What are some care recommendations for my newly planted fig trees?
Question:
1. Is it correct that I should prune and feed them in late winter or early spring?
2. If that is correct, am I looking for the period between the last frost, and when the weather really starts to warm up to unwrap them?
This is my second year with these trees, and one is a little over 6′ tall. It has many green figs on it, can I reasonably expect the trees to produce figs that will ripen and be edible next year?
Do you have a fact sheet, or reference that would answer these questions?
Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of direct experience with growing figs, but I’ve done a bit of research for you and hope my reply will be helpful.
1) Re: timing of pruning and feeding. Per Cornell Univ Extension’s “Fig Culture in Northern Climates,” pruning should be done in the spring after all threat of frost has passed, but before active growth has begun. Figs produce fruit on current season’s growth, so keep in mind removing branches may impact fruiting for that year. That said, you should always remove dead, diseased, or problematic tissue (e.g., two branches that cross and rub against each other). The resource above recommends a 5-10-5 or 5-10-10 fertilizer, and cautions against overfeeding–Penn State Univ Extension says this should be done when figlets appear .
2) Re: expected fruiting. Clemson Univ Extension’s “Figs are Ripening” estimates anywhere from 2-6 years for a young fig plant to emerge from juvenility and produce ripe fruit, so my best advice is to keep an eye on the tree and be patient. Immature fruit that never ripen can appear on the young plants, so just take care of the tree and monitor the fruit for size increase, droop on the branches, and color change.
Happy gardening.