Figs

Figs are one of the oldest fruits that were cultivated. They grow well in regions with long and hot growing seasons but even if you are in cool areas you can still grow figs. Fan-trained figs may be grown under glass and will crop more regularly than in the open.

Figs prefer slightly alkaline, deep, rich, moisture-retentive soils and a sunny position in your garden. If you live in cool areas offer your fig protection from frost by placing it near a fence or wall or grow it in a container placed in a sunny, sheltered place and move it into a cold but frost-free place over the winter. If you choose to grow your fig in a container use a 30-40 cm wide one and fill it with loam-based potting compost. Water them regularly except from the ripening period to prevent skins from splitting.

Figs grown in the garden will need in spring a mulch of well-rotted manure and the ones grown in pot will need some extra nutrients so a balanced fertilizer applied in summer is a good help. Do not overfeed them. Repot every two years if grown in pots.

Propagation can be done by sowing seeds but is not recommended because fruits quality may not be too good. The recommended method is to use hardwood cuttings, 30 cm long,  of one-year-old wood. Insert them into well-prepared and well-drained ground and protect them from frost with cloches. You can also propagate them by rooted suckers severed from the parent tree and transplanted.

Fruits can be picked when fully ripe and eaten fresh or dried. Normally, a fig will produce two crops per season, an early one from embryo figs formed late in the previous season followed by the main crop which is both formed and ripened during the same summer, but in cool climates only the first one will have time to ripen. Remove the fruits that did not ripen to concentrate the trees energies into producing new embryo fruits.