Purchased a dormant Ice Crystal at the end of November.  I had the room so decided to wake it up and keep it in the house during the winter.  The dormant stick was up-potted to a 1 gal pot and within 2 weeks it started to bud.  By the end of December it had a nice batch of beautiful leaves on it.

A few weeks ago it took a turn for the worst.  Leaves started drooping.  I watered and fertilized but the problem got worse.  About a week ago I decided to check under the hood and found it infested with gnats.  They must have come with the soil when it was purchased.  I keep a nylon stocking on the 1 gal pots so never noticed the gnats and they never got out.  Tried Neem Oil right away and couldn't treat with Gnatrol because the plant was already saturated.

As of today, all the remaining leaves shriveled up (I pulled them off) and the new green growth is drying up and dying.  The pot is heavy as it stopped taking up water more than a week ago.  Something has to be done now or it is going to flatline.  There is 24" of stick above the soil line.  Here's what I want to do:

1.  Cut off the top 5" and discard it.  It is shriveling up quickly and dying anyway.

2.  Take 2 cuttings; start one now and refrigerate the other.

3.  Bare root the remainder and repot with fresh soil.

Any thoughts, ideas or opinions?

So sorry about your rare tree Danny. I lost a couple of cuttings in a very similar way and blame the gnats for it! The worst part is that the roots seamed to be fine but the cuttings looked completely dead,so I cut down to the last node, almost above soil level but I doubt they will survive. Best of luck with yours!

hi Danny
i would bare root the tree wash the roots and re pot with fresh soil.
i would cut it down to 3 nodes, you can try to root the cuttings, but i dont know if you would have much luck.
good luck my friend!!!

Myself I would definitely try to root a cuttings from the bottom part of the stem that hasn't shriveled up yet. If the roots can be salvaged after bare rooting it then it might push out new growth also but I think taking a cutting at this point might be your best bet to salvage it. Best of luck Danny!
Tyler

Danny, I am so sorry about your ice crystal fig tree.

I think you got the right strategy to save the fig variety (take cuttings, leave 3 nodes and bare root and re-pot).
I would also find out what happened to the fig so it doesn't happen again.  Are you sure it was just the gnats that did it or did overwatering play a big role in its demise?

Overwatering probably played a major role, after the gnats did their dirty work.  I've learned to be very careful with watering and like to stay on the dryer side.  The weight of the pot is what actually grabbed my attention before the leaves.

I think Pino hit the nail on the head. I have had tons of gnats on established plants and while they are a pain and likely do cause some damage and retard growth, they can't kill a plant like that on their own. Young cuttings struggling to live on the other hand are a different story with gnats. I think you will find when you bare root the plant that the roots are rotten from excess moisture. If the stem below the soil is still firm, you have a chance, there is a good chance that at least a portion the that stem is mush. I would bare root the plant outside to avoid freeing any of the little bass-turds :0

Thanks to everyone for your input.

Bare rooted outside.  Lots of gnats and a worm.  No mush.  Most roots were dark brown, some light brown and a few were white.  Roots were firm.  Stem was firm.  Took 3 cuttings and all were lightweight and on the dry side.  Put all of the cuttings in the Aeroponic Cloner.  I guess we'll see.

I've definitely overwatered my fair share of plants in the past.  I water all rooted cuttings by weight with a scale now.  Potted plants I water by weight by lifting to feel the 'heft' of the pot.  I definitely noticed the heavier weight of this pot before the leaves started to really droop.  I got caught up in the 'watering vortex' a little, but I believe that the gnats had their way with my poor baby before that.  The dirty work was done and it was only a matter of time.

Well, firm roots are a great sign that the stump or below soil portion can have chance at resprouting new life.

RIP Ice Crystal    :(

Danny

Unlike some others statements, I believe gnats killed a Panachee OUTSIDE last year, before I got my magic squirrel trap, I noticed squirrels digging the roots (looking for acorns), so I covered the surface in a sealed black garbage bag to keep out critters, and I watered by removing the bag temporarily. This allowed gnats to infest the soil and colonize. The gnats caused the plant, which had broken bud, to die. Nothing I could do. I wrote a thread about it. Never had gnats indoors as I use only inert material, although I know it is not foolproof. Sorry about your troubles.

Danny, did any of the cuttings take?

Steve - No, they failed right away.  I called it today on the remainder of the plant.