I have a young fig tree and it formed fruit for the first time this year-actually this fall. It appears to be doing the same thing that the neighbor's tree is doing at the same time so I assume that here in this part of California it is when the fruit forms. However-the neighbors told me that their tree forms fruit which grows, then falls off the tree shortly after the leaves fall in late October. The fruit on my tree is still rather small so it may do the same thing. What would cause this? I got the tree from the local university's arboretum (sp) and was told it was "self-pollinating". Is there something I don't know? It seems to be growing fast and has beautiful leaves now. It is a pretty tree but I like figs and hoped to have some by now. Thanks-betty

-- Betty Modin (betty_m9@yahoo.com), October 01, 2000

Answers

Hi Betty.

I don't know where you live in California, but I live about 35 miles north of Houston in USDA zone 8b. I have nine varieties of fig trees in my yard, and have had them for years. I root a lot of cuttings and give away a lot of small fig trees every year. First off, some varieties of fig trees set fruit only once a year, while others will set fruit twice (Texas Everbearing, for example). For varieties that only fruit once a year, the figs should come on the tree in mid to late spring, grow during the summer, and here at least, ripen late July thru August. The so-called everbearing varieties fruit again during the summer and ripen early fall. Again, I don't know what your climate is like there. Do you have cool springs and summers as in northern California? Figs are from hot regions of the Medeterranian and like it hot. If you live in a cooler region, you may need a variety more suited to cooler spring and summer conditions. If, like us here in southeast TX, you have warm springs and hot hot summers, and mild to mildly cold winters, your trees should be fruiting in the summer. If the tree is only a few years old, it may not fruit heavily for another couple of years. Also, if it has been subjected to drought during spring or summer, that may have caused the tree to not fruit. If none of these things apply to your situation, you might talk to someone at the arboretum to find out what variety it is (you didn't mention) and when it should, under normal conditions, set fruit. Also, all figs are self-pollinating, the flowers actually being inside of the fig fruits themselves, so it's not a pollination problem. Also, they don't have to have terribly rich soil, either. I know this probably isn't a very good answer, but I hope you're able to get some information out of it!! Good luck with your figs!!

-- Hannah Maria Holly (hannahholly@hotmail.com), October 01, 2000.