Question
Hi,
My figorchard in thr middle east is now 3 yrs old. Season is around early august.
I have many trees With leaves getting brown spots starting in center not periphery, and the fruits falling prematurely by dozens. Fruit skin is still thick. Could not see any worms or whitevthreads on stems. ...
Melissa : Help!

Thanks
Tony

Answer
Dear Tony, You seem to have a serious fungal infection on your fig trees.  This can be very devastating and cause the leaves and fruit to drop prematurely.  As the fruit and leaves drop, they release more fungal spores that continually reinfect the tree.  The most important thing to do at this point is to collect and bag ALL the fallen leaves and fruit and discard them.  Do not use them to compost.  Sanitation is the only way to get control of these fungal infections.  After you have removed everything that is fallen to the ground, and anything on the trees that looks badly infected, you may want to spray the tree with a fungicide.  This should either be organic or a fungicide that is recommended for spraying on fig trees (the label will indicate this), and be sure to wait the recommended time between spraying and eating any fruit.  You may be able to get good results spraying NEEM on the trees, but I haven't tried it on figs personally.  In the meantime, be very diligent about keeping the orchard clean as this step is crucial in controlling the infection.  I wish there were an easier solution, but it will take time.  Be careful about getting the leaves of the trees wet unnecessarily.  I hope this information helps, and I truly wish you success.  Let me know if I can be of more assistance.  Good luck, Melissa