Container Fig Tree Care? -- Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter

[applestar]

I have a Petit Nigra ("a" I think and not "I" but not sure without checking) that I overwintered in the coolest pat of my house -- about low to mid 50's when it was coldest. All the leaves dried up and fell off mid-winter, which I accepted as good thing.

Since mid-March or so, the plant has been leafing out -- big leaves twice as big as last years -- and shooting outward almost beyond the limited space I have for it among other plants.

So I want to uppot it and put it outside, but since the leaves are growing, I don't want to send it out too early. Would you say it can go outside when the tomato seedlings are out for hardening off (upper 40's to lower 50's in the shade warmer in the sun) or should I wait until its warm enough for pepper and basil seedlings (upper 50's in the shade)?

When (day/night temperature range) do figs that stay in the ground all winter normally start leafing out?

[gumbo2176]

Mine started leafing out a few weeks ago when the temps reached low to mid 60's during the day on a consistent basis. I'm in Zone 9.

[hendi_alex]

All of my figs are still very tight, no sign of leafing out. My Petite negri over wintered in a large pot and the other four plants are in the ground. Just be sure to protect those very tender leaves for the first week or so that the plants are outside. I would feel safe putting such a plant outside when the night time lows are in the mid 40's or higher.

[hendi_alex]

Just did a quick Google, and according to Almost Eden, 'Petite Negri' and 'Petite Negra' are the same variety.

[sepeters]

I would start to harden it off with the toms just like you said. Our fig overwintered outdoors, we only covered it when there was frost, but it withstood frost free temps in the low 30s and high 20s uncovered. Of course, my climate is very different from yours and we do not have snow, but the tree was fine.IN fact, it started leafing in February which we did not expect. I was unable to up-pot any further in my space, so I donated it to my mother's elementary school. We put it directly in the ground and it didn't seem to slow it down a bit. Lucky Kids!

Will you be pruning the roots and branches? I know this is advised to keep your figs "dwarfed" but I have never done it and was afraid to prune the roots.

[RogueRose]

My fig (in ground) seems to always be the last plant in the garden to start awakening from winter dormancy. I always worry that last year was it's last year and that it is dead! But it always comes back. Stronger and leafer than ever. I would put it out when you put your tomatoes out...maybe a little before. I just looked at my photos from last year. The fig started to come in late April and by May 4th it had its leaves. But last year was completely different from this year!

[!potatoes!]

I'm perhaps not too advanced in my fig-thinking, but I have both in-ground and potted figs leafing out, outside. I'll pull the potted one in if it threatens frost, maybe try to cover the outside one (extended forecast warns of next saturday night)...but will leave them exposed to 40's/upper 30’s weather as it happens. they're not too wimpy.

[JONA878]

Figs..once they are mature should be able to stand temps down to -15 or so.
But....the big problem is that they are not grown by us gardeners as they would be in the wild.
Their natural habitat is in dry, arid areas on soil that is very poor and usually stony and lacking in nutrients.
So, the plant normaly grows very slowly, with extention growth that is slow to develope and is tough in its constitution.
We grow the plant completely differently. We give it good soil and plenty of feed and water. As a result it puts on lush extensive growth. Great for cropping etc. but very suseptable to damage if the frost should strike.
As a result a hard spring frost can cause damage to this softer growth and on young plants can even kill them.

[applestar]

Great! Thanks for all your replies. Food for thought that I've been mulling on and I did leave it out last night down to 45°F. I think I'll bring it in for Sat night forecast for md-30's. This variety is one I bought specifically because of its warmer range, which I feel is less difficult to overwinter indoors when there is no frost-free but close like upper 30's to mid 40's max area to keep it in dormant state.

I want to get the Chicago Hardy Fig which is supposed to be hardy to Zone 5 to plant outside. Flavor review is not very flattering when compared to the southern varieties, but that can't be helped. Brown Turkey is another variety sold in this area and supposed to be possible to keep outside here if you "coffin" them or "mummy" them for the winter, bu I'm not up to doing that.

RogueRose, do you know what variety you have? I might ask for some cuttings along with the rosemary....

[RogueRose]

RogueRose, do you know what variety you have? I might ask for some cuttings along with the rosemary....

Nope...I don't! I do know that the person that built my house planted it, so it has to be 50-80yrs old. Would gladly give you a cutting! The fruit is purplish brown...so I guessing a turkey fig? But other than that - no clue!

[!potatoes!]

frost predicted tonight, for the first time in 3 or 4 weeks. the potted figs have been moved into the basement, along with lots of other plants that are potentially frost-sensitive, perhaps when flowering, which some are....

the in-the-ground fig is covered in 1/4 to 1/3 inch mini-figs for the early season. we lost a bushload of figs on this plant to a similar occurence last year (though with any luck that will have been a harder freeze)...I've made a weird little tent for the fig (fig is 5 or 6 feet tall, tent stands maybe seven feet tall and six wide) lashed together with two two-by-fours, three tomato stakes, two tarps and four separate pieces of rope. will bring out a few gallon jugs of warm water just before bedtime, and cross my fingers.

[applestar]

Oh, I hope your in-ground-fig manages to hold on to the fruits.

Frost predicted after midnight, some forecasts down to 33°F. I brought my fig in, too, though I gave up on bringing in all. Citruses and avocados, even hot peppers that have been sent outside are all huddled under the teak table on the SE-facing brick patio with an old nylon shower curtain draped over the edge and surrounded by the chairs. Big plants that don't fit under the table are hugging the house wall.

My nectarine, sweet cherries, one of the pears and a peach are all in bloom....

[!potatoes!]

came through the first two frosty nights okay...one more to go, and then the forecast looks good.

[RogueRose]

Just noticed that mine is starting to leaf out....there's buds and teeny leaves on it. Should have big full leaves soon.

[applestar]

Oh! Thanks for the heads up!
(...especially since I've brought it back inside a few days ago due to unpredictable weather forecasts.)

[RogueRose]

You're welcome! It always seems like over night that it gets the big leaves....I always keep an eye on it then next thing I know it goes FALUMPH and it has the big leaves. I never really see a "transition" leaf.

[applestar]

So, how did everyone's figs do this season?
I harvested about 1/2 doz earlier, and now it's covered with the 2nd crop. I gave 1st ripe one to DH who said it was great.

Now waiting for about 16 more to grow to size and ripen:

... Now I'm worrying about the end of the season yet similar issues of when and how much to protect the fruits from cold temps and frost....

[gumbo2176]

My figs have been done for several weeks now. They usually play out by early August, but I had a decent season. This years crop was not as good as last summer's, but I got about the equivalent of a 5 gallon bucket of figs from the old tree I have. I made a few quarts of preserves, ate some of them fresh off the tree and gave most of them away to family, friends and my wife's co-workers.

The 2012 crop was bigger, but I trimmed the tree back pretty hard after that since it was getting a bit out of control. My late father-in-law was the biggest recipient of my figs most years. That man could eat 20 or more of them in a sitting, and he loved how I preserved them and would eat fig preserves on his biscuits till the jar was wiped clean. When he was alive, not many other folks got figs.

[applestar]

Had some days/nights in the 80's / high 60's -- probably last ... Expecting heavy rains tomorrow then down to low 70's / mid 40's.... Will these fruits finish growing and ripening if I bring the container inside to keep above 60's? (I'll provide supplemental light)

[gumbo2176]

Had some days/nights in the 80's / high 60's -- probably last ... Expecting heavy rains tomorrow then down to low 70's / mid 40's.... Will these fruits finish growing and ripening if I bring the container inside to keep above 60's? (I'll provide supplemental light)

Much different from the growing and ripening environment of my area. My figs ripen best when the daily temps are in the mid to upper 90's and nightly around mid 70's. Of course it all depends on how much moisture they receive when they are producing at max output. I had about 4 days of great harvest then it rained for a couple days and all the fruit split before ripening and started souring on the tree. That was the end of it for this year. My harvest is for a couple weeks in July only.

[applestar]

Hmm... Can't find the pictures right now, but two of the breva (? Is that the right term for dormant fruits that overwinters then ripens in spring?) fruits out of 19 on the overwintering fig tree ripened last week (1 ripened a while -- few weeks? -- ago). The very first one was a little underripe (not sweet) when it fell off so. I left them black and shiny for longer as long as they stayed on. When I picked them, one of them had gotten past ripe and was slightly fermenting, but we ate them anyway after drying in the oven for a couple of hours to concentrate the flavor. Not fantastic, but tasty and welcome addition to the winter harvest. Can't wait until the rest of them decide to break dormancy and ripen.

[imafan26]

figs do not ripen off the tree. I have a different variety, Brown turkey. In summer they will turn from green to red and get soft. I have to get to them before the birds do. Unfortunately the birds know when they are ripe too. Now, that it is cooler the figs are red but still firm, so I have to wait for them to soften before I pick them. Some figs taste better than others.

Black Mission and Brown Turkey are sweet, some white figs even the birds will leave alone. You can usually tell if you have good fruit, because the birds will always go after the best fruit.

[applestar]

Thanks imafan. ...my Petit Negri fig is in the kitchen though, by the back door to keep it on the cold side. And in case it wasn't clear, I was leaving these two fruits on the tree after they had turned dark and somewhat shiny. DH was the only one who was trying to pick them before I declared them ready,

I remember visiting a distant relative ages ago and climbing from the 2nd story veranda to the fig tree and picking the ripe figs. I think I have been looking for that flavor ever since. I recall they had a green variety -- large sweet fruits bursting with red inside.

[!potatoes!]

fig can definitely ripen off the tree. maybe not all the way...but there's been a number of times I've grabbed some that were mostly hard and not very sweet from public plants, and had them sweeten + soften in the house. is this not 'ripening'?

[applestar]

Those figs are ripening and starting to droop/drop. We've had three or four recently -- finding that they taste sweet if left to shrivel a little and droop on the stem. Two more are harvested and ready to eat, and 9 more on the tree:

Latest harvest of Kootenai and Sweet N Neat tomatoes and Figs

Remaining figs slowly ripening on the tree

Along with the winter indoor tomatoes and hot peppers, they are unusual but welcome addition to the modest winter harvest. . Maybe I'll post an update on the winter garden thread with comprehensive description of what's growing right now....

My figs ripen best when the daily temps are in the mid to upper 90's and nightly around mid 70's.

...these poor fruits are working with something like upper 60's during the day and down to upper 50's at night. Sad shadow of what they could taste like, I'm sure, but still somehow delicious, you know?

I wonder if fruiting and ripening now as they are, if this would disrupt their fruiting pattern? I think I'd rather they fruited and matured in the height of the summer for much fuller flavor.

[applestar]

New question related to this PETIT NEGRI fig tree

I have harvested and (we) have been enjoying all of the ripe figs -- one was wasted because I didn't realize it had passed prime but was still hanging on the tree And for some reason there is one last fruit remaining stubbornly green and hard.

As soon as most of the ripe figs were picked, this tree decided to start to break bud and start growing leaves: One tiny recognizable leaf on very tip and the second bud greening and unfolding. BUT it's still middle of January, no way the tree is going outside until mid-March to April IF still dormant and late April is the last average frost when it could go out in full leaf. Lighting is poor and any growth during the winter will be weak.

I also wanted to prune about six inches off the end of each of the three trunk/branches.

I can think of two possible solutions:

(1) Should I prune off the growing end and send the tree out to the garage to hopefully hibernate for the rest of the winter?

Does this sound like a workable solution? I will have to do this right away if I'm going to do this -- need recommendation ASAP. The unheated garage can fluctuate from 50's°F to as low as mid to low 20's if we get the wintry blast of cold again which is entirely possible. The garage is dim at best though there are two t-12 fluorescent light on 24/7 for the overwintering peppers, eggplants, pineapple sage, and pomegranates, and the seed starting V8 light nursery (three t-12's and four t-8's) turns on for 16 hours. The fig could be placed near the V8 nursery but it won't be close enough for good growth if it tries to grow, or it could be placed farther from the stronger lights and closer to but not directly in the 24 hr lights where it is also probably colder.

(2) The other option would be to let the tree grow any way it wants in the kitchen despite the inadequate light, but prune the end of the branches later when I put it outside in late April.

[applestar]

...I'm impatient...

I just came in from dragging the fig tree out to the garage
-- my reasoning is that this is supposed to be a deciduous tree and it would probably be better for it to get its winter rest than to waste its energy trying to leaf out out of season. Hopefully it will halt trying to break bud and go back to sleep even though it's currently on the warm side in the garage at 56°F -- it was a gorgeous day and the kids and I went out for a walk this afternoon.

...a little worried that it might be too bright in there for "winter storing" the fig tree, but maybe it doesn't matter (will help) while it has leaves, until the leaves dry up and are shed. Any thoughts from your tree and fruit tree expertise are welcome and appreciated.

[rksamon]

I am in Zone 6 in central TN, and I must confess - I am a fig-a-holic. lol I absolutely love figs - I have 7 fig trees planted in the ground here and a couple more growing on to plant out this year.I have 2 Brown Turkey, 2 Celeste, 1 LSU Gold, 1 LSU Purple, and 1 Kadota in the ground. Once established for 4+ years, my figs have always done fine with no protection as long as they are grown more like a bush rather than a tree (multiple stems coming out from the base). Even if the temp gets too low and kills back some of the branches, the fig will send up new branches from the base. I fear that may be the case this year after we have had several temperature dips below zero this winter.

I plan to harden off the ones I have in pots when I harden off my tomatoes and plant them in the ground when they leaf out vigorously. Hopefully it will be a good year... Good luck with yours!

PS - the person who had the memories of picking the greenish figs off of a huge tree - I recall similar experiences from my childhood. Our tree was a Celeste fig - huge, tender, and honey sweet.

[imafan26]

I don't have a winter or snow or even close to freezing although 53 degrees feels icy to me. My brown turkey has been producing fruit for months. It takes longer to ripen but it really has not gone dormant.

It is kind of a dilemma for me, since I want to prune it but I don't want to sacrifice the fruit.

The fig I have is over 5 feet tall. I wanted to prune it to an umbrella tree form, but the plant I have was started from a lateral branch. Most of the branches are growing laterally and very few are going vertical. So, I have decided not to fight its' nature and prune it into a shrub shape instead. At least the fruit will remain easier to pick.

[applestar]

The fig dropped all it's leaves and lost the tip of one branch during the winter -- it got down to at least mid 20's in the garage this winter. I trimmed the branch tips cutting off the obviously dead portions and stuck them in some sandy mix with a cut off soda bottle humidity dome and put it on top of one of the t-5 fixtures for bottom heat in hopes that the cuttings will strike roots.

Today, with no freezing temps in the next 10 day forecast, I sent the fig outside on the SE facing brick patio. It's getting rained on now, but it should be OK, I think. Hopefully, it will be able to wake up and leaf out. But last frost is a month away so I'll probably have to bring it in and out from now until then.

I'm encouraged about growing some hardier cultivars in the ground. I ordered and am expecting a Chicago Hardy fig to be delivered this spring. I'm now furiously thinking about getting more....

[applestar]

looks like one of them struck roots

Petit Negri fig cutting starting to grow

...the other two started to grow white mold. I sprayed with alcohol a couple of times but when one of them turned mushy, I called it and cut them down to the soil level, so only this one is growing. ...but I GOT ONE

[ReptileAddiction]

Nice! If you wanted to trade some rooted cuttings, I have some small celeste figs...

[applestar]

...but this is my first baby....

[hendi_alex]

I should have moved my container grown petit negri to protection this winter. Looks like the unusually cold temperatures have killed it, Texas giant, and celeste all have been killed back to the ground. I would assume that new growth puts out from the roots, but I've never seen figs with older growth get killed back so far before.

[applestar]

That's a bummer, Alex.

Yes, this winter has taken all of us by surprise... Particularly in terms of [not usually needed] protection and hindsight is 20/20 as they say. I'm still assessing what survived and what didn't out in the garden, but my rosemary by the garden gate is all brown and dried up.

[applestar]

The "Big Fig" out on the patio is starting to break bud

BTW that's my "backup" rosemary that was overwintered nearly dry in the unheated garage in front of (not directly under the lights of) the V8 Nursery. I draped it along with the fig with a clear plastic sheeting loosely attached to the light fixture with magnets for easy on/off when temps got down in the neg. single digits outside and V8 nursery area was down to 24°F so it was getting "some warmth" generated by the light fixtures. But I never completely covered/wrapped the the set up this year since I wasn't using it for tender plants. Just zone marginal ones.

The apparently empty white pot contained a pineapple sage propagated in fall from cutting. Top was totally winter fried, and I'm nit sure if there was enough root system to survive the freeze... But I'll just leave it like that and see.

[RogueRose]

Last year was a good fig year for my tree...not quite a bumper crop, but it was good. We'll see how this year goes. Something nibbled on it this late winter/early spring. I don't know what. I am going to guess groundhog or squirrels. I hope it does okay....it's just at the base.

[applestar]

Those buds had swelled to nearly unfolding. I've dragged the tree back inside the back door to protect from the forecasted overnight temp of 28-26°F and windchill of 16°F. No way I'm letting those buds get blasted.

[applestar]

So far so good

Can you see the six baby figs?

[applestar]

The same fig tree now.

It grew around 30 fruits -- pretty respectable/satisfactory amount, I'm thinking
They are starting to ripen, and I've harvested four so far including the two in the picture.

Until this summer, the DD's didn't even want to try them, so DH and I have been enjoying the tiny harvest from this tree, but this year, younger DD decided to try one, and now she loves figs.

So we have to share....

But I have a solution for that -- My new Chicago Hardy fig has been growing well and, since it's supposed to be hardy in the ground, hopefully it will crop more heavily than the container fig.

I'm planning to train it in espalier style against this wall.