The Fig Tree Thread

[Skyedriver]

Looking for advice folks. Any Fig Tree experts out there?
This fig tree is about 5 or 6 years old, never done much, few leaves, couple of unripe figs. Been kept inside a polytunnel and outside in sun everywhere until this year when the polytunnel blew away and it was pushed and neglected at the back of the garden. Twice as many leaves this year, bit of a flourish in fact but it's growing horizontally not upward. The pot is broken and it will need repotting or planting out (roots need to be confined so assume a pot is OK).
Suggestions please; Pot or planted out, garden or polytunnel, prune or leave.?
Thanks.

[FMOB]

My Mum had one, planted in a south facing sunny spot and left to its own devices.

Grew to about 8-10 foot and she enjoyed a good supply of figs from it.

[Nemophilist]

I have a 2 year old fig tree that was taken from a cutting of a massive fruit producing one.
It’s in the ground and growing well but we haven’t had fruits yet.
I hear they like their roots slightly constricted?
Sunny spot is a must.
I get offshoots that I have given friends and they grow them indoors in pots until big enough to plant out.
No fruit yet.

[Mr E]

I have a fig tree that went in 3 years back. Sunny wall position.

Fruiting this year.

[Bill]

Not sure I should try to give advice but Mrs Bill had one in a large pot for ages with no luck so put it in the ground still in its pot. It's now having a go at fruiting but is almost overwhelmed by nettles as it's been forgotten.

[B'stard Child]

Get a stainless steel washing machine drum and bury that in the garden and plant the fig tree in that - it'll keep the root ball manageable and it'll provide a lot more fruit.

We put ours in in 2010 and it wasn't much bigger - it's 10 feet tall and provides loads of fruit every time we give it a good prune - if we fail to do that we get a poor harvest the next year - this year is one of those years......

I think it only fruits on new growth so a good prune results in a lot more fruit.

[Simpo Two]

We had an espalier fig tree that grew against an east-facing wall. It was about 10' high and 15' wide and IIRC had a decent crop of figs every year. I recall that figs prefer poor soil (think where they grow naturally). And I would plant it out; pots aren't natural for plants.

[The Count]

Fig grower here (i also hybridise new cultivars of apples/pears etc) I grow around thirty a year, mainly European. Most, if not all have fruit the next year with around 4ft in growth. They love pots and a high potassium feed.

What are you feeding them?

Nice big pot and some special feed wouldn't go a miss (banana skins, egg shells and coffee grounds in a trug, plus rain water and liquid seaweed; leave for a month until it really pongs...then its ready)

p.s. time to prune it back a third

[OutInTheShed]

The Count said:

Fig grower here (i also hybridise new cultivars of apples/pears etc) I grow around thirty a year, mainly European. Most, if not all have fruit the next year with around 4ft in growth. They love pots and a high potassium feed.

What are you feeding them?

Nice big pot and some special feed wouldn't go a miss (banana skins, egg shells and coffee grounds in a trug, plus rain water and liquid seaweed; leave for a month until it really pongs...then its ready)

p.s. time to prune it back a third

Thanks for that!

We have a fig in a pot, how much should we be watering it?
It seems moderately happy, but the birds ate all the fruit ages ago!

Always wondered about coffee grounds, is it OK to dump them on the soil next to plants fresh from the cafetiere?
Or is it esential to let them compost for how long?
Cheers!

[The Count]

OutInTheShed said:

The Count said:

Fig grower here (i also hybridise new cultivars of apples/pears etc) I grow around thirty a year, mainly European. Most, if not all have fruit the next year with around 4ft in growth. They love pots and a high potassium feed.

What are you feeding them?

Nice big pot and some special feed wouldn't go a miss (banana skins, egg shells and coffee grounds in a trug, plus rain water and liquid seaweed; leave for a month until it really pongs...then its ready)

p.s. time to prune it back a third

Thanks for that!

We have a fig in a pot, how much should we be watering it?
It seems moderately happy, but the birds ate all the fruit ages ago!

Always wondered about coffee grounds, is it OK to dump them on the soil next to plants fresh from the cafetiere?
Or is it esential to let them compost for how long?
Cheers!

No problem.
I tend to give them a good drenching once a week in spring/summer and that odd week it's extra warm, maybe twice a week. The leaves are a good indicator. If they're drooping, it's time for a water.

Coffee grounds is a hot topic, some say it affects the pH balance, but i've had great results and i either add them from the pot (i have over two hundred fruit trees, so i share it around, but i wouldn't dump a pot a day in a single tree) or to the trug to steep. This time of year, it should only take a month for the 'potion' to be ready. Once it has that unbearable smell (you'll know what i mean) then its ready (& free).



p.s. My pomegranates, apricots, nectarine, peach and cherry trees have thrived on the coffee grounds, so i'd stick my neck out and push that additive.

[Scarletpimpofnel]

I put one in a garden then took it out a year later as I was moving. Had nowhere to put it so put it in the driveway up agaisnt a South facing wall. The driveway was literally about 9" of Cotswold chippings on top of limestone shingle/sand (basically the Cotswold escarpment). I gave it zero chances of survival, watered it a few times the first year, but it went mad, heavily laden with fruit every year since.

Treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen I reckon. Personally I don't like anything in a pot.

[Sargeant Orange]

Ours is about 8ft tall and has no end of green fruit that hardly ever goes ripe. This year has been the worst I've known for it.

I think I read somewhere they do like a heavy prune as too much fruit means very little ripens

[Skyedriver]

The Count said:

No problem.
I tend to give them a good drenching once a week in spring/summer and that odd week it's extra warm, maybe twice a week. The leaves are a good indicator. If they're drooping, it's time for a water.

Coffee grounds is a hot topic, some say it affects the pH balance, but i've had great results and i either add them from the pot (i have over two hundred fruit trees, so i share it around, but i wouldn't dump a pot a day in a single tree) or to the trug to steep. This time of year, it should only take a month for the 'potion' to be ready. Once it has that unbearable smell (you'll know what i mean) then its ready (& free).



p.s. My pomegranates, apricots, nectarine, peach and cherry trees have thrived on the coffee grounds, so i'd stick my neck out and push that additive.

Some great help from every contributor here, thanks all.
Living west coast Scotland, it rains a lot, we call it summer, it never gets REALLY cold but we get a lot of high winds. Think maybe the pot is best as we can move it to the (new) polytunnel to protect it. It'll be a new pot, larger than current one. Or am I being over protective?
Where it's shown in the pic is south facing, it's been there a day this year as I've rescued it from the shady spot it was parked. I could dig a hole there and plant it, the ground here is dreadful, thin soil on top of gravel then sand as we were probably underwater millions of years ago. Planting there means we struggle to paint he wall. Hence another vote for the pot?
As for pruning, now's the time, "The Count"? Seems odd when in full leaf. Do I try and train it vertically removing side branches or is that too late?

[B'stard Child]

Sargeant Orange said:

Ours is about 8ft tall and has no end of green fruit that hardly ever goes ripe. This year has been the worst I've known for it.

I think I read somewhere they do like a heavy prune as too much fruit means very little ripens

There are loads of recipes for green fig preserve on the internet - it’s great at xmas with cheese or in the summer with ice cream or sorbets

That’s what I make with the un-ripe figs at the end of the season

[WyrleyD]

Our Brown Turkey fig tree has been in about three years now, planted out in a raised bed. Gets a liberal dose of coffee grounds each week and we have three large fruits and loads of small ones this year, had just one fruit last year together with a few small ones.

[The Count]

Skyedriver said:

The Count said:

No problem.
I tend to give them a good drenching once a week in spring/summer and that odd week it's extra warm, maybe twice a week. The leaves are a good indicator. If they're drooping, it's time for a water.

Coffee grounds is a hot topic, some say it affects the pH balance, but i've had great results and i either add them from the pot (i have over two hundred fruit trees, so i share it around, but i wouldn't dump a pot a day in a single tree) or to the trug to steep. This time of year, it should only take a month for the 'potion' to be ready. Once it has that unbearable smell (you'll know what i mean) then its ready (& free).



p.s. My pomegranates, apricots, nectarine, peach and cherry trees have thrived on the coffee grounds, so i'd stick my neck out and push that additive.

Some great help from every contributor here, thanks all.
Living west coast Scotland, it rains a lot, we call it summer, it never gets REALLY cold but we get a lot of high winds. Think maybe the pot is best as we can move it to the (new) polytunnel to protect it. It'll be a new pot, larger than current one. Or am I being over protective?
Where it's shown in the pic is south facing, it's been there a day this year as I've rescued it from the shady spot it was parked. I could dig a hole there and plant it, the ground here is dreadful, thin soil on top of gravel then sand as we were probably underwater millions of years ago. Planting there means we struggle to paint he wall. Hence another vote for the pot?
As for pruning, now's the time, "The Count"? Seems odd when in full leaf. Do I try and train it vertically removing side branches or is that too late?

Now's the time, early to mid summer ideally, but i would (if you don't mind me saying?) whip those side shoots back (see amended image below) and the top off, to encourage growth and fruit for next year. New pot, support and cover those roots (i use stones or better still, ornamental bark).

p.s. As a companion and to keep the moths/white fly off, i plant lavender in a ring around the fig/fruit trees. It really adds a nice touch.

[Mr Magooagain]

Problem with green fig preserves is that you have to add the same weight of sugar as the weight of the figs being used.
Here is my neighbours fig tree that I look after as it’s a holiday home in mid west France.
Loads on there this year,we had a lot of rain late spring. As you can see from the bunches usually there’s a first fig of each bunch that ripens quick. I try to beat the birds to those ones and when picked it seems to start the rest of the figs to ripen. I pick them on the cusp of being ripe and finish them off on trays under my lean to.
We will have hundreds this year I think. It’s been very good this last 10 years or so. Later I will cut the top branches out as it’s becoming unreachable. Even now I leave the high fruit for the birds.

[Skyedriver]

Mr Magooagain said:

Problem with green fig preserves is that you have to add the same weight of sugar as the weight of the figs being used.
Here is my neighbours fig tree that I look after as it’s a holiday home in mid west France.
Loads on there this year,we had a lot of rain late spring. As you can see from the bunches usually there’s a first fig of each bunch that ripens quick. I try to beat the birds to those ones and when picked it seems to start the rest of the figs to ripen. I pick them on the cusp of being ripe and finish them off on trays under my lean to.
We will have hundreds this year I think. It’s been very good this last 10 years or so. Later I will cut the top branches out as it’s becoming unreachable. Even now I leave the high fruit for the birds.

Wow.

[Skyedriver]

The Count said:

Now's the time, early to mid summer ideally, but i would (if you don't mind me saying?) whip those side shoots back (see amended image below) and the top off, to encourage growth and fruit for next year. New pot, support and cover those roots (i use stones or better still, ornamental bark).

p.s. As a companion and to keep the moths/white fly off, i plant lavender in a ring around the fig/fruit trees. It really adds a nice touch.

Thanks for the advice, the "top" one isn't actually the top of the plant, there's what I think is a terminal bud (?) hidden behind one of the leaves.
New pot incoming, yes the roots are exposed, I'll straighten it up in the new pot. Quality compost or basic? Lots of grit? Understand they like poor soil but then the feeding them as described above seems to counter that suggestion.

[The Count]

Skyedriver said:

The Count said:

Now's the time, early to mid summer ideally, but i would (if you don't mind me saying?) whip those side shoots back (see amended image below) and the top off, to encourage growth and fruit for next year. New pot, support and cover those roots (i use stones or better still, ornamental bark).

p.s. As a companion and to keep the moths/white fly off, i plant lavender in a ring around the fig/fruit trees. It really adds a nice touch.

Thanks for the advice, the "top" one isn't actually the top of the plant, there's what I think is a terminal bud (?) hidden behind one of the leaves.
New pot incoming, yes the roots are exposed, I'll straighten it up in the new pot. Quality compost or basic? Lots of grit? Understand they like poor soil but then the feeding them as described above seems to counter that suggestion.

No worries.

Anything but ericaceous. A John Innes No3 or a compost with 'John Innes added' would be a treat, around £6 from your local garden nursery. I appreciate the old adage of 'treat em mean..' but everything need feeding to flourish. Good idea on the grit, drainage is a priority for figs.