Hello! I'm new to the forums, but I got such excellent help regarding one of my orchids that I'm returning. I just found this 5'9 fiddle leaf fig for sale at the local second hand shop for 29$, and I couldn't resist. I've just discovered this forum, and I've read about the importance of soil composition and the difference of a true repot vs just moving to a larger pot, and a lot of other things. So a bit of a lightbulb moment. Now I'm asking if you think my plan for this fig will work. The situation: The leaves are looking a bit dry and some are also a little yellow. The pot looks like someone bought it and never changed pot or soil at all. It looks very root bound. I can't discern any bugs or other kind of disease, as far as I can tell anyway. I have not taken it out of the pot yet, so I don't know the exact root situation. My home at the moment unfortunately has rather small windows, and I'm not sure the light will be enough, but perhaps if I can make everything else close to perfect, it will work? We will change windows in a couple of months though, so perhaps that will make a difference. My plan: I'm going out to buy some ingredient for Al's 5-1-1 mix as I'm not sure I, or the plant, is ready for a gritty mix. I've found a larger ceramic pot (with draining holes, of course) for it, and will repot. But, should I trim the roots? And if I do, should I prune the plant in order for the root system to be able to care for the remaining leaves? My dream vision is a healthy plant with a thick trunk and several branches, so I'll need to trim at some point. Were/How high should I trim? Or should I wait with the trimming? And how do I encourage the top to root? Lots of questions, now here's some pictures

Hi I'm experiencing the same thing with my fiddle leaf fig, so much new growth (6-10 new leaves this spring) then I decided to boost it up with a seaweed fertilizer (capsize of the fertilizer mixed with lots of water) since I read to only fertilize when you see new growth. Then just recently a new leaf didn't sprout up as fast like the others and stayed in the brown tip part of the plant for the longest time. After a couple of weeks I decided to pull it out and it never turned green like the rest, instead it was brown just like the picture you took. Any luck with new growth? Was it really a spider mites issue? Looking at the brown tips where new growth usually sprouts up it's all dried up vs. earlier this spring when lots of new growth sprouted it was moist and not dry. I'm worried it's because of the fertilizer? But I used this fertilizer before with success of new growth. Or maybe it's really spider mites and I want to know how to treat it without harming the plant. Thanks for your help.

The expression of the purple pigment anthocyanin is quite common in new F lyrata leaves. It will go away as the leaf matures, but the spoiled foliage won't. You have some other cultural issues that are limiting enough that the stress is being made manifest in the necrotic spots on leaf margins. Based on nothing but the odds, it's likely to be over-watering and/or a high level of dissolved salts in the soil solution. Let me know if you want to chase that a little farther. Al

Hello, About a month ago, I received this small fiddle leaf fig (FLF) as a gift from a friend! It is placed near a large south-facing window, but is not right beside the window because it is a bit drafty near there. She gets a lot of sunlight throughout the day and I water only when the soil is dry to slightly moist (I check by sticking a dowel in the soil). When I first received it, I also noticed that most of its leaves were curling in-wards and felt stiff (pic #1 and 2), in comparison to some of the more "supple" and leafy-like ones I've seen on other FLFs. It's been about a month or so and it has grown two new leafs, which are quite supple and green, but not the deep dark green of its fellow leaves. I've also started noticing small brown spots on the underside of a couple of leaves (pic # 3 and 4). The weather has been on the cooler side (I live in Southern Ontario, Canada and winter is ending. So far, the weather in March/April has ranged from snow to rain/cold to cool). The air has been quite dry this winter, but during summer it gets very humid (July and Aug, especially). I'm aware that FLFs are notorious drama queens (I had a previous one that dropped all its leaves after bringing it home, no matter how much love I gave it), and I really don't want this one to die! I guess I'm wondering if the "curling" leaves are normal and if there is anything else I can do to stop the brown spots from spreading? Thank you for any assistance! Pic #1 Pic #2 Pic #3 Pic #4