I just bought this beautiful fig tree and it looked great. But then I transported it to my office. I live in North Dakota. It was -30 that day. So I can only assume that is why it now looks like it was tortured for several weeks, only 3 days after purchase. I pulled off all the totally dead leaves (they mostly just fell off in my hands) and I'm keeping it watered but trying not to overwater it because I know they're sensitive to that. My office is pretty low humidity, so I will mist the leaves.
Is there any hope for this guy? Anything I can do besides watch and pray?

Hi RoxiT,

Oh my, your poor Fiddle Leaf Fig (Ficus lyrata)

As a human Floridian, I can't imagine being subjected to -30ºF ... even for a very short period of time and I know a tropical plant really wouldn't be happy with those temp's either. I'd advise to keep it in a warm, bright location, cut back on water and don't mist the leaves. Cold, combined with wet = fungal issues.

I wouldn't give up on it completely, plants can surprise us sometimes and as long as the roots didn't freeze, there's hope! Be very careful with watering at this time of year; when plants aren't actively growing they need less moisture.

If the stems did not freeze, there is always a chance that it may refoliate. Extreme cold can cause defoliation, but if the trunk and stems are not damaged there is hope. Once, many years ago here, before lived here, it dropped to 15F one winter, that is a very very very rare occurrence here. People still talk about it though, as the 'winter the crotons didn't just defoliate, they DIED'. If it does grow back, it probably will not look as full and lush as it did.

Don;t give up, and follow Lin's advice. Its good advice.

None of those leaves will recover. You may want to prune back some of the leggy stems. If the roots did not freeze, then you may see some green new shoots emerge at the tip ends of the stems in the next month or so. If not, then it is likely the roots were severely cold damaged and it will never recover.

Give it lots of sunlight.

I keep damaged leaves on a plant, though, as long as there are healthy green areas that can keep making food while the plant recovers. Plants do surprise us. My mom always tells me, remember, they want to live!

The one I planted out in the yard got a smudge of frost burn on the top most leaf when we got to 30F last week, but I am not going to trim it its too small a defect.

Update!
Not dead yet! Almost all the leaves fell off, but it has a new leaf sprouting! Fingers crossed it keeps it up! Thanks for the tips, everybody!

I have one that, as a baby, died back to a 2 inch "dead" stick last summer. I kept the soil lightly moist, and it was at least 5 months later that it began to sprout out again! Now it's 2' tall.