📝 Editor's Note · 2026-07-22 · by Rin Ito

My fiddle-leaf fig developed brown spots after I moved it 6 feet — a lesson in light shock

My 4-foot fiddle-leaf fig was thriving in a west-facing window for 18 months. Last week I moved it to a south-facing window for 'more light.' Within 4 days, 8 of the 22 leaves had large brown spots in the middle. I assumed fungal — sprayed neem oil. By day 7 the spots hadn't spread, which was the clue: fungus spreads, sunburn doesn't.

The fix: move the plant back to the original window, then gradually shift it 1 foot per week toward the new spot over 4 weeks. The brown spots won't heal (they're dead tissue), but the new growth coming in is clean. Lesson learned: fiddle-leaf figs hate sudden light changes. If you're moving one more than 3 feet, do it over 2-3 weeks.