Hi,
I just recently got into fig trees (and gardening in general). I found a Violette de Bordeaux tree at my local nursery and bought it even though it looked a little wilted. I thought if I repotted it and watered it well, it would be fine. I repotted it 3 days ago and it is still sad and limpy. Checked the roots and they are not rotten- and I have watered it twice- the day I brought it home and repotted, and today- 3 days later. It is a 1 year old tree- the same as 3 of my other potted fig trees but it has double- maybe even triple the amount of leaves compared to the others- but the stems and leaves seem so weak and lifeless and slightly curling up.
There is no powder, bugs, aphids, or spots on my leaves. Any suggestions?  (Is there such a thing as too many leaves? Should I trim/prune some of them?)
Thanks!!
-Tina
So. CA - 10B

Tina, stop watering!  Fig's like heat and not too much water.  VdB is a good find at a local nursery.  I have a couple, and I can shoot you some green cuttings if yours doesn't make it.  So CA zone 19.. AKA hills of Hemet!

Suzi

New growth this time of year and/or in low humidity will often look a little wilted.

Put it in the shade fro a week or so and give it some rest. You might also set it in a bucket of water for several h0urs and let it get thoroughly wet. The original soil might have been dry may not re-wet as easily as you might think, esp. if the potting mix it was in was heavy with peat moss.

Do not prune!  I agree with the humidity diagnosis above, so any way to increase humidity is probably a good idea (which can be tough with a large plant and no greenhouse!).  The tree is definately stressed and pruning will only increase the stress.  You may want to try some SuperThrive as a way to get her to perk up a little quicker.  Good luck!

I love superthrive for all my repot plants. Helps with the stress. No too much it is like a drug to plants.

Zone 8
Southwest TX

Bigsmile, where do you buy superthrive?

Thanks everyone for all your advice and suggestions!
When I bought it, it was in a 5 gall. pot- coarse sand based soilless mix. it was very quick draining- the water shot right out of the bottom when I watered it. I have now repotted it into a 7 gallon smart-pot (one of those fabric pots).  I used Fox Farm potting mix with added coarse perlite and a scoop of compost. I tried not to disturb the roots or soil that the tree roots hung on to- since the sand was so coarse and loose/airy (don't know if that's the right terminology), it came out pretty easily.
I have now moved it into a shady spot and will go out and get someSuperthrive tomorrow.
 I guess all I can do till then is watch it obsessively till it gets better (I've gone outside 5 times today to check on my tree and fell asleep on the couch watching it out the window yesterday).
Thanks again! Ill update again in a couple weeks :)

Bless Your Heart, welcome to the club :)

Just a thought, maybe your tree had already suffered a bit of root damage before you bought it. In any case if that is the most it wilts, then eventually it will come around. No worries.

Hope your plant perks up for you.  I have a VdB in my yard, and it is always the first tree to look droopy and unhappy when the temps start warming up and the humidity is low.  But even though it looks like that it keeps on growing and producing fruit right through the summer.  Maybe just give it normal care and see what happens.  It doesn't look that bad in the photo.  It just looks like a young plant that is thirsty or hot.

i would move it into the shade and make sure to water only when it needs it. too much water and new location might be stressing out the tree.

Welcome!  You've picked a great variety.  What are the others?  The others are right about the shade although since the leaves weren't scorched by the sun it looks pretty well adapted to sunlight.  I'd give it partial shade or full sun in the am and partial or full shade in the hottest part of the day.  A fast draining mix might need to be watered every day depending on temperatures, wind, etc.  Also, if it was sitting near a wall as in the photo that will be hotter than if it is away from other structures. 

It sounds like you've done your homework and know what to look for.  I hope you enjoy your time here.  Have you tasted figs ripe from the tree before?

One thing to try as I had this happen to a recent repot...if you can find room in the pot, put in a stake and then attach a piece of pvc or other other material as a cross brace about the top of the plant to act as a support structure.  Then take a clear piece of plastic (I used thin garment cover from the dry cleaners.  Mist inside the bag heavily and place over the top of the plant and keep it out of direct sunlight.  I would then "let it breath" a couple of times a day by lifting up the plastic to the support piece...may 15-20 minutes.  Mine (although not a VdB) perked right up after a day.  Then gradually leave the plastic off longer and longer over several days.  Anytime the inside of the bag gets dry, mist it again.

Good luck....

Tami
I get superthrive form Ebay.
I have most everything shipped in as I live out in the remote sticks of west TX.
I am like a fig love it hot and dry.

Zone 8
Southwest TX.

Concur with others, move to a shade spot for a few days.  You've stressed out the tree and it needs to recover.  On another note, you could have a Petite Negra.  PN is a tree that will droop and sag in heavy sunlight and heat.  Once shade comes, the drooping goes away.  If its a true VdB, then this is a mute point.

figs must be 'hardened off', meaning to gradually acclimate them to full sun. That's not to suggest that your plant will be damaged, merely set back a bit. I planted a vdb and an improved brown turkey in my backyard(northern exposure) in north Texas. They froze to the ground but now are coming back. Very resilient plants, these figs. Hard to kill.

That big orange home center that's in everyone's town carries SuperThrive, also

Tina like Jon said "Shade" if you keep watching it obsessively sing a song to it.
Start with
Dean Martin's - Thats Amore

and
Welcome to the figs4fun forum.
There some real fig nut cases here. lol

One of my VdB cuttings all of a sudden was wilting and I thought it probably was a goner.  I had the cover on the bin off for maybe 20 min.  I put the cover on and it came back.  The roots were unable to support the growth yet.  For some reason the roots aren't able to support the amount of new growth on top.  I see you are in Southern California.  I was going to say that maybe the root mass was still somewhat cold and dormant but you must of had warm temperatures for a while now?  Maybe the tree was stressed for whatever reason at the nursery and lost some of the roots it had the prior season for that size plant but now can't support it's size.  If kept in partial sun instead of full sun will give it a chance to recover.  Ever go into the garden center to find that the stock of plants look like they hadn't been watered for a week.  Maybe that happened to the fig before you bought it.

Thank you all so much for your help! I moved the plant into a shady spot, waited for the soil to dry out a bit and today, I watered it along with some of the Superthrive. I have been checking every two hours and I think some of the leaves have 'flattened'! The other trees I have right now are: Black Mission, Panache, LSU Purple, and today- I just got a Peter's Honey. I haven't tried any of the figs yet- all the trees are a year old or younger/ no fruit- but I'm sure I will love them. I've only had Brown Turkey and Kadota figs and I have loved them. I guess I know I love chocolate and vanilla but now I am excited to try all the other exciting flavors- especially after seeing everyone's beautiful pictures!

Great varieties.  Enjoy them!

I bought a 15 gallon Voilet De bordeaux from Armstrong and the tree stalk looks very healthy. The leaves picture matches to tandmadd  posting

Droopy leaves :(

The potting soil is soo loose that it drains the water within minutes and the roots on the top surface was dry as the temperature last week
was in 90's in California.

I have not planted it on the ground waiting for the leaves to flatten.

Question to tandmadd since you have been through the similar situation, im being paranoid newbie when it comes to figs :)

1. How long did it take the leaves to flatten
2. How often you watered
3. Did you add any NPP mixture to give additional relief 
4. I do not want to ask this question but will do :( did the leaves wilt off and re grew.
    This would break my daughters heart :(

I already have Brown Turkey, Black mission few months old and doing great

Any inputs are appreciated

Welcome to the forum Sivaveera! I would poke some holes in the soil with a screwdriver or something and loosen the top roots up and allow water to penetrate to all the soil. I may soak it in a bucket for an hour as well as repot it. I can't speak for all but my VdB likes partial shade and let's me know about it if she doesn't have it!

I put my little figs back out this morning. I had been having issues with my VdB wilting and needing more water when outside, so I put them in another container that I could water independently. All the others just had their wicks in the water, the VdB I top watered and made sure that the bottom of their bags were slightly immersed when I put them out. An hour later just the VdB were wilted, awful fast for either drying out or being damaged from being to wet. They're still in the shade in my sip  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/kiddy-pool-sip-6838413?pid=1282247050#post1282247050  and they've been in front of South facing windows so they aren't getting that much more sun. Change of temperature maybe? They seem pretty prone to wilt... but they survived wilting several days in a row last time I put them out. They would perk up in the evening and they didn't lose their leaves or anything so I'm trying not to get too concerned this time.