Please or to access all these features

Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

What do I do about this on the leaves of my fig tree ?

2 replies

cleo333 · 21/08/2026 07:14

What do I do about this in the leaves of my fig tree?

What do I do about this on the leaves of my fig tree ?
OP posts:
lcakethereforeIam · 21/08/2026 10:19

I had thrips on a Monstera, the bits where the leaves are eaten away looked just like that. The white stuff could be mealy bugs or possibly webbing from spider mites (they're really tiny), or bird poop. It's a bit blurry. It's possible the nibbly damage could also be caused by mites or mealy bug, I've <touches wood> not had to deal with either of them...yet. Get a magnifying glass and have a good squint.

Is it indoors, in a conservatory or greenhouse?

I dealt with my thrips by putting the plant in the shower and thoroughly washing the leaves. Pruned off the worst affected then used a squirty premixed insecticide. If it had been a fruiting plant, but in a pot and handleable, I'd have covered the substrate with plastic, stuck down firmly to stop it falling out, filled an appropriately sized container with cool water and washing up liquid, inverted the plant, dunked it in there then swirled it round to get rid of air bubbles. Left it while I had a brew (15 mins.), taken it out and rinsed the whole thing off with clean water.

If it's just a few leaves wiping them with soapy water, or pruning them off might be sufficient.

I think you can get predatory mites that will help control thrips, mealy bugs and spider mites. They're species specific so you do need to id the pest or pests, assuming it's any of them.

I admit I've never grown a fig and could be completely wrong. It may be a natural reaction to heat stress, drought or something else.

Agapornis · 21/08/2026 20:33

Fig leaf skeletoniser moth - or rather, its caterpillars. Super annoying but normally purely cosmetic. Best method is to squash them.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/fig-leaf-skeletoniser

I think it's mostly in the south east/London, for now at least.

Fig leaf skeletoniser Choreutis nermorana

Fig Leaf Skeletoniser: Protect Your Fig Plants | RHS Advice

Learn how to spot fig leaf skeletoniser caterpillars and prevent skeletonised leaves on fig plants.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/fig-leaf-skeletoniser

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread