Please help save this fig tree...

[cesperian]

Hello, all. I am at the point of desperation and could very much use some helpful information. I have an established fig tree in Las Vegas, which was beautiful and full years ago, but within the past 3-4 years began to have issues; on some branches the bark began to separate and the leaves dried up and died. I have been cutting off the base of the branches where the die-off seems to start, but it has not abated. It is now probably 2/3 the size it was when I moved in, from all the cutbacks I have made over the past couple years. I recently treated it with systemic root treatment in case it was borers, and that seemed to have slow it down but now it's resuming. I had an arborist out who did not see any borer holes, could not figure out the bark separation, and thought that it could be saved by 'selective pruning', to which I was dubious.

Watering; there are 4 2gph micro-emitters arrayed around the tree extending out as far as the canopy does (did), that run for 35 min 3x a week.

Any advice or even just insight about what is going on is more than welcome, it is desperately needed

Thanks in advance...

 

[Chuck]

Not knowing your tree all I can go by are the pictures. To me they show too much shade. That wall looks like its about 7 feet tall and those palm trees and other trees makes what seems to be a very shady spot for a fig tree which likes full sun or at least a lot of direct sunlight and where it is is not a good spot. Figs live a long time but I don't know how old the tree is. What leaves there are look OK so that leaves something to do with the root system. Dig around under the tree and look at some of the roots. If they are misshapen or gnarled or have galls on them it is root knot nematodes and nothing can be done.

 

[cesperian]

I dunno how old it is, but it was healthy and vibrant when I moved into the property 8 years ago. As far as the sunlight goes, it gets pretty much full sun; the walls border the S and W side, but in the summer the sun is directly overhead. Even if it wasn't the tree extends past the top of the wall by probably 7 feet. The surrounding trees give some shade to it, but not much.

Interesting about the nematodes. I had a few fruit trees that I had planted that flopped over dead all of a sudden, ditto for a huge vegetable garden that was putting out a ridiculous amount of produce that all of a sudden stopped being able to support any kind of plant life. I was wondering if there may be something that got in the soil...

 

[Chuck]

I dunno how old it is, but it was healthy and vibrant when I moved into the property 8 years ago. As far as the sunlight goes, it gets pretty much full sun; the walls border the S and W side, but in the summer the sun is directly overhead. Even if it wasn't the tree extends past the top of the wall by probably 7 feet. The surrounding trees give some shade to it, but not much.

Interesting about the nematodes. I had a few fruit trees that I had planted that flopped over dead all of a sudden, ditto for a huge vegetable garden that was putting out a ridiculous amount of produce that all of a sudden stopped being able to support any kind of plant life. I was wondering if there may be something that got in the soil...

Well, that leaves out the trees age and its sunlight conditions as the cause. Do you have a sandy type soil? If so then nematodes are likely. Pull up some of the roots and check

 

[cesperian]

Thanks for the suggestions, Chuck. Are there any other definite telltale signs of nematodes other than gnarled roots?...

 

[Chuck]

Thanks for the suggestions, Chuck. Are there any other definite telltale signs of nematodes other than gnarled roots?...

No, just messed up roots and stunted growth for root knot nematodes. Here is something else you can do. Cut the entire tree in half. I know this sounds drastic but it works on fast growing trees like figs. The tree may be too big (tall) for its root system. If you do this cut it while it is dormant.