Never seen a fiddle leaf fig with this problem before, help!

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

PICTURES POSTED AT THE BOTTOM!!

Hi, first time poster here. I purchased a ficus lyrata from a nursery in California in May. I live in Las Vegas, NV and it's fall (October) here which means temps in the 80s-70s with lows in high 60s-high 50s right now. Dry days but humid nights with more rainstorms.

Background Soil

I started reading this forum and decided to sort of repot into Al's Gritty Mix (is there a way to tag @tapla on this??) as soon as I got it. It was indoors so I wasn't able to use a hose for a full bare root. The original soil was in good condition and it didn't seem to even need a repot (roots weren't crowding) and lots of soil came away easily. I spritzed the roots with filtered water as I went. I shook off as much of the old soil that I could, removed one large encircling root and about 1/5 of mass all around the perimeter before planting in its same container and filling it will Al's Gritty Mix.

Background Light

I had it on a catwalk where it was about 11 feet away from floor to ceiling Eastern windows, 4 feet away from a row of Northern windows, and 12 feet away from a small Western window below the catwalk. Everything is white, so for human eyes, it's a very bright area. I only watered it when dry to touch and thoroughly in my tub until water poured out, but I only needed to water it maybe once a month or longer. I'm assuming there wasn't much air circulation.

Background Problems

I started noticing the soil moving with teeny tiny insects that wouldn't fly, but they were very fast and had a very subtle (maybe silver?) sheen to them. My husband couldn't physically see them, but I had Lasik so my vision is a little better. There were also tiny flying bugs that wouldn't leave it; they would just sort of fly to the other side of the container and walk around until I swatted at them again. So I stopped watering. I let the soil dry out as usual, but then I waited. I waited until the bugs went away and then I waited longer because sometimes they would surface when I gave Salma Hayek (her name) a long drink. I couldn't say for certain how long I waited after that, but then when I watered, the bugs never came back. Hooray! I was good for maybe another month then I started noticing this bleaching of the leaves where they would turn a chalky, pale green in sections of the leaf then all at once before falling off right off the branch and leaving a slight divet (the little stem would still be attached to the dead leaf).

Solution Attempts

I moved Salma Hayek into my kitchen, directly in front of an Eastern window with sheer white curtains (I open all the windows for a nice cross breeze downstairs) where there is also a Northern door and a Southern window. I watered her with a tablespoon of miracle grow plant food fertilizer dissolved in a gallon of filtered water, then followed it up with another gallon of plain water. Almost 1 qt. came out the bottom, so she retained quite a bit. She perked up right away. The next day, 3 faded, crinkled leaves dropped and a few more started getting the spots. 2 days go by, and I check with a wooden dowel near it's base (where the old, retentive soil is). It comes out almost dry and just a little cool. I check again the next day, same thing, the dowel is dry and only slightly cool. I start digging my fingers around in the soil, and about 2.5" the soil is quite moist. I would say too moist.

I am currently airing her outside in the shade at 1:40pm which means the sun has already moved along the southern edge of our house but it's a breezy 78 degrees F in general. Two more leaves have turned into that weird chalk green, and a few more have spots forming. I don't know if I'm under or over watering or if I changed too many things at once. I'm not sure how to water if my dowel method isn't effective. I've never seen leaves look like this before because they don't really turn brown or yellow. They start out showing chalky pale green spots and when they fall off, they seem dry even though the soil is well draining and kept damp. So if anyone has ideas, it would be a great help!! I feel like I've done everything I've read I should and still can't stop the leaf drop/pale splotch spreading :(

PICTURES

Here it is currently being aired out for the day on our patio, already lost a dozen leaves lower down, leaving some blank, thin twigs where they would've become branches:

Her other side where the small lower leaves seem a bit droopy:

Here is a picture of one of the leaves starting to turn. They don't all have those brown spots first, but almost every leaf has some type of paleness, scar, brown spot, or seems to be eaten away but there's no sign of bugs on the plant itself or soil (anymore):

Front of a lost leaf. This one is actually in pretty good shape and still had some green left. Most of them were shriveled up and completely hypo-pigmented:

Back of the lost leaf. I can't find anything on the internet on this because the leaves don't turn yellow or really turn brown at all, just chalky:

A different type of malady than my fading leaves:

The original soil of peat moss and perlite it came in was in good shape, soft and damp. I knocked over half of it off and trimmed up the roots minimally since they weren't crowded. I then re-potted into its original container but with Al's Gritty Mix. Here's what it's currently in:

This is where it used to be kept on our catwalk; you can sort of see the top of it peaking out on the top of the photo. Sorry you can barely see her; it's the only picture I could find to show how much light it used to get:

When I first started noticing the problem of fading leaves. There are two more small windows not shown on either side of the one you can see here:

We keep it in the kitchen on the floor now, to the left of the monstera plant directly in front of that window. All the windows face East and I keep them open since the breeze is pretty warm and sometimes open the door so it gets air circulation from the North, as well. There's a window behind me, too, facing South, but I closed it to make it easier to take a picture:

PLEASE SEND HELP! This plant is my pride and joy, and I can't figure out what she needs. It's going into Winter so I was avoiding a bare root re-pot, because it's not the best time for growth and I'll be pre-occupied with family staying here for 2 weeks over both Thanksgiving and Christmas. If I absolutely need to, I will, but I'm hoping to avoid stressing it further first. THANK YOU!

Featured Answer

robin98

6 years ago

That’s great! Looks much happier, I bet you’re relieved. Now have a little patience and settle in to plant time. Don’t make too many other changes because it becomes hard to know what the plants actually responding to.

With the possible exception of fertiliser, now that it’s perking up. If the gritty has none in it you will need to provide it. Although growth slows going into winter, in my experience it doesn’t stop altogether, so I would recommend a low maintenance dose of a complete liquid like Dynagro Foliage Pro.

Thank you for the update, and thank you for saying thank you - it really is appreciated and goes a long way! Keep up the good work.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (17)

Jessica
Original Author
6 years ago
I forgot to mention that I've bare rooted my other FLF (Banjo) in Al's Gritty Mix at the same time as Salma Hayek, and I never worry about over watering, but it used to spring up leaves every few weeks and didn't have any new growth after I repotted it in the Gritty in May. I do only water it when it starts to look like it's slouching because my wooden dowel always comes out dry even if I can feel the moisture with my finger. However, Banjo has never looked better; it's trunk has thickened and the leaves are very perky. I only mention this, because I don't know if maybe I just don't understand watering this mix or maybe my bark is too big? Is there such a thing as too aerated a soil?
robin98
6 years ago
Hi Jessica, sunburn/over-exposure is what comes to mind regarding the bleached leaves but that doesn’t seem to fit the history of your problem or the type of plant. I’d be very interested to know what’s going on though so hopefully my reply will bump your question up so someone who knows sees it!
Jessica thanked robin98
Related Discussions
Fiddle leaf fig problems... like 8 of them...
Q
Comments (4)
Please put a location and or zone next to your name so we can help better, as some advise depends upon your location. A North facing window is not enough light for a tree, they need a South facing window to get through the winter. A West window will keep them alive but it's still not enough light. You may have to add lighting to give the plant enough. The white on the stems could be latex sap or mealy bugs, it's hard to tell. The spots look like oedema ( when the plant has too much water in it's stems and leaves and it gets too cold causing cells to burst) Some of the leaves look way too dry also. It could also be accumulated salts causing the brown leaf tips. The next time you water do a full flush. You will probably need help to get it to the shower but give it a really good soak. Do not let the water get too cold. When it's done draining, tilt the pot a few times then move it back. (hopefully to better lighting)
...See More
Help! Fiddle leaf fig is dying
Q
Comments (8)
It does have drainage. I usually water it enough so that water drains out the bottom into the tray (I tend to water enough where I need to soak the excess up into a towel from the tray). I use to take it into the bathroom and thoroughly flush it with every watering, but it has gotten so big that I cant do that anymore. I water it about every two weeks, making sure the soil is pretty dry a few inches down, depending on the weather. I'm in L.A. and it gets lots of light so sometimes it dries out faster in hot weather. When I repotted it, I flushed the roots with water and didnt root prune per se, but roots did break off, I believe they had weakened due to the salt. Because of the salt, I rinsed quite thoroughly to make sure the old soil was all removed. I have a feeling this is where I went wrong :/ As for soil, I use Edna's Best and I mix in Orchid Bark and Perlite for drainage. I have not fertilized since I repotted, but prior to that I used Jobe's Fertilizer Spikes and replace every 8 weeks or so which I start in the spring. It had lots of new growth through spring and summer, but I hadnt seen any new growth for the last month (where as the other FLFs each just had new growth). The leaves at the the base of the branches are all dying off, but the tops are still healthy and shiny. What can I do to make it stop? Is there any way to save it? I'm worried that this will make its way through the branches and kill those off too. Should I be pruning the branches or just leaving it alone? Thanks for your help!
...See More
Fiddle Leaf Fig: The Problem Child, Help!
Q
Comments (1)
If you're watering when the soil "feels damp when I put my finger about an inch into the soil, it's almost a sure bet you're over-watering. Use a wooden dowel (from a hardware or big box store), ends sharpened in a pencil sharpener, stuck all the way to the bottom of the pot to tell you when it needs water. If the dowel comes out wet or stained dark with moist soil, withhold water until the point in time when it first comes out clean/dry. Also, flush the soil thoroughly the next time it needs water. Your watering method ensures all salts from your tapwater and fertilizer continue to accumulate in the soil. The high level of salts + the plant's inability to move water efficiently because of waterlogged soil conditions are pushing the plant to a death by thirst in a sea of plenty. Al
...See More
Fiddle Leaf Fig Drooping After Repot/Root Pruning- Help!
Q
Comments (64)
Hey guys, first of all, thanks to everyone that's helping. I've learned so much in the past two days. Specially Dave and Al...thank you teachers! :) So sorry about in the instrusion, I'm another one with fiddle leaf problems. I think I was sold a sick FLF...the guys just told me that it was in direct light all day long, so I thought the brown spots were justified. Until I got home and realized the soil was really compact...really....compact and soggy...and loads of rocks on top, which probably wouldn't help. So what I've did pretty fast, I went into despair...I've tried to repot it...and..of course I the roots just broke in half, and they were almost black and quite smelly... I didn't have anything around other than regular soil with perlite, so I just moved the lyrata and the now shorter roots too a new dry vase with some brick pieces at the bottom and that soil...the soil it's very loose and didn't compressed whatsoever. Didn't watered since, two days now. So after reading all of your kind info, Tomorrow I'm going too: 1. Clean the remaining roots as well as I can without damaging it more.. 2 .Repot, with 5:1:1 mix...Pine bark, Turf (should I?), Perlite; and some brick pieces in the bottom. 3. Water the lyrata once like flushing, right? And then again.. 4. The bottom leaves are very very rigid almost like they are about to break, I've read one Al's comment about "the end of life" process of these leaves...Should I cut the last leave and put the trunk deeper so it forms new healthy roots? (if this makes any sense at all) 5. Pruning, I was thinking about cutting the top (last picture), but as the bottom leaves are so stiff, maybe they aren't able to produce that much "food" and I should keep the top one for now? (I'm I thinking stupid??) 6. The only I had to cover the pot was sawdust, with which I have been lucky in protecting my plants from pests and mould. Again...in a despair act..should I maintain this? Can you help me please?? I'm based in Sintra,Portugal; very warm and humid location, actually humidity is a problem around here. Any advice is most welcome! thanks!
...See More
Jessica
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you Robin98; I appreciate the bump! I’ll post updates if it gets better :)
yenniesg (zone 34°C, >85% humidity, singapore)
6 years ago
Hi Jessica, could you share more details on your gritty mix. I think I am seeing a lot of sapwood (light coloured ones) in the mix...
Jessica
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for responding, yenniesg! I ordered pine bark fines, cherry stone grit #2, and turface online. I didn’t order quite enough bark, so I had to mix in a little pathway bark I had on hand at the end.
yenniesg (zone 34°C, >85% humidity, singapore)
6 years ago
You could read around in the forum how sapwood rob the available nitrogen from the surrounding and deprived the plants of nitrogen.

I have attached a link with good summary of bark vs mulch.

https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/195/

2 things to highlight:

"watered her with a tablespoon of miracle grow plant food fertilizer dissolved in a gallon of filtered water, then followed it up with another gallon of plain water. Almost 1 qt. came out the bottom, so she retained quite a bit"

I believe the correct sequence should be flush with plain water first before watering with fertilizer. Your sequence is actually flushing out the fertilizer you have offered to the plant. That may be one of the reasons Ms Salma is having problems.

Second, you did not bare root it. So I could imagine the root ball area that is nearest to the main root and trunk will be more water retentive relative to the rest of gritty mix. Over time the potting soil may compact, cause root rot, become water repellent, etc.
Jessica thanked yenniesg (zone 34°C, >85% humidity, singapore)
Jessica
Original Author
6 years ago
OK so I decided to bare root it, because I assumed the difference between the water retentive soil and the gritty was causing more harm that letting it wait. I used a hose and the soil was a little compacted but not as bad as it could have been. Upon further investigation, there is one thick root in a J shape right in the middle, so I'm assuming it was just potted up earlier on. Since it's already lost a lot of leaves, I was on the fence about chopping it during winter. I'm planning on doing more research and doing a proper root prune in June. It was looking perky the day after, but today (day 2) it's looking droopy again. However, the light green spotting has seemingly stopped; I'm watching one leaf to see if it continues, but so far so good!

Question: should I fertilize right now or let it rest after so much repotting trauma? The leaves are definitely drooping (I'm measuring the leaves up against the wall), but I'm concerned fertilizing it after bare rooting and moving locations would stress it too much.
robin98
6 years ago
While the roots are reestablishing fertiliser impedes the uptake of water, so it’s best to wait until you see new leaf growth (which indicates the roots have recovered), or at least a couple of weeks (which is often a similar time).

Have you ruled out light causing the bleached patches? Did it stop when you changed location?
Jessica
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Hi robin98 thank you for the advice; I'll wait to fertilize.

I think it was the soil. After I moved it, I still some saw leaf drop and spreading, but I really only waited one day between moving it to more sun and deciding to do a bare root re-pot, so it's hard to give a definite answer as to which helped most. One leaf that started turning has stopped exactly at the midway point of the leaf, so I'm keeping an eye on that. No movement yet so that's a good sign. But after day 2 from re-potting, it's starting to look droopy again. Fingers crossed it just needs a week to acclimate. Thank you for checking in!
Jessica
Original Author
6 years ago
11/1/17 update: it’s gotten much worse. The pale splotching has suddenly increased in frequency and spread. I’m noticing splotches on more leaves, and overnight they will turn completely.

Some of the branches look gray too:

Did I give it too much light too quickly after the transplant? Some of the fine roots came off during cleaning so maybe it has too many leaves in comparison to the roots? Also, the breeze has started to turn cold. It’s still 72 degrees F but the breeze in the house is definitely cool instead of warm now. Is it too cold in front of an open window?

I have a spot near my other plants where the light is bright, but it’s essentially where it used to be (on the catwalk) just with more air circulation.

The FLF I transplanted in gritty at the same time is looking very strong but hasn’t had new growth after its repot in May. It’s on the same wall just on the other side of the room. The brown spots were from previous root rot. They’re all about 10 feet from a wall of East-facing windows:

Here’s the soil now:

About 4 months after receiving, when I started noticing the hypo-pigmentation:

Right after transplant:

Currently:

Pale splotching/bleaching used to just be a few leaves at a time but now they’re in handfuls. So far, loss has been all lower leaves but the top is drooping significantly. Too much light too soon? Too cold with an open window even if it’s around 70 degrees F outside? Just normal stress response to changes? It’s been about a week. All thoughts appreciated!
robin98
6 years ago
Repotting plants that are already struggling can knock them back even further. Usually advise a warm bright spot out of direct sunlight or drafts for 1-2 weeks, you’ll need to judge that one. And because the fine roots have been disturbed you need to water differently initially, aiming to keep the zone the roots are in moist until they re-establish then you can let the mix dry out more.

I don’t use gritty mix (prefer 511) but it sounds like people who change to it have to learn how to water it properly (its dries out faster, especially the top layers, and can be hard to get evenly wet) and also be more on top of the fertiliser situation as it has no nutrients (need a complete fertiliser like Dynagro FP, I’m not sure the MG one is complete)

Nice plant corner you’ve got there. Looks like you’re keeping those ones happy! Are any of them in gritty?
Jessica thanked robin98
Jessica
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you @Robin98! I just wish I could figure out the sporadic frequency of this leaf bleaching. It’s ok for a few days then has a leaf exodus. I watered it again and 5 more bleached leaves fell off when I touched them. They don’t bleed milk from the stems so I’m assuming they were dead already. My husband told me to water every week and stop watching it so much. I’m trying to remember “plant time” is different than people time. I just hope I’m not killing it with kindness.

And thank you for the compliment! My plants in the corner came from a nursery and kept in their original containers and soils except for the small Pothos; it’s in gritty and after transplant, it lost most of its stems and quite a few leaves but the 3 surviving stems are very robust. I’m not having the best luck with this mix, but maybe my plants need another growing season to catch up.
robin98
6 years ago
Two thoughts on your results with this mix so far : firstly, you need to keep the roots wet during the whole repotting process as the fine roots die quickly if they dry out (mine are either under the tap with running water on them or dunked in a bucket, they’re never more than a few seconds in the open air)

Secondly, you may not have adjusted to watering this different kind of mix, either in the initial nursing-it-along phase post repot, or going forward from that. The point of such a free draining mix is that you can water more often without getting an overwatered soggy saturated mix. The catch of such a mix is you have to water it more often because it doesn’t retain water. And you have to take pains when you actually water to ensure the whole mix gets water, and gets it slowly enough to absorb it ie. dribble it on across the entire surface, maybe even repeat the process 10 minutes later.

It would be great if some gritty mix fans could help you out more here. You could also search old posts about problems with watering it. I agree about the plant time comment, but think you need to stop the decline first, then put yourself on plant time during the recovery :)
robin98
6 years ago
The latest post on a long thread called Good Growing Practices (on the Houseplants forum) has some dropped FLF leaves the same sort of colour as yours, have a look...
Jessica thanked robin98
Jessica
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Thank you Robin on the advice and suggestions! I kept the roots in a bucket of water during repot (thankfully) so I think you were right on watering maintenance after. I’m watering more frequently and it’s looking firm. I bit the bullet and removed all the sad lower leaves and the remaining leaves really seemed to perk up over a few days. I know now I should have cut back from the top after repot but I know that for the future. Now I only have maybe 2 leaves on remaining branches so I’m trying to keep those going until I see some growth and can prune both roots and leaves in Summer (or next summer??). I’m still nervous about overwatering since it’s every 3 days which seems really frequent, but I think I’m just too accustomed to traditional soils.
Jessica
Original Author
6 years ago
@Robin98 you were absolutely right; it was the watering. After replant, I was so afraid of keeping the soil too moist because it was sitting in water before. I was watering every 3 days which seemed too often, but it really needed it! I started watering every other day and the droopy leaves are at attention now. THANK YOU for your help in bringing my tree back to life everyone! I look forward to more growth in the future!