I am very new to Fig trees and any kind of gardening at all.  I grew up in the inner city and only recently moved to the suburbs.

I live in South Jersey and recently bought a brown turkey fig tree.  I planted it with the directions of the nursery I purchased it from.  These instructions included added a bag of special fertilizer and a very small bag of something else (sorry I do not remember what it was) into the soil.

The tree seems to be doing fine for the last 3 or 4 weeks since it has been planted.  I recently started noticing some leaves are getting filled with black spots and dying.  

I was hoping someone could identify the problem for me and give me some advice on how to make sure the tree stays healthy.

Here are high res images of the tree and a leaf showing the black spots.

http://aivila.com/temp/tree.jpg

http://aivila.com/temp/leave.jpg





I really appreciate any help you can give me.

Thanks,
Vone

If there are no signs of insects (check about 10 pm with a flashlight), then add water. If there is active new growth, you are fine. Leaves like that can be a sign that they are older, and being naturally shed, or can be from stress, such as sudden heat wave, less water than needed.

Thanks for the advice.  I will check it tomorrow night. 

Well it doesn't look like black spot disease so that is good. Continue to add the proper nutrients and the tree should fix the problem on it's own. 

Here is another thing that probably has nothing to do with your problem. It looks like you may have dyed mulch around the tree. Do a search on the internet under dyed much. It may create problems.

Also, long term putting mulch up against tree trunks is not the best policy. I try to back my mulch a few inches away from the trunk. On many trees it will rot out the trunk and girdle the tree. Fig trees are much more forgiving on this than tropical & stone fruits, but I think it's better to be careful. If anyone disagrees with my caution on mulch on fig tree trunks please let me know otherwise.

Isn't there also red pine mulch that has that natural color? Unless that too is dyed. I see it at homedepot all the time. 

You may, or, may not, have problems....

The mulch may be too acidic.  Figs hate acid soils.  I would pull the mulch away from the base of the trunk and then top-dress the top layer of soil with Granulated Limestone...at least a few handfuls, spread over the root zone.  The mulch may look nice but it may not be doing your tree any good if dye chemicals, and acid, are washing into the soil, and root zone.  It wouldn't do any harm if you also sprinkle some Espoma Iron-Tone around the base of your tree.  Leaves start looking that way just before they are shed, but this happens, usually, towards the end of the growing season.

If more and more leaves start getting these spots, turning yellow, and subsequently dropping off, I's lose the mulch entirely. I'd also pull off all figs, and nurse that tree back to health before the season ends.  I don't know where you live, nor, your climate zone, but if the tree continues to get worse, you may want to dig out the tree when dormant, throw it in a temporary container, and over-Winter that tree in a protected area like an unheated garage, and then, hope for the best next Spring.  (Over-Wintering tips can be found by searching this forum).

Hopefully, your tree will sprout some healthier, newer leaves, and will continue to grow normally, throughout this season.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum.


Frank

welcome to the forum. looking at your tree, and looking at that leaf.. it seems like that might be one of the earlier leaf. little misshapen ones can come out during the early season. if that's the case, it might be just old and will drop like jon said. if it's new leave doing that, it might be rust or fungal attack. rust and fungal attack, i usually ignore them. fungal attack appeals when there is heavy rain and high humidity for long time. typically see that during the late fall before leaves drop. rust, i don't know much about, but i heard there are some spray you can use. i ignore rust.

if it's watering issue... i don't think there's much that can be done. if it's been under watered, you can water more. but if it's been raining a lot.. can't do much about that. hope the soil will drain well. i keep all my figs in container so i can control the water little better.

Thanks for all the information folks.  Like I said I am new at this and want to do the right thing by the tree.  I will lose the mulch "just in case". I would prefer to have a happy, healthy tree more so than the nice look of the mulch.

I heard a lot of mention of "where".  I live in South Jersey and as anyone living on the eastern seaboard can tell you it has been raining almost every day for 6 weeks. When it is not raining it is very high humidity.

I will take all the information provided to me and see if I can make some adjustments.  I really appreciate all the time from everyone.