Fig

Give an inch of water a week through the growing season

Supply 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week from rain or irrigation, keeping the supply steady rather than swinging between soaked and bone dry. Watch for yellowing and dropping leaves - that is the drought signal, and by then fruit is already being shed. Fig roots are shallow and the plant sheds its crop rather than fight a drought, so a dry spell during fruit sizing drops the figs outright. Drought-stressed trees are also markedly more vulnerable to root-knot nematode damage and simply will not fruit well.

Mulch 2 to 3 inches over the root zone

Lay a 2 to 3 inch layer of organic mulch over the root zone, pulling it back a few inches from the stems. Renew it each year as it breaks down. Figs root shallowly and dry out fast, so mulch buffers the moisture swings that make them drop fruit. Organic mulches also measurably reduce root-knot nematode damage - which matters because an infected fig cannot be cured by any chemical treatment, making prevention the only tool you get.

Feed lightly starting at bud break

As buds break, spread a balanced 8-8-8 or 10-10-10 in a band starting a foot out from the trunk - about 1 ounce per month for young plants, or one-third pound per foot of bush height for established ones, split across roughly three applications. Stop feeding by midsummer. Figs are naturally light feeders, and excess nitrogen pushes leafy growth at the expense of fruit - the classic sign of overfeeding is a vigorous plant whose figs swell but never ripen.

⚠ Do not fertilize or heavily irrigate after midsummer. Late feeding pushes tender growth that has not hardened off, and that tissue is killed by temperatures just below freezing.

Dormant pruning: head back last year's growthFeb – Mar

Prune once the coldest weather has passed but before buds move. Cut out dead, frozen, crowded, and low-growing wood and root suckers, then head back the remaining shoots by about one-third to one-half of last year's growth. Keep three to eight vigorous, widely spaced main stems and aim for at least a foot of new growth on every limb this season. The main fig crop is borne on the current season's new wood, so heading back last year's growth is what forces the vigorous new shoots that carry the fruit. Waiting until the coldest weather has passed also lets you see which wood the winter actually killed instead of guessing.

⚠ Heavy winter pruning removes the breba crop, which forms on last year's wood - if you want the early breba figs, prune lightly. Fig sap causes contact dermatitis, so wear gloves and long sleeves.

Check ripening figs for souring at the eye

As figs begin to soften, look for gas bubbles or a scummy ooze at the eye and a fermented smell. Pick and destroy every souring fruit rather than letting it hang or drop, and keep fallen fruit cleaned up. Souring is caused by yeasts and bacteria that the dried fruit beetle carries in through an open ostiole, and each fermenting fig becomes the beetle bait that seeds the rest of the crop.

⚠ No chemical treatment reliably controls souring - do not spray for it. The only real prevention is planting closed-eye cultivars such as Celeste or Alma, plus sanitation.

Fig rust: neutral copper once the first leaves reach full size

Only spray if rust defoliated the plant last year - it is not worth spraying otherwise. Start neutral copper or a 5-5-50 Bordeaux mix (copper sulfate, lime, and water) when the first leaves of spring have reached full size, and repeat every two to three weeks as new growth appears. In fall, rake up and destroy the fallen infected leaves. Fig rust overwinters on fallen leaves and reinfects the new spring foliage, and a bad infection strips the plant of the leaves it needs to ripen a crop - so the spores have to be stopped on young leaves before they build up, and the fallen leaves removed before they can start next year.

⚠ Stop copper applications once the fruit reaches about one-quarter inch in diameter, because the residue disfigures the fruit; resume only after harvest is finished. Follow the copper product label - always check the label for fig and its pre-harvest interval before applying.

Protect your fig for winterNov

In cold zones mulch the roots heavily and wrap or bend-and-bury the canes. Fig wood dies back below the low teens without protection.

Move container figs under cover after leaf dropNov – Dec

Once the leaves have dropped and the plant is dormant, move the pot into a cool indoor structure such as an unheated garage, before temperatures drop low enough to freeze the rootball. Keep it there until hard freezes have ended, then bring it back out. A fig in the ground has soil insulating its roots, but a pot does not - Rutgers warns that when trees are in pots the roots can be killed by freezing temperatures, and dead roots kill the plant outright rather than just the top.

⚠ Store the plant cool, not warm. It needs cool temperatures to hold dormancy, and Rutgers directs dormant container figs to a cool indoor structure rather than heated living space.

Pick when the neck softens and the fig droops

Harvest when the fruit stem loses its rigidity and the fig droops down slightly on the branch. Twist the fruit off or cut it with shears into a shallow container, and check the plant every day or two once ripening starts. Figs do not ripen after picking, so a fig pulled while its neck is still stiff never sweetens - and one left a day too long bruises, splits, or is taken by birds and ants.

⚠ The milky sap from stems and unripe fruit causes contact dermatitis and is made worse by sunlight - wear gloves and long sleeves when picking.