Hi Dave,

I am not sure what the weather has been like in your area. Houston has been a bit cool this year and my trees are later than usual in producing fruit. My Celeste usually start producing fruit between the end of April and the middle of May. This year, I've been told, they are just starting to ripen.

It may also be the tree taking a bit of a rest. "hundreds of figs on the tree" seems like a lot for a three year old tree. I have two trees, an unknown and an Atreano which both produced a large size crop last year and had a couple and no fruit, respectively, this year. Two years ago, I acquired a Black Jack after fruiting season. The person at the nursery who I was buying it from was thinking of not selling to me because it had produced so many fruit for him that year. Last year it almost (birds got them) ripened three figs. This year, it is loaded with young fruit.

Having said all that, you may want to check for rootknot nematodes. Pull back the soil about a foot away from the trunk to expose the roots. Examine the roots for galls. Your roots will look like a string of brown pearls. You will want to check in several places.

You also did not mention if you had pruned this tree.

~james

In the past, even when the tree was only 3 ft tall and had only a few branches, they were continually covered with figs, as the new growth came, it came with tiny green figs that would ripen, so there was always a continual supply of ripe fruit and green fruit of varying stages of maturity in all months of the year (but less fruit in dec jan and feb). These were also the biggest turkey figs I'd ever seen, most being the size of an apple when fully ripe. We don't prune the tree at all, just water and fertilize frequently during the drought. Our weather has been a tad cooler here this year, and breezier, in the low to mid 80's/lower 70's from march on, and the last month or so with temps from 87-91 and nights mid to upper 70's. The winter was fairly normal for this area, mostly upper 70's during the day, 50's at night. Would a tree normally take a break after fruiting profusely for a few years? This is my first time growing figs, so I'm still learning.
Dave

Not all trees produce in an "every other year" manner, but its not an uncommon phenomenon. Your tree, however, doesn't appear to go dormant. It may that is why your tree is not producing so much right now. Perhaps Pitangadiego or others in an area with warm weather year round can speak more to this idea. Can you post a picture of your tree? It may be that it is ready for some pruning and that may help it in producing fruit.

The way you describe the fruit on your tree, is almost identical to the description the person at the nursery described the Black Jack I referred to earlier. Depending on where you got your tree, it may not be what it was labeled.

~james

I got it at home depot, and it said brown turkey on the tag on the pot. Do you need to prune these things regularly? It isn't that tall, maybe 5-6 feet, but has a lot of branches. It's more like a huge shrub than a tree. There's enough space between the branches that they all get light and air, it seems to like to spread outward. As far as dormancy, it does lose a lot of leaves in the winter, after late november, but never stops growing completely, there are usually figs and young green shoots at the tips of the branches even after most of the leaves drop.
Dave