This was the text that was supposed to accompany my pictures. I'll post the pictures next since that's what messed up to begin with. Patience with the new kid, thanks.

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this fig thing. I'm just expanding my love affair with a 30-year-old Desert King tree that I inherited when I moved here. So, I'm in the collecting phase (I'm pretty sure it's one of the steps to the diagnosis ;)

This weekend I purchased several trees from a well-known nursery. One of the varieties had mottling on the leaves (as did all of the others in the same variety). I specifically asked the nursery guy about whether it was FMV. He told me that is was just rust from being inside the greenhouse. He even looked it up on his computer and said, "I'm looking at it right here, it's rust." I didn't want to push anymore and since I wanted the variety and he knew much more than me, I purchased the tree.

Now that I'm home, I'm pretty sure I was right, but I'm throwing this out to all of you. Does this look consistent with FMV? And if so, what do I do? I've read everything from prune it to burn it. I've isolated this tree from the rest until I know what to do, but I'm counting on this community to help me out.

Okay y'all, give it to me straight! And thank you in advance.

thank you livetaswim06, I'll keep the thread going hoping for some more opinions :)

I'm interested in seeing where this goes... i purchased a chicago hardy from a large store, it has a pretty strong mosaic smptom

Where are you?  If its FMV and you live in California it can spread to your other plants but those mites are everywhere so you could get FMV from naturalized trees, too.  If you're not in CA you don't have the mites to transmit the disease so as long as you sterilize and cutting implements after use you won't spread it.  Some people have had these kinds of patterns resolve by using a fertilizer with micronutrients.  Whether there was a deficiency or the plant did better in fighting the infection is anyone's guess at the moment. Most of us have plants with FMV and they still produce.  Most of the plants in the US came from CA and so have some degree of FMV.  If you want to try to stay pure you can get only plants from the SE and places in Europe with cold winters (good luck with that!)

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your trees.

I'm in Canada, I dont think that mite lives up here , however there really hasnt been too much study of fmv transmission in colder climates... I'm curious if a local insect / mite could transmit it up here.... needless to say, the plant i think may be infected is about 50 feet away from my other plants, and it hasn't been pruned or worked on...

Just as an FYI, all trees in CA have some level of FMV including 100% of the trees at Wolfskill Orchard.

Mites are everywhere so if it is caused by mites it will be hard to get rid of. Most trees have FMV. Some more vigorous varieties may outgrow it and others have had success to varying degrees. Varieties that are not so vigorous may be overcome with it and die off but that's the exception from what I have read.
Keep your plants as healthy as possible with ferts and a regular watering and you'll be fine.

It does look like FMV I've seen,that said there are lots of other viruses found in figs Fig mosaic virus (FMV), Fig leaf mottleassociated virus 1 (FLMaV-1), Fig leaf mottle-associated virus 2 (FLMaV-2), Fig mild mottling-associated virus (FMMaV) and Fig latent virus 1 (FLV-1) etc.Im no expert but there have been studies in Europe (Canary Island and Croatia I think from memory) which found 90% of trees were infected with at least 1 virus,about 70% with more than one and about 40-50% with FMV specifically.If that many trees have it chances are most do but I think it's the accumulation of multiple viruses that severely hamper the tree(Black Ischia is probably case in point,I expect I has the whole lot)yours doesn't look that bothered by it,it looks bigger than some of my symptomless trees

Thank you all for the help. The tree is from Washington state, its' origin could be CA though. Perhaps it's just a susceptible variety (Brunswick)? I've cut off all the obviously affected leaves and sanitized the equipment, repotted the tree and discarded the old pot. From what I can infer from these kind responses, I'll give it a good life, keep my fingers crossed and go forward. Thank you everyone!

Hi Bethens,
I started collecting figs for the first time this year. I already have a mature DK tree that I planted a long time ago and it never exhibited any FMV or mite symptoms ever.

However I am noticing FMV/Mite symptoms on several of my newly rooted cuttings as well as some of the plants I purchased. Some of the plants exhibiting these symptoms succumbed to the weather change when I put it out in the sun. But others have thrived. I discarded several plants that looked terribly diseased.

Interestingly, one of my most infected plants (a VDB from Raintree) is growing the most vigorously of all the plants I purchased. I even see evidence of some main crop figs on it. So basically I wouldn't worry too much unless the plant itself is suffering.

The other advice is sound: Sterilize your cutting equipment each time. It appears that these mites are able to survive year round in our climate.

Yes, that is FMV. All trees have it, even if they do not always show it. The speckling is common throughout the season, but affects some leaves and not others. The mis-shaped are more prominent in the Spring and Fall when the weather is usually cooler and damper. There are plenty of 50 foot tall trees around that are "infected" and grow fine and bears hundreds if not thousands of fruit each season.

Thank you very much for this. I didn't want to start this journey poorly. I appreciate all of the comments -- this is a very nice community indeed :)

You need to know the difference of FMV virus or fig bud mites.

Some people say it, Most fig trees has some kind of FMV virus, When they are under stress, They will show mosaic leaves, It doesn't infect to other trees, and you can keep them.

Last year, I got couple fig trees from Nursery at early Spring without mosaic leaves,  it grew up quickly and stalled at June with mosaic leaves, End of July, by using 50X loupe,  I confirmed that they all have fig bud mites, It spreaded to all my fig trees including 7 year old in ground fig tree, It can be very hard to get rid of them.

This Year, I received my order recently, I checked with them with x50 louple, I find that they came with big fat fig bud mites, They are very small, I treated them with insecticide, it hurt them badly and dropping all their leaves and dying.

My point is that, you need to check your trees for fig bud mites, If they come with fig bud mites, you need to decide that you want to treat it or junk it, it is very hard to get rid of mites without a good system ( I want to know too), Those fig bud mite eggs are very tough.


***** Picture of fig trees with big fat Fig bud mites *****

 

Now I am really paranoid.  I hope that the 8 new plants that I will be receiving today from the same nursery don't have the fig mites.  I will keep them away from all the other fig plants until my microscope arrives.

Ricky, that's a good point -- any mites, FMV emitting or otherwise, can be deadly for any plants health. I took off a bud and some small leaves from the symptomatic tree and stuck it under a microscope -- so far I'm not seeing anything, but I'll have my more capable husband double-check my work later. I would think, but correct me here if need be, that mites are not often found on healthy, outdoor plants. In my experience, they are however, more common to greenhouses or grow rooms where temperatures and humidity are a perfect breeding ground. Since the eggs are tiny and abundant, it can be hard to treat thoroughly. I've put plants in a grow room with a No-Pest Strip and have effectively halted serious infestations. When I first got this fig, I considered tenting the tree in a garbage bag and adding a pest strip. I'll have to continue to watch for mites/eggs and see if it needs that much intervention.  I understand that the treatment description I've laid out here might (no pun intended) make some people cringe, but when you're desperate to end a problem, it can help. I'm not there yet, but I'll keep it in my back pocket.

Hubby looked at the affected leaves -- found one egg (no biggie) and one tiny, slug-looking thing. It was so small that it was hard to see regular magnification. With the magnification turned up to the highest level, we could see it more clearly with tiny antennae moving at the front. Considering we live in the PNW, I'm not too concerned, but if anyone has any knowledge on the issue, I'm happy to learn.

there is a product called flying skull it makes mites exsplode it is safe look it up Im sold on it

Instead of trying to attack the mites you could also try a silicon supplement. It supposedly hardens the cell wall making it much more difficult for the mite to feed. Not that you should need it much for the heat, but it also improves resistance to heat and rain damage. The science seems to support this and my personal results have been great. No wilting even at 100 and full sun.

I'd take it back to the nursery and see what they have to say. One mite will be millions once it warms up, it is a complete liability.

What kind of silicon supplement are you talking about, here?  I've not seen this mentioned anywhere until right here.  What else is it needed for besides strengthening the cell walls?  Should it be administered to fig trees in general such as fertilizer is?  It sounds like it would be good for us in Louisiana, to protect from the brutal heat we can have here.

Thanks,

noss

Link is here: http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/splitting-and-fig-rust-symptoms-of-nutrient-deficiency-8471398

Link provides most of the answers. I use ProTekt, but there are lots out there, all roughly the same. It surrounds the plant walls and protects from heat/moisture/sun as far as I understand. There are some linked scholarly articles in the discussion. I dilute it 1/4 tsp or so per 1.6 liters. I spray my trees and cuttings to apply via foliar method and just get the leaves moistened. I do this once a week. So far I have not seen any ill effects and trees all look very healthy. Even one I received in trade which had only 3 leaves all quite yellow, now it is growing new ones and old leaves turned green. 

Disclaimer: I should note that I do not have a control in my use. I started growing figs this year and have been using this product since ~1 month after I started. All trees are in great shape and cuttings have a 100% success rate (I only mention this as I do not have a particularly green thumb and attribute the ease of rooting partially to the spray).

Hello Anton,

Thanks for your fast reply on your experience with the silicon product.

I won't blame you if I decide to use silicon and things don't turn out for me as they have for you.  :)

noss

I think you should be fine, it's incredibly dilute and a slow process. If you try it please post results!

I will report back, Anton.  Not sure if it will be soon, though, but my little trees need to have their health boosted, so I'm going to go looking.

noss