snails I believe... I thought the birds were getting my blueberries...as they are not blooming and leaves look bad...upon close inspection, there are lots of little pieces of leaves and that slime trail... I remove the mulch and searched all over. I found a big snail and several little ones hidden in the rim of the pots. well, they are moving and traps will be set, but I am afraid it is too late for them to recover in time to bloom this year.  they do not like my figs yet. perhaps because there is plenty out there, or because the figs were in my chicken area... I tried to protect the blues from the chickens, instead I put them at peril of slugs and snails.. if it is one thing is another. I do not poison. Enough noxious elements out there already. No lawn, no weed and feed, nothing...

Costas,

To my untrained eye, the damage does not look like from a slug, I would say it is some kind of an insect.

If you decide to use the Neem oil, do the spraying outside, it smells. You can buy a mixture with the Neem oil (that is what I would do), not the pure oil since it might be hard to mix it (it is lighter than the water).

So a difference of opinion then, with slugs getting the vote on a minority report. As I said above at the outset, I thought it was slugs/snails initially, but since then found no evidence to support that view. No sign of slugs despite frequent nocturnal inspections, no slime trails, and munch pattern doesn't quite fit. Give a slug a bad name, etc., even if still well deserved for other horticultural crimes.

This tree is ultimately destined for the greenhouse when we install one, & I'm hoping that will cure the problem long-term, but meantime spraying Mr Neem will hopefully do the trick and stop any further damage dead in its tracks.

Thx guys.

UPDATE: Just observed more damage on the small leaf shown above, but still no sign of the culprit. Damn! No slug is that elusive. They simply don't have that kinda agility.

This bug (I doubt it's a rodent) is really starting to bug me. That leaf is now hanging by a thread, so probably DOA by daylight this morning. Better get my ass down that store ASAP. 

Set up a web cam to take a short video on any movement.

Hi loquat,
Try stinging nettle tea - spray or wash. Wash the leaves and trunk with it. Do it outside, that can smell a bit as well.
From what I see, it is a caterpillar .
If you try removing the first centimeter of dirt of that pot ... Is there something moving ?
Water the pot from top with the stinging nettle tea - it is a fertilizer as well ...
Recipe:
For now, I leave the leaves for 4 days, wash with that water, and refill the container with water.
I use a one liter bottle cut half way to do that tea ... Still waiting to see if that works ... But for the price and stinging nettle I have some trying to rush inside of the garden that I keep on removing.

Just another question: is that tree near a cactus ? ( and the wind smashing the leaves against the cactus ? )

Sorry jdsf, I think I might have missed your post for some reason. Thx for the suggestions - next time I come across some nettles (I recently threw some away - drats), I'll try your idea.

But to answer your ?'n - no, there's no cactus nearby. Or anywhere else in our garden for that matter. We used to have an indoor winter-flowering cactus (I think it's called a Christmas Cactus), but even that's gone now. It was making too much of a sap mess everywhere around it.

Anyway - UPDATE!!!

I think I may have cracked it. I was just checking my Gk Black when I noticed what looked like a small twig/leaf, about .25" in length and a sort of terracotta color. Just as I approached it with a finger to flick it off, it took off at terrific speed.

It was alive!!! What's more, there was leaf damage at the exact spot where it was sitting. This has gotta be the prime suspect, & if I knew it was some kinda insect, I woudda snapped a 'photo for the entomologists here to identify it for me. At least I now know what I'm looking for, & next time I see one taking a meal break on my beloved Gk Black, it's gonna go into the 'photo album. 

EDIT: One of the shoots has died back, possibly for lack of foliage?

how frustrating is that!

I noticed something else on my new grads and I am opening a new topic for it...

Out on the prowl for my mystery critter this afternoon when I noticed similar damage on my Gk 'White' (which actually ripens green). Aaarrgghhh. Seems this critter is not as fussy as I first thought. On the upside, the damage is not too extensive. Still no new siting of this pest tho, but I live in hope. & now that I know what's causing the damage, I can start to think about prophylactic measures.

Don't wanna speak too soon or tempt fate, but at least my Gk Yellow has escaped thus far. Noticed on another thread about the tendency of Greeks (and other Med. nationals) to name varieties according to the color of the fig. I agree, not very helpful, & I hope one day I'll find out the actual variety of my Gk figs.