I hope this is the year that I finally get at least one edible fig from this plant. It seems to be doing well, but I'm wondering if it's just too darn hot and humid here in florida for fig??
Mimi
Brown Turkey Fig plant
This is the whole plant in a large pot, should I plant it in the ground?
I am in the Tampa bay area and around here we put them in the ground and they grow great! I have not seen any problem with heat and humidity.
Are they cold hardy in your area. If so, I would put them in the ground.
Good luck,
Ariel
By the way, Tampa is zone 9a-9b depending where in Tampa you are. I hope this helps.
Thank you Ariel!
I think I will put it in the ground, it'll be happier. I live in 8b-9a area so I think it would be fine.
Mimi
you are perfectly safe to put it in the ground... those go to 7b
I put the same cultivar of fig tree in the ground last summer and it took off. We always plant fig trees on the north side of a house. I am in zone 9a in south Texas where the summers almost kill you.
My family has had them in the ground for over 30 years and they are taller than the building beside them. They really produce lots of fruit.
I will take a picture for you tomorrow. It took the freezes beautifully. Of course it lost its' foliage but the leaves have been back on for quite a while now.
We have black land farming soil with clay. The nurseryman told me to dig a much bigger hole than necessary. Put sand in the bottom of the hole, then place the fig tree on that and fill the rest of the hole with sand. When yu first plant in the ground, you must water very deeply to begin with until it gets established. We just let the water hose drip on ours.
This Brown Turkey was planted last summer but i doubt that she will produce fruit this year.
Figs get nematodes easily. If you have sand, this is a problem. Use lots of organic material! Spray the foliage with copper sulfate to prevent fig rust.
Anyone ever heard of these being grafted unto a banyan? I've not but it sounds like a good idea. There must be some decent rootstock.
My family's fig trees have never had nematodes to my knowledge. Mr. Turner has been in busy over 50 years and gives good advice. Should we ever get them, i will remember the copper sulfate.
I cannot imagine anything grafted onto a banyan tree.
LouC
my figs get ruined every year just as they swell and mature by some insect that crawls
into the end of the fig. They look like bran bugs to me but I'm not sure. What kills
them and when do you spray them?
this is a question from a friend.....can anyone help him?
GG- sounds like borers to me. Is the plant fruiting at that time? Does he have access to systemic insecticides? Borers are not very easy to control!
He is a farmer and has every know chemical to mankind (LOL)............thanks for the suggestion of borers. He can look up which systemic to use. Thank you very much!
I just called him and he said he knew that they were not borers as he knows what they are. He also asked how could you use a systemic insecticide on a fruit tree and not harm yourself when you eat the fruit? Thanks
Supposedly I can grow these in my climate zone. I love figs!
Yes and no about the systemics- depends on the chemistry of the systemic, what its residual activity is, and what stage of flowering/fruiting the plant is in at the time the pests arrive. I had the impression these critters appeared at a specific time of year........
they do................just as the fruit appears here come something to crawl in the fruit..........we don't get the fruit for quite a while into the summer.................
Ok, try dusting regularly with dipel dust or spraying with Bt extract when that stage is approaching- rain will wash off and can be time consuming to do it that way, but it might help. Bt is an organic pesticide and is not systemic. Also, if your farmer friend has heard of biological control you might try releasing lacewing larvae/eggs once a week or every 2 weeks about that time.
Thanks so much..........I will copy and paste to him in an email.............thanks again.
gail
We had a fig tree planted in the ground here in Palm Bay FL. It was in the ground for about five years and never got taller than three feet. Every spring thru summer we had less than 1 dozen figs. Last month my hubby was mowing the back yard and couldn't stop in time and mowed right over the little fig tree. Needless to say, it was destroyed. I cut all the tips off and stuck them in a pot of soil and they are starting to put out leaves. Hubby felt so gulty, that he went out and bought another fig tree. I am hesitating at planting it in the ground. I think I will keep it in the pot at least until I get a few figs out of it. LOL
I planted one at my brother's house down the road 4 years (maybe 3) ago and it is taller than the garage and we are in zone 9a. It is planted on the north side of the garage. He has been getting a lot of fruit for a couple of years.
You can read post above about how the nursery man told us to plant it........lots of sand........under, beside, etc..........my brother put a pvc pipe for watering in the ground next to the fig tree when we planted it because the nursery man said that it was very important to water deep to establish it. He just lets the water hose drip in the pipe still.