...What on earth happened to this fig on re-entry?

[Werewoof]

Alright, so last year, I ended up buying some Chicago Hardy figs: I had 3, lost one to a mower (like so many other plants ), but the two remaining ones ended up surviving -10°F last winter! To my utter disbelief, they have indeed come back this summer, having returned sometime in May, iirc.

One of them doesn't even look like a fig anymore.

Here's the normal one, bought last year as a twigfig from 9GreenBox, leaves and stump:



...and here's the other one, bought last year from Stark Bros, with leaves, stump, and further proof that this is indeed the same Chicago Hardy fig tree:





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Over the course of last year until now, both received roughly equal treatment, though one was about 4' at the time of shipping, unlike the other one, which was scarcely 6" tall.

They were moved about from here to there, re-potted in the same soil type (Miracle Gro / other-brand potting mix, I do believe), mishandled, docked of dead wood (probably just) as they were beginning to break dormancy, and much of this after the -10°F last December, with no cover. And I do believe both figs caught the same disease last year, whatever it was! Lovely little life.


Now, when I bought the one from 9GreenBox, it was a twig with young, differently shaped leaves that didn't initially look like typical fig leaves, but as it grew it began to form leaves that looked like the ones that you see now. So, it's probably healthy for now!

But that other one has leaves that look absolutely nothing like the young leaves I saw as the twigfig grew. As a matter of fact, it's grown twice as slowly. What's more is that--after my own wonderful mishandling superpowers--I moved both repotted figs from my little greenhouse to full sunlight in May, once I had realized they really weren't dead, and while the normal one took it and ran with no problems, the odd one had its bud die from the overexposure (I think that's what it was). The Kansas sun can scald, but man.

I thought, "huh, maybe this is a known disease or deformity", but I can't find anything on this.

So, has anyone ever had this happen to them? Better yet, does anyone have a clue what could have caused this? I'm hoping it will sort itself out as the season continues, but I'm not so confident.

Thanks for your thoughts,

-Jon

[Werewoof]

Oh goodness, I didn't think it was fig mosaic, but as I keep researching potential candidates, I think I might be dealing with just that.

[Werewoof]

On second thought, I'm not so sure about mosiac.

So, does anyone have any ideas? I've never seen anything like this before.

[applestar]

I keep thinking herbicide. Any chance of that?

[Werewoof]

Sorry for the late reply,

Your guess would be as good as mine, but I am not aware of any applied to it... though I suppose I can't rule it out.

A few weeks later, it is slowly beginning to grow more normal looking leaves. They still bear some resemblance to the super-thin new ones, but I think it's getting straightened out, something I was not expecting.

Honestly, I have no more of a clue than before. Maybe it's genetic... somehow.

Thanks for the reply,

-Jon

[rainbowgardener]

No, if it were genetic, it wouldn't revert to normal.

I was agreeing with applestar. I have an elderberry shrub that was looking a lot like that, but I know what happened to it. The elderberry is on the fence line. The neighbor on the other side of the fence sprayed some kind of lawn chemicals. Must have been something toxic and must have drifted across the fence (chain link). If there is a breeze, sprayed chemicals can drift a long way.

Fortunately for me, that house has sold since then and the new neighbors have two little kids and want to garden organically.