Unbeknown to me, my father in law ( he's losing the plot ) has been watering my chicago hardy tree ( approx 2-3 years old ) every day. I just realised what has been going on today when I "caught" him watering it. I said "NO!!! don't touch it, I will tend to it". His reply was, ohhh you have to water every day, I've been giving it a lot of water". I was wondering why it didn't seem to be progressing as well as it was a couple of weeks ago, today I noticed it's looking a bit blah and a couple of leaves have dropped and when I dug down a bit in the soil it was pretty sodden inside. Should I just leave it in the hope that it will dry out or maybe try to re-pot it?. I'm afraid that root rot may have set in. I'm scared to touch it, but I will be really upset if I lose it :o(

I'm assuming it is in a container now.  What my have happened with all of the watering is it may have washed out most of the soil nutrients.  I would top dress the container with some worm castings or some good compost to replace the nutrients and let it try to recover.  If the soil is able to drain, it should recover.

Fill me in, I may have missed a few episodes.  Was this recently planted?  How fast does the soil it's in drain?  Photos of the root area and leaves?  What's your weather going to be like in the next few days?  I doubt it's dead.  If it's in an area that drains poorly, isn't elevated and was recently planted you should probably carefully get it into some quality, fast draining soil in a bigger pot and either amend the soil where it is, add good soil to what's there and get it up higher than the surrounding area or move it.  My soil drains poorly so my Chi Hardy is on a hillside.

If the soil drains reasonably well or it's higher than the surrounding area and you'll have some sun and warmth you can probably leave it where it is.  Photos of the plant, root area and surroundings would help.  A 2-3 yr old plant is generally pretty tough.

if it is in a pot, you could take it out of the pot for a couple of days and let it dry out some.  Another option is to make sure the pot is off the ground a bit by putting a couple of small pieces of the 2x4 on the edges to make sure it can drain well.  Most likely too is that too much water has depleted the food supply.  Try adding some good rich compost and some 1/2 strength liquid fertilzer after it dries out a bit.

Suzy...once it gets to this time of year(70* to 75* and sunny almost every day), I water all my 2 and 3 yr. old trees every day(both potted and in ground trees)...been doing it that way every year with no adverse effects...the only time I back off on the water is about 4 to 6 weeks before harvesting the figs, so as not to dilute the sugars in the ripening figs. 

Yes, it is in a pot, sorry I didn't clarify. I received this tree bare-rooted in the mail and potted it up 4 weeks ago, this is my first ever experience with a fig. Sorry I don't have pics, it's too dark now, I will try to post some tomorrow. The weather has been quite pleasant the past few days, sunny with highs near 60 ( my back patio is a sun trap, the difference between the front and back of the house temperature wise can be like night and day ) and is expected to continue for the next few days. The fig has been left outside for about a week now and seemed to be doing fine....until today :o(. There were 3 brebas on it but they were looking very sad and shrivelled so I removed them earlier. I don't believe the tree is dead but I'm afraid of root rot, I would like to leave it to recover on it's own but would hate to make the wrong decision.

P.S. Here is a pic of the poor victim on the left from a distance, with the villain over-waterer looking on.  I will get some close up pics of the fig and post them tomorrow

So look at the soil.   If it's saturated with water rinse the soil off and re-pot it in good soil.

You may have to keep it in less sun for a while if some of the roots have died.  Let it be where it has been and if it looks wilted move it into filtered sunlight.

Thank you so much, I will see how it looks tomorrow and look in to re-potting it. I just hope it can handle the stress and if it survives it doesn't hate me forever.

They're very figgiving.

LOL......cheers!! Bob :o)

Doug...... I have some pine bark and stones to aid draining, I just need to tie a cerain old man's hands up to keep him away from my tree, but then that would be considered abuse, lol.

Sue,
See if you can find some fafard #52 soil mix at your local nursery. It's pricey but fool-proof. It's all I use now as I'm lazy.
I water every day. As long as you have good drainage it's fine to water a lot.
Fafard #52 is just one of many good mixes. I recommend it only because it's what I use and it works for me.

Bob, -- ouch. 

Sue I hope your HC does make it- I'm sure it will . Have to tell you I luv the pix of Pop and and the fig - sorry had to chuckle !!

Haahaha - Pete - figgiving !!

LOL Pattee, all he needs is a lil' fishing pole and he can be my new garden gnome.
OK, I've bitten the bullet and removed her from the pot, she looks ok to me, although maybe the roots could use a trim? I'm scared to touch it though cause what the heck do I know, eh?.She dropped another leaf too, I know she's stressed :o( I've disinfected everything and mixed up a new batch of potting soil with MG, perlite, peat moss, I'm planning to use stones and pine bark to further aid drainage, oh, and I also drilled more drainage holes into the bottom of the container. I'm also going to add some granular mycorrhizae ( Plant Success ). I had company this morning and have to go out this afternoon so I don't have time to go shopping for an alternative potting mix, but I will certainly take on all your suggestions for future potting mixes. I have the laptop on the back porch so I will be eagerly awaiting your comments after seeing the pics. Thanks a bunch everyone, you're the best. :o)
One more thing just to be sure......After I repot her should I keep her in the shade, and for how long?

I would keep it in the shade until it starts growing again, then gradually adjust it back to the sun. Good luck with it.

MG potting soil holds way too much water.  It's fine for now but you'll want to do better in the long run.  Also that pot's already full of roots.  I'd get one 4x that size.  There are a few local nurseries here that give away used pots and hopefully you can find one near you.  I think the plant looks less stressed than you are.  ;)

LMAO Bob......I think you could be right ;o). I thought this fig gardening lark was supposed to be relaxing? I was like a nervous wreck, ha ha! Well it's in mother natures hands now, she's all potted up again and will be staying on the back porch in the shade until I see signs of new growth * fingers crossed *. The good news is that my newly rooted cuttings, now in cups in a humidity bin seem to be doing extremely well, so I'm not a total loss as a fig grower ......once again * fingers crossed * :o)

Suzy...those roots look really strong, and the roots are the life of the tree(good roots =  good tree)...seems like you cleaned everything up real good and gave it a little time to air out...If I were you, I would get some premium soil as per the recomendations in the above posts, and get it back into the pot...I think your tree will be just fine.

i gave some newly potted cuttings to my mother in law. she's from country and knows how to take care of fruit trees. but she has our niece who is.. i think about 9th grade. she watered the cutting to death. since the leaves are drooping more with water.. she decided it's not getting enough water and gave more water. well.. she was right, it was not getting more water due to the roots drowning in the wet soil. oh well.. right reasoning, wrong solution.

i gave them new one this year that is one yr old. hope that one does better. it's very tempting to water the figs.

Roots look fine, some hair root water damage, but your re potting will most likley assist in recovery. This time of year outside with a potting mix with good drainage will work well. May can be a rainy month, so migrate to a covered area until the roots and leaves recover.

Thank you all SO much for your input, I take everything on board and really appreciate you all sharing your knowledge. I feel a lot better about my poor lil' tree now, she's residing on my back porch by a window but out of direct sunlight. I do believe the rest of the leaves will drop and I'm fine with that, it is what it is, as long as she's able to recover I can wait it out. :o)

bullet08.....children and old folks eh?, gotta have it their way......grrrrrr, lol.