With its decorative leaves, a fig tree is a feast for the eyes even without fruiting. Reason enough to take a look at these tips about the growth of the leaves on a real fig (Ficus carica). You can read here when a fig tree sheds its leaves normally and unplanned.
When does a fig tree shed its leaves?
A fig tree usually sheds its leavesin October. If a real fig (Ficus carica) loses leaves in the middle of the growth phase, common causes arecare errors, such as waterlogging, drought stress and nutrient deficiency. A fig tree often reacts tofungal infestation by dropping its leaves.
How long does a fig tree keep its leaves?
A fig tree (Ficus carica) bears its leaves fromspring to autumn The time for budding and leaf shedding depends on the macro and micro climate as well as the fig variety. In the mild wine-growing climate, planted on the sunny house wall, the first leaves sprout on an early fig variety at the end of March/beginning of April. On the fig tree in northern Germany, the leaves sometimes take until May and June to emerge.
In autumn, fig tree leaves turn yellow. From October onwards the leaves turn brown and fall to the ground.
Why does a fig tree lose its leaves in the middle of summer?
If a fig tree drops its leaves during the growing phase, the most common causes arecare errorsanddiseases. From these symptoms you can recognize typical triggers forunnatural leaf shedding on figs:
- Waterlogging: hanging leaves, dripping wet root ball, musty smell.
- Drought stress: curled leaves.
- Nutrient deficiency: yellow leaves, often with green leaf veins.
- Fungal disease rust (Pucciniales): brown leaf speckles, holey leaf tissue, brown leaf edges.
What to do if a fig tree drops leaves in the middle of summer?
When a fig tree drops leaves in the middle of summer, acausal analysis reveals the specific triggers. This is what you have to do so that the leaves on a fig sprout again:
- Cause of waterlogging of garden figs: Work sand into the soil, from now on only water when the soil is noticeably dry.
- Cause of waterlogging on potted figs: repot, water more sparingly in the future.
- Cause of drought stress: Water the fig tree thoroughly in the garden, dip the root ball of a potted fig in rainwater.
- Cause of nutrient deficiency: Fertilize the fig tree with a liquid nutrient combination (€46.00 at Amazon) from NPK 8-8-8.
- Cause of fungal infestation: cut off affected leaves, collect fallen leaves and dispose of them in household waste.
Tip
New pest targets fig tree leaves
The crowd of dreaded pests that target the juicy leaves on the fig tree have been growing for several years. The fig leaf moth (Choreutis nemorana), also known as the fig leaf moth, is of great concern in private fig cultivation. As a result of global warming, the Mediterranean pest has migrated to Austria and Germany. The voracious caterpillars sit well protected under a spider web and mercilessly skeletonize the fig tree leaves.
