Looking for Zone 7b Fig Advice

[alanmercieca]

Each variety, sometimes each tree takes a different time until it fruits properly, in our climate one of our fig trees took until it's ninth season (this year) to have it's first crop of edible figs and most of it's figs dropped this year, it will be probably years more until it fruits regularly, it usually takes way less time than that here. Also even if you do get regular crops from a fig tree, something unexpected can happen and cause a setback for a fig tree. Here there is a nasty wood boring beetle that can nearly kill a fig tree to kill it, and the tree is setback for years. Luckily it never killed any of my fig trees, and the beetles stopped showing up. They are very common in the south. I hope that you don't ever experience shot hole borers, they disease trees with fungus to feed their young, and fill the trunks with it. The fig tree in it's ninth season that I speak of was one of the ones hit by the beetles, it would have produced decent fruit for the first time at least 4 years ago if it was not for them, because the beetles hit the tree twice. Sometimes a fig tree takes longer to produce because of some struggle the tree is going through that is not obvious.

The younger a fig tree is the later it produces, the more that a shorter season effects it's fruit for the worst. The older a fig tree gets the more figs it has before the autumn, some autumn figs are better than the ones earlier in the year. Some are not. The younger a tree is, the less decent autumn figs you'll find, then again many years the older a tree is the better both crops are. It's partially the roots, how much nutrients and water can they provide the tree, young roots are also sensitive to heat, to cold, and to dehydration, the same things that the fig trees are sensitive to when they are young, because if the roots are sensitive then so are the trees. Thick skins don't mean bad figs, yet the autumn ones are less juicy. I think of it as a thicker jacket because of the cold.

Your fig trees don't have figlets or figs formed the year before for the next year. That is a type of fig tree that could not possibly ripen in most of the USA, including in Arizona. They form sometime in the spring, even if the spring ones got destroyed there is a second crop, many years we never have the first crop. It's way too cold here for that/coming out of dormancy and being hit by frost here can also destroy the first crop. Yet they do gain cold hardiness and supposedly some varieties will produce a first crop here despite those things. I have not seen that for myself yet, and I don't fully understand your climate yet, so I will not say that is possible where either of us live. We just have to wait and see.

As far as protecting the root zone again yes certainly do that, like I said the roots are very sensitive. These trees have already seen two winters, so not covering them up either would happen next winter or this winter. The thing that worries me is how strong the wind you have in the winter is, and all the weight of the snow. A lot of forms of protection could not handle them. I think that you should protect it one more winter, because when you planted it in 2017 it was almost winter already, so the roots had very little time to grow before the first frost that year. Yes construct a frost tent again, or use a tower of old tractor tires, and put some thing over that to keep in the warmth, the cold/wind out. Yet the day that you protect them, prune off from underneath the damaged parts.

[CyntheB]

As far as protecting the root zone again yes certainly do that, like I said the roots are very sensitive. These trees have already seen two winters, so not covering them up either would happen next winter or this winter. The thing that worries me is how strong the wind you have in the winter is, and all the weight of the snow. A lot of forms of protection could not handle them. I think that you should protect it one more winter, because when you planted it in 2017 it was almost winter already, so the roots had very little time to grow before the first frost that year. Yes construct a frost tent again, or use a tower of old tractor tires, and put some thing over that to keep in the warmth, the cold/wind out. Yet the day that you protect them, prune off from underneath the damaged parts.

Alan ~ Thanks for all your knowledge and good suggestions. We are having a warming spell of sorts....lows in the high 30s-low40sF and highs right around 70F, so I won't cover the roots up yet. Will plan to put on a good layer of pine needles and to construct the frost cloth tent again. I'll prune off the frost damaged wood before covering them up.

[CyntheB]

eFIGtrees_6872.jpg (683.06 KiB) Viewed 2536 times

Our two fig trees, Dominick's and Aldo are growing well, but are behind last summer's growth at about half the height they attained then. This is their 3rd full year of being in the ground.

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Aldo Fig is just about the height of tall iris leaves (behind it).

eFiglets-Dominick's_6873.jpg (233.78 KiB) Viewed 2536 times

Dominick's sets figlets every year, but our short growing season may be too much a challenge to ever see figs ripen. Right now we only have 65 days max before our first killing frost ~ way short of the 90-100 days needed.


Every year I hope for a late frost. But since we're entering into a Grand Solar Minimum in our weather cycles for the next few decades, I'm not feeling optimistic. At least the trees are beautiful!

[alanmercieca]

Our two fig trees, Dominick's and Aldo are growing well, but are behind last summer's growth at about half the height they attained then. This is their 3rd full year of being in the ground.

Aldo Fig is just about the height of tall iris leaves (behind it).

Dominick's sets figlets every year, but our short growing season may be too much a challenge to ever see figs ripen. Right now we only have 65 days max before our first killing frost ~ way short of the 90-100 days needed.

Every year I hope for a late frost. But since we're entering into a Grand Solar Minimum in our weather cycles for the next few decades, I'm not feeling optimistic. At least the trees are beautiful!

They will produce earlier in the year as they age, as they gain cold hardiness and strength the real question is 'will that ever be early enough in your climate'. It might not be possible unless we come up with some clever trick(s). It's hard to believe that the Arizona mountains are so different from the Arizona desert. In the Arizona desert there appears to be no winter at all some years.

Please tell people what happened to these fig trees this winter. I am seeing on the weather archive that Prescott, AZ went down to zero degrees in March, the coldest it got this year. If the temperature where the trees are could be increased by about 6 degrees in April, then I think that they could start producing for you, at least the Dominick fig tree.

[CyntheB]

Good News! Harvested my first ripe 'Dominick's' fig last night...small, but tasty. We have about 5 dozen figs on this tree and hope several more will ripen before years end.

We are using yet a different approach of protecting the fig trees and creating a warmer micro-climate, so the fruit on the young trees has a chance to ripen. In mid-OCTOBER we created sheltering 'cathedrals' over each fig tree using two sections of 8'x4' cattle panel fencing set on end and wired to 4 strong, metal, fencing T-bars for each enclosure.

eFigBed-Cathedral_7283.jpg (636.8 KiB) Viewed 2530 times

Before the first freeze (October 27th, 2020) when lows dropped into the mid-20sF (-5C), we hung 3 sets of low wattage, incandescent, Christmas lights through the fencing wires at mid-height around and through the fig trees and their leaves. The lights are attached to a thermoblock, which turns on automatically at 36F (2C) and turns off at 46F (8C), so we don't have to remember to do this ourselves. Then we completely covered the structures with frost cloth fastened securely to the fencing panels with metal binder clips and wooden clothes pins.

The set-up seems to be working quite well so far. It's strong, seems to stand up to wind, and will shed snow from the peaked center. Both trees still have healthy green leaves. The only cold damaged leaves are near one area where the frost cloth was a bit high from the ground.

I will take a photo of the covered 'cathedrals' illuminated with lights when I have a chance.

[alanmercieca]

Good News! Harvested my first ripe 'Dominick's' fig last night...small, but tasty. We have about 5 dozen figs on this tree and hope several more will ripen before years end.

We are using yet a different approach of protecting the fig trees and creating a warmer micro-climate, so the fruit on the young trees has a chance to ripen. In mid-OCTOBER we created sheltering 'cathedrals' over each fig tree using two sections of 8'x4' cattle panel fencing set on end and wired to 4 strong, metal, fencing T-bars for each enclosure.

Before the first freeze (October 27th, 2020) when lows dropped into the mid-20sF (-5C), we hung 3 sets of low wattage, incandescent, Christmas lights through the fencing wires at mid-height around and through the fig trees and their leaves. The lights are attached to a thermoblock, which turns on automatically at 36F (2C) and turns off at 46F (8C), so we don't have to remember to do this ourselves. Then we completely covered the structures with frost cloth fastened securely to the fencing panels with metal binder clips and wooden clothes pins.

The set-up seems to be working quite well so far. It's strong, seems to stand up to wind, and will shed snow from the peaked center. Both trees still have healthy green leaves. The only cold damaged leaves are near one area where the frost cloth was a bit high from the ground.

I will take a photo of the covered 'cathedrals' illuminated with lights when I have a chance.

Great news!

They will outgrow those sheltering 'cathedrals' eventually since you built them in that shape, more narrow at the top, unless you keep them pruned lower. They are likely to grow wider as well. How tall and wide are those fig trees now?

When you say Christmas lights you mean the old fashioned kind, because the new LED ones don't produce much heat! Yet a lot of people use the LED ones when they cover trees in a garage, should not do so well outdoors.

[CyntheB]

e2020-FIG-Cathedral-FrostCloth-Wrapped.jpg (461.24 KiB) Viewed 2525 times

Here are the wrapped 'cathedrals.

They will outgrow those sheltering 'cathedrals' eventually since you built them in that shape, more narrow at the top, unless you keep them pruned lower. They are likely to grow wider as well. How tall and wide are those fig trees now?

The trees are not as wide as the bed they are in. I would have to measure them to be more specific. If this approach preserves the tree trunks through the winter w/o damage, it's possible they may grow wider / taller as they mature....though my expectation is in our climate the figs will only be 'bushes' not trees. In that case the 'cathedrals' could be built with the base outside of the bed though it would be more difficult for me to get around them for garden management needs.

When you say Christmas lights you mean the old fashioned kind, because the new LED ones don't produce much heat! Yet a lot of people use the LED ones when they cover trees in a garage, should not do so well outdoors.

Yes, 'old-fashioned' incandescent gentle heat producing lights.

[alanmercieca]

Here are the wrapped 'cathedrals.

Interesting.

The trees are not as wide as the bed they are in. I would have to measure them to be more specific. If this approach preserves the tree trunks through the winter w/o damage, it's possible they may grow wider / taller as they mature....though my expectation is in our climate the figs will only be 'bushes' not trees. In that case the 'cathedrals' could be built with the base outside of the bed though it would be more difficult for me to get around them for garden management needs.

Even as bushes they could get wide enough to go outside of those beds. They can be pruned to stay smaller if that happens.

I am not sure how big they can get in your climate with a decent 'micro-climate', between your climate being different than here, and now you a have a micro-climate that is still in testing. So far they are dealing with your climate very differently than our trees in our climate, I think because of the shorter growing season that you have 'which you lengthened with the new micro-climate, and also because of your longer hours of freezing than we have, which your new micro-climate will shorten the hours of freezing, I am not sure by how much.

It should be easier to fit them if you don't let them get too tall, due to the narrowness at the top of the sheltering 'cathedrals'. Only time can tell.

Yes, 'old-fashioned' incandescent gentle heat producing lights.

It would be nice to see the sheltering 'cathedrals' lit in the dark, yet that would be hard to get a good photo of.

[CyntheB]

Took these photos yesterday morning. Temps were in the low 30sF (1-2C).

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7am before sunrise

eFigBed-Cathedral-LightsAmongLeaves_7466.jpg (411.76 KiB) Viewed 2519 times

Incandescent lights among the fig tree leaves. Note how healthy and green the leaves still are even though we've already had temperatures down to the mid-20sF (-4C). Will be challenged in a few days when the temps drop to the high teens.

[alanmercieca]

I wonder if also stringing the fig trees themselves with those lights could make much of an improvement when it's in the teens or colder! It's exciting to see how healthy those leaves look. This time of year the lesser amount of light alone can make the leaves not be so healthy, added heat and light.