For the first time, my Alma fig is setting and retaining summer fruit. You'll often see Almas and other southern fig trees described as everbearing. For years, my tree has sporadically set fruit during the summer, only to drop them before they ripened. (And an unripened fig is not a pleasant thing...) Now that I guess it's reached maturity, my tree is pretty regularly holding onto these summer fruit until mature. I ate a couple perfect figs from its branches yesterday morning, and there's another half dozen on the tree. In California, mature trees produce two crops a year. I wonder if my tree will ever produce a second large harvest? I doubt it, given its propensity to develop rust late in the summer and defoliate, but I can hope, right?
Anyway, it's been interesting to cultivate this tree over the past five years, from a tiny cutting in a pot to its present ten-foot height. I need to prune it this winter, as it's growing out of bounds...
Anyway, it's been interesting to cultivate this tree over the past five years, from a tiny cutting in a pot to its present ten-foot height. I need to prune it this winter, as it's growing out of bounds...
5 comments:
I get 2 crops from my Brown Turkey Figs here in Gainesville FL. The 2nd crop is smaller.
cool. how old's your tree? how big?
I went back to the house I grew up in recently - my dad planted tiny little 'treelings' when I was a kid and now they're as tall as the house!!! It's so nice to see things you planted reach full maturity, and hey, if they produce yummy figs then all the better! ;)
Yum! Figs are delicious! I have tried growing them several times over the years and I haven't had much luck. What kind of fig tree do you have? Also, what kind of apple trees do you have? I want to plant at least 2 trees in my yard this year but I'm unsure of what to plant. I've heard that the Anna Apple is good for the zone I live in, which is the same as yours.
lena, it's an alma fig (or that's what the tag said). u of florida describes alma as a brown fruit, but other sources say it's green. mine is a very pale green/yellow when ripe, with a strawberry center. there are plenty of others that bear well for florida. i think i remember that alma is less prone to sucker (send up stems from roots) than others; mine has only once sent up a sucker. check out justfruitsandexotics.com. it's VERY easy to grow figs from cuttings, but my experience is that it's worth spending money on them, as they grow slowly for the first few years. i grow anna and dorsett apples. check just fruits for others!
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