Could this be why?

ANTHRACNOSE ( Glomerella cingulata/Colletotrichum gloeosporoides )
Symptoms: Symptoms on leaves appear as slightly sunken spots surrounded by a dark brown edge. The center of the spot may appear pink from the spore masses which are being produced by the fungus. Frequently, large areas on the leaf turn brown, dry out along the leaf margins, and eventually the leaf falls off. Symptoms on fruit also develop as small, discolored, sunken areas that enlarge and develop pink spore masses in the middle. The fruit develop a soft rot and will drop off the tree.

Cultural Controls: Remove fallen fruit and leaves to reduce surviving inoculum for the next season.

Chemical Controls: There are no EPA-approved fungicides for use on edible figs in Florida.

Toney, thanks, but I don't think this it it. The leaves look great, picture - perfect as a fig leave could be.
the fruits look good too, until they turn yellow and drop :*(

I think I read on the fig forum that there are some varieties that do that and nothing can be done.

I was losing figs to beat the band but they just disappeared. It turned out the birds found them! I covered the plant with hardware cloth and the birds went crazy trying to get to them so I just moved them to my screened pool area. THey are in pots because I heard nematodes will ruin them.

I read that comment too, but I can't imagine anyone being so mean spirited to trade fig tree cuttings locally if the plant would be a variety that doesn't fruit well.

It can be the plant lacks enough energy stores yet to want to hold fruit. Some figs can hold some fruit while very small, some might not.

Gary

Gary, it is not that small, it is a good 5 ft and bushy.

The only other thing could be more nitrogen than the plant wants causing it to drop fruit and grow more vegetatively. No other ideas.

Gary

thanks Gary. This slacker will be evicted! Real Estate in Myrtle Glen is too valuable.

mine dropped fruit, too. i figure it's just like citrus -- they know what they can handle, and drop what they can't. i wouldn't evict it yet -- give it a chance. there's plenty of time for another crop this year, if the conditions are right.

thanks Gary. This slacker will be evicted! Real Estate in Myrtle Glen is too valuable.

weird, my message got posted again, what's with GW....

Yes ill-mannered, but it drops ALL the fruit, not one stayed on it last year and as it looks now, they keep dropping this year too.
But I listen, this is why I posted about it. So I will give this plant an extention until this fall.

:-)

Evelyn, I like your style. I nominate you for president.

oh great, I am the prez of the rotten figs

Evelyn - are the leaves of your fig healthy and totally green with no spots ? Are the trunks and branches of this fig completely healthy and firm with no changes ?
Normally figs do not have fruit drop the way citrus do . The usual cause of fig drop is insect or fungus . Don't give up and keep the tree as healthy as possible to fight off problems .
Figs do not like a lot of water and often need lots of potash ( supplied from oak ashes ) and magnesium before and after fruiting .
Sorry you are losing your fruit !

How about a picture of this tree and what the dropped figs looked like? Does the source of the tree have the same problem on their tree? have you eaten ANY of the figs? The dropped figs all the same size or mixed? did you examine any of the figs for possible cause?

If the tree retains it's leaves, it should hold on to at least some figs, I've found that the fig is the last thing to fall on a fig tree, even if it has lost all or most of its leaves, it will keep most of the fruit, it won't ripen, but it will hang on for a while.

Unusal problem..... pics please

Ben

Hi - FWIW, I understand some varieties of figs require pollinators - might yours not be getting pollinated?

Did I miss it, or did you say what variety this is?

& I think there's a Fig Growing forum here....

HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: Fig Facts

This is the presidential statement 'This slacker will be evicted!'

thank you all for trying to help me figure this out :-)
The fig forum has just too many people from all over the country, even Europe. I rather try my Florida friends first since a lot of you do have figs and may have encountered just such a problem.

I received this plant as a cutting at a swap, I want to say it is a Celeste. I can't remember who gave it to me.
Thanks for the link, I bookmarked it :-)

the tree has some shade in the morning (crape myrtles) and then late afternoon, when the sun is just too low. So I believe it does get enough sun.
Next to it grows a nursery bought Brown Turkey and this one is way smaller, slower growing, but it keeps the fruits.

I never have eaten a fruit of this fig plant
cutting the fruits in half doesn't show anything unusual. Light, white inside, no critters or rot.

don't like too much water? maybe the rainy season is the problem???? the figs do not have a dripper, I keep them pretty much on the dry side all year. I can't remember if the fruits dropped before the rains started :(

Here are the pics:

the bush is 5 ft tall, with a couple of branches reaching easily 6 ft.
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big leaves, no spots
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here are the fruits, there are many, and the higher up are new ones developing, but they drop from the bottom up. as you can see, the two are turning yellow, they will drop by this evening, tomorrow moring at the latest:
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those I just picked up under the plant. Pretty much the same size
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thanks again for helping.

Evelyn

Evelyn, I tracked down more info for you, not necessarily good

Fruiting or a Lack of Fruiting

If you look for blossoms on your fig tree, you probably wonÂt find them  they are inside the fruit.

A number of conditions may cause the fruit not to ripen or to drop prematurely. The following are the most common in Georgia in order of importance:

Young, vigorous plants and over-fertilized plants will often produce fruit that drops off before maturing. If the plants are excessively vigorous, stop fertilizing them. Quite often, three or four years may pass before the plant matures a crop because most figs have a long juvenile period before producing edible quality fruit. If the distance between the nodes (leaves) on the current seasonÂs shoots is more than 3 inches, the plant is probably excessively vigorous.

Dry, hot periods that occur before ripening can cause poor fruit quality. If this is the case, mulching and supplemental watering during dry spells will reduce the problem.

The variety Celeste will often drop fruit prematurely in hot weather, regardless of the quality of plant care. However, it is still one of the best varieties.

An infestation of root-knot nematodes can intensify the problem when conditions are as described in items 2 and 3 above.

You could have a fig plant that requires cross-pollination by a special wasp. If this is the case, then it will never set a good crop. The best way to resolve this is to replace the plant with one from a rooted shoot of a neighborÂs plant you know produces a good crop each year. This is a rare problem.

Here is a link that might be useful: U. of Georgia agricultural dept

Thank you Ben, for this information.
Still not sure what I should do now. Rip it out or leave it....

It looks like a lovely, healthy plant - perhaps just 'wait & see' might be in order....?

yes Carol, I think I'll give it until next spring.
Or maybe someone wants to come and dig it up LOL

:-)

Evelyn:

If it is a Celeste you may have gotten it from me. I have had mixed experience with my Celeste. The first two years it produced some fruit but the third it got a rust and did not produce. This year it has more fruit than I have ever seen on a fig tree - and that includes Brown Turkey!

The only thing I know that I did differently this year was that someone on the fig forum suggested pinching back the ends of the branches in the Fall. I do not ever remember fruit falling off though.

But I would give it another year. The fruit really are remarkable. The only problem now is the birds have found them so we are in a race for food. I hope birds do not have cooties or anything since I am eating them even if they have little beak pecks out of their sides!

Anita

What a beautiful looking fig tree . I would not eliminate it even it if never produced fruit - it is just such a pretty specimin .
I think Ben got it right - I also was going to say too much nitrogen encouraged too much growth .
I think it's a combination of plant age ( too young ) , too much nitrogen , a severe drought followed by heavy rains . Give your tree a pat on the back for looking so good !

Anita, I traded this one before the Winter Park swap, so this one is not one of yours... would be too simple because we could compare notes ;-)
How big do your fruits get? the same size as the brouwn turkey fruits?

I do the same with my loquats, the best fruits have been picked at by the mockers, but they do know which ones are the sweetest.

Thanks Gatormom, and yes, it looks healthy. I am bad when it comes to fertilizing, so I think I rather under fertilize since I always forget. I just now went to the store and bought some citrus fert., but since the plant does look good, I will not feed it yet.

Evelyn

Evelyn, your Fig is gorgeous! Please give it more time. Mine do not like this rainy weather, after all, they are desert plants that survive/produce/thrive in sandy, dry countries.

I've not grown one in the ground, mine are all potted. Katkin has a very nice one in her garden that is in very rich soil. Nematodes are an issue in Florida, but your tree looks really healthy, not like it is ill or starved.

I suspect your tree is too well watered. But don't give up on it, Figs can easily give 2 crops a year.

I've been picking Figs pretty regularly now, but lots of them have dropped. I think it is too much water. I have many varieties, and some still have very young, green figs.

Figs take pruning very well, and it is recommended to chop/pinch them back after 3 sets of leaves on a branch. You can plant the cuttings too!

Lisa

Lisa, yes, I think it is the heavy rains. The brown turkey next to it doesn't drop its fruits, though.
I planted those figs inground, I did not know they have the nematodes issue. Just perfect, now I have to worry about those too.

Evelyn:

I think someone may be onto something re the drought. Mine is in an area where I had planted new plants this spring so it got very regular water throughout the season. Not soggy but it never was parched.

Celeste has smaller fruit than Brown Turkey but more "figgy" in taste.

Anita

Anita, so you are having a good crop and you think it is because of regular watering. Well, mine did not get much water until the thunderstorms lately. Are figs really that finicky?

I think they get much less fussy with age . Mine is at least 25 years old if not older . It is in a very dry , very sunny spot in plain sand . It is a brown turkey fig . It has never had fig fruit drop . I have a bumper crop this year. The fruit tastes almost a tad water logged from all this rain . Before the steady rains returned , it received no watering and no significant rain for 72 days . Never had any luck with cuttings though . What's the secret ?