Calling all Fig Experts

I'd like to grow my first fig tree this year. I want to keep it in a container and I'm hoping to find one old enough to bear fruit this year, if possible. Given your experience, can you recommend your favorite varieties and growers?

Thanks in advance.

I certainly don't qualify as expert, but I do enjoy the bounty of my inground trees. The varieties are Latarulla (a very large tree) and Petite Nigra. Both produced two heavy crops in the 2006 season and supplied my neighbors as well as me. Although semitropical, a few varieties can withstand a surprising amount of cold. Danny's Delight has been reported surviving with protection in zone 5. This article discusses growing in containers:

http://www.italianfigtrees.com/guide.html

Thanks, Yuska.

I happened to catch a program on PBS last night about a 100 year old "Queen" Fig tree in Africa - it was fascinating. Before watching it, I already knew that fig wasps were necessary for pollination, but it also showed how nematodes and other scavenger wasps, ants, etc. enjoy life in and around figs.

What amazes me about the trees is that I never see any blossoms. All of a sudden the fruit is forming. The blossoms are just incredibly small - I'm grateful that the pollinators can find them.

The blossoms are actually on the inside of what becomes the fruit, as I understand it, so they aren't visible.

Do you find that your trees attract a lot of flies and insects? I'm wondering if I'll need to position them away from sitting areas.

The only time the trees attract obvious insects is when the wasps swarm the eyes (the circles at the base of the fruits) of overly ripe specimens. I try to keep the ripe ones harvested, but cannot reach the uppermost branches even with a ladder. The birds help - even woodpeckers! - but they miss some. You probably wouldn't have any problem with harvesting a container tree. I planted my trees too near the house, not realizing how enthusiastically they would grow. The wasps don't bother me - I admire insects, including spiders, and appreciate the work they do for us. (The exceptions of course are mosquitos, gnats and fire ants!)

Here is an interesting article from the North American Fruit Explorers:

http://www.nafex.org/figs.htm

That's great news, thanks. I generally don't mind insects either, but a friend of mine was growing a fig tree on her horse farm and warned me not to plant figs because they attracted so many flies. I'm not sure if you've got any experience with them, but horses tend to attract flies, which are a major pest to equines, so those of us who own horses are always trying to cut down the fly population.

I'm not terribly concerned in this case because I don't keep my horse at my own home, but I am hoping that the ripe figs are not going to be a fly magnet on my patio.

Wrightie,
I saw that PBS programs, too. It was facinating, but I don't want to bite into a fig full of wasps and fortunately, I don't have to. Most home orchard figs are of the common variety — they develop parthenocarpically. In fact in some varieties, the eye is so small, wasps can't get in or the eye is closed altogether.

This A & M link is full of information for the home orchardist:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/fig/fig.html

The California Fruit Growers Assoc has excellent information:
http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/fig.html

Since fig trees normally grow between 10' to 30', it's difficult keeping one in a pot. Having said that, I have two dwarf varieties in large 24" pots. This spring I plan to put them in the ground as I am tired of doing the recommended yearly repotting. They do much better in the ground. Last summer, one of the figs sent roots out the bottom of the pot and really took off. Hardy Chicago is supposed to be hardier than most. I've read of a few more, but can recall the names. I have ordered a few figs from RainTree Nursery in Washington state.

http://www.paradisenursery.com/gourmetfigs.html
This one also provides fig tree sources:
http://www.nafex.org/figs.htm

I think I might try 'Celeste'.

I got mine from Edible Landscaping, Afton, Virginia.
http://www.ediblelandscaping.com

How big was the one you got from Edible Landscaping?
How long did it take to bear?

Edible Landscaping ships all their stock as growing, potted plants. Shipping is more expensive, of course, but the plants get off to a much faster start. I set both trees out in late February and had a small first crop in June - about a dozen fruits on the Latarulla and only two on the Petite Nigra. Since then they have produced enthusiastically and I've had no problems with pests or diseases.

What size tree did you get, Yuska? One gallon? Five gallon?

That was nine years ago, and I have misplaced my notes, but I am fairly sure it was one gallon. If you are planning to order for your area, you will need to plan for container growing to overwinter inside. A variety like Celeste or LSU Purple in one-gallon woul be adaptable. Here's the fig page from the online catalog:

http://www.eat-it.com/Plants/Figs.htm

eat-it.com?
are they any different than ediblelandscaping.com?

This one gives away cutting in Calif for shipping
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/site_main.htm?modecode=53-06-20-00
This one lists varittes
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=12871
This one describes and sells
http://figs4fun.com/fvar-A-B.html
At least you have something to read now

Yes that is one f the URLs used for online catalog pages. The nursery is in Afton Virginia. You can request a print catalog by contacting info@ediblelandscaping.com - they have many other interesting cultivars. Yuska

Don't get the quart size, I bought a few things from them in small sizes and they took a lot longer to get going.

Scott

I ended up ordering Celeste and Conadria figs from Paradise Nursery (last chance to get them before they retire and close the business).

When I went out to fill the bird feeders, I saw that both fig trees are opening leaves at the branch tips and the tiny bud buttons have already formed! Looks like another bumper crop coming on.

Are you trying to make me jealous? Because it's working...

I'm glad you were able to get some figs from Paradise, I got my order a few days ago & planted a few today-I'm up to 12 fig trees, I don't have enough protected southern exposure, next to a brick foundation, so some will be placed in experimental locations. Last year was the first time I got figs & I couldn't figure out where to plant them, so they stayed in pots until Oct. (not recommended). They all seem to have survived their late planting-I have Celeste, Conadria, Battaglia, Violette, & 2 mysteries from last year & this year, I added Alma, Latturula, Ischia, & Georgia's Hunt. Almost all of my figs produced fruit the first year...

Hmmm... I've been planning to grow them in containers. What happened that you don't recommend keeping them in pots?

Sounds like you've got your own 'orchard'! What do you do with all of those figs when they come in?

Actually, they do just fine in pots-it's just that most of my containers have Japanese maples. I read that they do better in the ground, & since the south side of my house is not convenient to the faucets, & I didn't want to worry about the containers, they got planted out, in the worst soil you can imagine-solid clay. I still don't know what to do with the figs, I just like them for their tropical, 'gawky' look...

I am looking for cutting of Sal's fig, and others that are reported to be somewhat hardy. I missed
ordering from Paradise as they had shut down the nursery and no longer accept online orders. If any
one has leads or possible cuttings for sale please let me know.
Best regards,
Linda