The fig is native to the Mediterranean
Basin. You may already be familiar with some members of the fig family,
such as the ornamental rubber tree, the mulberry, and the Osage orange or
hedge apple. Figs are grown over much of eastern North Carolina and westward
into the Piedmont. If your soil is well-drained and reasonably fertile,
you most likely will have success growing figs in North Carolina.
Cold weather and nematodes are two limiting
factors affecting fig culture in this state.
Celeste is a fairly hardy variety.
Its fruit is small and violet or light brown. The pulp is a light
strawberry pink. The fruit is good fresh or when used in canning or
making preserves. Celeste will begin to ripen its fruit in
mid-July.
Brown Turkey is also sold as Texas
Everbearing and Harrison; it is not to be confused with the
Brown Turkey variety of California. Its fruit is medium to large with a
light coppery brown skin and amber pulp. It produces a light crop of
large fruit 2 weeks earlier than Celeste and a heavy crop of medium-sized
fruit 2 to 3 weeks after Celeste. The fruit has good quality for fresh
use and is excellent for preserves. Brown Turkey adapts well to being
grown in containers.
Brunswick or Magnolia has a large, hollow
fruit that is light brown with darker ribs and practically no stem. The
pulp is amber. Its fruit splits and sours during hot, humid weather. It is
recommended for preserves only. Brunswick appears to be more cold hardy than
Brown Turkey or Celeste; however, it does not grow vigorously.
Both Brown Turkey and Brunswick
produce fair-to-good crops on suckers produced the season following freeze
or cold injury.
Figs grow well on a wide range of soils if the
soil is well-drained and reasonably fertile. They also prefer a loamy
soil that has plenty of organic matter and moisture available during the
growing season. A soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5 is optimum.
Plant your fig tree where it is protected from
both the winter sun and cold winter winds. Unseasonably warm
temperatures during the winter may cause growth. If growth begins and a
sudden freeze occurs, the plant may be seriously damaged. For this reason,
figs planted on northern exposures have a better chance of remaining dormant
and escaping sudden freezes, especially in the Piedmont.
Plants. Dormant, bare-rooted, nursery-grown
plants can be set out anytime between late fall and early spring; but, it is
best to set them out in the spring when the danger of severe winter
temperatures is over. Container grown plants should be planted just in the
spring. Start with plants that are free of root-knot nematode galls. Figs
trained as trees should be spaced 15 to 20 feet apart; those grown as bushes
require a 10 foot spacing.
For optimum growth, give fig plants full
sunlight and adequate room to grow. Avoid competition from neighboring trees
and shrubs.
IMPORTANT A: If the fig plant produces more than 1 to 2 feet of
new growth per year, reduce or eliminate nitrogen fertilization. The amount of
fertilizer needed depends on the soil's fertility.
IMPORTANT B: Over fertilization with nitrogen promotes succulent
growth late in the growing season, a condition or problem that makes plants
more susceptible to winter injury. Excessive nitrogen also results in light
fruiting, fruit splitting, and souring.
For best results, apply 1 pound of an 8-8-8
fertilizer for each year of age until a maximum of 12 pounds of fertilizer per
plant is reached; then maintain this rate each year.
If the age is unknown, a rule of thumb is to
apply 1 pound of fertilizer per year for each foot of height.
Apply the fertilizer as follows:
on heavy soils - when the buds swell
on sandy soils - one-half the amount as buds
swell and the other half in late May
Put the fertilizer over mulch in a circle starting
from the ends of the branches and working toward the trunk in a one-foot
band.
Prune in late winter, just before growth begins.
Make smooth clean cuts close to the lateral branch and do not leave any
stubs.
Prune to control the fig tree's height by opening
the bush, removing dead wood and suckers from the trunk and main branches and
cutting off the drooping branches. This pruning method produces easier
picking, larger fruit, and better control of the tree's vigor.
Prune sufficiently to stimulate about a foot of
new growth each year on most branches.
Pruning determines whether you will have a fig
tree or a fig bush. It also stimulates new wood growth, and another
fruit develops in the axil of each leaf.
Figs grown in North Carolina are highly perishable
and ferment under ordinary conditions shortly after being picked. You
must use the fruit as it ripens, especially in damp weather.
The fruit
cannot be sun-dried because of the high humidity in North
Carolina.
Fresh figs are not tasty until soft and ripe.
Therefore, pick them just as the fruit begins to soften. Ripe figs can be
stored for a short time at cool temperatures (about 40 degrees F) to retard
spoilage and souring.
For preserving, figs may be picked a few days
before they are fully ripe. The fruit will hold together better once
cooked, a step that reduces the chance for spoilage or souring.
If your skin is sensitive to the fig's milky
latex, wear gloves during harvest.
New fig plants can be started from cuttings or by
simple layering.
You can make cuttings 8 to 10 inches long from
well-matured wood of the previous season's growth and store them in a cool,
dry place until the following spring. In the spring, set the cuttings
vertically, 8 to 10 inches apart in furrows 6 to 8 inches deep. Make sure that
at least one bud on each cutting is above soil level (top part of cutting up).
Let the new plants grow one year and then transplant them to a permanent
location.
To propagate the fig by layering, bend a sprout or
sucker down and bury it in a trench about 6 inches deep. Leave the tip
uncovered. Remove leaves before covering the shoot or sucker with soil.
Transplant when rooted.
Fig plants are not completely cold hardy in North
Carolina. During severe low temperatures (20 degrees F or less), they
may freeze back to the ground. When severe weather is predicted, you can
protect plants by covering them with straw, a tarpaulin, or other
suitable material.
The plants will recover from above-ground injury, but
fruiting will be delayed until new growth is forced out.
Young bushes or trees are particularly susceptible
to winter injury. In late fall, protect the trunk by piling mulch 1 to 2 feet high around the base of the trunk. Remove the
mulch in the
spring when frost is no longer a hazard.
Cold injury can be severe
enough to kill the plant or weaken it, making it more susceptible to twig and
stem canker-causing fungi. Buds on injured branches shrivel and fail to
leaf-out. To aid in reduction of cold injury, figs should be planted in
a protected area and maintained in good vigor but avoid the use of excess
nitrogen. Killed and injured branches should be pruned out in early
spring.
More than likely your fig is one of the varieties
mentioned above and is suited for NC. However, figs purchased figs from
California or Mediterranean climates (Smyrna varieties) and require pollination by a special wasp that is not found in North
Carolina. The varieties mentioned previously bear fruit without
pollination.
If your trees occasionally drop mature fruit or
fail to full develop, it
could be due to excessive nitrogen or shade, winter injury, drought, poor soil
drainage or nematodes.
Figs may bloom several times
a year; the fruit that develops from early blossoms may be injured by spring
frosts while the fruit from late blossoms may not have sufficient time to
mature. Fruit may also drop from plants stressed by nematodes or environmental
conditions such as dry weather.
A soft rot (anthracnose) and dropping of the fruit. The first
symptoms appear as small sunken and discolored areas. The areas increase in
size and pink masses of spores become visible. When immature fruit are
infected, they may mummify and remain on the branches in a dried
condition. Fallen and diseased fruit should be disposed. Dried and
diseased fruit should be removed from the trees since these will harbor the
fungus.
Souring results from spoilage
due to fermentation by various yeasts, other fungi and bacteria. This
condition is most severe during prolonged rainy periods. Pick figs regularly
and do not allow them to become over ripe on the tree. If souring occurs,
little can be done other than to remove and destroy all infected
fruit.
Root knot caused by
the root-knot nematode is the major disease affecting figs grown in sandy
soil. Damage from this root-feeding nematode is progressive and results
in poor growth, low vigor, yellowing and bronzing of foliage, low yield and
poor fruit quality. To determine if root knot nematodes are causing the above
ground symptoms, examine the roots for galls. Your local county
extension agent can assist you in obtaining a
diagnosis.
Control: Currently there is no chemical
registered for nematode control on established plants. If the
root-knot nematode commonly occurs in the area, or if a soil assay indicates
the nematode is present, some type of control procedure should be used prior
to planting.
The following may aid in reducing nematode
problems:
Choose a planting site in which a fig plant has not been previously
grown, or where root-knot susceptible plants such as tomatoes, okra, or
tobacco have not been recently grown.
Complete fallowing of the planting site
(approximately 4 ft x 4 ft area) during the summer and fall prior to planting
can reduce nematode populations.
If only one or a few fig bushes are being
planted, removal of the existing soil and replacement with a high organic
potting soil mix can be used. Remove the existing soil from a 3 to 4 ft
diameter area to a depth of 18 to 24 inches then fill the hole with soil
potting mix that can be obtained at most garden centers. High organic
matter in the soil can reduce root-knot nematodes.
Plant only nematode and disease-free
plants.
None of these practices
will totally prevent reestablishment of root-knot nematodes but should
help the plant get off to a good start. Water and fertilize the plants
to maintain adequate but not excessive vigor.
Several fungi cause leaf and stem blights, stem
cankers and leaf spots. These can result in the wilting and dying of
stems, branches and leaves. Often the starting points for these diseases
are areas on twigs and branches that have been injured or killed by cold
injury. Prune out and dispose of all injured and dead twigs and
branches. Rake up and dispose of all fallen leaves.
Nutritional problems can cause low vigor, small
fruit, and poor fruit production. Prior to planting, have a soil test done by
the N.C. Department of Agriculture to determine nutritional needs. Additional
tests may be needed later if symptoms of low vigor or poor fruit production
are observed.
Figs in home plantings are relatively free
from serious disease and insect injury and thus fungicides and insecticides
are usually not necessary and are usually impractical.
Caution: The information and
recommendations in these Notes were developed for North Carolina conditions
and may not apply in other areas.
‘Fig Culture in North Carolina’
originally prepared by Melvin H. Kolbe, Extension Horticulture Specialist, and
revised by Kathleen M. Williams, Extension Horticulture Specialist (Tree
Fruits).
‘Fig Diseases in North Carolina’,
Fruit Disease Information Note 7, prepared by D. F. Ritchie, Plant
Pathologist.