Small fig tree

[Elmigo]

Hello all,

Today I received my ordered fig tree. A very small variety that doesn't get much larger than 5 ft. Perfect for my tiny little garden! The store adviced me to place it inbetween an apple and pear or something, so it would catch more warmth and stay warmer. It originally grows in Turkey.

Any advice for a fig tree is very much appreciated!

[Westi]

My fig is a right thug! The roots punched holes right through the bottom of a huge plastic urn thing I won in a competition - I really wanted the patio furniture!

I sawed through the root & re-located it close to the school fence at the bottom of the garden making every effort to point the roots in the school direction. I must have had it for about 15yrs & never had one ripe fruit, but really, really close last year. It lives outside & doesn't seem to mind the winters so not too precious. There is one on the way to the beach in front of some flats that just cracks on regardless & ripens every year. Tasted a few as rude not too as loads hanging over the footpath. They completely hacked it back about 3 yrs ago but it was back up to about 8' last year.

They say you can pot in the ground with paving slabs as a barrier but judging by mine I don't think they read the rules. You though have to decide what fruit to leave on over winter - no bigger than you little finger nail.

[Elmigo]

So I have to cut away some fruits?
Why is that!?

[Primrose]

They say figs thrive when their roots are restricted. I had one in a large pot on our patio for about 15 years and to be honest it was a disappointment as I never got a single decent ripe fruit from it. They would develop to half size by the end of summer but never got ripe enough to pick and eat and the tiny undeveloped ones never matured and grew the next season either.

Mine was a Brown Turkey and I was expecting those nice ones you see growing in the Mediterranean so it was a disappointment never to get anything at all. It's leaf and size growth may stay restricted if you restrict the roots in a pot but perhaps our climate just is TM warm enough for them to thrive and be fruitful. It survived some pretty hard winters but the fruit just didn,t develop quickly enough to ripen.

[Westi]

I have limped the really baby fruit through winter as think being small they have little moisture to totally freeze over winter. These were the guys that nearly did ripen last year. Saying that the people in the flats with the big tree do absolutely nothing & their tree was heaving! They do have a brick fence which will capture warmth!

[Elmigo]

So maybe potting it in a large container allows me to put it inside the greenhouse for the winter. At least in its smaller stages untill it gets too large to fit through the door opening...

[Stephen]

Beware of the sap.
Read this:- https://rachel-the-gardener.blogspot.co ... e.html?m=1
And a friend ended up in hospital after pruning his fig (blistering all over his arms).

[AlexBee]

My friends in Turkey laugh that we buy figs in supermarkets as they grow everywhere there, car parks, wasteland etc.

[tigerburnie]

My late Aunt grew some good figs in Norfolk in a large pot and it spent the whole year outside, she had a good crop from it too. I also thought you had to restrict the roots to get a crop, indeed I was once told in "normal" garden soil they will never crop in open soil, I have never grown one so don't know the answer to your question.