I just tried fresh figs, and just loved them. Has anyone tried growing them? I live in Maple Ridge, BC. Does a fig tree require a lot of maintenance? what about fertilizers? How fast does it grow? I found one supplier who sells them here. Has anyone bought from them before? Thanks NEW NURSERY IN LANGLEY GREEN ACRE TREE FARM 22838 Fraser Hwy Open Daily 8am-7pm Farm Direct Landscaper Prices HUGE SALE ON NOW!! On Roses, Fruit Trees & More! #2 gal rose: H.Tea rose, CL Rose, Landscape rose (Exceptionally disease resistant, no blackspot powdery mildew) $8.95; Perennials & Oriental Lilies & Day Lilies #1 gal $4.50; Smarago Cedar Hedge, Top quality: 8' $25; 7' $23.50; 6' $21.50; 5' $19.50 * FIG TREES: (lots bearing fruit) $6-$13, sm/med/large; Angel Trumpets, yellow/pink/white $5-$13 and much more!!
Hello. I bought a fig tree about 5 years ago from a nursery in Vancouver. It needs very little care. In the past 3 years it has produced hundreds of large green figs. The last crop was produced about three weeks ago. It does best in full sun. I have a second crop maturing, but I don't know if they will mature by the early fall. However, you can make a delicious Greek fig preserve with the immature figs. In fact, the recipe calls for unripe figs, which are cooked in sugar, with an almond inserted in each individual fig. I made a test run of this at the beginning of August and it was great. Figs are one of my favourite fruit, and I keep them in the fridge and eat them chilled. They are great. The tree is about 20 feet in height today.
I'm not sure about pruning fig trees. Also, I hardly ever water it, but then the climate here has a lot of rain. In Greece, I never recall any watering of fig trees either.
There is a lot of information on growing, propagating and pruning figs on the gardenweb forum: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/fig/
I found that the figs are the easiest fruit trees to grow with some caveats. This was my first year growing fig trees in pots in Zone 5a. I had two plants each planted in 5 gal pots. Both grew nicely in Zone 5a and each gave me 7~8 good size figs the first year; however, only one of the fig fruits had a chance to ripen properly before the cold temperatures stopped the ripening process. I have been told that as the trees mature, the fruiting and ripening process gets faster. Good sun and heat and consistently moist soil is a pre-requirement for fig growing and ripening. Good soil can help but figs are not too fussy about soil. It is much easier to grow fig trees in Zones 8 and above and the plant can be left in the ground and mulching according to the temperatures in the zone. However it needs a lot and lot of protection in Zone 5, 6 and 7 for winter survival. The plant has to be kept above freezing for the branches to survive. Some cold hardy varieties may survive at 15F/-10C. The good thing is that even if the plant dies to the ground level and there is enough protection on the ground above the roots, the root will survive and sprout from ground, then grow 4 to 5 feet tall in multi-branch form and have fruits. Some enthusiasts in Zone 5 and 6 bury the whole tree in the ground by digging trench on one side of the tree and cutting roots from the opposite side and bend the tree in the trench and cover it with layers of soil, leaves and tar paper, carpets etc etc. The tree is freed when the local trees show signs of spring such as leaf buds on maple trees. However, many other enthusiasts over-winter their plants until spring in a cool dark part of their basement where temperature don’t go below freezing. Most fig trees used for home gardens do not need pollination so one tree will still bear fruit. Most fig type have 2 crops. The first crop is called Breba and the second crop is called the main crop. The Breba grows on the previous years shoots and the main crop grows on the current years shoots. Some varieties have early main crop than the others and these are the ones for the cold climate. Many enthusiasts ignore the Braba crop in terms of taking care of the trees though they may enjoy if rewarded by Braba crop.
Figs are one of my favourite fruits. I love plucking them, still warm from the sun, from my trees. My second crop never ripens either. I'm interested that fig preserve recipe, would you mind sharing?
I would like to grow a fig tree out in Sooke. However, my ground gets almost swampy in the winter. Will a fig tree survive this?
I really don't know about soggy soil. I live in Richmond, so we have a high water table, and my fig tree is doing very well.
