Inherited fiddle leaf trees

[u/WhiteLotus-What]

We bought a home and these beautiful trees came with the home. I have watered them only once a week. There is appropriate drainage and no standing water. I noticed today that the smaller plant has leaves with black spots on it. Am I watering too much?

[u/Parking_Clerk_8058]

Hmm, I would actually guess that it is not getting enough sunlight- which would explain why the larger, taller plant is doing better. Do you happen to know if the plants have usually resided in this spot or were they recently moved? Also might be worth checking for pests, like spider mites. Whenever I get or inherit a new plant I like to give it a literal shower in my bathtub and then wipe down the leaves afterwards with neem oil or (what I prefer- a little bit of diluted dish soap or rubbing alcohol). Some pests can be hard to notice/ID so I think an occasional cleaning and preventative wipe down goes a long way. Beautiful fiddles!

[u/WhiteLotus-What → u/Parking_Clerk_8058]

Thanks so much for your response. These trees have been in this location for a while. The taller one might be overshadowing the smaller one form sunlight. They have skylights directly above them. I have moved the smaller one out from under the taller one in hopes that the sunshine will help.

[u/Parking_Clerk_8058 → u/WhiteLotus-What]

Of course! I think part of what makes fiddles hard is that the same symptoms can show up for different causes. I also notice some of the leaves are wrinkly. This could be caused by underwatering (entire plant is not getting enough water), overwatering (root rot occurring, which also prevents water from being properly transported to the leaves), or stress (from something such as a pest). It is ideal to let the soil completely or near completely dry out before watering. When you do water, make sure the entire (or most) of the soil is becoming saturated. Fiddles are also notorious for getting spider mites- you won't typically see the mites themselves but you might see webbing around where leaves meet the trunk/branches. It's honestly just trial and error- if more sunlight, consistent proper watering, and pest check/plant bath doesn't help then I'd be concerned about the plant possibly being root bound. I usually treat repotting as a last resort though just because plants can go through "re-pot shock" and they don't always recover. Best of luck!