This is our fig tree...
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| Fig tree |
It's been in the ground 3 years now...and it's not growing very fast. For some reason, this one has only grown maybe a foot? If that? We always thought they were faster growing but not this one.
Perhaps it's the soil and it will just take longer for the roots to break through the heavy clay. Or perhaps I need to do a special kick-starter fertilizer?
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| Figs on a fig tree |
It is producing figs, albeit not very many, and we have to fight the birds for the ones that are on there. Hoping we'll get at least a few this season. I LOVE figs, 2nd Man is not a big fan but I say he just hasn't eaten the right fig dish yet!
I think figs are such a great compliment to other things like cheese, honey, nuts, other fruits, etc.
Anyone out there have any fig tree growing experience and/or advice?
Like any newly planted plants;
ReplyDeleteThe 1st year they sleep, the 2nd year they creep and the 3rd year they leap which is when after the 3rd year things really start to take off.
With the Texas dirt and when it comes to planting trees, shrubs, etc. You have to amend the soil with good ole compost. I even sprinkle in with bone or blood meal in the hole along with some Epsom salts and rake it in; water with liquid fertilizer, letting it drain, making sure that the water drains well before adding potted tree or whatever. It's gotta have good drainage. If not, the roots will rot and your tree will die but looking at your photo, looks like it's getting good drainage. It may need a good boost of MiracleGro.
Another thing with fruit trees, don't let the blooms or fruit set on for the first couple years. You want the tree to concentrate more on growing than producing fruit.
Thank you! As ALWAYS. Great info!!! Yep I think the draining is working but it might just need a good boost. And I should pluck off the figs.
DeleteOOPS. Forgot to add this link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.almanac.com/plant/figs
Now, as for the birds; but netting over top to keep birds at bay
DeleteThank you!!! I forgot about bird netting! Of course if I just pluck off the figs, they don't get an
Deleteany this year either, ha.
DeleteWhen you put on Miracle Gro, spray the leaves use a bottle hand sprayer and talk to the tree. Miracle Gro is absorbed through the leaves and I figure plants need encouragement or threats.
ReplyDeleteThank you, good point!! And I talk to the plants on occasion, I should do it more often.
DeleteBirds were always first to our fig tree. And lucky me got to clean up the damage. Many years later, I don't do figs. Cleaning up half eaten mouldy ones left its mark.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes to the suggestion that you probably should remove the figs this year, to encourage it to grow.
LOL, I can understand. I had a bad experience with sour cream and it makes it hard to eat for me. I will pull them off this weekend. Thanks!!!
DeleteEnough leaves to cover your nether regions
ReplyDeleteLOL! You always know how to bring a smile...
Deletesigh, clay. When I lived in North Georgia we had to dig plant holes with a post hole digger. Many, many plants did not thrive due to being 'pot bound'.
ReplyDeleteYep, it's almost like having a pot IN the ground.
DeleteOh, the stories I could tell you about fig trees here in the San Joaquin Valley. We have a few growers who made their fortune growing these. One type of figs were grown to make library book paste. My favorite is black mission figs. Brown turkey are similar but not as rich tasting. The land where our home sits was once an orchard. The grower blasted holes, using dynamite, for trees. Fig trees can live for years with no water.
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you for this info. I've had the black mission figs, yummy is right!! Thanks for commenting, much appreciated!
DeleteThis is my 5th or 6th year watching a fig tree's struggle. Neighbor's brought it to me when it had already lived some years tying to find its way to the sun through other shrubs. It was several feet tall and misshapen. They dug it with a tractor and drove to my house with it. I didn't want to hurt their feelings but was very sure the tree wouldn't live. It appeared not to, and we cut it down. It came back from the roots for a couple of years, produced no figs, and died back. But this year it has figs! Fig trees must be resilient. This one is in red Georgia clay.
ReplyDeleteGreat info, and it gives me hope for the future. After all, we aren't living out there full time yet, so we have time for it to hopefully come back. And red Georgia clay is like our brown clay. I have hope! :-) Thanks!!
DeleteI have Brown Turkey fig trees. They looked kinda puny until I started fertilizing them each spring.
ReplyDeleteFertilizer it is!!!
DeleteWe inherited several fig trees when we bought our place, so I've been spared having to try to establish them, meaning I'm no help!
ReplyDeleteHa, no worries, thank you for stopping by! We're still in baby baby steps but we're learning. Thanks!!!
DeleteI'm with 2nd man and not a fan of figs
ReplyDeleteToo funny! Maybe it's an acquired taste. Though he says it's he texture he's not a fan of.
DeleteOne time a friend gave me two gallons of figs from her tree. I ate figs the whole seven miles from the country. I figure I age a quart of unwashed figs before I figured out I was overstuffed. I love figs. I just got some Machengo cheese, cheese from sheep. It goes well with fig preserves.
DeleteFIG PRESERVES!! Yummy!!!
DeleteIt's fruiting and that is the important part.
ReplyDeleteDad planted figs here even though they are not supposed to grow. They did and he was able to enjoy figs many times. Now his grandchildren enjoys them.
Good point, if it wasn't fruiting it would be a bad sign. Thanks for that! And I love the Idea of generational fruit trees like you have. :-)
DeleteMy grandparents always said you have to plant figs near a house or they won't grow. I don't know if that is true or not, but my grandfather could and did grow almost anything. My fig is planted by the northwest corner of my house and is taller than my house. I live in south MS, just for reference.
ReplyDeleteHello! You know what's interesting? Every fig tree I've ever seen or heard people talk about has been up against the wall of a house, ha. Thanks for this. I will have to consider that. Perhaps a cutting near the house and then compare the progress of the two.
DeleteAfter all these comments I've read and enjoyed. They are 5 yrs old. I just wonder did they ever figure out that fig trees have to grow half sun half shade. Too much sun stuns the growth. They have those rough dew leave I call them bc they collect early morning dew and late night in the late spring and summer. That's why they go longer without water.
ReplyDelete