Site Selection

The planting site is more important with figs than with many other fruits.  Close to the south side of a building can be an excellent site because it offers protection from winter winds and has higher winter temperatures than an open site or one on the north side of a building.  Figs planted next to buildings should be at least 3 to 4 feet away from the wall.  Do not plant figs under existing trees.  Although figs do best when planted in full sun, they may grow and fruit satisfactorily if they receive at least eight hours of sunlight daily during the growing season.

Figs grow well in almost any type of soil as long as it drains freely enough to keep water from standing around the roots.  Do not plant figs in soil infested with nematodes.  Also avoid planting figs near clay sewer pipes or over septic tank drain fields, as the fibrous roots from the fig may block drain lines.

Cultivar Selection

When selecting the fig cultivar (variety) to plant, two things should be considered.  First, the cultivar should have some cold tolerance to withstand California’s winter temperatures.  However, if the plant is to be grown in a container that can be moved indoors, this is not as great a concern.

Secondly, the intended use of the fruit will affect which cultivars are selected.  Many cultivars may be used for jams, canning, drying or eating fresh; however, because of their seediness and texture, some are suitable only for drying and preserving.
Because some areas of California are colder that that for which most figs are adapted, cold injury may occur to all cultivars.  Therefore, winter protection should be provided.  Frequently, radical shifts from warm to cold periods may cause plant injury at temperatures above those mentioned below.  The following cultivars should be considered for planting in California, but with more than 60 cultivars to choose from, there may be others that will do as well if they do not need cross-pollination to set a crop.

Name of Cultivar Description
 

• Brown Turkey Winter hardy to 10F; long harvest season and will produce fruit even though frozen to the ground the winter before; multiple-use, high-quality fruit that are fine-grained, juicy and sweet.
• Celeste Winter hardy to 0F; short ripening season; fruit and plant are smaller than Brown Turkey; fruit of high quality and good for fresh use and preserving.
• Green Iachia Not as cold hardy as Celeste or Brown Turkey; small plants well suited for container culture; high-quality fruit with excellent flavor; small greenish-yellow fruit not damaged by birds as much as that of other varieties; fruit used fresh or dried.
• Magnolia Winter hardy to 5F; ripening season short; fruit of fair quality for fresh use or drying, but good for preserves.
• Alma Moderate cold hardiness; small plant; medium-size fruit with a sweet flavor and very small seed; suited for both fresh use and preserving.

Plant figs while they are dormant; early spring is the best time.  Tops of bare-rooted plants should be cut back about one-half of their original length.  Tops of container-grown plants with good root systems need not be cut back.  Be sure to inspect the root system of container-grown plants to see if they are potbound.  If roots have grown out to the container sides and have curled back, either straighten the roots carefully when planting or cut them back to the point where they turned.  If root pruning is needed, be sure to prune the top of the plant back the same as for barerooted figs.  Set plants 3 inches deeper than they were in the nursery.

Fruiting Habits

Figs produce a main crop of fruit that ripens in mid to late summer.  These fruits are borne at the base of leaves on current season’s growth.  Because of this fruiting habit, a crop can be harvested even when plants are killed back to ground level.  These main-crop fruits mature beginning with those as the base of the current year’s shoots and progressing toward the tip.
Some cultivars also produce a small crop, called the breba crop, that ripens in early summer.  The brebas are borne on the previous year’s growth and are poorer in quality than the main crop.  This early crop may often be absent because of winter kill of the shoots.

Fertilization

Figs grow satisfactorily in moderately fertile soils without any additional fertilizer.  Fertilizers may be used on plants in soils with low fertility.  Apply a fertilizer such as 10-10-10 at a rate of about ½ pound per plant when growth begins in the spring.  No other fertilizer should be used unless the bush shows little vegetative growth at all.  If this occurs, the spring rate may be applied again in early June.

Winter injury of figs may be directly related to the vigor of the plant.  A vigorous, fast-growing plant is more easily killed by winter temperatures.  Therefore, any plant with adequate vegetative growth should not be fertilized.

Harvesting

Harvest figs when their necks wilt and fruits droop.  If they exude a milky latex, stop picking; they are not ready.  When fully ripe they drop from the shoots.

For eating fresh, pick figs as soon as they ripen.  They have the best flavor then.  For preserving, pick figs a few days before fully ripe.  This reduces damage from souring and splitting.

For drying, allow fruit to remain on plant until fully ripe, when it falls at your touch.  Because of low water content at this point, very few days of drying are necessary after harvest.

In areas where bird damage is severe, pick fruit early in the morning or use bird netting to prevent damage.