Most of this year's UCD cuttings are finally growing very nicely and responding well to being moved into larger pots, getting more sunshine, and having increased humidity due to our summer rainy season. The big exception is this Celeste, which looked like it was starting the same sort of new growth flush as the others, but all of the leaves are crinkled up and tiny. Can anybody tell me what's causing this? Earlier leaves were large and normally-shaped, with the only problem being splotchy pigmentation from FMV.

looks like a hellacious case of FMV affecting growth to me.  i've seen the same out of several of my UCD cuttings.  the one for me that got it the worst was Col De Dame.  here is a picture of it:  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=41199149&postcount=34

Jason--your photo looks like a few of my other ones. I've assumed they will just outgrow it over time. Has that been your experience?

98%,　yes.　the　other　2%　died.

Celeste often has odd shaped leaves from FMV. Here it is mostly seen oin Spring and Fall, when humidity is higher (which may be a trigger) and mostly normal the rest of the season. First leaves are almost always distorted.

Thanks very much for the feedback. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope it's, at worst then, a seasonal problem, and that the tree will ultimately end up being a good producer.

Hi Ken,
yes FmV.

The confusion about FmV is it can and does effect plants differently- some grow well with it and others not so well - very slow then with time grow normal.
Also FmV can show and hide in same season i see this with some of my plants but not all of them.
In short most plants that have it do well despite it.
Good luck with yours.

Fortunately, the latest growth appears to be normal, so hopefully the periods of distortion will be brief and it will grow normally the rest of the time. Thanks again for the info.

Ken
It appears that it is just recovering from "Nutrient Indigestion" (& the FMV as other mentioned). The stems were so fat and healthy but the leaves were not. Now soon you will have a good Celeste plant.

Question,

If I get cuttings from UC Davis, will they all be infected with FMV?  Will they, then infect all my other fig plants?  Is it worth the risk to get cuttings from UCD?

Thanks,

noss

Based on what I have learned from others with much more knowledge and experience, yes, if you get cuttings from UCD, they will be infected with FMV. It also sounds like cuttings/plants from many other sources are likely to have it as well, and if your plants are "FMV-free" today, they probably won't be for long. The in-ground Brown Turkey I bought many years ago from a local nursery also has FMV, but I never even knew the problem existed until reading about it on F4F. Sure enough, when I examined the BT's leaves closely. I could see the telltale "patchiness" of the green pigment--but it has never caused any problem.

As near as I can tell from what I've been told, and what I've seen in my UCD cuttings, FMV seems to manifest itself periodically in mis-shapen leaves and/or uneven clorophyl distribution, and then the plant reverts back to totally normal-looking growth. It sounds like various things can trigger the symptoms, and it affects different varieties in different ways. Some of my cuttings (Tena, Excel) never showed any signs of FMV, but most of the others have a few weird-looking leaves. The only reason I posted my original question about the Celeste was because it looked so different from the others that I thought it must have had a different problem, and I was actually quite relieved to learn it was probably just FMV. So, my personal opinion is that it's something I accept as part of growing figs, and I'm not going to worry about it.

Ken, you put it so nicely.

Thanks--I enjoyed your diagnosis of "nutrient indigestion" as well!

Thanks, Ken,

noss

Noss--as a follow-up, here's how it looks today.

That seems pretty typical. More expression in cooler and/or damper weather in Spring and Fall, and normal growth in the warmer months.

Hi Ken,

Thanks for posting the picture of the tree after it has grown for awhile.  It's looking good.

Does it help the tree at all to remove the affected leaves as long as there aren't too many of those?

noss

Just guessing, but I wouldn't think so. The malformed leaves would still contribute nutrients through photosynthesis, so it would seem to me that they're still of benefit to the plant. I have a little UCD Black Madeira cutting that has grown a dense bunch of leaves and several new, short, branches--and all of the foliage shows the effects of FMV. Otherwise, however, it's quite vigorous and healthy-looking. I'm optimistic that once it gets in the ground and grows for a while, it will show a more normal appearance--and even if it doesn't lose the symptoms of FMV, I expect the figs will still be delicious!