Nick Maclaren wrote:

In article ,
Sacha wrote:

On 6/12/05 7:08, in article
.com,
" wrote:

they would be greenhouse plants only I wuld have thought. They grow
outdoors in mediterranean countries, but AFAIK need conditions similar
to oranges etc. I've seen them growing in Crete, and they also grow
here in Spain. I seem to recall that they fruit twice a year.

You can grow the plants in some of the milder areas of UK, with a bit of
luck and a following wind. But getting them to fruit is another matter
altogether! They need a lot of sun and warmth for that and we tend to be in
rather short supply of both over long periods of time.

Mine has survived outside in a pot so far - let's see if it can
handle this year! I haven't got it to flower yet, though. They do
grow in places that get quite cold winters.

Although typically dry continental ones.

My understanding is that the northern shore of the Mediterranean
is borderline for getting them to fruit, so there isn't a hope in
hell here. They are certainly one of the very few fruits that can
take seriously hot conditions (above 50 Celcius), but I don't know
whether they will drop fruit under such conditions (dates don't,
of course).

The furthest north I can remember seeing them growing wild and fruiting
is in the vicinity of Orange in France in S facing natural warm spots. I
don't know if the fruit always ripen before winter comes. They grow
pretty well in the hills around Tuscany too.

Looks like they want warmer conditions than fig and well drained soils.
I expect it would be all but impossible to fruit one in the UK without
immense investment in artificial heat and light.

ISTR there are some growing in the Eden centre sub tropical zone.

Regards,
Martin Brown