Diseased Ficus

[Bruce The Goose]

HI there,
Some of my ficus are looking a bit pale and have some reddish spots on them.Its not on all my figs and some are worse than others.They still have some healthy leaves but I would expect at this time of year my figs to have those deep green leaves not these yellow ones.Im on the South Coast of NSW,i wouldn't think it's over watering as I haven't had this before and havent changed my watering practices.Happy to hear your thoughts,

Cheers
Bruce

[TimIAm]

The spots look like scale damage. I suggest a more thorough inspection of the underside of leaves and stems of new growth to get an idea of how much scale there is.

What is a rough percentage you are seeing of leaves yellowing? Trees dropping leaves is normal if you are not constantly constantly cutting a tree back as the tree replaces old leaves for new, so if it is only a few leaves I wouldn't be concerned. Especially as we head into colder months it is common to see trees drop some older leaves, that includes Ficus species.

If you are still concerned, it would be helpful for some pictures of the whole tree.

[shibui]

What is a rough percentage you are seeing of leaves yellowing? Trees dropping leaves is normal if you are not constantly constantly cutting a tree back as the tree replaces old leaves for new, so if it is only a few leaves I wouldn't be concerned. Especially as we head into colder months it is common to see trees drop some older leaves, that includes Ficus species.

Above is also my initial thoughts.
Definitely check for scale. They seem to love Ficus.
I'd certainly like to see a photo of the entire tree before making a diagnosis. Often there can be as many clues in what's not affected as in the actual affected parts.

i wouldn't think it's over watering as I haven't had this before and havent changed my watering practices.

Not sure how long you've been playing with bonsai. One thing I have discovered is that things do not stay the same. As the pots fill with roots drainage alters considerably so what was working last year may not work as well this year.
I generally see similar yellow leaves at the end of winter down here if the trees have been a little wet through the colder months. I know that's not likely to apply to your figs, just something to consider with all the other possibilities.

Some other info that may or may not be relevant:
How long since last repotting?
Fertiliser regime?

[dansai]

Like Shibui has said a bit more info would be good. I have had a few of my figs have yellow leaves this year. Like Shibui has said, I usually expect it towards the end of winter. Particularly wet ones. However I've seen a fair bit already this year. Mostly on figs that haven't been repotted for a while in grow pots with organic based mixes. We have also had over a metre of rain in the last 6 months so things have been wet for extended periods and a lot of my grow trees are looking tired. Hard to keep up the fert when it rains so much.

More developed figs in well drained mixes in shallow pots all look fine.

[Bruce The Goose]

Thanks for responding guys,much appreciated.
On checking my trees again I've notice the most affected ones sit under an old apple tree that is prone to disease and I wonder if this is the culprit.My figs that are further away from it are healthier even though they probably have less sunshine and are in a damper environment,what do you think ?

[dansai]

They don’t look too bad. Maybe hit them with a liquid fert. Generally quick acting and may bring a bit of green back. Also monitor your watering. This time of year figs start to slow and don’t take up as much water. I wouldn’t have thought the issues affecting an apple would affect figs too much.

[shibui]

I don't know of any diseases that figs share with apples but it is possible there may be something coming from the apple tree to affect the fig.
Did you check for scale on the leaves and stem? Scale is something mine often get. It's also something that might be shared with an apple and small brown scale insects can be hard to spot.

You have probably already looked at other possibilities but sometimes worth having a second pair of eyes.
Hard to tell from the photos but the problem tree is at the end of a bench. I think I can see spray heads coming up from the bench. Is it possible it's missing out on some water?
I can also see that it is close(er) to a tin shed but that may just be the angle of the photo.
I assume there's no difference in potting mix, fertiliser or how long since it was repotted compared to the others?

[Rory]

Interesting. People always say figs are bulletproof. I had endless problems with figs over the years though, particularly port Jackson figs. They’re susceptible to rot and rust if you aren’t monitoring them closely and don’t get a lot of sun.
I wonder if Myrtle rust or some type of bad rust affects them too, as mine declined in health over the years and no matter what I sprayed or used I couldn’t really get any great health back into them. In reducing my collection I actually gave up on figs.
I do love them, particularly Moretons, but mine eventually were plagued with rust and constant attacks from pests after they fell ill.

[matlea]

Came across this article…. Could be something similar?[

URL] https://www.plantsforallseasons.co.uk/b ... event-them[/URL]