I have a brown turkey fig. It is presently close to 6 ft tall but I was noticing at the base of the tree that some of the bark seems to have been eaten off. Has anybody experienced this? Who is the culprit? Is it in danger?
thanks for your help
To those growing fig trees
I don't see evidence of teeth marks, more like peeled off. Similar to they way crape myrtles do.
I have never had my fig bark peel off, but this year it was damged by the cold, and most of it died, the branches that didn,t die do have some damaged spots on them, maybe thats what happened to yours, it could be cold damage.
wasps? how so? I have had a large than usual wasp pop. this year
The wasps use the bark to "chew" into paper for building their nests. The birds and wasps seem to have a co-op when it comes to my figs. The birds start a hole in my fruit then the wasps move in. If it is indeed a wasp it shouldn't cause too much damage to the bark, if its a healhy plant to start.
I have had two figs, a Latarulla and a Petite Negri, for eight years now. Both are large but the Latarulla is enormous, and both produce abundantly, sometimes with a second crop in the fall. The wood of figs is relatively weak, and I have seen spots at the base of the tree where the outer bark has split and curled under, exposing the softer inner part which turns dark gray. The outer extension of the limb seems unaffected, but the splits might be due to aging or inadequate water. I've not seen any pests or diseases doing damage; when the "eyes" of the fruit begin to open the wasps, ants and birds flock in. An almost carefree source of fruit.
I've noticed wasps on a number of my plants, including fig, but it's usually the leaves of mine they get for the paper wasp nests. I've never seen them damage bark, but that certainly doesn't mean they don't do it. I have more trouble with squirrels than any other pest. They are just rats with PR in my opinion. They can't just eat fruit, they want a bite out of evey green pear, on my tree. I swear I've seen them picking them and throwing 'em at one another. They break off the figs, chew on tree bark, kill baby birds in the next ..... Can ya' tell I just love squirrels? But back to the original subject, if the bark is peeling like crepe myrtles, I don't think it's an outside pest but something systemic with the tree. I know figs are prone to nematode damage. Does anyone know if that could cause this kind of problem?
naw, lulu. My dog says Squirrell Tartare is much better and way less prep time. I must say, though, your recipe reminds me of some of those Rachel Ray 30 min. jobs, lol
I'm gonna try to post a pic later. I started googling "splitting bark on fig trees" and the hits I got made reference to wild/extreme temp. fluctuations as the cause. Not the end of the world, either (good news). Young trees, especially fruit trees, susceptible to this.
My tree is packed with little figs. Care to wager on how many I will actually get to eat??????
thanks everyone.
Quoting:
My tree is packed with little figs. Care to wager on how many I will actually get to eat??????
My little fig tree had two figs on it, and I had been wondering how I'd know when they were ripe and ready to harvest. I found out. When they're gone, you know they were ready!
Believe it or not, I've killed, cleaned and cooked a few squirells in my time, but it's been a lotta' years ago. I've fried 'em and also made dumplings out of 'em, but I've never tried your soup/stew type recipe. Everybody here in Houston can't believe you could actually eat one of them. I tell them if they'd grown up in East Texas like I did, they'd know better. Mind ya', not that I want to clean, cook or eat another one anytime soon.
I dunno, you sound a little nostalgic....
My family back in OK eats squirells and all sorts of other animals that run in the trees - you never know what meat is going to be on the talbe..
The squirrels always get my figs too, the start eating them when they are not quite ripe.
My neighbor across the street has a pear tree, and we find half eaten pears in our yard all the time, the come across with them on the electric wires.
They sure do a lot of damage.
I have a peach tree in the yard. Originally I naively thought we'd be eating the peaches. Ha! Little did I know that there isn't much chance I'll ever eat them in peace. The critters start on them long before they're anywhere near ripeness, often taking one bite and discarding them. Netting only motivates them more, they can bite through nets or tear the nets up. At least with the figs we do get some of them.
here are 2 pics showing what I was concerned about:
When hubby and I got closer to take pics, we realized there was more damage than I originally thought.
Vossner, I'm afraid your fig may not make it, at least the limb or portion that looks to be damaged all the way around. Once the barck is damaged that deeply all the way around, the tree can't take up necessary water and nutrients. It does appear to be putting out new green shoots below that damaged spot though, so maybe it'll resprout. Still no idea what did the damage?
It looks like frost damage to me, and yes they do sprout from the roots, so you won't lose the tree, ours has died to the ground at least three times in the 35 years that we have had it, and it never fails to come back.
As I said before we just about lost all of it this year, we got doun to 19 degrees, and it stayed below freezing for 48 ours. They just can't take those temperatures.
Josephine.
After taking the pic I felt more sure that it was indeed split bark from extreme weather fluctuations rather than animals munching on it.
I've had this tree between 1.5 and 2 years. During that period we have not had freezing temps for more than 12 hrs (if that long). Also, I just noticed this, I think it happened as a result of extreme heat rather than extreme cold.
I'll take an overall pic later. Tree looks healthy otherwise. I'm stumped by this.
Goodness, how hot could it have been where you live? Mine tolerates temps a bit over 100 if it's watered once in a while.
Just an idea. But would covering that damaged area with pruning spray or pruning/grafting paint help heal the tree?