It would seem then, that your answer to what's critically ailing the plant is to be found in the watering interval. The plant isn't going to die from root congestion in the immediate future (before an opportune time to repot rolls around) but it's decline and how it will decline if all you do is pot up is predictable. The following numerical model is an illustration to delineate between the effects of repotting vs potting up. Repotting vs Potting Up I often explain the effects of repotting vs potting up like this: Let's rate growth/vitality potential on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best. We're going to say that trees in containers can only achieve a 9. Let's also imagine that for every year a tree goes w/o repotting or potting up, its measure of growth/vitality slips by 1 number, That is to say, you pot a tree and the first year it grows at a level of 9, the next year, an 8, the next year a 7. Let's also imagine we're going to go 3 years between repotting or potting up. Here's what happens to the tree you repot/root prune: year 1: 9 year 2: 8 year 3: 7 repot year 1: 9 year 2: 8 year 3: 7 repot year 1: 9 year 2: 8 year 3: 7 You can see that a full repotting and root pruning returns the plant to its full potential within the limits of other cultural influences for as long as you care to repot/root prune. Looking now at how woody plants respond to only potting up: year 1: 9 year 2: 8 year 3: 7 pot up year 1: 8 year 2: 7 year 3: 6 pot up year 1: 7 year 2: 6 year 3: 5 pot up year 1: 6 year 2: 5 year 3: 4 pot up year 1: 5 year 2: 4 year 3: 3 pot up year 1: 4 year 2: 3 year 3: 2 pot up year 1: 3 year 2: 2 year 3: 1 This is a fairly accurate illustration of the influence tight roots have on a woody plant's growth/vitality. You might think of it for a moment in the context of the longevity of bonsai trees vs the life expectancy of most trees grown as houseplants, the difference between 4 years and 400 years lying primarily in how the roots are treated. ******************************************************************* Since I don't know where you live, it's difficult to offer any meaningful advice insofar as a date for you to target as the ideal time to pot up, but for the US, mid-late June is the best time. I often suggest the summer solstice (first day of actual summer) or Father's Day as target dates in the northern hemisphere because they're easy to remember. BTW - including where you live in your user info [like my tapla (mid-MI z5b-6a)] allows others to give more meaningful/specific advice. Al

welcome to the forums ... try to load a pic in a reply... so we can look at it ... it goes without saying.. its stressed ... and it needs time to settle down... make sure it properly watered ... and otherwise ignore it ... the key is to try not to love it to death .... its stressed.. not hungry .... fert is not a reasonable response ... i presume its indoors ... if not.. full shade until it gets its act together ... i hope you put the seller on notice... a good seller.. would replace it ... but i know how online vendors can be .... soooo.. what do you do.. relax ... try not to stress.. and give it time to de-stress ... sometimes ... benign neglect is the best thing to do .... believe it or not ... ken ps: there is also a houseplant forum .... you might enjoy ...

Chemical messengers tell the plant how productive leaves are so plant central can 'decide' if the leaf is worth keeping. A week of darkness is enough to convince the plant the leaves aren't doing their job, so an irreversible shedding process has begun for some or all of the leaves - nothing to be done about that other than allowing Mother Nature to have her way, and be very careful not to over-water. Fortunately, if you don't over-water, the plant should recover nicely, and the new leaves it puts on will be pristine and perfectly suited to the light level where the plant is sited. I would recommend that you start using a "tell", which will tell you if it is/isn't time to water. More about 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

I would repot your Fiddle Leaf Fig with new good quality potting soil and into a slightly bigger pot with drainage holes. A clay type pot is better than plastic. Make sure your Fig isn’t being exposed to hot air from a vent and turn the plant every now and then so that it gets even light