Red spots on fiddle leaf EXPLAINED!
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So many things in houseplant care are loosely explained without concrete evidence but I’m pretty close to solving this one because of time lapse!
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You’ve often heard that red spots are edema “caused by irregular watering” but let’s say I’m fairly knowledgeable about how to water and I’m confident this plant gets adequate light. So let’s rule out that the solution is to “water properly.”
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I’ve time lapsed the growth of two sets of leaves a few weeks apart on the same plant. 1️⃣ & 2️⃣ The most recent one has significantly more red spots *and* evidence of spite mite activity. 3️⃣ On the previous set, I saw no spider mites and the leaves were free of spots.
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So my hypothesis is that red spot edema on fiddle leaf fig occurs when spider mites damage the newly growing leaf bud. As the leaf develops with damaged cells, the result is red spots. Therefore, if your newly growing leaves appear very spotty (and you’re generally confident in watering accordingly with light) then treat for spider mites!
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I’ve sprayed the leaves with some Safer’s End All spray but I hope some spider mites remain (haha) so the next leaf set that comes out, I might do some more experiments…
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