle) to repot Ficus and most other trees (other than citrus and other fruiting trees) commonly grown indoors. The reason is, during winter these trees normally have great difficulty producing enough food (plants make their own food [sugar/ glucose] during photosynthesis) to keep up with the rate at which they burn the food during the dark phase/ respiration. After a long winter of low light conditions, your tree will likely have depleted nearly all it's stored energy reserves and will be 'running on empty'. That is not a good time to ask your tree to tolerate the stress of a repot. Your tree will have regained considerable energy reserves and will be approaching the peak of it's ability to make food (longest days/ brightest light) just before the summer solstice (June 21). That is the best time to repot Ficus other than the hardy fig, F carica. An early spring repot ensures a very long recovery period during which the plant will be most vulnerable to insect predation and disease pathogens; whereas a mid-June repot normally ensures shortest recovery and best ability to deal with insect herbivory and disease. Not only that, you'll enjoy the satisfaction of making allowances for your plant's weak periods and taking advantage of the most robust part of its growth cycle. That a plant is stressed is not sufficient to withhold fertilizer. If it needs fertilizer, it needs it. You'll find plenty of anecdotal advice not to fertilize a weak or sick plant, but you'll find that advice nowhere in scientific literature. It's a horticultural myth. I've been practicing bonsai for about 40 years, and have many Ficus in my collection (40 or more), so I'm intimately aware of their wants/ needs and quirks. If you want to make a plan and get your fertilizing/ pruning/ pinching/ repotting planned out in advance, I'd be happy to help if you like. None of it will be difficult, I promise. I also have some reading you can do (here at GW/ Houzz) if you like. Ficus benjamina forest planting, all from cuttings from the same parent tree. I'm waiting for the most recent cuttings I started to grow another 6" or so Al...See Moretapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
6 years ago
Pamela Sanders
3 years agoHi I would like to know what’s going on with my ficus audrey, not sure what could be causing this type of spots, currently 3 leaves were affected and plant is still a baby, please help! Thanks in advance!
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoPamela Sanders
3 years agoPamela Sanders
3 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
3 years agoWhat it looks like to me is localized death of tissues caused by something phytotoxic (poison to plants). What would cause this is spraying something the plant doesn't like on the leaves and allowing the solution yo dry on the plant. How did you apply the neem product? Was it pure cold-pressed neem oil in an emulsifier like soapy water or is the neem fraction already dissolved in a solution? It's not unusual for plants to react poorly to the vehicle that delivers the neem fraction of the product. For clarity, if you were spraying saltwater on weeds to kill them, salt would be the active ingredient (like neem is) and the vehicle that delivers the active ingredient is the vehicle. Often, the vehicle used for insecticides and neem products are solvents, and solvents are often used to extract neem oil from the branches and twigs. Both solvents and detergent emulsifiers can destroy the cuticular wax in leaves that protect the plant from moisture loss and pathogen entry into the plant ...... which is why cold-pressed neem oil is best.
It's possible the leaves are in the process of being shed. The chlorotic look (yellowing) of the leaves might be because the leaves are being shed. Part of that process is recycling the Mg from the chlorophyll in the leaves. Chlorophyll is a green pigment, so when it's broken down, expression of other pigments follows. Also, part of the shedding process before the leaf falls off is a layer that forms at the leaf attachment site. The layer (abscission layer) first inhibits movement of water/sap/nutrients/all bio-compounds across that layer/region.
Because it doesn't look like under or over-watering, my guess, if it is related to the leaves being shed, is that it's ultimately related to A) a reduction in light levels or B) poor nutrition, which causes the plant to rob mobile nutrients from oldest leaves in order to fuel new growth. You really need to fertilize. Don't use a fertilizer advertised as being specifically for Ficus - they're scams. You won't find better than Foliage-Pro 9-3-6.
When the cause of the problem isn't conspicuous, it's often best to review what you're doing for the plant, culturally speaking - how much light, temperatures, watering/fertilizing habits, etc. Comparing your care to this Overview of Good Growing Habits might isolate something that, if improved on, could make a significant difference.
AlPamela Sanders
3 years ago
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)