I got my first ever figs from Starks. The Celeste came about a week ago and Italian Honey yesterday. Both looked great. I planted them immediately in 15 gal pots filled with organic Miracle-Gro raised bed soil mixed with some sand. The Celeste had to spend a couple of days in a dimly lit garage due to the frost. She’s now been outside for three days. All the leaves, especially the lower ones are turning yellow. What am I doing wrong? Is it too much sun? They don’t look sunburned. I’ve been watering her daily. I have not fertilized yet.
You may be over watering it. Do you water it everyday just because or do you live in a really hot and dry area? If you stick your fingers down in the soil a couple of inches before watering, is the soil still damp/moist?
It’s been pretty hot here. I don’t water if it rains, which it has been a lot. Just checked the soil - it’s damp but not saturated. I’ll take it easy on the watering. Thank you!
So it came in a 4"x4"x10" container right? That is a fair amount of growth for a container of that size, in other words it was probably rootbound. So until it grows new roots out into the container you need to treat it like it is still in the smaller pot and water every day. The problem though is that the surrounding mix will stay wet while the rootball will dry out really quickly. So what I’d do is water it really well once a week, with like at least a gallon of water, and then every day trickle in like a quart right next to the trunk over the rootball. I bet they were watering everyday at the nursery…
If you can, check how the newest leaves are doing in the hottest part of the day, if they go soft because they have lost turgor pressure it is not getting enough water. They can wilt a little during the day but seem fine in the morning and evening.
The other thing… it was probably in a greenhouse (at close spacing) and isn’t used to UV light, so those leaves might get a little crispy and even drop off. If the leaves drop, it won’t be using much water at all so dial back the watering frequency to like twice a week and then increase slowly when starts growing again, which it will.
Right now it might be a good idea to put it someplace where it will get morning or afternoon sun and see if those leaves can adjust, the newest ones should, the older ones might not. I think the issue is mostly the change in sunlight right now. Wilting damage/sunburn takes a few days to actually show up so you would only be seeing the first signs right now.
I would chalk that up to transplant shock. Pretty common when planting already leafed out plants. It may get worse, but new grow will be showing soon to replace anything damaged. No need to worry.
Looks okayish to me, the lower yellowing leaves will probably drop out in a few weeks.
I treat my figs like I treat my tomatoes with fertilizing: feed them heavy and frequently. Miracle Gro soil has little to no immediately available nutrients so you might want to add something - the leaves look a more yellow than I would like.
If you are in a 8a or colder zone you might want to hold off nitrogen heavy fertilizer after mid-summer.
