I have over thirty-five 20 gallon pots, and only this rob's genovese nero (shown) and khdari (not shown, but right next to the subject Rob's Genovese Nero) exhibit this symptom or problem. not all the leaves, but sporadic as you can see. They fall immediately as they get this yellow color with black or brown dots on the yellow. 
i water just like the other pots, and i made sure it is not water logged - it it draining very well like the other pots. only water once a week like all the other pots s as well. there is a sprinkler near by, but i doubt this it the cause? Please help! thanks in advance


 

 

 

 

I had a similar situation with my Fracazanno this week. The leaves were droope and turned yellow. I needed to save this tree and was puzzled as to why it looked like it was about to die on me, when all the trees next to it looked ok. I first suspected ants, I then decided to moved it away from that location to full sun, pinched the branches and gave it a large dose of water. That was two days ago. Today it looked like the yellow leaves are no longer droope and this tree looked more refreshed. I almost regret pinching it and concluded that it needed more water than the trees next to it.
I'm almost sure that the problem was lack of water, something that I would've never guessed.

thanks guys, would love to hear more thoughts on this....
so far, based on the above comments, it looks like more water is the cure. i have been watering all my potted plants one good drenching a week.

Nick hi.
I have some trees with same symptoms and some do fine.

I am thinking its just a cyclical turover of the leafing which is different for pots compared to inground..

I bet u will soon see new leafs coming on top.

The excees temps in california may explain this phenomena.

If indoors plants under lights that are fairly small in comparison, with temperatures never above 80 F, drink a quart or more of water per day, just think how much larger plants like yours will need.  

You might also try wrapping the outside of the pots with foil.  A black pot gets extremely hot in the summer sun.

Hey Nick. Awesome collection of figs bud.
I had the same thing happen to a couple of trees that came from Cali as cuttings and are on the second leaf this season. I moved them to a more shady location because I suspected that the unforgiving and brutal Ga sun was doing the trick and they responded very well.. I also added a bit of lime as a top coat so maybe the combination of both. Yellowing of the leaves I'm pretty sure indicates the need of lime, but do a little more research just to make sure...
Good luck and have a great season.

I'm no expert but I'm thinking possibly fig rust. If it is clean up infected fallen leaves to slow down further spreading.

thanks ALL sincerely for the feedback. i am planning to increase water frequency on the rob's genovese nero. i have also picked off all the yellow/rusty leaves "just in case" its rust to prevent further spreading.

Chris, thanks for the complements. I am already adding lime, but will be challenged to move it to a shadier area since i have a south facing yard and we are entering summer season as well.

thanks all again

I had a similar situation and adding some sheep manure mixed with potash and a few pitches of Epsom salt helped, just spread it around the base. Definitely have to watch the water too.