What to Do When Your Fiddle-Leaf Fig Gets Leaf Spot Disease? A Detailed Guide to Prevention and Treatment

Short-term temperature fluctuations and excessive watering during the dormant period can both cause leaf spot disease; in severe cases, the diseased leaves should be removed.

Prevention and treatment methods: promptly remove diseased tissue and burn it in a centralized manner; practice crop rotation, or replace the soil indoors; avoid spraying water over the plant; begin spraying from the early stage of the disease to prevent it from spreading and worsening. Commonly used fungicides include 25% carbendazim wettable powder at 300-600 times dilution, 50% thiophanate at 1000 times dilution, 70% mancozeb at 500 times dilution, or 50% captan at 500 times dilution. Be sure to alternate the fungicides to prevent the pathogen from developing resistance.

What to Do When Your Fiddle-Leaf Fig Dries Out and Drops Its Leaves?

Once we notice the fiddle-leaf fig dropping leaves, we need to find the cause. Usually, as long as the cause is identified, the problem of drying out and dropping leaves is easy to solve.

1. Soil-related causes.

Because the fiddle-leaf fig does well in slightly acidic soil, and most of what we normally use to water plants is tap water, over time this causes the soil in the pot to become alkaline, leading to the drying out and dropping of leaves.

Solution: For routine watering, you can choose to use purified water. If you do not have any, you can fill a bucket with tap water a few days in advance, leave it on the balcony to sit in the sun for a few days, and then use it to water. This way, you can prevent the soil from becoming alkaline.

2. Lack of fertilizer.

During the care of the fiddle-leaf fig, if fertilizer is not applied in time or is insufficient, the leaves will dry out, turn yellow and drop.

Solution: Increase the amount of nitrogen fertilizer, but do not apply too much at once, so as not to burn the plant. Apply fertilizer in small amounts but more frequently; this way you can promptly replenish the fertilizer and promote plant growth.

3. Pests and diseases.

The main pest and disease problem for the fiddle-leaf fig is leaf spot disease; severe leaf spot will cause the leaves to wither, turn yellow and drop.

Solution: If there are only a few leaf spots, you can move the potted fiddle-leaf fig to a well-ventilated spot with plenty of light, while avoiding spraying water directly onto the leaves. If the leaf spot is severe, the entire leaf should be cut off to avoid affecting and damaging other leaves. At the same time, you can repot it and replace the soil, which can also help prevent and treat pests and diseases.