Noobee Gardener First Fig Tree

50 mi nw of Houston, Tx & brutal summer sun. Can plant in total sun or afternoon shade. Sandy well draining soil receiving compost & tiller treatment. Brown Turkey fig or Ficus carica. All advice & comments appreciated. Peace.

I planted in sun (NC) most of day and late afternoon shade. figs weren't impressive but did set and grow (it was brown turkey and so not sure about size expected for fruit. got as large as a large grape. birds ate and so no input on flavor. BUT this tree grew FAST AND WIDE...like on steroids. foliage healthy no issues with pests (other than the 4 legged kind) so leave a lot of room for it. I cut it to the ground but the year old roots were also on steroids so left those and the tree started to come back. I did not do anything other than plant and water.

neighbor in front of us with same issue - not sure what kind of fig but it looks like mine..

I will let it get afternoon shade. Last year was first large garden & birds decimated tomatoes. Built a screened enclosure to solve that and will put fig tree in there also! Glad to hear easy to grow.

whoo hooo - is your screened enclosure big because this tree grows big and wide.

when I said 4 legged - I didn't mean the birds ;0) The deer got to the figs. My mind said deer but my fingers typed birds.

It is 12'x30' x8' tall. Plan on keeping tree pruned back. If it puts out lots of fruit, I can enlarge enclosure as it is wood frame screwed together. Did not cost much to construct. A few 2x'4s & 1x2's for framework & plastic wildlife mesh from Lowe's. We have every type of critter here in the country, but only the birds mess with garden fortunately. Resolved that for around $50.

The figs on brown turkeys get quite large and have a sweet taste. They make a wonderful jam but must be peeled as there is a layer between the outer skin and the meat of the fig that contains latex and will ruin the flavor of jam. They are indeed easy to grow and need lots of space. The only pruning I do on mine is to remove dead limbs. Brown turkey fig trees will self root. The outer limbs naturally want to grow downward where they will root. After about a year or so, you can clip the rooted limb from the mother plant, carefully dig it up and plant it elsewhere. I have several brown turkey figs plus a Celeste which is a smaller but very sweet fig. I planted several so I can have all the figs on top and the deer get about 1/3 of the ones on the bottom. For the birds I have a plastic owl with rotating head that I put on a pole plus I put up several of the bright colored kids windmills by using long pieces of twist tie to fix them to limbs on the tree. When the wind blows and makes them spin, they startle the birds. Some of the more brazen birds still sneak in for the occasional treat but I get most of the figs. I also fertilize all my figs every spring.

good advice!

I am so glad you mentioned celeste. I remember at one point thinking I'd give a smaller fig a try and researching the fig that would best suit my needs and space and it was celeste ----didn't write it down and have been meaning to research all over again. when I read your post - the name clicked!

PS I think the deer climb trees here because even the figs at the top got nabbed - unless it was squirrels.

Oh no ! Have to peel them to eat fresh? Never made jam but buy fig preserves.

I eat brown turkey figs from tree at work. There are two in front of hospital. Sweet tasting. But maybe the cooking makes it go bitter.



This message was edited Jan 29, 2012 12:52 PM

I don't peel brown turkeys to eat fresh--only to make jam. And, yes, the squirrels love figs too :-{ But the plastic owl did a good job of keeping them at bay. His head swivels and I had hubby put up a T-post next to each fig tree so I can move him around--that way the squirrels don't wise to the fact that the owl isn't moving. BTW, Celeste makes the best preserves and I've made jam from them too--they're great either way. And they're wonderful fresh! The Celeste figs are so sweet that I call mine "honey figs."