I've had this ficus for about 3 months. About a week after I brought it home it started dropping leaves. I mean a lot of leaves! I thought it was due to transplant shock so it gave it some time and just tried to keep it happy and give it plenty of light. Well it wasn't long after that the leaves started turning brown and curling inwards and the new leaves were deforming. Now I'm seeing a lot of rust and yellow colored spots. I initially thought it might have spider mites because it was next to a plant that had an infestation, so I treated it with Captain jacks dead bug brew. Unfortunately it hasn't helped. The leaf drop has slowed considerably but no new leaves are coming out. Any ideas what might be wrong?

Is it in full sun? How do you determine when to water? Can you post a photo of the whole plant?

It is wintertime. It won't grow new leaves until spring.

Deformed leaves would suggest some sort of bug infestation but its never good to treat a plant with a pesticide until you know for sure and can choose the right treatment. Did you follow the instructions exactly on the Capt. Jack's?

DaisyI said:

Is it in full sun? How do you determine when to water? Can you post a photo of the whole plant?

It is wintertime. It won't grow new leaves until spring.

Deformed leaves would suggest some sort of bug infestation but its never good to treat a plant with a pesticide until you know for sure and can choose the right treatment. Did you follow the instructions exactly on the Capt. Jack's?

Thank you! Here are some pics of the whole tree. It's in full sun for close to 6-7 hours a day. I have a water meter and water it when the meter reads low moisture, so close to being dry. I insert the meter about 3-4 inches below soil level. I followed the instructions on captain jacks to a tee.

Ficus lose a lot of leaves in fall and then fewer over the winter. Are the affected leaves on the side facing the window, bottom half of the plant, top half, evenly spaced everywhere?

FIcus are good at telling us when they are unhappy. But, unless you change just one thing at a time, its hard to say what the cause really is. You gave it a new environment, a new pot and soil, new exposure, then treated it for bugs. Its hard to determine the real cause.

When you bring a plant into your home from the cushy comforts of the nursery greenhouse, its going to suffer. Different temperatures, lower humidity, different light exposure ... it takes some time to get used to the new situation.

Repotting is really stressful for plants, no matter how careful you are, the tiny root hairs are going to be disturbed and need time to heal before the plant can look and feel its best again. Its always best to give a new plant about 6 months of acclimation time and then repot in spring or early summer when you see active growth.

Usually, brown deformed leaves indicate underwatering or sunburn. Ficus like barely damp soil but not dry soil. When the upper leaves brown or deform, the the tree is saying more water please.

Most plants grown in a nursery setting do not live in the sun so have to be acclimated to sun so if the brown deformed leaves were on the window side, it could be sunburn. No, don't move it. New leaves will grow and they will be acclimated and the tree needs the sun to be healthy. Every time you water, give the plant a quarter turn.

Yellow leaves on the bottom part of the tree would indicate too much water. If that's the case, insert the water meter probe as deep as you can to see what's happening further down. Did you put rocks or pebbles on the bottom of the pot? The pot has a drain hole, right?

Pesticides are also hard on plants. Its always a race to see what dies first, the plant or the bugs. That's why its important to follow the directions to a tee but also don't treat what you can't see.

On the whole, I think your tree looks fine. It needs time to sort things out and in a couple months, I think you will see new leaves and overall improvement. In the meantime, good light, good watering practices and no fertilizer (that will add another layer of stress). Fertilize in the spring of 2023 with a complete fertilizer mixed at half strength.

Keep us updated...

Thank you for the response! The affected leaves are all over, top, bottom, inner, and outer. They're not necessarily the ones facing the window, although I have been turning it every few weeks so it's possible the leaves are getting sunburned when facing the window and I just haven't paid that close attention.

I also forgot to mention that I found a white crusty substance on several of the leaves a couple of weeks ago. It didn't look like mealy bugs or any other pest I've seen before. I didn't treat it with anything but have been keeping an eye for any more. See the pic below. Any idea what that is?

Does the white crusty wipe off? The sap of Ficus is white so if a leaf suffers any damage, it will 'bleed' white and form a scab.

I don't know why your plant is unhappy right now, I would just give it time. I have this species of Ficus (along with several others), they are quite robust plants and can recuperate from some loss of foliage. I think your lighting is quite good, and there is no reason it should not be putting out new leaves now..., even now in mid January, mine are, and I am several hundred miles further north of you. I would withhold feeding until it pulls out of its current funk. Also, try to season it outside, it makes a huge difference with Ficus (May through September). Good luck!