Fig tree

Light and exposure

The fig tree wants heat, and more heat. At the edge of its hardiness the location makes all the difference: plant it against a wall in full sun that soaks up the heat during the day and gives it back at night. That wall warmth can add enough degrees to ripen the figs and get the tree through winter.

Give it the most direct light possible, six hours and more. A fig tree in the shade or in a cold corner will make wood and leaves, but few ripe fruits. In a pot, place it at the warmest and most sheltered spot on the terrace, backed against a wall if you can.

Watering

In the ground and well established, the fig tree tolerates drought: its roots go deep. In the first years, water regularly while it roots in, then space it out. Too much water gives swollen, bland figs that split.

In a pot it is another story. The volume of soil is limited, it dries out fast in summer and needs steady watering, sometimes daily in high heat. Let the surface dry between waterings, but never let the rootball dry out completely while the fruits are forming, or you will see them drop.

Soil and repotting

The fig tree is not fussy about soil type: it grows in poor, stony, even chalky ground. What it demands is drainage. Heavy, waterlogged soil in winter weakens its roots against frost far more than lean, dry soil.

A counterintuitive but essential point: the fig tree fruits better when its roots are confined. In the ground, a pit lined with slabs or old bricks, or a planting along a wall with foundations, limits root spread and pushes the tree to make fruit rather than wood. A pot naturally plays this restricting role.

Temperature and humidity

This is the sensitive point outside the Mediterranean basin. The fig tree tolerates moderate cold once mature, its ripened wood taking about minus 10 degrees, but a harsher winter, above all in a damp climate, can freeze it back to the ground. The good news: even then, the stump is often alive and resprouts vigorously in spring, even if it has to start over.

Two fragile things to protect: the base and the winter figs. Cover the base with a thick, generous mulch before the deep cold; well mulched, the stump holds down to USDA zone 6. The winter figs, those little nubs formed in autumn at the tips of the shoots, are the ones that will give next year’s crop: a severe frost destroys them and compromises production. On a wall-trained tree, a winter fleece on the harshest nights helps save them.

Pruning and upkeep

The fig tree does very well without heavy pruning. Just open up the center, remove dead wood and badly placed suckers, and cut back what overflows to keep a controlled shape, especially in a pot or trained against a wall. Step in at the end of winter, once the frosts have passed, when you can see what has survived.

A safety precaution not to take lightly: the fig tree oozes a latex, that white sticky sap, as soon as you cut a shoot or a leaf. This latex irritates the skin and is photosensitizing: in contact with the sun, it can cause real burns. Wear gloves to prune or harvest, and avoid exposing to the sun any skin that has touched the sap before washing it thoroughly.

Pests and diseases

The fig tree is a tough tree, little prone to disease. Its main enemy is not a fungus but the cold, covered above. In very damp, cool weather, a few figs may rot on the tree or split before ripening: remove them so they do not attract wasps and mold.

Birds and wasps invite themselves at ripening time, drawn by the sugar of the ripe figs. Harvest at the right moment, as soon as the fruit droops and turns soft, rather than letting it go over on the tree. On a pot brought in for winter, watch for scale insects and red spider mites that take advantage of the dry indoor air.

Propagation

The fig tree strikes from cuttings with disconcerting ease, it is even the simplest and most faithful way to propagate it. In late winter, take a well-ripened one-year shoot about twenty centimeters long and plant it two-thirds deep in a pot of sandy compost kept barely moist. Rooting happens in spring.

Layering also works very well: peg a low shoot down to the ground, cover a section with soil, and it roots on its own before being separated the following year. Always choose to propagate a hardy, early-ripening variety, of the Brown Turkey or Ronde de Bordeaux type, rather than a southern fig that will struggle to ripen in a short summer.

Month-by-month care calendar

Green Hub tips

• At the edge of its hardiness, the location is everything: a good warm wall in full sun, or a large pot to bring in frost-free during harsh winters.
• Choose a hardy, early-ripening variety (Brown Turkey, Madeleine des Deux Saisons, Ronde de Bordeaux), or the figs will not ripen.
• Restricting the roots, in a pot or a lined pit, pushes the fig tree to fruit rather than make wood.
• If it freezes back to the ground in a harsh winter, do not pull it up: the stump very often comes back in spring.
• Fig tree latex is irritating and photosensitizing: prune and pick with gloves, and avoid the sun on skin that has touched the sap.