5 Quick Fruiting FIG TREES Everyone Can Grow At Home
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- čas přidán 6. 07. 2024
- In this video, I share 5 quick fruiting fig trees everyone can grow at home in almost any climate! Fig trees come from warm Mediterranean regions, so many gardeners in cold climates think they can't grow a fig tree. That's not true! Fig trees can grow as cold as Zone 5 (maybe even Zone 4)! This video features early fig varieties that can thrive in places with short growing seasons.
Most fig tree varieties require a long, warm growing season to ripen. However, some early figs can re-grow from total winter dieback and still have enough time to produce a crop of ripe figs. This video features some of my best tasting figs that produce very early and make growing figs in short summer climates possible. I also feature fig growing tips to help ensure success and a fig taste test for every fig variety featured.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 Critical Fig Growing Tips For Short Seasons
3:50 Fig Variety #1: Ronde de Bordeaux
6:22 Fig Variety #2: Sao Miguel Roxo
8:42 Fig Variety #3: Marseilles Black VS
12:13 Fig Variety #4: Olympian
15:47 Fig Variety #5: Smith
19:51 Adventures With Dale
If you have any questions how to grow fig trees, growing figs in containers, growing fruit trees or want to know about the things I grow in my raised bed vegetable garden and edible landscaping food forest, are looking for more gardening tips and tricks and garden hacks, have questions about vegetable gardening and organic gardening in general, or want to share some DIY and "how to" garden tips and gardening hacks of your own, please ask in the Comments below!
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ABOUT MY GARDEN
Location: Southeastern NC, Brunswick County (Wilmington area)
34.1°N Latitude
Zone 8A
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#gardening #garden #gardeningtips #figs #figtrees
If you found this video helpful, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 Critical Fig Growing Tips For Short Seasons
3:50 Fig Variety #1: Ronde de Bordeaux
6:22 Fig Variety #2: Sao Miguel Roxo
8:42 Fig Variety #3: Marseilles Black VS
12:13 Fig Variety #4: Olympian
15:47 Fig Variety #5: Smith
19:51 Adventures With Dale
Growing figs 10B : )
20:32
20:32 no.
Do you sell fig cuttings? If so I would like to get the olympian.
I have limited space in my back yard so I picked a dwarf variety with the adorable name of "Little Miss Figgy". We had the entire first crop recently for dessert and our guest declared them the best figs she had ever tasted!
Excellent! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying!
I have to Little Miss Figgy. One in a pot and one in the ground. This is their second year and they have not produced fruit yet. I sad.
My great grandparents had a huge fig clump 75 years ago at the north edge of what is now 8b and my 1940s Dallas home had a huge bush out back. I assumed both were Texas Everbearing, an old variety. My favorite thing was to preserve figs whole, bringing them to a boil in sugar syrup for three consecutive days, then carefully arranging them in jars in hot syrup. I loved this video.
Thank you! I, personally, love fig jam. One of my favorite condiments is fig jam with hot chilies mixed in. Figs + hot pepper is a match made in heaven.
I'm in central Indiana and this year is my first year trying to grow figs because of you. I have 2 starts of the Olympian, 5 cuttings of Brown Turkey, 3 cuttings of Chicago Hardy, 1 Genovese Nero, and 1 Osborne Prolific. Thank you for the inspiration.
Very nice!! I'm happy to hear I'm spreading the love! Figs are very special fruits. The only way to get good figs are to grow them yourself. Just make sure you wait until they're ripe for maximum flavor. A properly ripe fig looks overripe, and new growers often pick them too early. If they taste anything like melon, they're underripe. Ripe figs look ugly.
Thank you sir and I appreciate you responding. Please keep the fig videos coming. I've learned so much and am so hiped to try my first fresh fig.
@@TheMillennialGardener do we wait until they have the feel of a ripe tomato?
Very inspiritionql
Hey. I am central Indiana as well. Did you pot them or go straight in the ground? My trees will be delivered today.
I am Cincinnati and I put in 1 brown turkey last year. We thought it had died because it really looked dead, we planted it where we had acorn squash last year. We had green growth in the center and the leaves looked like squash leaves. I was at a nursery outlet store and they had dwarf fig trees. I bought one and we planted it about 20 feet from the other one . I have figs on both plants because the squash leaves ended up being new fig growth. Who knew? Put the dwarf in May 2, 2023 and it is beautiful.
Figs will grow back from the roots in most places after dying back. Once the soil warms up appropriately, they'll send buds. Mulching the roots very well in winter insulates them and increases your chances of success.
We’re in Cinci too and struggling with our figs, but we’re maybe tempting fate with a Violette de Bordeaux. We haven’t planted it in ground though because the areas we can shelter it don’t get any sun, so we are trying to move it during the winter. First one didn’t make it last winter 😢
@raev87 We put both of ours in the ground. Purchased our first one at Tractor Supply last gall on clearance for $10.00. It completely died back and we had that last cold snap late this year and I thought we lost it. We planted it where we planted acorn squash last year. I went to the Natorp's outlet this year and got another one in April. It just said fig, so I don't know what type the second is, but we have figs on both of them.
@raev87 Where did you get your Bordeaux at?
Almost every Fall or Winter I promise myself to finally grow figs this year. Thanks to you, now I have the courage to take that step of faith.. Appreciate your video's and that you take the extra time to add the Chapters.
Thank you so very much.
Nice! You won't regret it! Figs are awesome.
Zone 5b/6a fig grower here, trust the process because you too can enjoy great figs!
Super description I respect that.
Ronde de Bordeaux rocks! Another early one that can even produce a breba crop is Letizia. Here in 7b in SC on Aug. 11, the majority of our figs have been RdB and Letizia, 50 out of 80 figs so far. (yes, I keep records. OCD)
Our Celeste and Brown Turkey were killed to the ground last winter, and then attacked by ambrosia beetles. No figs from them this year. Thankfully we have lots of trees in pots that spend the winter indoors.
Our first Olympian was picked a couple days ago. It was picked after an overnight rain and was watered down. LSU Gold has been early here, but because of rains most of them were split, but still edible because they were in organza bags.
Most of our fig trees are mid to late season.
Thank you so much for the fig video! I have been looking forward to it 😊 It did not disappoint 👏
Dale was really enjoying his nap in the 🌞 🤗
You're very welcome! It felt good to make a fig video. It's been awhile. It took about 10 days to make since I had to wait for everything to ripen, but it was fun.
I enjoyed this video too!
I'm in 7a/b in NC and last house I lived in here has this odd tree growing in back yard. It was the last to grow leaves and first to lose them, but they were large and I just liked it a lot (never produced any flowers or fruit though). So much that I took a cutting with me and planted it at my new home. I couldn't figure out what kind of tree it was until my wife found a little tree labeled HARDY FIG TREE at a big box store and it started growing leaves. Several months later I was timing back brush to install a fence and chit down a tree growing under a cedar and when it grew back I realized it had the same fig looking leaves as my other 2. So I have a hardy fig (label didn't say it was Chicago variety) in a pot, one that I transplanted in ground, and one that was just growing naturally in my yard. It'll be interesting to see what variety they produce 😃
As always, very informative. I like that you always mention the day, the month,the year the zone and your home town no guessing if zone seven is in japan. thank you for all you do and keep up the good work.
Great show 👍👍. I will have to add these to my list.
Thanks for watching!
I love figs!
I'm so jealous.
Wow! Your figs look great!! Thank you for sharing this info! 😊👍👍
You're welcome!
Beautiful
Great video, i know very little about figs growing in 5b, but people keep raving about them, I've got 5 on their 2nd year, and 2 on their 1st. Didn't know a lot of this info.
You put a lot of effort into your garden and videos thanks for sharing everything!
I appreciate it! Thanks for watching!
I'm down here in Brunswick County, and can't wait to get some figs growing next year! Thanks for another great video
You're very welcome!
We moved to a new area and took our figs.. I pulled them from our ground here that is bloody awful and will take years amending and stuck them in huge pots because of your videos in showing us fig trees can do well in pots. Thank you. Love from down under. Hi dale as well my three little girls love Dales adventures, you are a wonderful daddy .
Ooo, most of Australia has a very good fig growing climate. Although, I must say, it probably would've been easier for you to take cuttings and just root them at the new house. If you ever move again, it'll be easier to start new cuttings and take the seedlings with you than dig up trees. Dale sends his love to your family 🐕
Love your videos, you’re definitely a pro on figs… very informative! As far as the San Miguel “roxo”… I’m from the Azores and … just a tip “roxo” means purple in Portuguese… but just say horseshoe that sounds pretty much like purple in Portuguese… better than rocks so..😅
We've had our fig tree outside for 5 years and this past winter was rough on it, it appeared to be dead but I let it be and it's back and grown back to it's full glory. Waiting on it's fruit to ripen, it's behind which is understandable. Noting the fig tree was in a pot for 2 yrs year before I planted it where it is now on the south side, a few feet from the house. I'm in North Alabama. It seems to tolerate rain ok. I have a sister who has a simular fig tree in Texas in low rain and she just needs to water it a couple time a week.
So awesome. I do not have the Rdb but i have the other 4. Thanks, because of your channel i have 32 varieties, and i love figs now. You have been such an inspiration. Every time i grow something new, you have a video for it. Keep up the great work!!!! Thanks again
Awesome! I'm glad to have inspired another collector!! They're so much fun to grow. It's very addicting...but I tell myself it's a *good* addiction 😅
@@TheMillennialGardener it certainly is!!!
I was gifted a potted fig tree, and I had no idea how to care for it. I've since identified the variety as Fig Leaf. I live in zone 4b, so this one hasn't been outside at all and I have no expectations of tasting its fruit, but I love it. Thanks for the information!
Fig trees cannot be identified by leaves. There are literally thousands of different varieties, so if the origin is not certain, it is labeled as an "unknown," unfortunately. Fig trees need basically 3 things to be successful: lots of sunshine (8-10 hours preferred), lots of fertilizer (they're extremely heavy feeders - *extremely*) and they respond very well to pruning. Figs are produced on the new year's wood, so they need to be cut back firmly every winter to encourage new growth. I'd recommend you check out my fertilizing series for next year: czcams.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIFNbJEUdApbh_E57uNBLG2j.html
Coastal SC 8b here. Great presentation on figs, varieties, and growing conditions. Love it. Thank you again for all you do to provide info on growing food. I have a few brown turkey fig trees that are very common in my area. They are very hardy, and foliage dies back over winter but rises early spring. I have to put netting, or the birds get them all when ripening.
You're welcome! The figs that I'm growing will do just as well if not better since you get about 10 inches of rain less than I do all year. I would tell you to look at the Col de Dame varieties. They're some of my favorites. Col de Dame Blanc is one of my absolute favorite figs. It's so thick and rich, it's like blackberry cake.
Thanks to your help, have already tasted figs from my Ronde de Bordeaux here in Burlington VT, zone 5b, 44.4N. more still coming. Third summer. Have been growing several varieties in containers for six years. RdB by far earliest for short season and plenty tasty. But its a lot of work in 5b this far north. Up from cellar to grow lights indoors, to heated small greenhouse, hardening, and finally outside and dealing with brutal heat and then torential rain. Hard to feed when we have heavy rain 4 days a week. Oh, but i love them so and keep trying.
WOW! Figs in Vermont in early August? That is extremely impressive. Very nice work! Nothing easy is worth doing, as they say. The hard work makes the reward 100 times better!
Wow! Great information!😃👍 I enjoy when you educate us on figs...even telling us the flavors.😋
I purchased two bushes this year...one is a celeste. I don't have figs on either bush. They are big and healthy...in large pots. Can I expect figs this year?
Dale is so cute!😃🐕
It's probably too late for figs this year. Even if they form, they probably won't ripen in time. They need consistently warm temps. I would advise once the tree goes dormant in the winter, prune them back pretty well. Main crop figs form on the new year's wood, so it's important to cut the tree back each winter so the tree can grow new growth. It's even more important when growing in pots, because container figs can only support "so many" feet of branches total, so if you don't cut them back each winter, they effectively get stunted. You need to remove wood so the tree can grow new wood.
My I258 in the ground dies back every year in my greenhouse. zone 7a south jersey. Ima have to get some of these varieties. Olympian I do have and it is amazing. Tons of breba this year.
Have you ever considered growing Florea/Michurinska 10? We grow these in south west Germany in zone 7a. No freezing back in the last 6 years. Every year very high yields of autumn figs starting from mid-August. Not the biggest figs, but the taste is amazing.
Big fan of your channel, keep it on! :)
Thank you! That is not a variety I've tried. In my experience, I prefer the later season figs. They are usually larger and more syrupy, which is what I really enjoy. My early figs give me something to look forward to, and my late figs give me something to wait for.
We have been growing container figs in Central Kentucky for several years. Thank you for mentioning your favorites. We have:
LSU purple,
Marseilles Black VS
Al’s Sicilian
Violet De Boreaux
Chicago Hardy
And a generic Brown Turkey
Will find an Olympian as we have heard lots of good reviews about them
Like you we have had an abundance of rain this year which has presented some challenges but we have been enjoying fresh figs the past couple of days.
Nice collection. Olympian will add diversity, because it doesn't look or taste like those other varieties.
what your fav
I have an Olympian. 4 years old. It is outstanding. It is 6 ft by 6 ft. I am in deep south Louisiana. We are getting our 3rd setting of fruit.
Super helpful! I have an in ground Chicago hardy but the fruit isn't ripening in time :( I live in zone 5
Here in central Fla just east of Tampa one of the most popular figs is the brown turkey as well.
New subscriber to your channel here. Excellent review! Have you looked into or tried growing fig trees in root pots instead of buckets? I currently have a Chicago Hardy and Olympian growing in root pots and doing well with ample fruit on both. I haven't decided if I am going to keep them in the root pots or plant them in the ground (Zone 6A). I also have a Fignominal currently in a grow bag with plans to move it into a root pot when it gets larger.
I’ll have to check some of these out. I got two White Marseilles a few years ago. I got one good year of fruit but last year the super cold stunted them. I’m in zone 6a SW Pa and just keep them in our unheated garage (glorified storage shed) once fall puts them into dormancy. If I wrap them with some kind of fabric they do better. Bring them out once frosts are past. Honestly though, I’d like to plant them in the ground. They were cheap, I think I’m going to try it with one at least.
The black weed barrier I put down on my yard is very effective. I've taken measurements, and it makes the area 3-5 degrees warmer. Since your summers aren't brutally hot like mine and you don't need shade protection, putting down a black tarp or black weed barrier under the pots can trap heat and make it warmer for them. It could help give you a boost.
Thank you for the inspirational video ! I rooted three RDB-s this spring and I have high hopes for them to give me some fruits next season. By the way, why do you keep your potted figtrees under shade cloth? All the best to you and to all the viewers ! 🙂👍🖐
Where did you get your figs cuttings from? thank you for your informative videos, btw.
Hello, Thank you for your guidance on figs. I’m new to growing figs. I live in Austin Texas. I have 2 fig trees in containers, one is original and the other I started as a cutting from the original. It’s been so hot this summer (August 105°-110°, avg 105°) that constant watering is not keeping up with the drying effects. The few figs it had have dropped off, so today I moved the containers onto the porch out of direct sun. As you had suggested in your July video, two weeks ago, I added the water soluble plant food, bone meal, and organic compost, topped off with cypress mulch. I need help. What else can you suggest? Thank you, Sue
I just came home with my first fig tree today. Some kind of LSU fig. I wanted something called an I 258 But it seems like they're all sold out everywhere. Oh well. You take what you can get I guess. I hope it can thrive here in the swamp ass summers of 9B.
Also from the sounds of it you have a lot of fig related content on the channel. Definitely going to make as much use of it as I can.
Hi there! Can you talk about the yellow long neck fig or the honey fig? They're both green and supposedly taste the best. I dont recall you mentioning in your fig variety shows. Love your channel! Thank you!
I have only one fig tree and it's a Chicago Cold Hardy. I only got it because until recently I had no idea how many varieties could withstand zone 6! I'd love to add to my collection. It hasn't produced fruit yet (it's 2 years old this spring) because it went through a lot of stress last year from me moving it around, but it never actually died back to the ground fully and it has dormant buds still even after a bad blizzard in early January.
I have a growing list of varieties I'd like, but I may have to add some of these to the list now!
I got a Brown Turkey Fig on sale for $9 at Menards this fall. I'm keeping it in my greenhouse so far since I felt planting it in the ground didn't have much point since it would not have much time to establish itself before immediately getting hit with cold weather. But based on your description I think my climate might work pretty well for figs. (Central MO Zone 6a) We have a relatively long and hot growing season, not a ton of summer rain. The issue is likely the cold. I have heard a lot of discussion of winter protecting figs with piles of leaves or burlap around the twigs. I wonder if that would help at all. The last few years we have gotten at least one night of -5F to -7F even though most of the winter the minimums hover around freezing to the mid 20s.
I've never had a fresh fig save the black mission figs I found in the store last year. Would you say the flavor compares well?
I’m in Texas, looking to buy violette de Bordeaux fig, they grow 6 to 10 ft. tall. Any advice on how deep or long the root system grows. Loving your channel !!!
I absolutely love figs. I have brown turkey, Chicago hardy and Olympia. Mine are in the ground though.
They're my favorite fruits. They're very special.
Hi @ThemillennialGardener have you had any experience comparing your sao miguel roxo to azores dark? some people say they are the same fig, others say they are different strains of mt. Etna type figs
I NEEDED to pick that fig!!! XD haha! Yummmm! ;)
Thanks for watching!
am growing a chicago hardy in a pot in my bedroom under a growlight because is m in zone four our growing season starts june 1st and ends September 1st because it gets cold fast most of our leaves are already gone on all the trees and there's been multiple freezes alredy
I've been growing figs for over 35 years i lived in Illinois and had my figs potted I moved to Tennessee and met a woman here that had a fig tree in her yard that was 20 feet tall she said it could survive the winters i know they can tolerate down and to 20 degrees i was amazed that the fruit on the tree was 3 inches across I've never seen fruit that large i asked her what the variety was she didn't know i got a cutting and started my own tree i planted my fig collection in the ground to see if they would make it one tree was over 30 years old with the week of 10 degree weather this winter i lost all my trees she lost her tree too i knew they would come back the tree i got from her is the fastest growing loaded with figs there are places on the tree where 2 figs are growing at the same place I've never seen that I wish I knew what this variety is any ideas one old-timer taught me your potted figs when you bring your figs out for spring bury the pot about a third in the ground you don't have to water as mutch and the roots will grow out of the bottom of pot helping the plant
Thanks. Hurricane Bob
I'm in zone 7 and get 1, sometimes 2 crops of figs from my brown turkey fig tree which is unprotected. It occasionally dies back if we get a mild February followed by a harsh March, but is generally very healthy.
That's the challenge for figs. They can often take the cold of December and January, but when we get warm spells in February, it spells disaster. A warm late February and a cold early March means a lot of fig tree damage ☹
I'm in midetteranian slovenia and I'm starting a fig farm & food forest
Awesome!!
I'm a few days from my first Chicago fig in central Illinois. Fingers crossed
Very nice! Keep an eye on it and keep the tree dry!
This was a great video! I’m excited about the Olympian because I’m about an hour away from Olympia Washington. I was given a branch of an unknown fig with the rootstock. Didn’t k ow it was on my porch. I cut it way back and planted it in a pot. I have it sitting in the shade because we are going to get some super hot weather for the next week and I don’t want it to get too hot since I repotted it. Sure wish I would of been prepared for the cutting! Any suggestions would be great. Love your channel ❤️
Thank you! If it is a newly rooted tree, I would be very careful with it. Don't expose it to too much stress until it is well-rooted and strong. Once it roots, you'll need to carefully overwinter it. Then, in the spring, you can up-pot it into a larger container (I recommend 10-15 gallon size) and put it in full sun. Figs are Mediterranean sun-bathers, so warmth and sun are their friends.
Thank you so much for this video. My wife has purchase a potted fig tree this spring. It has been growing well in the pot.
I want to keep it potted and bear fruit as I see in the video . How do I take care of this plant ( pruning etc.)
I'm a novice just want to keep my wife of 50yrs happy.
Is that net for shade your potted figs? Here in new zone 7a I don’t need it
Thanks for the great review of fig trees. I am particularly happy to see that they grow well in containers, as the soil where I am in south Texas is not the greatest.
I am a huge fan of dried Calimyrna figs. I was wondering if you had any experience with those.
Figs do great in containers, but they love a larger pot. The 15 gallon pots I have linked in my Amazon Storefront under 'Plant Containers' produce the best results for me. It's good, because you can control the mix. Just make sure you keep them irrigated.
The infamous Calimyrna fig is a smyrna fig variety that needs pollination by the fig wasp. Fig farmers spent decades trying to establish fig wasp colonies in California in the 1800's and finally succeeded around 1899. California is the only state in the US that colonizes the Mediterranean fig wasp, which is responsible for fig tree pollination. I cannot grow that fig in North Carolina. They will drop without pollination from male figs. It also will not grow in Texas, unless you want to grow male fig trees, manually extract the pollen and hand pollinate the female figs with a syringe. I've done it...it's cumbersome 😅 All the figs I grow are common figs, so they don't require pollination.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks - looks like it’s regular figs for me.
Thank you for this video for us that lives in colder climates. I have made screenshots of every variety, to buy those in the future.
I have read, that if you can only grow breba crops, you have to prune off summer figs to make breba more likely to ripen. Also to prune off tops of the three in mid summer, to make the three focus on ripening instead of more growth. What is your opinion of those methods?
I have an older three (10 years)in a large container that was looking great with new shoots (springtime here) and figlets up until recently, where most of the younger branches and all of the figs seems to die back (browning and drying out) and I am panicking. I thought it may have root rot or I over fertilized it. But now I think it is frost damage as you mention in this video. Because we had a two weeks period of nice warm days, and then we had light frost in the night for several days over a week.
I have now learned to cover my outdoor fig when this fickle April weather is going on. Cos of the wakening from dormancy. Thank you.
I love your videos. So educational. 🥰🪴
Can you suggest a source for Ronde de Bordeaux and Sao Miguel Roxo? I can't find them online.
Yee Haw Dale a fig video
He was snoopervising.
Hi maite I have get a big fig tree I'm living in the UK England !👍
Dale do you sell cuttings of your figs and at what cost
as I’ve been looking for fig trees or someone that sells the cuttings
Thank you so much for this video. Fig trees are my favorite to grow. I have only been gardening for a short time (approx. 2 years) and I have really been interested in learning about growing figs. This past winter my only one in-ground fig tree received cold damage and had to cut it way back. But it is putting on new growth. I have a few more small fig trees growing in containers. So, I am going to do what you suggest for this coming winter…cutting/trimming the plants and storing in my garage. I have a Little Miss Figgy, Celest, and Brown Turkey Fig plant in containers and want to make sure that I do everything to help them survive. I live in zone 7b north Georgia and our winters can be pretty cold.
In 7b Georgia, I would expect your fig tree to eventually thicken up to the point where it won't die back to the ground, but it will take cold damage most years to some degree. Even mine do in 8a. Figs are really a Zone 9/10 plant in their native climate, so colder weather will burn them. Luckily, they are very vigorous and recover quickly. Container growing is definitely easier if you don't mind overwintering them.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks for your response. Question: If container figs are over-wintered in basement or garage, should they be watered at all?
@@user-fy7cp9yw7y dormant trees are still alive and using water and nutrients, just at a slower rate. If you let them dry out, they will die. However, if you keep them too wet, the roots can rot. You need to keep them lightly moist and keep an eye on them to ensure they don't get too dry, but you also can't water them heavily.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks.
Hi! Watched the 10 best fig trees and this vid and I'd like to obtain about 4 varieties ( I just don't have enough sun 😢)
Can you recommend places to buy starts?
Thank you for these vids 😊 from Ga Mtns 7a.
I'm actually in the Mediterranean in zone 8b like yourself but with hot dry summers although it just rained today😅 I got ice crystal, violeta de normandie, Sultane (aka bellone noire), noire de caromb and I'm currently buying a rouge de Bordeaux (aka Ronde de Bordeaux) on your recommendation 😊 i had a col de dame blanc but it died last winter so will have to replace it soon. enjoy your videos thanks.
Oh no! Col de Dame Blanc is one of my favorite figs. Sometimes, I debate if it's my favorite! You have to try and get another. It's just so good ☹ I hope you enjoy Ronde de Bordeaux. It's a special fig, and it's very different from most.
Figtastic ez growing. I’m going to be grafting about 40 varieties onto one tree. Zone 10B Southern California.
Ah, the luxury of a freeze-free environment. I cannot do that here due to the risk of dieback. I would recommend trying to make those grafts as low as possible to help avoid loss. Even in warm climates, figs are so temperamental that you can lose wood. I once had a Zone 10 grower tell me their tree died back due to a night in the upper 30's. Just be careful with grafting.
@@TheMillennialGardener thanks 🙏
I was watching an older video of yours about using cardboard to kill off weeds. I'm trying to kill off grass i have. With just the weed barrier, after they threw the rocks on it, it must have torn holes in it.Grass came through. Do you think cardboard then the landscape barrier then the rock should stop it.
Anyone have advice on how to determine the species of a fig tree that was grown from an unknown tree/cutting?
Could you please tell me where you get your figs trees. Thanks so much
Up here in Boise, we have a potted Olympian fig tree. Last year we didn’t get any figs. This year, however, we have several breva figs and a nice second crop coming on. Hopefully there’s time for ripening: after some TLC and learning about figs on our part, the tree looks great this year.
I'm glad to hear you can grow them up there. I imagine the dry summers can produce really nice figs if you can get them to ripen in time. If you can get your tree a head start by pulling it outside in spring during the day and then back indoors in the evening if it's going to be too cold, you can get your figs to be several weeks earlier. We call it "The Fig Shuffle."
@@TheMillennialGardener All good ideas and you can be SURE we do the shuffle here! Overwinter in the garage, growing season on a sunny/warm porch. Last season this fig plant had small leaves and seemed fairly puny, just starting a few figlets late fall. I watched your video on fertilizing figs and realized I should have really been aggressive with the nitrogen from the beginning of the season. This year I've done a hopefully better job, and we had a lot more vegetative growth, first crop figs and now a strong second crop. We have lots of warm/dry weather to go, still, so we hope to have plenty of ripe figs. Fun!
I live at the Treasure Coast Florida, which would be the best fig for me?
Thank you for the video. I'm just starting to learn about figs. I've never tasted a fig before, but found two fig trees, one at Lowes for $14.88 and one at Walmart for $12. One is an Olympian and the other a beers black. The beers black already have fruit on it. I thought it was a good investment to see if it is something I would enjoy. I'll keep them in pots so I can protect them in the winter. I'm in zone 8a, Georgia.
Very nice! The best advice I can give you is to keep them watered very well, fertilize them *very well* (figs are extremely heavy feeders) with a balanced fertilizer (like a 20-20-20) every 2 weeks, and keep the pots mulched. The trick to picking figs is to wait until they're soft like Jello. New fig growers typically pick figs very underripe. A truly ripe fig is very ugly. It gets soft, squishy and looks overripe...but it isn't 😊
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you so much for the information!
That tid bit of info really helps out a LOT! especially about the fertilizer, thank you!
Thank you for sharing. I love to grow figs .Where did you order from?
This video will help: czcams.com/video/bpZq5Dk2WWM/video.html
I love your passion for figs but sometimes you make me so nervous with those knives!! It looks like you have that new camera dialed in! Amazing video!
It's a special serrated knife called Eversharp. It doesn't cut your skin. I could run it along my hand all day. I would have to press down incredibly hard to break skin with it. It was one of those As Seen On TV things.
I am in Jersey and remember traveling to Portugal where they had a fig called "Pingo de mel" which translates to "Drop of honey". Very honey like sweetness. I started with a cutting that had 3 leaves and now I have 12. I have it potted indoors for now. Afraid to plant it outside and it die on me. Do you have any pointers on the treatment of indoor fig trees...fertilizer etc
May I ask where you usually buy your fig trees? I’ve been looking for a Ronde de Bordeaux since I saw your video but have had no luck. I’m in NC on the Outer Banks so not too far from you. Thanks for the video. You’ve inspired me to do some fig trees in containers.
Hartmann in Michigan sells them
My garage is around 60 F in winter, is it too warm for fig trees to stay in dormant?
I put a fig in large pot 3 years ago here in nebraska put in garage after frost of leaves fall off figs every year now
Plus had my first dragon fruit after 3 years was so good 😊
I purchased a few dragonfruits over the winter. They're a very interesting species. It'll be years before they fruit, probably, but they're so cool.
@@TheMillennialGardener this dragon fruit is going on 3 years an spends winter in house by large window
What if you made little umbrellas for your potted fig trees? That way they could get all the sun exposure they need but when you know a storm is coming, you could pop their umbrella on and protect them from getting too much water
☔️
So what do you do with all your harvests? You have a great yard, I take it you don't have a deer problem. I am building a greenhouse, so that I can grow vegys without worrying about the deer. I have started some starts this past week, winter squash, beets and chard so far. Once I finish the greenhouse I will get more going. It's been so hot here in Texas this summer, today, 8-17, it got to 114 which is insane. We haven't had any rain all summer.
when is your fig cutting sales? i am hoping to get Olympian fig and Azors Dark from you
Hi, we are in area 7. Where are you buying fig tree?
Well I have 4 of the 5 in your video. Mt Etna's are pretty great figs. I have 4 different ones. My olympia is still pretty young and didn't produce any breba for me. It has quite a few main crops that should ripen though.
Breba production will depend on how you prune them, since breba's form on the previous season's wood. I cut my trees back pretty hard, so they tend not to bear breba, and if they do, they almost always drop here in the Southeast. Olympian is known for breba in the PNW, but I'm not sure how it would perform in a hot summer place.
@@TheMillennialGardener yah I’m in the PNW and I didn’t prune it at all. The tree is still young though. It did have a few but they all dropped.
What kind of the nitrogen do I need to adding my fig fruits been three years but the fig is so dry not even see any juice could you help thx
Is 15 gallons good?
My Olympian got huge last year moved all my figs but two last fall no figs this year zone 7A oh my Italian Honey has figs
I was worried you were about to eat the fly on the RDB but you caught it, lol. It's the one issue I have that prevents me from growing open eye figs.
I've gotten over that many years ago. As a gardener, insects don't even bother me anymore. You just get used to them. I've accepted the fact that there will be bugs in my food. If you look at the federal regulations for the allowable amount of insect bodies by weight in grains, beans and peanuts, it's pretty incredible. Ignorance is bliss 😆
How many years does it take for fig trees to produce
?
How much do you feed your fig trees in pots and in ground ?
I’ve noticed all your fig trees but I’ve never even had a fig. I live in Colorado so I’ve never seen one growing. I’ll have to look for them in the store.
You won't have much luck in store. Fig season is very short, and they don't ship well. They are sometimes carried in stores now in August and September. Trader Joe's has them now, but they're usually very bad. Figs do not ripen off the tree, so commercial growers pick them firm so they don't bruise in shipment. Firm figs taste terrible, because they're many days underripe. Ripe figs are soft, ugly and can't be shipped. Every now and again, you'll get a truly ripe fig in a package at the store, but spending $5-6 for 1-2 good figs is rough. The only way to eat truly ripe figs is to grow them yourself, because grocery store figs give them a bad name.
I’m going to watch your program on growing figs and see if I can try one next year. They look wonderful when you eat them!
I want to move one of my Chicago hsrdy. When would you suggest digging it up?
When it's fully dormant, but it isn't too risky to re-plant it. That will probably be late winter/early spring when it's still cool enough that the tree didn't wake up, but it isn't so cold that exposing the roots to a new planting hole will kill the tree before it's established.
Thanks so very much! the trees around it have grown so big that it's not getting enough sun.@@TheMillennialGardener
I live in Wilmington but my fig tree is already done fruiting. I also got a taste of pawpaw 😅
I would bet it's a Celeste. They're all over the place here. Celeste is super early. I would recommend adding another variety or two to extend your season if you can fit it. Adding something later that resists rain, like a Col de Dame Blanc, would be my recommendation. That is my favorite late season fig with a closed ostiole.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you! We have an Olympian and a yellow long neck.
I'm in J'ville 👋🏾
Are you selling any of your plants
He said figlets. It sounds like something from Winnie the Pooh.
It's actually the proper term.
@@TheMillennialGardener is it great in 5 gallon buckets or does a bigger container (how much bigger) justify the yields trading a little space and weight for handling?
Living in South Africa we dont have easy access to these species however we do have some good ones i have 2 fig trees currently (lost a third one) and they are the king fig (not dessert king) the Cape brown and i had an Adams fig which produced on its 2nd year but i lost it to a disease sadly. I do have one question my king fig has brown on its main vein under the leaf do you know what that is and how to treat it?
Brown on the veins? Sounds kinda like like ligma
I wish you could share some rain with us in Texas. I haven’t had a 1/4” in 3 months. I have over 100 big pecan trees and they’ve dropped most of their leaves and nuts. It’s been 104 to 107 degrees almost everyday. 107 forecast for the next 3 days. When I water my new seedling trees the moles are attracted to the water and they’re killing them by creating air pockets and also tearing the roots.
Texas has been getting creamed the last 3 summers. It's very strange. What's weird is the heat is just sitting there, and the rest of the country has actually been unusually cool. I didn't think summer was ever going to come here. May and June were so bizarrely cool. The *hot switch* has been flipped firmly ON since June 28th, and we've been well above average into the 92-94 degrees most days since, but the northern half of the country has been downright chilly. We got 2 severe storm fronts this last week...stuff we normally see in *May.* It's really wacky. After 3 years of La Nina flipping to El Nino, I think the weather is just trying to resettle quickly, which is causing weirdness.
@@TheMillennialGardener I have the FOX4 weather app and they have a heat map of the United States and the entire state is red everyday with some red spillage into parts of Oklahoma and Louisiana. It’s like God is punishing Texas. I have to water every day to keep stuff alive. I’ve lost a lot of seedling trees this year. I’ll lose my pecan crop also. That’s my only income. Nobody around here made a pecan crop last year either. If you water those big trees you just lost your profits with that big electric bill.
I live in SW Florida and have 2 fig trees that are being infested with a white insect or mold and small brown nodules on the underside of the leaves and on the stem. I don’t know what they are or how to get rid of them. I have photos but don’t know how to attach them here for you to see. Do you have any suggestions on how I can rid the plants of these pests or diseases. If there is a way for me to send photos so you can identify the problem please let me know. Thank you.
I'm in the north of the UK - zone 8-9 , here we wrap smaller frost-tender trees with fleece to protect them from frost. Might that be worth trying with the soil planted trees or is the problem with the roots?
It's just not something I'd be able to do, because I have too many trees. The easiest thing I've found is to cover them in shade cloth all winter. It keeps them dormant longer, so they're less likely to break dormancy early. It isn't the cold that's the problem. It's warm February weather that causes them to wake up too early. Then, there is nothing you can do. Keeping them in shade delays things by a few weeks.
For container figs what's your opinion of the 5 gal plastic buckets VS cloth bags?
I would strongly advise never using fabric grow bags for trees. They are not designed for hard roots. The roots will weave themselves into the fabric and the larger roots will eventually grow through the bags. I had this happen in the past, and both trees died when trying to remove the bags. Only use hard plastic nursery containers. 5 gal buckets are too small for more than 1-2 years. I am relocating mine out of 5 gallon buckets to 15 gallon containers. 15 gal is the perfect size for long-term growth. I have excellent high quality containers linked in my Amazon Store under Plant Containers.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you. I will check them out and do transfers during dormant season
Hey, just wanted to say I came in 2nd place at Indiana state fair for my tomato at 4.24 lbs. 🍅
Outstanding! That thing must've been like a cantaloupe.
@TheMillennialGardener Thanks, It wouldn't fit in a sauce pan. Lol, hopefully I'll have another for Sept weigh offs.
Do you sell cuttings from your figs? I'd certainly be interested in a few of the cultivars you have.
Not yet. We will see if they survive the cold.
I am sorry my friend. My Smith planted in Maryland (7A) dies to the ground every year and when it comes back it takes most of the season to grow. It sets fruit late and can't ripen them. Out of 20 different types of figs that I have planted in open field, only a few have proven to deliver. My survivor and producing fig trees are: Hardy Chicago, Olympian and Texas Everbearing. Ron de BD is ok but doesn't produce much fruit. I am now trying Texas BA_1 with the hope to replace m Smith with it.
Hi,
I love your fig videos! I have a family fig tree, I don't know the type. But it's a black fig tree that I have been growing many from it. I was originally my grandmother's fig tree.
I am in NJ, 7a. The tree is big and beautiful and has many figs on each tree. Last year, you had a video about cutting back and/or taking off some figs that won't have time to ripen. That was to direct the tree's energy to ripen rather than keep growing. When should I start doing that? I would like to get as many ripen fruit as possible. But I don't want to do it too soon.
Thanks,
Chistine
South Jersey
PS. I went out to my garden after the comment above. I am very excited to see 1 of my figs is ripening! I don't know if that is significant to my question about cutting back the tree and/or fruits. Thanks
I would advise you do so now. Any fig that forms now in NJ will never ripen. Come mid-July, you'd probably want to cut the growth tips off the branches to prevent more vertical growth. I would remove any figs smaller than a dime, because they'll never ripen this late. Warm weather in south Jersey runs out in about 30-40 days, so it's best not to waste time on the small figs.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you! 😊
do you have any advice for why my ripe figs harden on the tree? The skin gets really tough, and sometimes almost to the point of being solid.
If I had to guess, the tree is getting too dry. Figs like to be irrigated very well and *love* a VERY THICK mulch layer. The fig trees may be conserving water for themselves due to dry conditions and may be restricting water to the fruits.