Nearly a week ago I picked up an Italian fig. It had some leaves and three small breba fruit. The roots were very root bound. They had looped back up and around leaving pretty much no dirt and all root in the container. I untangled the roots best I could and put it in a container and left it alone. The next day I could tell it was unhappy as the leaves looked wilty. I called the nursery and they told me to give it a little fruit/berry fertilizer (7-3-3) and a little bone meal so I did. I watered it and then left it alone.

So far it still isn't happy. Have I done enough (or too much?) and now I just wait and give it time to bounce back? The brebas are getting brown and one of them came off. If I did something wrong or I need to do something different please let me know. Thanks all.

Before - last wednesday when I brought it home.


Now - browning fruit, wilted/dry leaves. The smaller, younger leaves seem to be ok for now.

Welcome!  You damaged the roots a little.  That's not necessarily a bad thing  :)  If a plant is badly root bound you might have to damage the roots a lot.  Was the fertilizer meant for in ground plants or houseplants?  If in ground it was probably too strong.  And I wouldn't go for so much more nitrogen than the other ingredients anyway.  Was the container the same size as the one it was in or bigger?  Did you add extra soil?  If so what kind?  You do have to keep the plants out of the sun for a whie when you do some root pruning.  If the fertilizer was meant for in ground plants you'll need to wash it out with lots of plain water but then make sure the roots don't sit in water but the soil drains well.  Let us know some more details and you'll get lots of help.

Nichole....

The young, new growth was probably shocked by the rough treatment, but I'm sure your tree will recover if all else goes well.  Make sure the tree is not waterlogged, and give it some partial shade, and let it recover.  In another month the tree will look fine, but you will probably lose the compromised leaves and brebas. 

Don't lose sleep over this.  You did the right thing at the wrong time, so the tree is now complaining.  Get back with us if this tree continues to decline...but I think it will turn out OK.

Frank

Have some one strip you naked and throw you out on the hot asphalt. You'll look crappy, too and probably evidence your displeasure. But you will survive, and so will the plant. Would have been better to do it when dormant, but you didn't really have that option. Next time, put the plant in shade and high humidity for a week or two and let it recover in that "hospital" setting. Kind of like you would get treated after you got treated to the hot asphalt. People and plants have a lot in common.

Roots absorb the water a plant needs. When they are disturbed, especially the younger tips where most water is taken in, it takes some time to re-establish full water-absorbing ability. As Jon said, put it in the shade for a few days so it will lose less water (that it's now having difficulty taking in).

If it were my plant, I'd probably also flush the roots with water to get rid of some of that fertilizer, then let it drain well. Never apply fertilizer to plants with less than healthy roots - like cuttings or something just transplanted or root pruned. Your leaves and fruits look as if they have been 'burned' either from too little water (from the pruned roots) or too much fertilizer, or in this case, both.

You will get a lot of comments here im sure.
My 2 cents is to just let it be, sometimes the more we do the worse we make them, fig plants can take a beating and still survive luckily.

Just give it time and no full sun and only water as needed , it will come back if you dont fuss with it anymore.

It has been in part sun/shade. Everyone else is in a warm location (everyone else is still sleeping) so I'll keep it where it is. It was unhappy before any fertilizing but apparently adding it was the wrong advice. I don't want to fuss with it much more so I'll water it good a few times to help flush it out.

For the future, if I get a plant like that again should I just let the root ball (basically a root knot) be until next year? When I lifted it out of the container there was pretty much no dirt. Just one big knot of roots.

To answer earlier questions --
It was in a 1-2 gallon pot, I put it in a 4-5 gallon pot. I used potting soil with light amendment soil. The fertilizer was for outside - planted and potted. It's for fruit trees and berries. I also mixed in a little worm castings, but not much.

I think I'll just come to you guys in the future with any fig questions and avoid the local nurseries. Thanks all.

For the future, if I get a plant like that again should I just let the root ball (basically a root knot) be until next year? When I lifted it out of the container there was pretty much no dirt. Just one big knot of roots.

No. But I wold have soaked it for a while in water to make sure that it was fully hydrated, then untangled the roots, repotted and put it in shade and high humidity. Taking in a maximum load of water before disturbing the roots, and its ability to take in water would have helped.

As was said, fertilizer is only for healthy plants. It only helps a "sick" plant if the sickness is malnutrition. Always water a plant well before fertilizing other wise it is a lot like a lot of booze on and empty stomach - and you end up burning the leaves, and possibly killing the plant.

Okay that helps a bunch. Thanks guys! I'll go give it a bunch of water to flush it out when I go home tonight. Hopefully it will be less angry at me in a month or so.

The bottom line is, you could have done better. HOWEVER, you have now learned something about plant behaviour, and because you posted, 100 other people have also learned something. that is the point of the forum - learning, sharing, and shortening the learning curve for someone else.

Jon,

    I don't know from figs, but with some plants, soaking the roots will make them turgid and less pliable, ergo more difficult to untangle. Would it be a good idea to reverse the order: untangle, then hydrate?

The black spot is a wind burn. If it was cold, windy and wet where you are then this is your problem ( my opinion ).
Need to place it at or near south facing wall during this part of year. Or, just keep indoors till things start to warm up and stay warm.

Had the same problem last year with a few of my bigger trees that I was too lazy to take back inside after learning of a pending bad weather.

The fruit is almost goner but the tree will bounce back.

Nichole....
I just thought of this, and of course, now it's too late....but if you have to untangle roots from a firmly entwined mass, there is a special hook-like tool that is used for this purpose.  Growers of bonsai use it all the time when doing work on roots.  It is basically a one-tooth rake/hook, that is forced into the root-ball, and then used to gently pry the root-ball apart, but without ripping it apart.  I think it's a 1 prong root-hook.  They are cheap, and they work.  Search for this tool on any bonsai tool site.  You can even make one.

Hope this may help.

Frank

The south facing wall is our hot and sunny spot and most everyone agrees this sad fig needs some shade to recuperat, so right now it is under the shade of a big tree against the north facing wall. It gets filtered sun there. All the other figs are against the south wall getting warm and toasty but are still asleep.

I'd be surprised if this were rain/wind/cold induced. I've had it one week and this one week has been very nice out. No wind (gentle breeze), lows in the 40s, highs in the 50's and low 60's, and amazingly enough rain free for a week! I've really loved the break from the gray. Nice and warm, fruit trees are starting to bloom... :)

Frank I will check that out, thank you.

Dale,

I am sure some plants are different, but the idea is to let the plant fully fill itself with water (as much as it wants) before potentially and probably damaging or diminishing its ability to take in water. if you start with a dry rootball, the plant is probably already somewhat dehaydrated, and thus not in peak condition. Sort of like you starting out on a 10 mile hike without drinking any water beforehand.

The point is not to waterlog the plant, but to allow it to fully hydrate itself. Let it start the process with a full tank of gas, so to speak.

Many plants to not like to be waterlogged, or live in swampy or overly wet conditions, but that doesn't mean that they do not have some optimum level of water content. Cactus can survive with little or not water, in many cases, but give the a good soaking (with drainage) and many will suddenly flower, add leaves, and do all sorts of things that they do not do when moisture is less than optimum.

Hi Nichole,

It might be a good idea to flush out the pot.  To make sure there is not too much water left in the pot, after you flush it, you can tilt the pot at a 45* slant and that will help excess water to drain better.  It really does work.

If you were to get another plant like that which is already leafed out, but really root-bound, what you can do is put it into a larger pot with new soil around it for the rest of the season, then when it's dormant do the root work so it won't go into shock.  That gives the tree a minimum of fussing with and it will put out new roots into the new soil.  When it's dormant, then you can tear it up without the shock.

When you get a leafed out tree repotted, Keep it in the shade for a week, then re-introduce it to the sun by giving it morning sun for a few hours each day, or filtered sun gradually until it can be in full sun again.

The reason I'm telling you this is the first season, when I got addicted to figs, I put all of the little trees into the wrong soil.  All of the trees got repotted with new soil at least 3-4 times in really hot temperatures, but I didn't lose a one, in fact, they thrived, took off and grew beautifully when I finally gave them the right soil.  I kept them under the carport and then let them get the morning sun and so forth.  This was all done in the heat of summer down here and let me tell you, it was HOT.

What is ammendment soil?

Good luck with your new baby.

Do some of the leaves in the before picture look like they may have FMV?  I can't really tell.  If so, that would add extra stress to the tree.

noss

I flushed it out earlier today (drained nicely) and I'll do it again tomorrow then I'm going to leave it the heck alone! Poor thing, so harassed and grumpy.

I didn't see any noticeable signs of FMV.

Noss what soil did you use at first that was wrong? What did you end up with that made you and the figs happy?

[QUOTE=noss]
What is ammendment soil?
[/QUOTE]

This is what I used. Garner & Bloome Soil building compost.
G&B link

I just mix a little in with the soil to lighten it up a bit. From what I've read I understand figs like its soil light and well drained. Please don't tell me I screwed that up too ;)

I use this stuff a lot around the yard in general. So far my plants say "thank you"

Just my luck the figs will give me the bird.

Nichole,

I put my little trees through the wringer before I found the forums.

I put them into regular bagged garden soil.  Didn't want to drain, even though it was mixed in with soil conditioner and pine bark mulch.

The trees weren't happy, so I asked someone at the nursery what I should get and they sold me Miracle Grow Moisture Control potting soil and when I unpotted the trees, the soil was wet and smelled swampy from the garden soil mix.  So I put them into the MGMC and the trees still weren't happy, so I got some regular MG.  When I unpotted the trees, they were even more wet and swampy smelling.  I called MG and told them what I thought of their MGMC potting soil and they were all upset that I had had such bad luck.

Al mentioned Fafard potting mixes and I happened to find some Fafard Professional Potting Mix at a local nursery.  When I repotted the trees into this mix, mixed with pine bark fine mulch, they sat there for less than a week and then took off and grew like crazy.  They loved that potting mix, probably because finally they could breathe for the first time since I had gotten my newbie hands on the poor little things.

The nursery hasn't gotten any of that particular mix again, but now I get Home and Garden mix made by Fafard.  It's not as good, but it works.  I can't get them to get the Professional Potting Mix again.  They do have other soils by Fafard, but they all have fertilizer in them and the PPMix does not.  The Home and Garden does not, either.  I'd rather be able to put my own fertilizer in the soil when the tree is established.

Plus, I have some blueberries and feeding blueberries with ammonium nitrate nitrogen will kill them.  I need potting medium without fertilizer in it because the fertilizer that is in the mixes is the wrong kind of nitrogen for them.

It's amazing how many potting mixes all have fertlizier in them and the same goes for bagged garden soils.

It is the way the leaf stems look in the picture that made me think of FMV.  I have some plants with FMV and their first leaves and/or stems will be twisty and some are mottled-looking, but then the subsequent leaves that appear will look more normal.  I wait for the new leaves to form and then cut off the FMV-looking leaves.  I removed a couple of branches from a couple of my trees that had the deformed, mottled leaves yesterday.  I doubt it makes any difference to the trees, but I like to cut off the bad stems and leaves when there are normal-looking leaves growing out.  Just my thing and I don't advocate it because it probably doesn't matter anyway.

To me, it looks as though parts of the trees fight off the FMV and those parts grow more vigorously, so I keep them and remove the branches that have signs of FMV because most of the time, even those branches don't grow as strongly, never mind the leaves themselves, so off they go.  I wouldn't do so if the tree showed a lot of FMV on it.

Thanks for the link to the soil amendments.  I'll have to look and see if any of it is sold around here.

noss

Definitely a live and learn experience. Even if I kill a tree I learn from it. Conditions are different for every area and what works for one doesn't work as well for another. Hopefully my mix (sans fertilizer on newly planted babes) makes them happy. Everyone is sleeping. I will update when they wake up :)

noss you could end up being right about the FMV - I was basing my thoughts on the leaves. I've never seen it in person, just from reading about it on here, googling pics of it, that sort of thing.

So I've been looking at the leaves since Noss mentioned FMV. I'm trying to decide if it is indeed FMV showing itself on the leaves or if it could be just the stress, leaves dying from the stress and causing the discoloration. That sort of thing. Thoughts?



If it is FMV should I do anything differently than what I am currently doing? (leaving it the heck alone in a shady part of my yard to recoup. Flushed out the fertilizer already).

Another question about FMV - I normally use dropped leaves in the fall as mulch around my trees and bushes. Is there a reason to not do that with leaves that show signs of FMV? I don't have any expectations of being able to spare any of my figs from it, just wasn't sure if it exasperated things down the road by doing this.

In general I wouldn't use parts of a plant as mulch for it.  You're encouraging the growth of microbes that destroy the tree you have.  Yes it happens in the forest all the time but conditions are ideal there and our home conditions are always a compromise.

Your tree looks pretty good.  Leave it as you have it and wait for new growth.  The old growth wont recover but the new growth should look good.  When it does you can start slowly aclimating the tree to full sun.

BTW, Jon knows a lot about figs but don't follow his advice about the asphalt.  :)

Don't worry I don't plan on stripping naked and baking on the asphalt anytime soon ;)

Some of the wilted leaves are coming off - expected - and I think the leaves that are still there look greener than when I first got it. I think it will live to tell it's story of the day it's stupid newbie owner tried to kill it.

Hi Nichole,

I wouldn't think the dead spots on your leaves were from FMV.  The reason I asked about FMV is the way the leaves were growing--The twisty-looking stems.  One of my trees with FMV produces new leaves with stems like that and I was curious.  I couldn't tell about the leaves themselves.

I'm happy to hear that the leaves still on your tree are looking more green than when you first got the tree.

Don't feel badly about being a newbie.  We all have to learn things and there are many things to learn. 

It's hard to kill a fig tree, unless you drown it.  Sunburned leaves get dead-looking spots on them.  If they fall off, they produce new ones.  One of my little babies got too much sun on its tender leaves a couple weeks ago.  It really had tender, soft leaves and was doing all right, but the pot got moved to a place where it got more sun that one day and some of the leaves got damaged.  The new leaves coming out that got sun before they emerged seem to be doing all right, but I'm still watching it.  I've noticed some of my babies that came from older wood seem to have tougher leaves.  Maybe it's just the variety of fig.  Don't know.

Just don't drown them and you'll most likely be all right.  ;D  Don't ask me how I know that.....

noss

I wasn't concerned about the brown spots. Mostly the splotchy lighter green spots throughout the leaf is what made me wonder about FMV. Not sure it really matters in the end, I was just curious.

No new leaves yet, but I think it'll take a few more weeks. My other 7 sleepy figs are just starting to show signs of bud swelling so they're slowly starting to awaken from their slumber.

This is what everyone else looks like. Sleepy figgies.

Here's another update - and I'm going to ask again about FMV with this particular tree. I think it has it and I'd like to hear some confirmation (or denial). I'm not worried about it, I'd just like to hear your thoughts to help me learn and figure out if my eyes are interpreting this tree correctly.



Some smaller shriveled leaves. Green and alive, just malformed.




Some light splotchy coloration. I'm not worried about the brown spots. That's old news regarding the first post in this thread.


Same tree, different leaf. Newer in growth. Just posting because it is aesthetically pleasing to my eye ;)

It appears that it does in misshapen leaves and mild mottling of a few and some discoloration as described by things i see in my yard and in readings..
Sometimes it can get worse or it hides to where its barely or not noticeable.
Usually early in season some of mine display it worse only to wane and hardly noticeable mid season like now.

Thanks Martin!

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pele5vptVgc[/video]

Mis-shaped leaves are from FMV. Light and dark patchiness is from FMV. Little dark spots and curly brown edges, etc. are from water deprivation.