AusBonsai

According to pictures in LK's book on figs it is a fungal infection and I agree from my limited experience.
Last winter my figs had no such signs at all. Not even in very shaded branches. I did see scale and those leaf
eating bugs but no fungal spots on any of my fig varieties.
This year a friend gave me a fig that was infected,[lots of lower and inner leaves had the spots]
While I tried confidor, mancozeb and echo oil it just got worse until all the leaves had it and gradually dropped off.
My other figs on the same bench showed signs first so I think it came from the same tree.
That's what made me try the lime sulphur which in my case has been good.
IMO it does the job. The other measures only exacerbated the problem but the lime sulphur spay has stopped it spreading.
It looked like fungal infection to me and the spaying has helped
However I'm still intending to follow Aubigfigs example and defoliate all my figs and bin the leaves
The man who gave me the fig I mentioned has the same problem on all his figs. He tells me he defoliated earlier in
September last year due to the infection that he thought was a water issue. That clearly didn't work too well.
On the plus side it does make the trunks nice and clear looking after spraying

How does one go about developing this type of style?

All the branches shrivel & die back hard after the infected leaves drop. Any remnants of any fresh buds on the infected branches are also killed - as mentioned earlier in this post, I have lost well established strong branches on the below 12 year old.

Don't be misled-This is NOT just seasonal leaf drop people!!

Shame looks like a beautiful Fig and one can feel for you as I have a large part of my collection in figs.

One can never be sure from this far away.....but what your showing and describing is classic symptom of waters stress as in overwatering and/or either over fertilising....loss of chlorophyll (very pale leaves) then leaf drop,then shrivelled branchlets then branches all with die back.

Basically photosynthesis inhibited.....maybe you could bump it out of the pot and see if there is any root damage,this will help you greatly determine whats happening...as we know it all starts in/with the engine room (roots).

Just thinking out loud for you hope you don t mind my friend...as said difficult when not in front of us.

cheers Anthony

Anthony,
Thanks for your feedback - & I don't mind at all receiving your thoughts (that's what we are here for)

Yes already re-potted much earlier in the season thinking the same thing - to check roots. All looked good. Trunk also Good. Infection seemed to start with leaves and work its way back. I sprayed with eco oil earlier also - but did not stop the gradual yellowing. Decided to let it take it course until the warmer weather starts, & cut back very hard to start all over again. Never had this problem before. Before winter it looked like below . Gonna give it a lime sulphuring as well as recommended by Robb63. (Thanks Robb63!)
Here's hoping all your figs remain healthy.

Hi KC&R,

Looking like the new leaves are pale ald the old full of colour. Have you considered spraying with iron chelates? Could possibly be an iron deficiency. Have you got better close-ups of the foliage?

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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This is not a pathogenic disease. It comes about from poor horticultural management. I know this because I have experienced it. It is caused by a number of things and a combination of things. The repotting is not done correctly (timing, mix, root cleansing, pruning, hard compacted mix beneath the trunk and around the nebari etc) Unbalanced pruning of the branches. (allowing stronger branches to gain vigour weakens the smaller ones quickly and drastically) Watering too often, watering to little, allowing the fine branches to get too cold, improper nutrition, defoliating when you shouldn't, defoliating the weak branches. The yellowing of the leaves are a sign that that particular branch is not receiving what it should from the tree for some reason. It means that that branch is in great peril and often too late to reverse. Obviously a dying leaf which still has a high moisture content will be attacked by decomposing organisms. That's what those black spots are. They are not the cause of the problem. The problem is a physiological one caused by poor management of the tree. Have you ever notice branches on Acer palmatum going black and suddenly dying?....Same thing. Not a disease and until that is realized it will keep happening every time the tree experiences stress of any kind.

I should also add this point. Correct bonsai management is all about equalizing the strength of the various parts of a tree. It always starts at the roots. It is why we need to remove heavy roots and replace them with finer ones. The heavy roots always correspond with a heavy branch and vice versa. Therefore we prune the heavy roots and prune the heavy branches to balance the vigour throughout the tree. We cannot add strength to weak branches, we can only remove strength from strong ones. If we fail to do this, it's just a matter of time until the weak branches die. This is the most fundamental consideration above all others.

Just simply stunning,

Cheers,
Hal.

Hi!
Can you let us know how your trees have recovered after defol? Did you spray the tree with anything after defol? Have they budded back ok and without the fungus?
Thanks!

Hi aubigfig50,
Would be interested to know how your beautiful advanced fig trees are going at the moment. You mentioned defoliation for you in your area usually takes place in November - is this something you have undertaken as yet?
More importanty - Have you had good successful growth this season, after the issues of the winter months now past?
cheers Kc&r

Same issue happening again this winter - just spent the morning fully defoliating my large fig that had again started to exhibit tell tale signs in the leaf.
Lost some new branching shrivelled from the tips down. I have only experienced this problem since 2017.
Last winter I bought the tree inside very early (early autumn) and all was good. This year I was a little late getting it inside.
Hate having to defoliate figs in the middle of winter.
Hate loosing new ramification.

Spraying Lime sulphur did the trick back in 2017, so this afternoon my tree had a "golden shower" - and I really pong bad!
Hope this info may be helpful - Keep calm.

This started to happen on a couple of mine last year. This winter no problems. One I repotted as it was in diatomite that had gone soft...poor soil conditions. I re-potted in 100% akadama and it is now looking healthy. The other one that would also drop leaves was potentially under potted and roots were in need of a trim. Placed it in a slightly larger pot with minimal root trim at beginning of autumn and fed, again 100% akadama and have had no leaf drop so far this winter.( is actually powering along). I have been using organic fertiliser pellets in tea bags so they get a bit every time I water without clogging up the mix. Fertiliser method was the same before the repot so it was most likely the soil / pot conditions.

Looks like you have had exactly the same problem as me . This year I have been spraying with lime sulphur and reducing my watering as well as avoiding overhead watering and so far it has seemed to do the trick. It has not eliminated it completely but has greatly reduced the leaf drop and so far I have not experienced any die back of branching. I have also avoided pruning them at the start of winter. I am hoping they will get through winter this year with minimal problems .

Keep Calm and Ramify wrote:Same issue happening again this winter - just spent the morning fully defoliating my large fig that had again started to exhibit tell tale signs in the leaf.
Lost some new branching shrivelled from the tips down. I have only experienced this problem since 2017.
Last winter I bought the tree inside very early (early autumn) and all was good. This year I was a little late getting it inside.
Hate having to defoliate figs in the middle of winter.
Hate loosing new ramification.

Spraying Lime sulphur did the trick back in 2017, so this afternoon my tree had a "golden shower" - and I really pong bad!

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Hope this info may be helpful - Keep calm.