Thanks for the advice. I resisted the temptation to water the cuttings until a couple of days ago. The top of the soil was extremely dry, but the moisture probe still showed ‘moist’ at the root zone. I weighed the pots and they had lost about 200 g of water so I did water at this point. I might start misting the leaves since our climate is very dry. I should point out that there are other cuttings with completely normal looking leaves, maybe they have more developed roots.
Breba figlets are now swelling
Nerucciolo d’Elba
Breva de Galicia
Negra d’Agde
Moro de Caneva
Figoin
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My first fig tree purchase was these sad amazon figs
They are doing so much better and are what started my collection
I have roughly 30 fig tree/rooted cuttings now and I am absolutely loving it!! I am excited to see how much they grow next year
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It is nutrient deficiency, not FMV at all. Give something with calcium and manganese to help correct it.
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Just checking – Do you mean manganese or magnesium?
Manganese.
I just realized you probably thought I meant like a cal/mag product. 
I just meant those are the two minerals you have deficiency in. I would use a balanced micros product to correct the managanese and something with soluable calcium for the calcium issue, if you prefer chemical inputs. If you prefer organic inputs, fish hydrolysate and seaweed will help to an extent. Gypsum or bone meal will help with the calcium, but they take time to become available. Vinegar extracted eggshells is the faster organic option for calcium.
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Yeah, if you meant Ca and Mg, then I was gonna suggest dolomitic limestone, which is a staple of fig nutrition.
I think I get why you diagnosed a deficiency of Ca and Mn – the symptoms, mottled young leaves. But a nutrient deficiency in the potting mix would have affected all his cuttings more or less equally, no?. He says that his other cuttings look good. That seems to contradict a diagnosis of a nutrient-deficient mix.
I agree that it’s likely a nutrient deficiency – but not because the nutrients aren’t present in the soil, rather because the roots aren’t yet well enough developed to absorb and transport them.
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No, actually, not at all. Yes, to the roots not being mature though.
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Each plant is unique to itself with the maturity of its system, roots, photosynthesis, exudates, and microbial relationships. This will affect its own ability to regulate nutrients.
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Then each variety can have its own uniqueness in capturing and regulating nutrients.
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Soil microbial life can vary as well between systems. Each pot becomes its own system, separate from the others, no matter how it starts. The microbes needed for those particular nutrients may be missing.
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Then you can also have blockages from other nutrient excesses.
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Eh-pH also affect nutrient availability.
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The majority of fig trees are deficient in calcium and manganese, (probably boron as well.) Trees stockpile these nutrients in late summer/fall after fruit harvest. But most people stop all nutrients after fruiting. Plus many focus on NPK instead of calcium or micros. So it’s my theory that nearly every cutting people receive are starting off deficient which is why we see it so often. Not to mention that trees store nutrients in the roots for dormancy, so there could be shortages from that as well. The cells for early growth form off of those stored nutrients before we ever see roots or start fertilizing ourselves.
So, it’s not just the soil makeup variable, it’s 5-6 others as well. Because each pot and tree is its own system, you have to treat them individually to a degree.
Plus, the signs are obvious of nutrient deficiency, they are classic symptoms and can’t really be anything else. They don’t have FMV markers, I didn’t see indications of mites when I first looked (I’d have to look again to verify.) But those would just be in addition to the nutrient deficiencies.
Hope this helps!
You’re over-complicatiing it.
If a cutting pops leaves well before it grows roots, there’ll be a nutrient deficiency, right?
That’s my point. I’m not saying that there’s no nutrient deficiency. I’m saying (1) it has nothing to do with the soil; and (2) it won’t be solved by adding nutrients.
The nutrient delivery problem will go away when/if the cutting develops decent roots.
I don’t think it’s over complicating it, they are viable aspects that affect nutrient availability to explain why it’s not just the soil alone or the roots alone. But to keep it simple, just look at the leaves. They tell you there is a nutrient issue going on. The whys and wherefores are in the points I mentioned.
Most cuttings will pop leaves before roots. But even if there are roots first, the roots can have issues if the nutrients are lacking. New roots also can only uptake so much. Most nutrients are obtained via microbes according to some more recent research. So the right microbes need to be there and the roots need to have the capability to interact with them. So yeah, root maturity can help to fix the issue. But a person can also help to correct it now by foliar spraying the plant.
Both calcium and manganese are not mobile nutrients, it is the roots that mostly regulate them. Those deficiencies are seen in new leaves, not mature ones (unless severe). So the root structure improving will improve uptake of those.
You do need the leaves to cause the nutrients to pull up from the roots and for photosynthesis. So it’s not a roots vs. leaves thing of which comes first, both are needed for the nutrient cycle.
But if there are other issues as mentioned in the other points, then the roots maturing will not necessarily fix the problem. They are just one aspect.
Agreed. The simplest strategy is to let the roots mature, observe whether the problem disappears. If yes, end of story. If no, then address other possible causes.
This is 6 weeks progress. About a third of the plants have abnormal looking leaves. I would have thought the new potting soil wouldn’t need supplementing this early on but I’m happy to try it.
OK, that’s a more widespread and persistent problem than I thought you were describing. Now I’m inclined to agree that you should fertilize. Focus on nutrients other than N-P-K.
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I recommend you supplement with EDDHA Iron. Pay close attention to dosage.
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I agree with that to a point. I would still fix it now with a foliar spray just to ensure those nutrients are there for current celllular development since it is actively growing. Calcium is a fairly essential nutrient for figs and affects structural quality so I would foliar spray it regardless.
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Potting soil— I’m assuming the commercial kind— only has limited nutrients that don’t last very long. They aren’t typically reliable as a solid source. But you definitely need the calcium and manganese.
Yikes, I think that means 3 products, one each for Ca, Mn and the EEDA plus a foliar spray!
Nah, just get a balanced product and you’ll cover all bases. 
You can feed both roots and foliage with any water soluble product.
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I’d try the iron first, and ensure that the roots are not waterlogged.