Sick ficus ginseng :(
I gifted this ficus ginseng to my friend in spring 2022. It's grown a lot since and it had so many healthy green leaves. Something like a week ago brown spots started to appear on its leaves (but most are visible only on the back of the leaf) and leaves started falling like crazy (it's never happened before). Now I'd say it has half the leaves it had last week.
My friend waters it every other day/every two days and has recently moved it from his desk to the window so that it gets more light. That's when leaves started to fall, I don't know if there is any correlation, but I decided to take it to my place as doing it in the past has shown good results. I feel like it gets better light and the temperature is better for it here.
To sum it all up:
- WATER: My friend used to water it every other day/every two days
- SOIL: it's basic plant soil, I suspect it might retain too much water, but I'm not sure
- LIGHT: 1) first three years, my friend kept it next to his window. Leaves were pressing against the window, but it never seemed to affect it. If you look at my picture, he kept it in a spot similar to that of the little cactus in my room.
at the beginning of this year, my friend moved it to his desk, where it was not getting as much light, but was kept at a safe distance from the radiator (since it was too hot near the window)
a few weeks ago, he moved it back to the window, since the weather is very warm and there is no need for him to turn on the heating system in his house anymore
SYMPTOMS:
- Leaves either turning yellow or having brown spots
- Leaves falling off
- There was something that looked like mold in its soil and lots of white spots (I got rid of all those after having taken it to my place)
There are still some new leaves which seem to be okay. I'm very scared to think it might die, considering how many of its leaves have already fallen. My friend took such good care of it all these years and loved it a lot, he would be devastated if it died. Since my friend is going through a very rough time, I promised him I would save it, but leaves are still falling.
Is there anything I could do? Maybe change his soil or his pot (I suspect its pot might be too deep and too wide and maybe that's why the soil retains so much water). Also, it used to have a tray under the pot and the pot had holes at the bottom. This new pot doesn't have that.
Please help :(
Thank you.
*I know it might look fine in the picture, it was the best I was able to take, but in reality there is visibly a problem with it. Maybe I'll try to take another photo.