Fig

Fig: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Shrubby tree of 3–6 m, often multi-stemmed, with thick branches and a broad crown.

Leaf

Alternate, 10–25 cm, 3–5-lobed and rough to the touch; white milky sap.

Bark

Smooth and silvery grey.

Flower

The flowers are hidden inside the young fig.

Fruit

Green to purple figs; in our climate mainly in summer.

Difference from London plane

The plane is a large tree with flaking bark and ball-shaped fruits.

Harvest and fruit: August–September · Pruning: April–May

Identify by feature: Palmate leaves

Looks like it, but isn’t

• London plane Platanus × hispanica: a large tree with flaking bark and ball-shaped fruits. Difference from London plane

Why grow it?

• Fresh figs from your own garden, in August–September.
• Large, handsome leaves and a southern feel against a sunny wall.
• Copes well with drought once established.
• Easy to propagate from cuttings and to grow in a large pot.

Fig: where does it grow best?

• Full sun in the warmest spot in the garden, e.g. against a south- or south-west-facing wall.
• Free-draining soil that does not stay wet in winter: it copes badly with wet and cold together.
• Sheltered from cold east winds.
• Allow 3–4 m in width against a wall; in a pot it stays smaller.

Light

Full sun

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Dry

Size

6 m tall, 4 m wide

Hardiness

down to -12 °C, protect in harsh winters

Goes well with

• Rosemary: A Mediterranean shrub for the same warm, dry spot.
• English lavender: Flowers in summer at the foot of the sunny wall, full of bees.
• Grapevine: Happily shares the warm south-facing wall.
• Garden thyme: A fragrant ground cover for the dry soil at the foot of the wall.

Fig: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant in spring (April–May), so that it is well rooted before winter.
2. Restrict the roots: dig a planting pit of about 60 × 60 × 60 cm, line the sides with paving slabs and put rubble in the bottom. That way it makes fewer leaves and more figs.
3. Plant 25–30 cm from the wall and tie the branches in as a fan on wires.
4. In a pot: choose a wide pot with a drainage hole and free-draining compost; repot every 2–3 years.

Care

Watering

In the open ground only in long dry spells, while the figs swell; in a pot regularly, without waterlogging.

Feeding

Sparingly: too much fertiliser gives lots of leaves and few figs. In a pot, a high-potash feed every two weeks in summer.

Thinning figs

In autumn, remove the half-grown green figs: they will not ripen. The pea-sized figlets at the shoot tips overwinter and ripen the following summer.

Harvest

A fig is ripe when it is soft, hangs down on its stalk and sometimes shows a small split or a drop of nectar.

Tip: Restrict the roots, in a pit lined with paving slabs or in a large pot: a fig with free roots mainly makes leaves, a fig with cramped roots more figs.

Fig: when to prune it?

Pruning months: April–May.

When: In April–May, once there is no more risk of frost.

How:

• Cut out frost-damaged and dead branches back to healthy wood, which is green under the bark.
• Keep the bush low and open: remove crowded and inward-growing branches.
• Against a wall: tie the branches in as a fan and cut out shoots growing away from the wall.

Caution: Wear gloves and long sleeves: in sunlight the milky sap causes burn-like skin irritation.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Cuttings

In winter, take hardwood cuttings of 20–30 cm and put them in a pot of sandy soil in a cool, frost-free place; they root in spring.

Layering

Bend a low branch to the ground and cover it with soil; after one season you can cut it free.

Suckers

Shoots at the base with their own roots can be separated in spring and planted elsewhere.

Fig: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −12 °C: protect in harsh winters.

• Tolerates about −12 °C. Young plants are more vulnerable: in hard frost, cover the base with straw or leaves and the crown with fleece.
• In a pot: in frost, move it to a cool, frost-free place such as a garage or shed, and water very sparingly; once leafless it can stand in the dark.
• If it has been frosted, wait until April–May to prune: then you can see what is still alive.

Diseases and pests

• Frost damage: Brown, dried-out branches after a harsh winter. Cut them out in April–May; the bush usually shoots again.
• Fruit drop: Small or half-grown figs drop because of drought, irregular watering or a cool summer. Water regularly while the figs swell.
• Wasps and birds: They feed on the ripe figs. Pick on time, or put a net over the best branches.
• Scale insects and mealybugs: Small bumps or white fluff and sticky leaves, especially on plants overwintered indoors. Wipe them off with a cloth.

Through the year

• April: Prune once the frosts are over; move pots outside when it no longer freezes.
• May: Last pruning; planting.
• June: Water in dry spells; feed plants in pots.
• July: Water while the figs are swelling.
• August: Pick ripe figs.
• September: Harvest; watch out for wasps.
• October: Remove half-grown green figs.
• November: Move pots to a frost-free place; cover the base.
• December: In hard frost, fleece over the crown.

What can you use it for?

Food and drink

Fresh figs; also jam.

Garden and landscape

Against a warm south-facing wall or in a large pot.

Caution: In sunlight, the milky sap causes burn-like skin irritation.

Edible and useful

Fruit (August–September)

A fig is ripe when it feels soft, droops on its stalk and sometimes shows a drop of nectar or small cracks. It does not ripen further once picked. In our climate the main harvest is in August–September. Fresh, grilled with goat’s cheese, in jam, tarts or salads, or dried.

Storing

Ripe figs are delicate: two to three days in the fridge at most. Halved figs can be frozen for jam or tarts. They can be dried in the oven or a dehydrator.

Caution: The white sap from shoots, leaves and unripe fruit makes skin sensitive to sunlight and can cause burn-like blisters: wear gloves and long sleeves when picking and pruning, and rinse off any sap at once. People with a latex allergy sometimes react to figs too.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Fig jam (Jam · ± 3 jars · 45 min + 1 hour standing)
• Dried figs (Dried · ± 200 g · 10 min + 12–24 hours drying)
• Baked figs with goat’s cheese and honey (Dish · serves 4 as a starter · 25 min)
• Fig and ginger chutney (Other · makes ± 3 jars of 250 ml · 1 hour 15 min)

Did you know?

• Combined with sunlight, the sap can irritate the skin: wear gloves when pruning.
• A fig is really a hollow flower head with the tiny flowers inside. Around the Mediterranean a tiny wasp pollinates some varieties; our garden varieties don’t need it.
• On old walls and quays in towns, fig seedlings sometimes come up.
• In the wild, a tiny fig wasp pollinates the flowers inside the fig. Most varieties grown here set fruit without pollination.
• The fig is one of the oldest cultivated crops: in the Jordan Valley, archaeologists found cultivated figs more than 11,000 years old.