John, are you sure it didn't lose its leaves for some other reason? For example, perhaps the tree just experienced shipping through the mail before it reached you and the shock caused the loss of leaves. Or perhaps it wasn't fully hardened off before being exposed to sun? You may be right about fig rust but you also want to consider other possibilities since figs are not typically affected with diseases except for FMV.

Steve

Steve:
No, I'm not certain, and goodness knows that shock is a possibility -- my in-laws brought the plant from Florida to DC in their car. But what I saw seemed to fit the description of fig rust pretty well. Black spots formed on the leaves -- small at first, then growing a bit larger -- then the leaves yellowed, curled, and eventually fell off. It was probably a week or two after we got the plant that I first noticed the problem. The leaves weren't all (visibly) affected at once; we lost them one by one over the course of a couple weeks.

The culprit was
" my in-laws brought the plant from Florida to DC in their car"

Central/South Florida is the home base for fig rust fungus, DC is way above your worry line for rust. The best suggestion I have for you is to get a plastic bag and remove all leaves that shows any rust marks from the plant, including the ones that have fallen and seal them tight and dispose of in trash. You can spray the tree and surrounding ground area with a copper fungicide if you want to kill any leftover spores. Any garden center near you should have some copper fungicide. The bordeaux mix (lime and copper mix) is nearly impossible to spray, unless you have heavy duty spray equipment.

I would not worry about rust in your area it as next winter will kill all the spores. Mulch it heavily with 3-4 inches of material.
Enjoy your fig tree.

Ben: thanks so much for the response! I'm glad to hear that rust won't be a problem here long-run. I just hope it doesn't recur before winter has a chance to kill the spores. And hopefully winter doesn't kill the tree, too -- I've read mixed information on whether it's hardy to my zone (7A).

John, I'm just 50 miles from you out in Warrenton, Va. We do have rust issues and I waited too long last year and lost leaves early on a dozen trees. I also had problems while living further south near Va tech. When I used to keep antique apples rust was a real problem also. But don't worry. Buy a product called Serenade. It works well and is very safe. I've found the Green Ischia to be very vigorous and if you get on this now you probably will still get some figs. Good Luck. mgginva
I sell figs on crags list occasionally and you can also get a hold of me through there if need be.

Best way to get rid of rust is to thin the canopy to provide better aeration.
Aeration will solve the problem ,spraying will only hide the problem and create other problems.