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Fig not fruiting
Rosie Bee
Posts: 32
in Fruit & veg
Hello all,
I've had a fig tree for about 4 years. It's in a pot and about 4' high and wide. I repotted it early in the spring into a 2' ish pot.
It appears to be very healthy but it's never produced a fig, not even a tiny one that didn't ripen - what am I doing wrong? Do they self fertilise?
thanks in advance for your thoughts
0
Posts
Did you buy a named variety or was it just sold as a fig tree?
Where are you? In the UK only a few varieties will actually fruit and they tend to like a bit of heat to help them out.
Parents have some grown from seed, very pot bound and old enough to fruit, in a sheltered spot but never shown any signs put it down to being grown from seed from figs shipped in fro abroad.
Figs appear as teeny figs during late spring-early autumn. They do not need fertilising to produce fruit which is lucky as the tree relies on a wasp that we do not have in this country.
We have just bought a tree for our garden. It's 'brown turkey' and came with a couple of figs already on it.
I have a brown turkey also.. 2nd year and no sign of any figs as yet
Fig trees are prone to frost, the tree may be hardy enough but the buds that will form fruit may need protection from frost, perhaps yours are being damaged. If you get any buds forming for next year try protecting them over the winter.
Is there any pruning advice that may encourage fruiting? My fig has reached for the skies, and hasn't fruited so far. It's large.
Pruning advice for figs here https://www.readsnursery.co.uk/blogs/tips-advice/163561031-fig-trees
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks @Dove.
Figs don't need to be fertilised. The fruit is actually the flower inside out, if that makes sense. There is a very tiny hole at the base that looks a bit anal (sorry) and it is possible for very, very tiny insects to get into the flower that way but fertilisation isn't necessary to produce fruit as the tree will do that all by itself.
If your tree is a brown turkey you should see figs on the stem even when it is grown outdoors though the only way to ensure ripe fruits in this country is to grow them under glass.
Your tree should have shown some signs of fruit production by now......I grow cuttings for greenhouse fruit the following year and one of my cuttings produced fruit when it was only 10 cm tall.....so I would shred any tree that didn't do its duty by four years old. Maybe it is just a late starter.