I planted 5 fig trees in the ground around November of last year.  They all came out of hibernation looking pretty good.  Now the Deanna has wilted severely and the others are looking a bit  unhappy.  Something girdled the VdB so I am not so surprised about that one looking bad, but I am not sure about the others.

Is the mulch the problem, clay soil, insect, too much water (mostly rain), etc?  I plan on pulling the mulch back from the trunks a bit tomorrow.  Below are photos of trees going from the healthiest to sickest.  Thanks for looking.   

   
 

Removing the mulch may help. Did you get a freeze after they leaved out?  You do have great weather for figs out there. They are good size trees, Encanto Farms may be able to help since they are in your area and are so knowledable in the fig world. Keep us posted on their progress.

So far the weather has been pretty good.  I dont think we have had any frost.  I have a number in pots as well that are looking healthy.

It could be that the hole they are planted in is staying full of water because the potiting soil is so pours. This happened to several of mine last spring.

That mulch looks really fresh / green.  If mulch hasn't been aged, it can be dangerous to new plants.  

What's the source of the mulch?  

Any gophers in your yard, Shawn?

-Hershell what did you do to deal with the water problem?

-Sobelri it is gorilla hair (shredded redwood bark).  

-Figgary I have never seen a gopher in our yard or gopher holes.  We have lived here 10 years.

Photo 3.Any chance that's round up over spray from next door?

It was raining almost daily so I put some back in pots and others I mounded dirt up and planted them above the water level. The ground is very flat here so ditches are a must also. Most recovered and are doing well once they got established.

Hi,
I would check the roots.
Did they get chewed ? Did they rot ? Did you leave air pockets at planting time ?
Are they wet ? Are they dry ?
I don't see black markings on the leaves, and that would be frost damage.
Without any other clues, the tree in pic3 is lacking water ... or no longer has roots to pump water, or got a chem spray ...
Did you spray some weeding chem ? Did the mulch have some chem ?
Definitively check the roots asap, if you want to stand a chance to save the tree ....

Thank you very much for the suggestions and ideas.

There has been no weed spray on the hill where the figs are and I do not think there is a way that there could have been drift from a neighbor.  Although, I suppose anything possible.  It is always possible that the mulch company sprayed herbicide on the mulch, but I have no idea

I pulled the mulch back today from around the trees.  Soil is still quite moist and it hasnt rained in 10 days.  I am inclined to believe it might be a water issue if that is possible, but I think I definitely need to look at the roots before I lose more.

The one in the middle photo that got 85% girdled in starting to get  black spots on the trunk where the bark is gone.

A  sudden temp change, or hudmidy change can do it, pick the dead leaves off i bet new leaves will come out. They went into shock their not dead yet, give them time to adjust 

I wonder if the redwood bark compounded the problem?! Somewhere I read this.

To me it looks like a lack of moisture getting to the leaves.  Either it was in a high humidity area, such as a greenhouse, and your air is very dry... or possibly the root structure was damaged significantly during planting.

VERY strong chance it's gophers. They love young fig roots. I always cage my root balls now. Good luck. ( You may want to pull them and repot, fertilize and water).