Fig tree not doing well

[In2b8er]

My parents gave me a fig tree cutting about 2 years ago. They got the cutting from a friend who has a mature tree. I am not sure on the variety. They kept the cutting in water until it sprouted roots and then we transferred it into a pot. I live in Michigan so the tree would not survive a winter if grown outside. I used a few bags of top soil, garden soil and potting mix for the pot. The pot is nice and big, my wife thinks it’s too big. After a few weeks in the ground it started to grow rapidly and branch off. Then after a few months it started producing fruit and stopped growing. It also started sprouting other “trunks” basically trying to turn more into a bush than a tree. At first I was ripping those other plants/trunks out so that the main tree could get bigger but after a while decided to let them grow. The tree now has produced it’s second set of fruit however, these fruit are taking a very long time to ripen, I mean 5 to 6 months and only one or two fruit ripen at a time. The plant jus started growing again, mostly on one of the branches and not the main trunk. I water the plant once every 3 to 5 days, with about a gallon or two of water each watering, I’ve also used Mirical Grow all purpose plant food every 3 to 4 months on it, I mix the small side of the spoon in a gallon of water. The problem is the plant looks like it’s dying. And has looked like this for almost 8 months now. The leaves are drying out and turning orange, and some of the leaves and fruit have a cobweb that formed on them. I haven’t seen any critters on the plant or in the soil and the plant has been in doors it’s whole life. There are 2 other plants in very close proximity to this one and they’re doing well, no cobwebs on them. I have huge windows with southern exposure and get a lot of sun light, sometimes the sun light is very intense. My aloe which I’ve had for over 10yrs turned orange when I first moved to this house because of the intense sun light. What am I doing wrong? What can I do to help my Fig tree thrive?

Thank you in advance for any help or comments.

 

[Gail_68]

Hello @In2b8er welcome to GF and nice to have you with us

Are the pictures on the left showing what it looks like now or the ones on the right but some of the leaves look dead to me and just need removing, that's my opinion until someone who knows more about them can reply plus some fruit tree's can take quite a few years to develop properly for maturity of fruit...hopefully the link below can help in the meantime.

https://michigannutgrowers.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/ficus-carica.pdf

 

[In2b8er]

Thank you for the reply. Those pictures were all taken today. I was just trying to show the whole plant and then close ups of the dying leaves. But it seems like most of the leaves are dying.

 

[Gail_68]

Thank you for the reply. Those pictures were all taken today. I was just trying to show the whole plant and then close ups of the dying leaves. But it seems like most of the leaves are dying.

The only advice I can give is to watch this video

 

[Gail_68]

@In2b8er I've just been checking on your leaves and reading up it's not through disease apparently it's when they need more supplemental water.

 

[Chuck]

My parents gave me a fig tree cutting about 2 years ago. They got the cutting from a friend who has a mature tree. I am not sure on the variety. They kept the cutting in water until it sprouted roots and then we transferred it into a pot. I live in Michigan so the tree would not survive a winter if grown outside. I used a few bags of top soil, garden soil and potting mix for the pot. The pot is nice and big, my wife thinks it’s too big. After a few weeks in the ground it started to grow rapidly and branch off. Then after a few months it started producing fruit and stopped growing. It also started sprouting other “trunks” basically trying to turn more into a bush than a tree. At first I was ripping those other plants/trunks out so that the main tree could get bigger but after a while decided to let them grow. The tree now has produced it’s second set of fruit however, these fruit are taking a very long time to ripen, I mean 5 to 6 months and only one or two fruit ripen at a time. The plant jus started growing again, mostly on one of the branches and not the main trunk. I water the plant once every 3 to 5 days, with about a gallon or two of water each watering, I’ve also used Mirical Grow all purpose plant food every 3 to 4 months on it, I mix the small side of the spoon in a gallon of water. The problem is the plant looks like it’s dying. And has looked like this for almost 8 months now. The leaves are drying out and turning orange, and some of the leaves and fruit have a cobweb that formed on them. I haven’t seen any critters on the plant or in the soil and the plant has been in doors it’s whole life. There are 2 other plants in very close proximity to this one and they’re doing well, no cobwebs on them. I have huge windows with southern exposure and get a lot of sun light, sometimes the sun light is very intense. My aloe which I’ve had for over 10yrs turned orange when I first moved to this house because of the intense sun light. What am I doing wrong? What can I do to help my Fig tree thrive?

Thank you in advance for any help or comments.

On a fig tree, especially an older juvenile tree such as yours, fruit set is iffy when anything is even slightly wrong. On your tree you have a major problem. Your tree is suffering from iron chlorosis. This is weakening the tree plus the tree either isn't getting enough water or too much water. We need to know the size of the container to make a determination of whether a gallon or two every 3-5 days is too much or too little. Can you take a picture of the cobwebs? It could be spider mites

 

[alp]

It might be a good idea to add some woodland soil and garden soil to the pot as figs are vigorous growers. Woodland soil is full of beneficial microbes. Or see if you could find a very sheltered corner with brick wall or concrete and in winter time, drape fleece around it.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I agree with @Chuck. Lets examine your idea of feeding. The instruction for the miracle grow are for a product that is intended to feed lightly, but feed frequently in watering. You say that you have changed from the instructions on the package and use the small side of the dipper at a very infrequent interval. I believe that is 1.25ml or a quarter tsp. It may be 5ml or 1tsp, but I recall it is the smaller. (edit: I looked at mine and it was 2.5ml or 1\2tsp- go figure) I would go back to following the label, as you are underfeeding and the deficiency @Chuck sees comes from that cultivation method. You are also overwatering, or you need a water tray for the pot to sit in. If the soil is wet, and you have topsoil in a pot, it could easily drown roots. This is lack of air. Being in a pot, topsoil and garden soil are not the best. The pot dissallows oxygen from the sides, and dense soil like topsoil or garden soil dissallow oxygen from top or bottom especially when wet, which you ensure by watering more than once per week. Potting soil even has glass beads of perlite to ensure oxygen and drainage as well as moderation of water loss over time. Again, the labels state how to use those types of soil. Root rot is also common in this setup. The pot also needs to be on the larger side because fig is a fast grower and that is true for the roots as well. You may need to severely prune every 4 or 5 years or separate when repotting. Figs get huge. They will bush out more if you whack them. They get leggy and thin if you do not.

The short story is that root system is big and you really need it setup more like a hydroponic with plenty of oxygen and light but frequent nutrient liquid feed rather than an oxygen deprive heavy wet soil which has no nutrients as it exists currently. An inch of water per week should do. It sound like you have enough sun.