Page 1 of 1

Can I save my fig trees?

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 8:09 pm
by suzulan
About two weeks ago, we had snow and leaves of my 3 years old B T fig trees froze.
Yesterday, I removed all dried up leaves and green fruits by breaking so these trees are without any leave but just branches.
Did I make mistake by removing all leaves and green fruits?
My guess is roots and branches are still alive.
Maybe I needed to wait until dried up leaves start falling naturally.
I live in zone 6 and my fig trees are about 5.5 feet tall and widely spread.

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 10:42 pm
by gumbo2176
I live in New Orleans and my yard had almost 5 ft. of saltwater when we flooded after Hurricane Katrina. It took almost 3 weeks before that water drained away.

I had 3 fruit trees in my yard, a satsuma, a Japanese Plum and a fig. The only tree that survived was my fig tree. I did trim it back pretty heavy that fall so it wouldn't have to put out as much growth the next spring and by the second summer, I had a bumper crop of figs.

They are very hardy trees.

Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 4:39 pm
by CharlieBear
Don't worry, figs can often die right back to the ground and come back the next year. However, next year you might try covering the fig with a row cover or burlap just before the first big frost, that way the plant won't be set back every year.
Note if the figs were about the size you would harvest than you always remove them if they don't ripen about the time of the first frost. If they were very small then you removed the first summer crop for next year.
Some figs bear heavily only in the fall and they are hard to get to ripen unless you are down south. Others have a large summer crop as well and those will ripen if they remain on the plant. I prefer the type that have a larger first crop and a smaller second crop. Almost all figs will try to produce both, but there is one or two that only do the latter crop.

Fruit forum

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 11:53 am
by cnoland
My fig is a Brown Turkey and produces two crops but the last one is the heavy one. It is racing the weather right now. There must be at least 100 figs on this little dwarf tree and frost is predicted in a few days. I hope they ripen before that time.