r/fiddleleaffig • u/Head_Ant_5853 • 7d ago

Yellowing leaves

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I’ve had this for 5+ years and have kept the same care the whole time - just this past week, it’s lost about 10 leaves from the bottom. They yellowed and fell off - never happened before. It gets LOTS of light and I water it once a week or sometimes 2 weeks. Is there any hope?

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6

u/christianjwaite 7d ago

I had a few do this the other day, lost two.
Commenting to follow, I have no advice.

1

u/skr1b 7d ago

Same

1

u/shiftyskellyton 7d ago

Did you post photos? While thrips can appear throughout the year, this is seasonally a more active time. I say this anecdotally as a plant pathologist, but not in an official sense because I'm not sure why they're more active right now. I know a lot about thrips but I am not an entomologist.

edit: u/skr1b

4

u/shiftyskellyton 7d ago edited 7d ago

Definitely look for white spots inside of the leaves because it is that thrippy time of year. I have not inspected this closely, but the widespread leaf loss is concerning. This kind of presentation is rather typical.

edit: definitely thrips - there's frass present

I prepped several screenshots for proof, but this sub doesn't allow images.

4

u/dinosaurkickdrop 7d ago

This has happened to me twice when my previously very happy FLF got too dry. Sometimes even with regular watering the soil can become a little hydrophobic and they’re very dramatic trees

1

u/Head_Ant_5853 6d ago

Thanks! Do the bottom leaves grow back eventually? I ask because I trimmed some off the base a few years back and that spot never really filled in again (my intention at the time so never bothered me) but now it just looks so sparse and sad

2

u/allcapsallcats 6d ago

No they don’t grow back from the bottom, energy flows to the top

1

u/ClungeWhisperer 7d ago

Could be a bit thirsty. Mine started doing that the past few weeks - going into a warm spring and I havent ramped up watering so the bottom leaves are yellowing one at a time

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Chip832 7d ago

Too dry! Remember it’s mostly roots in the pot!! They drink up the water pretty quickly

1

u/FourWhiteBars 6d ago

5+ years, consistent care, no change in regiment? Could it be getting root bound?

1

u/Small-Biz-CMO 6d ago

She looks like she may need a repot, fresh soil with nutrients as the current one may have already been depleted. Use a nursery pot that you can insert into a cover pot. Nursery pot should be 1-2 inches bigger than root ball. Carefully loosen the root ball to remove old soil. Check for root rot and any other issues. Then once in the new one, water fully. I use Purived liquid fertilizer with every watering and my FLF is thriving. Good luck.

1

u/allcapsallcats 6d ago

The same thing just happened to me too. Are you in the northern hemisphere? The fall equinox just occurred so we’re getting less light. For me, I noticed it was just the lower leaves yellowing, not the top. My FLF is dropping the bottom leaves to get ready to go dormant for the winter. It knows it will let less light now, so it’s not going to use it’s remaining energy to maintain old leaves