Question
After reading everything I could find about Ficus tree problems, I still could not find what the results of over-watering "looks like". The leaves of my tree have blemishes that don't seem to match what others described. The spots are very irregularly shaped(between a 1/4 to 1" in size), with a dark brown ring around a lighter inner tan color. The blemish comes through to the bottom-side of the leaf as well. Can it be too much sun or water? Visually it doesn't match the bug infestation descriptions I read about. Thank you for your offer of help.

Answer
Jean,

Where is your ficus tree sitting? If it is inside the house it cannot be too much sun. Indoors it needs to be next to an east or west window that has the window covering open all day long. During the summer the sun is too high in the sky for the ficus to get much sun from a south window. During the summer mine are outside where they get full sun for about 4-6 hours of the day. They are shaded either in the morning or afternoon. They do need to dry out between waterings but not for more than a 2-3 days. I am in Indiana. As dry as it has been the air is dry and things are drying out fast, how often they need watered depends on how rootbound they are and if they are indoors or out. The spots you describe can come from over or under waterings or too little sun. Tell me what size the tree is? Where is it sitting? How close to a window and what direction does that window face and what kind of window covering and how long is it open? Ho often do you water? If you pull the tree out of the pot do you see nothing but wiry roots and no soil or does the soil fall apart? Are the leaves falling or hanging on the tree? Answer those questions and I can tell you precisely what the problem is.

Darlene