The leaves of my recently transplanted fig tree are curling up.  Is this a sign of a lack of moisture?  This tree was planted when dormant in late February and the new leaves are curling up.  The temperature here today is over 80F and humid.

The leaves look healthy and green but curled.

Does the new green branch seem to be growing awkward and shriveled as well?
If so, It could be a sign of FMV.

Should grow off later in the season. Many of us don't worry too much about FMV.

Another reason could be and this happened to me last year is when the new Young leaves were growing we had a sudden frost over night and they all got damaged, curled and dried. The tips from all the branches were bleeding because of this. Are the tips on your tree bleeding too? Did you have a sudden frost over night.

I know you mentioned the temps being 80F and humid but was there a sudden drop in temps recently?

Have you started your fertilizing? If so, I think it's just too soon.

These are my guess'es. I'm sure others with much much more experience will have a say.

Good luck

For the record, what kind of fig tree is it?

We have not had freezing temperatures here since February 12.  The branches are growing normally not shriveled.  This is an LSU Purple fig tree from Edible Landscaping.  Some of the new leaves are not curled by they are young and small and may still curl as they develop.  This plant looks healthy otherwise with very vigorous growth and green leaves and no wilting or mottling. The sides are curled up but the end is flat and normal.


What is FMV?

I have a lsu purple from edible landscaping and mine is heavily infected with fmv it is a virus that effects the growth of the tree and development of the leaves it will not kill the tree but it can be transmitted to other fig trees if you are not careful after pruning it with shears make sure you disinfect the shears with alcohol so as not to transmit it to any other fig trees it is also incurable!!!

fig mosaic virus is what fmv means hope this helps if the plant is heavily infected than it may stunt the growth of the plant don't be too worried about it because it is a pretty common problem!!

JCA,

FMV: Fig Mosaic Virus

Any fig collector WILL encounter this virus at one time or another or often. It is harmless to humans so do not be alarmed.
Some trees will show signs early in the season but goes away later on with the newer leaves and branches. Some trees show symptoms later in the season.

Though I did mention I'm not a fan of early fertilizing but someone did mention at one time or another to give a badly infected tree a heavy dose of fertilizer and often.

It is a toss up with these trees but if you ask any fig collector they will tell you including myself not to worry about it.

But do clean your pruning shears from tree to tree.

Sound like you really don't have too much issues with your tree then.

After reading about FMV the tree I have probably does have it not from the cup shaped leaves or mottling but from a couple of strange asymmetrical shaped leaves.   There is only one or two leaves like this most others appear normal shape. I watered this tree and some of the curved leaves have flattened out a bit so maybe it was watered stressed?  It has been very very dry here and this tree is a recent transplant and the last time I watered it was February 28 when I planted it.  Oh well there is nothing I can do about this problem.  I will keep the tree and hope for the best.   It is growing fast and the branches appear normal and it looks healthy otherwise.

If this is something that just happened over a period of a couple of days on mostly-fully-grown leaves, I doubt it's FMV (but a picture would be priceless if you want an accurate answer!!!)

If this is a recent transplant and it just started after transplant, I suspect it's probably not FMV, and more likely root damage/transplant shock.  If that's true, the actions you take (if it's not too late) are critical. 

Mine did that last year.  I don't think its anything to worry about.  I think the reason mine did was because I added lime but weeks later the tree grew fine and produced lots of figs.  cheers,

The plant is growing fine just the leaves are curled.  Some of the leaves have flattened some after watering today.  I do not think this is that big a problem as the plant is very vigorous just some cuped leaves but some of the small leaves are flat not curled.  I will try to get a picture.

Have you tried misting the leaves or tossing the plant in a sealed bin with some humidity to see what happens?

Hi JCA,

I have found my LSU Purple to be an uncommonly strong, vigorous tree even at its young age.  Nothing seems to be able to stop it, so even if your little tree has FMV, I would think it will shake off the effects of it like a dog shaking off water.

Will, how old is your LSU P tree?  Have you fertilized it like people say to do with FMV positive trees?

Did you keep your tree in the shade after you transplanted it?  Is it in the ground now?

noss

Noss I bought the tree last year from edible landscapes I kept it in the shade because there was a note in with the plant when it was shipped that said to keep it in the shade because it was not yet hardened off.  Thats exactly what I did and all the leaves fell off it and all the new green growth died.  I was going to contact E.L. about the problem but after a few week it started to show signs of life and I did heavily fertilize it but it is growing at a snails pace and it's starting to frustrate the HELL out of me!!!!  It is in a pot and I think it's a couple yers old because its about 3 feet tall.

Noss I still have it in the original pot that it was shipped in and the soil seems really dark.  I have been meaning to transplant it but I have been putting it off because I have been busy taking care of my newly rooted cuttings and have also been busy watching my  beloved uconn huskies make a run in the ncaa tournament.  GO HUSKIES!!!!!!!

   
Here is a picture.  Notice how the leaves curve up

Pciture is a big red X.

For some reason my picture cannot be displayed.   Oh well, I do not think this problem is all that serious.  Now I  must figure out why my picture is a big red X.    This picture comes from windows photo gallary and is file 004.jpg
I have the correct URL but still a big red X.

Here is a link to the picture.


http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/7817/004xfs.jpg

Here is a picture of a satsuma orange with flower buds.  Everything here is in bloom and spring has arrived.  My celeste fig tree is doing fine with lots of growth and some figs.  The LSU purple fig is growing fast and that is the important thing.


http://img843.imageshack.us/i/001oio.jpg

I'm looking at a healthy plant.
Nothing to worry about.

If anything,
Edible landscapings sales are going to sky-rocket after viewing this pic.

I see nothing bad, plant looks great.

If it was curled and sagging and/or ends were brown, the entire leaf was white or off/white and/or had holes in it, or it was totally dry, there would be a problem.  This looks like a healthy tree to me.

JCA, my LSU P's leaves do not curl like that, but if the tree is growing quickly, that sounds good.  Don't stand too close to it, or it will knock you over growing.  :)  Where do you live?  That's a gorgeous satsuma tree!  I will be having one put in soon--An Owari.

Will, have you checked the roots for RKNs?  Even if the LSU P is supposed to be resistant to them doesn't mean it can't have them because resistant doesn't me immune.  If it's not growing strongly, that bothers me.  If it's still in the pot you got it in, you must not have checked the roots.  I think that the LSU P needs legroom, the way it grows.  You should see the big tree James Robin has--It's all over the place.  Mine tries to grow all over the place as well and they tend to be rangy trees with not a heavy leaf cover.  When I got my tree from a local nursery, it was in a little pot and I put it into a larger pot that should have been too large for it, but it fixed that and burst into growth and filled that larger pot with all kinds of roots.  It's a lusty variety.  Did it get any girth growth?  When I first got my LSU P, it got transplanted three times in a row and sat for a short while, then when I put it into the larger pot with the Fafard Potting mix, it began to get a thicker trunk, then finally started tip growth and hasn't stopped since.

Your poor little tree.  I hope it will start to do better for you.  Please let us know what condition the roots are in when you pot it up.

noss