Let's see if we can help your poor plant back to health!  To begin with, the proper regimen of care for a fiddle-leaf fig (Ficus lyrata )is as follows:

• Light - Your plant will do best in a position of extended filtered sun each day but not direct sunlight. It needs to be in the brightest room in your home but just far enough from the window that the sun's direct rays do not touch it. A shear curtain between the window and the plant will also give it the protection it needs. Take care with position so that all branches, high and low, have access to light and move objects that obstruct them. You may need to keep your plant on a stand if windows are high and light doesn't reach the lower leaves. Turn the tree a quarter turn every time you water so that all sides receive equal light and a balanced shape is maintained.
• Temperature - Temperature should stay between 60 and 80 °F. as long as there is no quick change to a hotter or colder environment (such as air conditioning or heating blasts)
• Water - Allow top half of pot's soil to completely dry between waterings and then water thoroughly. Do not let the plant sit in a water filled saucer.  Overwatering leads to lower leaves falling off.
• Fertilizer - Once a month during active growing season with standard liquid fertilizer
• Potting - These plants are best grown in a small pot that looks as though it might be one size too small; a tight root situation is best. When a lot of roots come through the pot's drainage hole, move only one pot size larger.
• Humidity - Mist leaves daily. Insect problems can affect plants grown in too dry an environment

While there are some plant diseases that could be affecting your plant, it is more likely to be that it needs some adjustment to its care and will reward you with good health when you settle on a routine that it likes.  Move the plant to a position where it receives no more than a half day of indirect sun.  Make sure your do not have it right near a cooling unit.  It is hard to judge if your amount of water is correct because your plant's needs will be affected by the humidity of the environment, so start checking dryness before you re-water rather than going with a set schedule.  Make sure you mist this humidity loving plant.

Lower leaf fall can result from both over- and under watering and this is the most likely culprit for the issues you are experiencing.  Lower leaves turning yellow with brown spots, curling and falling with limp weak stems means under watering. Mass yellowing and drooping of leaves with some curl and sometimes brown spots is overwatering and so similar that it is hard to differentiate.  If you decide you have been overwatering, also check the roots of the plant to make sure they are healthy and haven't rotted. 

Read more about care in our Guide to Fiddle-leaf Fig.

For tips on a variety of gardening topics, see our libguides https://libguides.nybg.org/portalpage

- Courtesy of NYBG Plant Information Service