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FMV, Mites, or Something else

My fig leaves on a couple of my trees are starting to show this pattern.  I am trying to figure out a cause and mitigate it if possible.  Any help would be appreciated. 20150717_071517.jpg 


A light case of fmv. If the growth is good but a little slower then your others without it.... i would say its FMV. IF REALLY YELLOWS THEN YOU HAVE ROOT ISSUE'S. ALWAYS TRY NOT TO WATER TILL IT IS NEARLY DRY. IF ITS HOT AND INGROUND THAT MIGHT BE EVERY OTHER DAY. HOPE THIS HELPS.

In your area your should really consider fig mites first. Anybody who is buying, selling or trading should worry about them too but with feral fig trees around you can expect them to show up regularly. The spread between trees that you saw is key, FMV generally dissapates as the tree picks up growth speed, and as many people say "grows out of it", while mite symptoms and their spread increase as the season marches on. Their life cycle is tied to temperature so the population ans symptoms peak in late summer. 

You can look for them with 30x-40x magnification, a jewelers loop or handheld microscope like they have in growshops. They are microscopic so all you can usually see is faint spots appear on leaves, about the time the young leaf flattens out, the spots get bigger as the leaf expands, and of course they spread FMV so typical mosaic syptoms will also increase in frequency across all affected plants. And it does look to me like your smallest leaves are unaffected, which is key in differentiating between FMV and fig mite symptoms. FMV leaves show symptoms as soon as they emerge. You should probably take precautions every season since they are so insidious. There are many treatment options so you will have to work out what is best for you. Forbid 4f worked well for me, Avid also, but I would probably not spray them regularly, I eradicated them and they won't be back until some "fignorant ostiole" sends them to me again. There is not much info and unfortunately mite symptoms have been identified as FMV often in the past, but mites are documented to cause spots like I showed last year, much like what you show, the pictures truly do speak for themselves. http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/fmv-maybe-mites-yes-7059821 

Your new leaves do look pale and it is probably lime chlorosis, above ph7 iron is not easily absorbed by plants. Figs don't seem to show interveinal chlorosis like other plants, just an overall pale color on new leaves.  You can try a product with iron EDTA for a quick fix, Cal Mag plus works well for me and also maybe change fertilizers to something that lowers the ph over time, if it is a perennial problem you could add sulphur to the potting mix regularly, or adjust the ph of your water to 6.

Here is also a pic of symptoms from An Illustrated Guide to Plant Abnormalities Caused by Eriophyid Mites in North America
Click image for larger versionName:         Screenshot from 2015-04-24 01:56:25.pngViews:         1Size:         248.6 KBID:         1793

Thanks for the replies. I don't have magnifier at the moment to look for mites, but I will see what Amazon has. I tested the soil PH and I am at about 7 right now.  I will get it some iron/desolved epsom salt and see if they green up a bit.

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