How to Keep Pests off your Fig Tree?

9 years ago

I have reviewed some of the fig tree pest discussions and haven't seen anything that was both effective and practical for a large fig tree.

My parents have a huge tree and the birds do get some of the figs but they get to pick plenty. They also have a couple of dogs so the squirrels don't bother them.

I have lots of cardinals, blue jays, mocking birds, and squirrels and they all love my figs. In the past, I built PVC frame sections with chicken wire that I assembled in modular fashion as a wall around my tree and then I rolled out a roof made from two rolls of chicken wire joined in the middle with zip-ties. This also worked nicely for a Japanese plum tree. Now my fig is too tall and it and my lemons have grown together with the fig branches so I can't use the PVC frames and bird netting is also out of question as it gets all tangled up in thorns on the lemons. I tried hanging CDs in the Japanese plum but birds ignored the CDs within the day. The canopy of the fig tree is pretty dense so I don't think birds really see things I hang in the limbs. Birds land in the tree with ME standing right under it and scare crows haven't worked either. Some folks have enclosed their figs in mesh bags but that just isn't practical for a big tree. Last year I thought I would just chill out and let them have some and I would still have plenty. Wrong, they got almost everything and wasted a bunch on the ground! The only way I can get ahead of the birds is to go pick early in the morning, picking anything that is almost ripe and then let the fruit ripen a day of two on cookie sheets in the house before eating.

So there is my situation and the pests I'm dealing with, and I know I'm not alone, has anyone found a solution? I think there must be a battery-operated toy with lots of movement that I could put on a timer or a motion sensor that might help. I can reach the tree with an extension cord. Maybe I need to tie a very hungry cat to my tree.

Thanks in advance for your input!

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Bluemoonlight

9 years ago

I love it

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Comments (9)

John 9a
Original Author
9 years ago
Oh, I have heard recommendations to feed the birds and squirrels during fig season. I may try that this year as last resort. It seems like I'll be promoting reproduction and compounding my problem in the long run but they will be eating figs if not sunflower seeds so maybe that's a wash.

A neighbor said he starts trapping and eating squirrels a month or so before figs ripen. He said they made dumplings with the older squirrels and fried the young ones. I enjoy having squirrels around since they are entertaining but we become bitter enemies when they tear up my crops. They eat my strawberries, my pomegranates, my figs, Japanese plums, and even chew off some of my citrus just to check them out. Oh, and the pecans, I have two huge trees in my yard and they begin eating them before the hulls are even off.
John 9a
Original Author
9 years ago
I found a photo of the modular chicken wire/PVC cage I built around the fig two years ago. It worked great but it was difficult to roll the chicken wire across the top and to get it down later.
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ouiallo
9 years ago
Hanging broken CD and reflecting things in the branches that flickers and shines may freak out the birds a bit... worth a try.

I also ferment stinging nettles (50/50 with water) in big barrels, for about 3-4 weeks (stirring every couple days, diluted 1/3 and spray it over the fruits before they ripen. It makes the birds and rodents sick and they learn pretty quickly.
John 9a thanked ouiallo
John 9a
Original Author
9 years ago
ouiallo, thanks for the nettle trick....now that's a new one for me! So the fermented nettle makes the birds and rodents sick but doesn't make me sick too? Should I wash the figs before I eat them?
ouiallo
9 years ago
Yes. Wash them. Lol

It's also an amazing fertilizer btw. Lots of nitrogen.
John 9a thanked ouiallo
bossyvossy
9 years ago
John, what if you used window screen instead of chicken wire? The mere housing will do much to deter them so they'll just go on to an easier to rob tree. I have found nothing to completely deter animals from raiding the orchard.
John 9a thanked bossyvossy
Jason (Zone 10b, San Diego)
9 years ago
Or trim the fig tree down so that it will fit under your pvc screen? You'll lose some production that way, but you'll gain in figs.
John 9a thanked Jason (Zone 10b, San Diego)
John 9a
Original Author
9 years ago
Bossy....I think anything will help. I think it's going to have to be a combination of pruning the tree back so my modular walls will cover it and maybe also pruning back the lemons so I'll have some space between the trees. Those lemon thorns don't faze the birds and squirrels but they turn me into a pin cushion while I'm trying to work among them! Jason, I hate to prune a fruit-bearing tree back but I think you are right. I get nothing if I can't cover the tree....prune it and I get what I can cover. When I covered the tree two years ago, it was very secure and worked great. I left on a week vacation and it was also a dry period. The figs were all dead ripe and even the wasps and beetles weren't getting into them since the birds hadn't damaged them.