Gardening is a perpetual adventure. You never know what you might discover. A seedling that you have never seen before suddenly appears. Is it friend or foe? Will it bear interesting flowers or be nothing but a nuisance?
Fig tree seedlings are common garden volunteers. As a fig seedling becomes more robust and is on its way to becoming a tree, you must make a decision. Let it grow and take up valuable garden space or remove it. If you let it grow, there is a chance that it will produce the tastiest figs ever known, since each seedling, like each of your children, is different. Then again, it could be a fig with no special qualities and bear only meager crops. To be sure of the figs on your tree, you need to choose a named variety that is clonally propagated. You can purchase such a tree at a nursery or propagate it yourself from a friend or neighbor’s tree.
If you are determined to grow a fruit tree despite a limited area for doing so, you might want to consider the fig. Once it matures, a fig tree will need no more than a single good soak every few weeks, although potted trees will require more frequent irrigation. Fig trees are virtually pest and disease free and, unlike other fruit trees, are indifferent to the sort of severe pruning required to keep them growing in a small space.
Of all deciduous fruit trees, figs have the lowest winter chilling requirement, or lowest number of winter hours below 45 degrees Fahrenheit needed to produce fruit. The reason cherry trees do not produce fruit in most of the Los Angeles area is because they need a cold winter (Antelope Valley-style) to properly bloom. In the manner of cherries, most apple and pear varieties require a cold winter, as do many varieties of plum, peach and apricot, in order to fruit. The fig, on the other hand, does just fine where winters are relatively mild, if not sub-tropical. Fig trees have shallow roots and benefit enormously from a mulch of straw, dried grass clippings, shredded bark or rough compost. If their leaves show signs of wilt in the afternoon or suddenly turn yellow and start to drop, it means that they are not getting enough water.
The conventional way of propagating fig trees is to take 8- to 12-inch-length cuttings this time of year. These cuttings should be one-year-old wood, with a two-year-old heel of wood at their base. Bury them in sand or fast-draining soil in 1-, 2- or 5-gallon containers so that only two nodes or leaf scars are showing above the soil surface. By next fall, they should have developed enough roots to be planted outside or in a larger container. They should already be vigorous enough to assume the stature of small trees in the following year.
There is an easier way of propagating fig trees and that is by taking four to seven-inch cuttings and placing the bottom two nodes in a cup of water. You can do this any time of the year. However, in summer, make sure to remove any figs that may be attached since, as they ripen, they will compete with the process of root formation. You can cut a single hardened fig shoot into several pieces. Just make sure you remember which end is up on each piece. An easy way to ensure that your cut pieces are properly oriented is to make the top cut horizontal and the bottom cut at an angle. To eliminate any fungal spores that might be present, dip your cuttings for half a minute in a 1:9 bleach to water solution.
As for recommended varieties, Black Mission has long been the most popular, although Kadota, White Genoa, and Brown Turkey are also widely planted. Dave Wilson Nursery grows 21 varieties of figs and you can find thumbnail descriptions of each at davewilson.com. To find a retail nursery near you that carries Dave Wilson trees, click the “Home Garden” tab and then “Where to Buy” when you reach their website.
The fig is native to the Middle East and is considered by some to be the forbidden fruit, left unspecified in the biblical account, that was eaten in the Garden of Eden. Apples, after all, are native to Kazakhstan, far from the Fertile Crescent, in central Asia east of the Caspian Sea. Interestingly, the other four fruit bearers associated with the fig in several biblical passages as being indigenous to the “land flowing with milk and honey” may be propagated, like the fig, in water. Three of these – olive, pomegranate, and grape – are readily cloned when their cuttings are placed in water. The last of these fruit bearers is the date palm. If you extract the seeds from dates and submerge them in water for two weeks, you will see them sprout a baby root and shoot, at which point they may be transplanted into pots.
Because of their high water content, figs have a short shelf life. After picking, they should be eaten within a few days. In order to dry figs, you must wait until they fall from the tree, so put a tarp or old sheet underneath. To speed up the drying process, cut them in half after they fall and leave them cut side up. If you are squeamish about bugs visiting your drying crop, place your figs in the back of your vehicle on the rear dash or, in the case of a minivan or SUV, under the back window. Drying should not take more than a few days.
The risk you take when allowing figs to ripen on the tree concerns animal consumers. Birds and squirrels are fond of figs, but you can effectively prevent their predations by covering your tree with birds netting. Fig beetles can also be a problem. I refer to those large metallic green, loudly buzzing creatures that have a habit of flying right by your ear, as if eager to announce their presence. Fig beetles cling to figs and other soft fruits. If you or a neighbor has a compost pile, that is probably the source of the fig beetles you encounter. If you see thick, white, two-inch-long grubs when you dig in your compost, know that those are fig beetle larvae. Eventually, they turn into c-shaped pupae from which the adults emerge. To prevent the adults from laying eggs in your pile, keep it covered. These beetles are benign pests where pets and people are concerned. If you have a chicken or two in your yard, they will happily consume the grubs. Another strategy for their control is to place overripe fruit throughout your garden. The beetles will congregate on the fruit and then it is simply a matter of ambushing and trapping them with a plastic bag that may be tossed in the trash.
If you have a flourishing fig tree, please tell me about it so I can share your success with readers of this column.
Tip of the Week: If volunteer seedlings may yield unexpected results, even plants procured at a nursery may offer surprises. I recently acquired a dianthus plant with deep rose-pink flowers. Suddenly, one of the flowers opened to reveal two pink petals, two white petals, and one petal that was half pink and half white. In flowers, splashes of red or pink and white may be seen jostling for position on certain varieties of ornamental peach, anemone, rose, dahlia and camellia.The lesson to be learned is always to be on the look out for something new. You might even be able to take out a patent on your plant, propagate it, and achieve fame and fortunre.
In leaves, foliar surprises are typically expressed as leaves variegated in green and white or green and gold, although you may also see overtones of pink as well. Variegated leaves are seen in too many genera to mention all of them here, but notable examples include species of Euonymous, privet (Ligustrum), juniper, Hebe, hibiscus, Chinese lantern (Abutilon), snow bush (Breynia), sky flower (Duranta), California lilac (Ceanothus), mirror plant (Coprosma), gold dust plant (Aucuba), and a legion of indoor plants and succulent species.
There are three gold and green fruits that come to mind — variegated kumquat, variegated lemon, and ‘Panache’ fig. And when it comes to bark, you really haven’t lived until encountering a Mindanao gum (Eucalyptus deglupta), where an exfoliating riot of pink, green, violet, and orange greets the eye. The most famous local Mindanao gum is to be found on the western edge of the Mildred Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA.
If you have a plant with variegated fruit, leaves, or flowers, I would love to hear about it.
Please send questions, comments, and photos to joshua@perfectplants.com
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