Is this a baby fig?

8 years ago

I was looking at my fig tree today. This is my first time growing figs and this thing looks different than the buds that leaf out. Do you guys think this is a fig?

It looks round... Usually if it's a bud that breaks out with leaves, it would be pointy, not round. Hopefully it's a fig. I wonder if it'll be ripe by the end of the summer...

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Moses, Pitt PA, cold W & hot-humid S, z6

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

TCMD,

It's hard to tell from the photo what's up with that fig. In humid, cool climates figs do get fungus or bacteria attacks which can cause fig drop. It goes with the territory.

Young trees often don't have their acts together. They need to mature to get things right. Does this include disease and insect susceptibility while they are young?, probably yes.

The flavor and quality of figs from young trees is not the same as figs from mature ones. Almost all fruit bearing trees are like that, not only fig trees.

My Celeste dropped every fig last year, half way through developing. Little Miss Figgy had such delicious figs last year, but don't miss a ripe fig from her today, or tomorrow it's rotten or turned to vinegar. Often I lwould let fully ripe figs hang on just one more day to get even better flavored, and they would get rotten the next day, literally.

You've heard of letting ripe figs hang on the tree to dry naturally.....maybe in a desert or Mediterranean climate like California or Arizona, but not in temperate, humid, cool and less intense sunlight climates like ours. Forget that procedure.

Not all fig varieties even if short season ones, do well in the same zone for every gardener. Even a fig gardener across the street could have a Brown Turkey that crop fails ever year while yours has a bumper crop every year.

Expect setbacks and disappointments along with your successes. You'll get more successes, don't worry.

Get yourself more varieties of fig trees to test and see which tastes best and performs best for you. That way you will not get bummed out with a disappointing one when the one next to it is a winner.

Also, TCMD, every year is different. One year, the weather is hot and dry, ideal. The next year it is cool and wet...figs may suffer then except for the ones which reliably set good figs no matter what. They're out there, they need to be found...often through personal trial and error.

Moses

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Comments (8)

bluemoonlight
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Yes Dave that is a figlet I am happy for you

Do you know what variety it is ?

Which corner of the globe do you live on ?
TheyCallMeDave
Original Author
8 years ago
I live in 6a (Toronto) and it's suppose to be a Strawberry Verte Fig. I am excited too.
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Moses, Pitt PA, cold W & hot-humid S, z6
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
TheyCallMeDave,

It certainly looks like a 'figlet.' Usually when a figlet forms at a leaf's base there is the figlet and a dormant growth bud next to it right there. Sometimes the growth bud breaks dormancy and a shoot grows alongside the fig, sometimes not. There are times it appears that only a figlet is forming at a leaf's base, but by and by a little dormant growth bud will eventually show up next to the developing fig, and just sit there, dormant, possibly becoming a productive branch next year.

I just got a young Verte this year. It looks very healthy, but it is very young, and not likely to make figs this year. Yours looks to be the picture of health.

Are you pot culturing your fig trees?

Keep your eyes open for more figlets to form on your Verte. Any figlets that begin forming before early July in zone 6 should ripen very nicely by summer's end, especially if the variety is an early cropper, which Verte is supposed to be. Later forming figs are iffy. They may ripen, but because of shorter, colder days, particularly colder nights, the fig quality may be below par...dryish, thick skinned, not sweet enough, and lacking flavor....still edible, but not choice.

I wish you great success with your foray into figs.

Moses
TheyCallMeDave
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the information Moses. Yes, it's growing in a 5G pot. It's not a very big tree and I plan on bringing it inside the basement when weather really gets cold... I hope to let it stay in an unheated shed whenever weather isn't below -10C because my basement is about 15C in the coldest spot which might not be good for dormancy.
Moses, Pitt PA, cold W & hot-humid S, z6
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
TCMD,

I have found the ideal temp range is between 0.5C to 4.5C, most of the time. Temporary fluctuations up or down a degree or two are fine, as long as the majority of the time in winter storage the temp is in the ideal range.

You don't want a fig tree to go below -3.8C or damage can occur. Below -7.7C and serious damage will occur, even die back to the soil level of worse, total death.

Fig trees are very sensitive to their new spring growth being hit by a freeze, New growth easily gets zapped, much like the herb, Basil's, frost intolerant foliage.

Moses
TheyCallMeDave
Original Author
8 years ago
What the hell is this? Is this spoilage from the rain? It rain half of the day yesterday and most of today.... I ended up putting the fig tree in a shed this morning to avoid being too wet but I noticed these black things and white dots on the baby fig. Hopefully it's not spoiling.

I tried to pick at the white dots and they seem hard.... the black stuff is built into the skin. The good news from this update is I have 4 more baby figs coming in. If you look carefully you can see 2 in the above photo. 1 is coming out of the leaf right above and the other is more visible coming for 2 leaves above on the right side.
eboone_gw
8 years ago
Looks like damage from an insect. There are a variety of sucking insects (leafhoppers?) or chewing insects (like stink bugs) that can take a taste of your baby figs, They generally move on, and the damage is not serious. The fig will still ripen ok and the scar shrinks up as the fig grows, becomes less noticeable