A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Fruit Forum Figs

We live in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, between zones 6 and 7. We have two fig "trees", variety unknown but both bought locally, that are growing reasonably well, in the sense that they have good foliage and are getting to be bush-size. But in their third and fourth years, respectively, they have yet to produce figs. A neighbor was told that figs like to be root-bound and put his in pots. I encased one of the two in a well of concrete pavers, about four feet in diameter. No luck so far for either of us. Does anyone have any thoughts on what we are doing wrong?

flowers: The tiny flowers of the fig are out of sight, clustered inside the green "fruits", technically a synconium. Pollinating insects gain access to the flowers through an opening at the apex of the synconium. In the case of the common fig the flowers are all female and need no pollination. There are 3 other types, the caprifig which has male and female flowers requiring visits by a tiny wasp, Blastophaga grossorum; the Smyrna fig, needing cross-pollination by caprifigs in order to develop normally; and the San Pedro fig which is intermediate, its first crop independent like the common fig, its second crop dependent on pollination.

Fruits: The common fig bears a first crop, called the breba crop, in the spring on last season's growth. The second crop is borne in the fall on the new growth and is known as the main crop. In cold climates the breba crop is often destroyed by spring frosts. The matured "fruit" has a tough peel (pure green, green suffused with brown, brown or purple), often cracking upon ripeness, and exposing the pulp beneath. The interior is a white inner rind containing a seed mass bound with jelly-like flesh. The edible seeds are numerous and generally hollow, unless pollinated. Pollinated seeds provide the characteristic nutty taste of dried figs.