Thanks for the help.

   

most of the rest of the plant is green leaved.... these leaves are at the bottom. 

Many of my figs have yellow lower leaves. I just knock them off and enjoy the rest of the day.
I think it is a natural process, esp. when the growing conditions change.
Can you take a photo of the entire plant?

It could be water shock.  Are there spots on the green leaves too?  Or just on the bottom ones that yellowed?

Mike

Greenfig, yes I added the entire plant in my 2nd post...

I don't think there are any obvious spots on the other leaves... (see 2nd pic)

Water shock as in too much water or too little?

Mjbaransky,
IMO, its a nutrient deficiency, probably Magnesium and Iron. Usually the nutrients from the lower leaves are reabsorbed by the plants when there is a deficiency. Good luck.
  
  

Should be too wet, reduce watering.

mj, I meant it as too much water.  (Though I'm told "water shock" as a term can apply to either too much or too little).  But I think Pete (aspete) is onto something more likely.  When I encountered something like this, up-potting made the trees regain health  (maybe because it restored a better nutrient culture with the new soil).  

A question for you Pete:  can too much water ever "wash out" trace nutrients?  I'm just wondering, because I saw symptoms very similar to this when I had some root-bound trees, and I was watering a lot because there wasn't enough soil to hold the water very well.  But maybe the soil was just already depleted of those nutrients.  So I guess I might have jumped to a wrong conclusion.  I had been using osmocote fertilizer to try to compensate for depletion of necessary nutrients in the soil, but I guess maybe that wasn't sufficient to restore other nutrients.  Anyway, repotting solved it for me.  (That was overdue anyway).  But your diagnosis got me curious if over-watering brings on the symptom by the same mechanism within the organism, just with a slightly varied proximal cause.  Do you know if that can happen?

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a 

Mike,
Yes, over watering will bring on symptoms of nutrient deficiency because the nutrients are flushed from the mix. That's why I use the Espoma-Tone (water insoluble) fertilizer along with Ironite and supplement with Miracle-Gro All purpose. I water the fig trees twice per day because I'm using the 5-1-1-1 mix which is fast draining. If I used MG only, the leaves would look pale within days

Two of my surviving older plants (many were lost to the cold) are root bound in the 5 gallon buckets, but setting up the buckets as SIPs works quite well.
  .

Pete:  Thanks.  I sort of suspected that could happen.  Thanks for confirming it!

Glad your SIPs are working out.  I use SIPs for tomatoes (quite productive), and have wanted to set some up for the fig trees too, but (well, just not enough time to pursue everything I'd like to do I guess... or maybe it's more like too many interests and other priorities to fit into the growing season).  How long can you compensate for root-bound conditions by controlling nutrients within your SIP culture?  (And do you dissolve anything in the water that you put in the SIP reservoir?)

Mike  

p.s. If you're looking to replace varieties lost to the cold, send an email with what you're seeking.  If I've got them, I'll send fall cuttings. 

Mike,
I plan on root pruning them at the end of this season and replanting them in the 5 gallon buckets. It will be 2 - 3 years between root pruning for these trees. So far even with the very warm dry days the trees have remained hydrated and have not experienced any wilting by the end of the day.  My fertilizer routine has not changed, I'm using the same schedules that I've posted and used for the last 2 years, http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1283647012&postcount=15 , but I water the SIPs only once per day.

Thanks for the offer. The losses actually helped to decrease my work load this season so I have had more time to experiment with different fertilizer combinations and SIP designs. I have reordered most of my lost cultivars from my original sources and have already started rebuilding my original inventory.