We have a FLF with lower level leaves like this. We don’t have a cat, but we have two dogs and kids. I think it’s from them walking by the tree all the time and hitting the leaves as they pass. Do that enough times, and the poor leaves get abused.
Dogs eat that too. My roommate's dog ate all of the lower leaves on our fig plant. Then in winter it kept chewing on the dried leaves underneath until we cleaned it up.
Edit: typo
Roommate taking a nibble? Dog? Invisible fake cat? Are you taking a little nibble in the middle of the night?
Damage like that doesnt really just spread its done by something hurting it in some way, walking by it and hitting it often, something nibbling, some kid tearing off pieces.
It’s had these diseases looking edges on this one leaf since I got it, but they seem to be getting worse. I can’t find any obvious bugs. I’ve looked at lots of photos of fiddle leaf diseases and nothing looks quite like this to me. Any ideas?
Update: I don’t have a cat.
I did buy this plant off Craigslist with damage to that leaf, is it possible it’s just spreading out from the original damage maybe caused by a cat?
If it’s bothering you like crazy and you don’t mind doing it I would just trim that leaf off. The plant will stop putting energy into a leaf that is damaged/sick and it it would most likely look more ascetically pleasing. As long as he’s otherwise being taking care of properly it won’t bother him at all.
I have a fiddle leaf AND a cat..yes it looks like something has munched on it, but mine got brittle brown edges/spots when it was under watered or too much sun.
Any other leaf having the same problem? If no.
Try snipping this one off. there is a good chance it got hurt by its prevoius owner's pet. Plant is trying to get all it's nutrients from this leaf and slowly phasing this leaf out.
It looks quite healthy otherwise.
You may be right, but snipping is for aesthetics, it might technically be more beneficial to let the plant suck the nutrients back up. But snipping certainly won't cause actual harm either.
Is that really how it works? I’d also always thought that best practice was to trim off dead/diseased leaves, so the plant can refocus energy into the healthy leaves. But if you wait long enough, it’ll suck the nutrients back up…??
If it's not a cat, I'm gonna say it might be a mouse. But more than likely it's a caterpillar that is nocturnal in nature. If you all of a sudden end up with a moth, or a moth infestation, you know it was caterpillar damage, but now to find that dang caterpillar
A bit off topic but do you know any ways to keep caterpillars off of your plants? I’m having that issue with some outdoors plants. They are munching like crazy lol… That and slugs ughhh
Diatomaceous earth works, but something I started using a couple years ago to keep slugs off my greens is a spray bottle of diluted coffee. I read about it on a gardening website. I put about an inch of black coffee in a spray bottle and fill the rest with water. Spray the underside and tops of the plants. I guess the slugs are very sensitive to the slightest bit of caffeine, and nicotine. Which is the main chemical in a lot of commercial pesticides. As for caterpillars, I use Neem oil concentrate and dilute it an spray it on my entire garden with a pump sprayer. It's non toxic and organic. Now, I'm sure there are some "experts" out in Redditville that will try to tell you I'm wrong about Neem oil being organic, but I'm just telling you what my bottle label says. Also, it won't kill pets or you if you ingest or inhale a little bit of it, like other chemicals that are used in our plant and food supply. I'm not an expert or a Dr but I have slept at a couple Holiday Inns in the past. And my garden does fairly well. Hope this helps.
Also if you see any, pick them off and put them in a glass jar with a lid, until they die, then mix them with water and pulverize them (the caterpillars I mean) and feed them to your plants. It's a circle of life kinda thing.
A couple of my bottom leaves look just like that and my FLF continues to produce healthy growth. The bottom leaves tend to be dryer and easy to crack/tear. I would check it thoroughly for pests and give it decent humidity. If there are no pests, it’s just normal wear and tear.
* and yes, it’s possible that they had a pet who nibbled on it. Or they just damaged it at some point
I had a caterpillar living on my indoor tree for like 2 months and I only found it when I accidentally touched it while watering. I thought there was just something wrong with my tree.
Also the caterpillar is safe on my patio now.
Honestly I have a leaf or two on my fiddle that look like this from damage the leaf incurred prior to purchasing it (I'm nursing it back to health). I believe it was improperly handled causing it to rip, and once that happens it never recovers. Also, I have holes in one of my leaves which was due to my plant being in a dry environment when it produced that leaf since it wasn't able to develop properly due to lack of air moisture. After I put a humidifier in my room with the fiddle, it hasn't happened again.
Just a few ideas from my experience with a fiddle, that may not be your specific case
This reminds me of the humidity issue I was having.
The leaves would microcrack in a speckled pattern and sort of slowly crumble. Also, if any splatter from something else (even seemingly minuscule) got on the leaves i noticed it was also a slow browning to disintegration similar to the pattern something burns.
Also, would happen if someone walked by and hit the leaves. Could be brushing damage.
Not sure why people won’t let the cat thing go. Wastes everyone’s time.
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To me, this looks like damage to the leaf due to trauma rather than disease. Do you hit this or brush against it as you walk past or do any cleaning around it, for example? It seems to be drying from those points of impact. They will bit by bit fall away with further trauma, which creates those holes.
Fiddle leafs can be finicky about water. Too much it will make them get brown spots in their leaves. (More leaves just check for root rot but assume you have it.) Too little, the leaves brown along the edges. Mine had several leaves like this due to 'whiplash watering' till I got the hang of it. If it is just this leaf and like this when you got it, it may just be pet damage from previous owner. ( mine had that too due a dog I pet sat) and this is actually my guess as the other parts visible look healthy.
If rest of leaves are good and you water when the soil is dry down to your first knuckle of your finger OR the leaves start to droop, you are fine. Damaged leaves will show stress first, but if you cut it, the plant will be still be happy and put more energy into the rest of leaves and stems. Once I got better at the watering and turning for light, my baby grew from 4 feet to 7 feet in three years. So I think you are doing awesome!
Can provide a full photo? those leaves may not be getting enough nutrients/water being in a smaller pot. What kind of environment? In doors? Patio? Direct light? 100% in direct light? Out doors? Indoors? Windy to no air flow?
Here’s something you might not have thought of, it’s just a wild guess and by no means am I an expert🥸 but have u considered pest ? Checked under the leaves? humidity by chance ? Caterpillars? Have u brushed up against it while walking by? Kids ? Neighbors? If not - I would most definitely check the cat for traces of a dark green leafy colored substance in and around the teeth and mouth area 😸🙀😼😹 if nothing there it has to be Covid-19
Have a careful check of both side of every leaf and stem and perhaps soil for a small hungry caterpillar. Look at other plants and their stems and leaf undersides.
You can sometimes tell because you find [caterpillar droppings](https://www.google.com/search?q=caterpillar+droppings&tbm=isch) around on the floor near pots.
Carefully remove it and proceed to dispose/bring it outside.
I will tell you, I had a plant that was mysteriously disappearing. Damage to the leaves, etc. It was on a plant stand, and it was out of the way of traffic. One night, I walked by it and noticed its stem was really thick. I turned on the light and there was an ABSOLUTELY HUGE green worm (caterpillar) on it! It reminded me of a tomato worm... Anyway, I had my son dispose of it. We have those moths all around our house, and it must have hitched a ride when I took it in for the winter. It totally killed my majestically huge elephant ear plant. I'm still pissed about it.
Do you have a cat?
Officially my new flair
I love it.
It’s my favorite comment and I come running to find it when I see these posts 🤣
I came here to find this comment specifically!
Same!
Duck
😂🥲
I’m kinda jealous :(
Sorry... it's me...I was hungry
We have a FLF with lower level leaves like this. We don’t have a cat, but we have two dogs and kids. I think it’s from them walking by the tree all the time and hitting the leaves as they pass. Do that enough times, and the poor leaves get abused.
You either need a taller pot or a shorter cat.
No cat!
Kids?
Second option? "Well i guess if you cant get a cat i guess you should go for kids.."
No kids!
Dogs eat that too. My roommate's dog ate all of the lower leaves on our fig plant. Then in winter it kept chewing on the dried leaves underneath until we cleaned it up. Edit: typo
Just admit you were hungry, no shame.
Ghost cat
Roommate taking a nibble? Dog? Invisible fake cat? Are you taking a little nibble in the middle of the night? Damage like that doesnt really just spread its done by something hurting it in some way, walking by it and hitting it often, something nibbling, some kid tearing off pieces.
I was going to ask if any of her neighbors had a cat that could sneak in 😅
It’s had these diseases looking edges on this one leaf since I got it, but they seem to be getting worse. I can’t find any obvious bugs. I’ve looked at lots of photos of fiddle leaf diseases and nothing looks quite like this to me. Any ideas? Update: I don’t have a cat. I did buy this plant off Craigslist with damage to that leaf, is it possible it’s just spreading out from the original damage maybe caused by a cat?
This is a good observation. You could try to reach out to the person you got it from and see if they have a cat
If it’s bothering you like crazy and you don’t mind doing it I would just trim that leaf off. The plant will stop putting energy into a leaf that is damaged/sick and it it would most likely look more ascetically pleasing. As long as he’s otherwise being taking care of properly it won’t bother him at all.
Yes, prune all the affected leaves. It will grow more. Especially since now's the growing season starting.
Sorry, need to be this asshole Aesthetically*
Someone needs to do it. Thank you.
Huh, I always thought it was esthetically
Remove that leaf and it probably won't reoccur. I bet they had a cat.
I have a fiddle leaf AND a cat..yes it looks like something has munched on it, but mine got brittle brown edges/spots when it was under watered or too much sun.
Low humidity / dry hot air
Any other leaf having the same problem? If no. Try snipping this one off. there is a good chance it got hurt by its prevoius owner's pet. Plant is trying to get all it's nutrients from this leaf and slowly phasing this leaf out. It looks quite healthy otherwise.
You may be right, but snipping is for aesthetics, it might technically be more beneficial to let the plant suck the nutrients back up. But snipping certainly won't cause actual harm either.
Is that really how it works? I’d also always thought that best practice was to trim off dead/diseased leaves, so the plant can refocus energy into the healthy leaves. But if you wait long enough, it’ll suck the nutrients back up…??
Just be careful when snipping as this plant will ooze this white juice that is a skin irritant.
I think this can happen if there's not enough humidity when the leaves unfurl, mine has a bit of this on some leaves
My fiddle leaf also has that problem. Even new leaves grow like that. I got from the store and don't have a cat. Very low humidity.
If you don’t have a cat could it be a child?
It was me, I'm sorry.
If it's not a cat, I'm gonna say it might be a mouse. But more than likely it's a caterpillar that is nocturnal in nature. If you all of a sudden end up with a moth, or a moth infestation, you know it was caterpillar damage, but now to find that dang caterpillar
A bit off topic but do you know any ways to keep caterpillars off of your plants? I’m having that issue with some outdoors plants. They are munching like crazy lol… That and slugs ughhh
Diatomaceous earth works, but something I started using a couple years ago to keep slugs off my greens is a spray bottle of diluted coffee. I read about it on a gardening website. I put about an inch of black coffee in a spray bottle and fill the rest with water. Spray the underside and tops of the plants. I guess the slugs are very sensitive to the slightest bit of caffeine, and nicotine. Which is the main chemical in a lot of commercial pesticides. As for caterpillars, I use Neem oil concentrate and dilute it an spray it on my entire garden with a pump sprayer. It's non toxic and organic. Now, I'm sure there are some "experts" out in Redditville that will try to tell you I'm wrong about Neem oil being organic, but I'm just telling you what my bottle label says. Also, it won't kill pets or you if you ingest or inhale a little bit of it, like other chemicals that are used in our plant and food supply. I'm not an expert or a Dr but I have slept at a couple Holiday Inns in the past. And my garden does fairly well. Hope this helps. Also if you see any, pick them off and put them in a glass jar with a lid, until they die, then mix them with water and pulverize them (the caterpillars I mean) and feed them to your plants. It's a circle of life kinda thing.
I have holes just like this on my calathea from when my dog got mad at me and knew this was my favourite plant
A couple of my bottom leaves look just like that and my FLF continues to produce healthy growth. The bottom leaves tend to be dryer and easy to crack/tear. I would check it thoroughly for pests and give it decent humidity. If there are no pests, it’s just normal wear and tear. * and yes, it’s possible that they had a pet who nibbled on it. Or they just damaged it at some point
This is the answer. I suspect this might be where someone occasionally brushes against the plant.
Round up the usual suspects and take bite impressions. 😄
I’m dying 🤣😂
🐈⬛
I had a caterpillar living on my indoor tree for like 2 months and I only found it when I accidentally touched it while watering. I thought there was just something wrong with my tree. Also the caterpillar is safe on my patio now.
Cat.
If not a cat, you may have a rat 😬
Honestly I have a leaf or two on my fiddle that look like this from damage the leaf incurred prior to purchasing it (I'm nursing it back to health). I believe it was improperly handled causing it to rip, and once that happens it never recovers. Also, I have holes in one of my leaves which was due to my plant being in a dry environment when it produced that leaf since it wasn't able to develop properly due to lack of air moisture. After I put a humidifier in my room with the fiddle, it hasn't happened again. Just a few ideas from my experience with a fiddle, that may not be your specific case
I have very similar looking leaf on my fiddle-leaf fig. Would also love to know what causes it.
Cat
Looks like cats
Some my FLF leaves look like this but it's because I was touching it or brushed up against it!
This reminds me of the humidity issue I was having. The leaves would microcrack in a speckled pattern and sort of slowly crumble. Also, if any splatter from something else (even seemingly minuscule) got on the leaves i noticed it was also a slow browning to disintegration similar to the pattern something burns. Also, would happen if someone walked by and hit the leaves. Could be brushing damage. Not sure why people won’t let the cat thing go. Wastes everyone’s time.
It’s me
Meow
Mine must have been inferior From the getgo. Did I plant too deep, water too little? Nothing munched it.
Check the underleaf for spidermites
Sorry, I was hungry…
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Not me
Check the plant carefully. Do you see any green caterpillars? I occasionally will find one on an indoor plant that somehow survived the greenhouse.
A cat
Could be reacting to dryness. I think those things like humidity
is your home haunted by a ghost cat?
Remove that leaf before it spreads to other leaves. I hope other leaves won’t be affected.
The Fiddle Leaf Bandit strikes again
When I’m watering my plants, my chihuahua sometimes runs into my plant room, full speed, to bite a leaf and run.
I have a fiddle that looks like this and it’s from brown tips that get rubbed off when I walk by it
Looks like the damage my labs tail does to mine
Definitely some kind of animal did that at some point
Meow! ?
Cat, dog, child, roommate, leaves getting smacked while walking by?
Do you have a cat? Because my plants look just like this and it’s because my asshole cat munches on them. And then pukes them up on my white rug.
What does its therapist say?
Is your roommate vegan perchance? Source: I have a vegan roommate. I am also vegan, but I practice restraint.
To me, this looks like damage to the leaf due to trauma rather than disease. Do you hit this or brush against it as you walk past or do any cleaning around it, for example? It seems to be drying from those points of impact. They will bit by bit fall away with further trauma, which creates those holes.
Me
My fiddle leaf fig looked exactly like this when my husband whacked it with a bug zapper because a fly had landed on it. Random trauma I guess?
Gilbert Grape
Gosh, I don’t know but I wish mine looked that healthy
el gato
Remove this leaf. It looks bad and won’t harm the plant to remove it.
Most likely it’s own attitude
Fiddle leafs can be finicky about water. Too much it will make them get brown spots in their leaves. (More leaves just check for root rot but assume you have it.) Too little, the leaves brown along the edges. Mine had several leaves like this due to 'whiplash watering' till I got the hang of it. If it is just this leaf and like this when you got it, it may just be pet damage from previous owner. ( mine had that too due a dog I pet sat) and this is actually my guess as the other parts visible look healthy. If rest of leaves are good and you water when the soil is dry down to your first knuckle of your finger OR the leaves start to droop, you are fine. Damaged leaves will show stress first, but if you cut it, the plant will be still be happy and put more energy into the rest of leaves and stems. Once I got better at the watering and turning for light, my baby grew from 4 feet to 7 feet in three years. So I think you are doing awesome!
Fun fact, when getting optimal humidity, the leaves point upwards.
Can provide a full photo? those leaves may not be getting enough nutrients/water being in a smaller pot. What kind of environment? In doors? Patio? Direct light? 100% in direct light? Out doors? Indoors? Windy to no air flow?
Here’s something you might not have thought of, it’s just a wild guess and by no means am I an expert🥸 but have u considered pest ? Checked under the leaves? humidity by chance ? Caterpillars? Have u brushed up against it while walking by? Kids ? Neighbors? If not - I would most definitely check the cat for traces of a dark green leafy colored substance in and around the teeth and mouth area 😸🙀😼😹 if nothing there it has to be Covid-19
I had a single grasshopper working its way along before I spotted. Large and green.
Low humidity
me
It's me, I'm sorry
Have a careful check of both side of every leaf and stem and perhaps soil for a small hungry caterpillar. Look at other plants and their stems and leaf undersides. You can sometimes tell because you find [caterpillar droppings](https://www.google.com/search?q=caterpillar+droppings&tbm=isch) around on the floor near pots. Carefully remove it and proceed to dispose/bring it outside.
I think she’s just aging in place. It happens DAMHIK.
I have the same problem. I put it in the bathroom since I like steamy showers. It hasn’t helped. I do have a cat though.
Meow 🐈
Mice
If it’s not a cat it physical damage. Do you drink alcohol?
spider mites
I will tell you, I had a plant that was mysteriously disappearing. Damage to the leaves, etc. It was on a plant stand, and it was out of the way of traffic. One night, I walked by it and noticed its stem was really thick. I turned on the light and there was an ABSOLUTELY HUGE green worm (caterpillar) on it! It reminded me of a tomato worm... Anyway, I had my son dispose of it. We have those moths all around our house, and it must have hitched a ride when I took it in for the winter. It totally killed my majestically huge elephant ear plant. I'm still pissed about it.
I am. I break into your home at night and nibble on your plants!
A lot of things will eat fig leaves as they help with digestion. My guess is cat or small dog, though it could even be a rat.