Late last summer I was give a fig tree that was imported from Italy. The tree is about 3' tall. It isa young tree,grown form cuttings,It is one that has various curved branches. A little background, I live in NC,7 miles for the coast. Climate can reach long period of high temps. and as well as extremely levels of humidity. Which I believe is ideal conditions for fig trees. Based on the truck growth,it appears to be happy. It has a lot of small dark bluish fruit through-out. There has been only one large ripe fig. As it turns out it is a white fig. The fig was very tasty. The other fruit don't reach maturity, they reach a point and fall off. I believe that the one ripe fruit grew early in the spring or last winter. Also, there is one branch that is growing to the sky as the others appear to be containing their growth. Should I trim this branch back? Tree has very few leaves that are turning yellow, those that did were in heavy foliage areas of the tree. This is normal as best that I can tell. All other leaves are a very dark green color,normal shade of green. My concerning the fruit not maturing. I understand that fig tree can produces two periods of fruit, early spring and later in the fall. The fruit that develops in the fall is the best. Can anyone provide any suggestions? Thanks,
Hello, Here is a good link which discusses fig tree problems specific to North Carolina. On the same page is a section titled "Premature Fruit Drop" and lists suggestions for its cause. You can prune back the branch that is growing to the sky. It depends on the overall look that you are trying to achieve. Figs can be very large trees once they reach maturity, however, for practical purposes people often try to maintain a compact shrub-like plant which is easier to harvest from and suited to smaller gardens. If you would like the tree to reach its mature size leave the branch that is taking off. As you mentioned figs have two periods of fruiting. The first fruits to ripen are those which grew in the leaf axils the previous season. The second are those fruits which form on new growth. I am not sure what the climate is like where you are located, however, in cooler climates the fruit which develops on the new growth may not have enough time to ripen in the same season. If this is the case you may want to prune back new shoots to five or six leaves to discourage the second crop of figs from developing (if you have decided to maintain a shrub-like appearance). This will encourage the development of the first group of fruits which can be harvested later in the season. I hope that I have been clear and answered your questions. I was unclear of whether or not the blue fruit is prematurely dropping. Raakel
Raakel. Thanks for your reply to my fig tree comments. Appreciate the link. I have read the info. provided, not sure that is addresses my concerns. Summer temps. range for highs in the 90s and in the winter we can have temps. below freezing, but not for long periods, usually just overnight. The cold temps don't arrive until late Jan. or early Feb.. My tree is still putting out fruit, as it grows more fruit is being developed. The fruit that is turning a blue/purple color, I am unsure as to when they were developed. They look fine at first glance, when they turn color , they start getting hard, some will drop off. I have cut open a few up and they just look like undeveloped figs. I now plan to trim back the shoot that is reaching for the sky. I want the tree to be no larger than 10 feet. The blue fruit is very small in size, they are immature size, just that they have turned purple from green with time. Thanks again, Frank