I've had an ongoing problem with a Black Mission fig I bought from HD and planted three years ago. Each spring it starts off strong, but the leaves slowly yellow and drop as summer arrives. The last inch or two of each branch also wither and die, taking all the year's growth with it.

There's no sign of insect or fungus. No spots or damaged spots. Just an overall progressive yellowing.

The first year I attributed it to lack of water, so the following year I made sure to soak it twice a week. No improvement. Come July, the leaves yellowed and dropped.

The second year, I thought it might be sun damage or mineral deficiency, so I erected a partial shade to shadow the mid day sun, and added a teaspoon of Miracle Grow to each watering. But here I am in year three, and early signs of yellowing are appearing again. 

Are there any other precautions I should take?

    
This photo show the early signs of this leaf yellowing. Blotches on the leaves have lost their deep green and turned light green. 

Has it been raining.  My figs seem to get that when it rains. 

Hey Blake,
Are all the leaves blotchy like that or do they start green and get blotchy?
If they are all blotchy like that I would say you have some FMV there

You would not see the #1 worst pest that figs have in regard to their health. The fig mite is microscopic and chokes every branch on a tree by spreading FMV intensifying the symptoms. In your climate it should be a top concern at all times because feral fig trees host the fig mite and they can be spread by wind and birds. 

Every fig grower should have one of these. 40x handheld, any hydro shop has them for $20 or cheaper on Amazon.

Step back from the tree and take a picture that encompasses the tree and the ground cover.
What is that ground cover?How are you watering?

The splotchiness is FMV. All Black Mission have that. It is one of the easiest ways to recognize a BM tree when I cruise the neighborhoods looking for unknown trees.

Turning yellow and falling off is another whole issue. That is usually a sign of underwatering, extreme overwatgering or too much shade. Underwatering includes situations where you put on enough water but soil conditions to not allow for the uptake of the moisture, or prevents the water from penetrating the root zone. It is not about how much you water, but how much water gets "to the tree".

When plants do not get water they first wilt... Has there been any wilting Blake?

Thanks to all for your input.

<Are all the leaves blotchy like that or do they start green and get blotchy? If they are all blotchy like that I would say you have some FMV there.>

Six weeks ago all the leaves were healthy and deep green. Now they all have yellow blotches. I just read up on FMV and that does seem to fit. I wonder whether it explains the slow rate of growth (only about 2" per season) too.

<Every fig grower should have one of these. 40x handheld, any hydro shop has them for $20 or cheaper on Amazon.>

I actually have a very nice microscope. Not handheld, but I think I can get it out to the garden. Where would I look for mites? On the under side of the leaves?

<Step back from the tree and take a picture that encompasses the tree and the ground cover. What is that ground cover? How are you watering?>

I'll try to get a wide view tomorrow evening. The ground cover is Orange Clock (Thunbergia gregorii) that crept in from a nearby fence. I let it grow around my trees hoping to shade the ground from the hard bake of the summer sun. Just today I cleared it out to probe the ground for gopher tunnels. Thankfully, no gophers.

I water with a drip nozzle (1 gallon in 5 minutes) for 20 minutes every other day at 6 a.m., and supplement with a hose end sprinkler for wider coverage, 10 minutes two evenings a week.

<Turning yellow and falling off is another whole issue. That is usually a sign of underwatering, extreme overwatgering or too much shade. Underwatering includes situations where you put on enough water but soil conditions to not allow for the uptake of the moisture, or prevents the water from penetrating the root zone. It is not about how much you water, but how much water gets "to the tree".>

I test the soil moisture periodically. It's moist, but not muddy, to a good depth. It drains well, and has enough organic content to stay moist for two or three days. I wonder whether I might be dealing with a disease of the root?

Thanks again for all your comments. There's so much to learn. A pointer in the right direction makes all the difference.

Yes the underside of young leaves. Their life cycle shortens with temperature so they peak in summer.

Blake,

Don't worry about the FMV,some of my strongest growing cultivar's are FMV riddled,ugly,yes but this is not your issue.IMO your issue is the ground cover and your watering.The ground cover needs to be removed at least 6' from the trunk.Quite frankly,I'd kill it anywhere it poked it's head into my garden.
You water with "a drip nozzle",as in one?Your feeder roots are at a minimum 6' from the trunk after 3 years.

It has been a very warm Spring in Charlotte so far.  Usually, when we get this much heat, some of my trees go through yellowing.  For me its the under watering of a tree inside of a tall 3 gallon pot!  Only those trees inside the tall pots start to yellow its leaves.  When you have a few trees in high 80s growing in a tall pot, IMHO, the roots are getting too hot.  I was forced to repots a few of my trees because of that.  I placed them in 10 gallons and today they are doing much better.  And now, the rainy season is here and temps are back down in the late 70s.

On my trees, I see it as the figs trying to tell me something!  Those yellowing leaves fall off in a few days but new ones come right back in not time.  Listen to your trees.  HA!

HOW BOUT THOSE FIGS!!!!!!!

Hi Wekadog,
How do you fertilize that tree ? When ?

Time for you to go stinging needle hunting.
Put them in a 200 liters barrel - wait a week, and water the tree, the dirt , the trunk , the leaves and stems with that ... Hope you'll like the smell as well :)
I had that on my "Sultane" last year and have been treating it with that water and seems to fix it ... knock on wood  ... for now .
Stinging needle tea is known as an insect repellant and killing them.
That damage looks like insect rubbing/scratching damage .
Missing nutrients won't help, so a good fertilizing program is a must.