I have had a potted fig for many years. This year 2 figs and they were
superb (the first ever, apart from fruitlets) . How do I make it more
productive in West Yorkshire?
No I will *not* move it to Devon or Cornwall.

On 7/12/05 22:47, in article , "Rupert"
wrote:

I have had a potted fig for many years. This year 2 figs and they were
superb (the first ever, apart from fruitlets) . How do I make it more
productive in West Yorkshire?
No I will *not* move it to Devon or Cornwall.


LOL! I was just re-reading the book written by the garden writer and
plantsman of fifty years ago who used to own this house. He was Edward
Hyams. He claims that he couldn't grow figs here but one we have on a
courtyard wall had many fruits on its last year. Of course, ripening them
is another matter........
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Rupert wrote:
I have had a potted fig for many years. This year 2 figs and they were
superb (the first ever, apart from fruitlets) . How do I make it more
productive in West Yorkshire?
No I will *not* move it to Devon or Cornwall.

You had 2 good ripened fruits?! So what did you do to get these? Is
your pot against a wall? People think it's the sun that rippens them,
but in fact it's the warmth and the length of the warmth they get. I
was wondering the other day if 'day length' had something to do with it
too. After all, to force flowering, we use longer day light. How
wondered if it would work on fruits, moving them in and then out of the
light.

you have to be unambitious, figs produce 2 or 3 crops a year, but not in the
UK they don't. You have to go for 1 crop per year. Geoffrey Smith says to
take away every fig bud in November that was bigger than your little
fingernail and you should get a crop


"Rupert" wrote in message
...
I have had a potted fig for many years. This year 2 figs and they were
superb (the first ever, apart from fruitlets) . How do I make it more
productive in West Yorkshire?
No I will *not* move it to Devon or Cornwall.

"Rupert" wrote in a message:
I have had a potted fig for many years. This year 2 figs and they were
superb (the first ever, apart from fruitlets) . How do I make it more
productive in West Yorkshire?
No I will *not* move it to Devon or Cornwall.
---
Rupert, no need to move.
Do you have the pot sunk in the ground and are you over feeding your
fig?
I used to work in a specialist market garden in which we grew many exotic
plants, including figs. All our figs had their roots severely restricted by
growing the plants in 12 in. pots placed close to a south facing wall.
One of our many winter jobs was to prune away any roots that grew from the
base of the pots. Never sink the pot so that the rim will be *under* the
surface of the surrounding soil, and make sure that you allow at least 1in
above the surface for water retention. We gave our figs hardly any
fertiliser.
From now until March whilst it is dormant, is the best time to attend to
your fig Remember when growing figs, especially in the UK, the cardinal rule
is RESTRICT THE ROOTS for a good crop..

Mike Roscoe

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Rupert" contains these words:

I have had a potted fig for many years. This year 2 figs and they were
superb (the first ever, apart from fruitlets) . How do I make it more
productive in West Yorkshire?

Kay has a productive fig in Leeds, iirc. If she doesn't pop up, try
"advanced search" in urg's archive on google/groups.

Janet

Kay Easton lives within a few miles of here and we both agree that our
gardening conditions are similar --so thanks for the info.

"Mike Roscoe" wrote in message
news

"Rupert" wrote in a message:
I have had a potted fig for many years. This year 2 figs and they were
superb (the first ever, apart from fruitlets) . How do I make it more
productive in West Yorkshire?
No I will *not* move it to Devon or Cornwall.
---
Rupert, no need to move.
Do you have the pot sunk in the ground and are you over feeding your
fig?
I used to work in a specialist market garden in which we grew many exotic
plants, including figs. All our figs had their roots severely restricted
by
growing the plants in 12 in. pots placed close to a south facing wall.
One of our many winter jobs was to prune away any roots that grew from the
base of the pots. Never sink the pot so that the rim will be *under* the
surface of the surrounding soil, and make sure that you allow at least 1in
above the surface for water retention. We gave our figs hardly any
fertiliser.
From now until March whilst it is dormant, is the best time to attend to
your fig Remember when growing figs, especially in the UK, the cardinal
rule
is RESTRICT THE ROOTS for a good crop..

Mike Roscoe


The fig is in a large pot and not in the ground.
I have just tried to move it, with great difficulty, from the position it
has been in since I moved here 9 years ago.
The roots have gone straight through the drainage holes and rambled off into
an adjacent flowerbed.
I have chopped the lot off and stood the pot on a flag.
Thanks for the info.

Rupert wrote:
I have had a potted fig for many years. This year 2 figs and they were
superb (the first ever, apart from fruitlets) . How do I make it more
productive in West Yorkshire?
No I will *not* move it to Devon or Cornwall.

Some tips which may increase yield of ripe fruit...

As you have been advised a fig grown in this country only fruits once
per year (rather than maybe 3 times/year in some warmer climates). In my
experience that isn't quite true. I think you may expect 1-2 lots of
fruit, but the point is that only one of these has a reasonable chance
of ripening in our climate as our season is just too short, and it is
the fruit which has begun to develop the previous year (which
overwinters as "embryos") which has the best chance of ripening.
However, in order to achieve this, you should protect the embryo figs
against frost (e.g. by wrapping the plant in horticultural fleece if
frost is forecast or bringing the plant under cover). However, the ripe
figs that I have enjoyed off my plant have always been from current
season's fruit (but this is on a warm patio facing due south, so sun
exposure is max). I'm hopeful, therefore, that I might enjoy two lots of
ripe fruit in a season if I treat my plant right.

Other things to watch for.

Careful watering I think is critical. I find they are quite thirsty -
particularly, I guess, if you grow them in conditions of full sun where
you're likely to get most ripe fruit. Make sure that the pot doesn't dry
out - if it does, the plant may drop its fruit which will obviously
reduce your crop of sweet ripe figs, which is what you're after. I lined
the terracotta pot that I keep mine in with plastic to reduce water
loss. It might be an idea to use one of those watering spikes...

Feeding. Advice I've read (and sometimes followed) is to feed weekly
during the summer, alternating feeds of balanced liquid feed with one
high in potash (e.g. one sold as tomato food).

Prune to increase fruiting. Recommendation is to pinch out growing tip
after 4-5 leaves have formed. Just keep pinching them out.

I hope this is all right. I've never had a huge crop, but the odd one or
two have been sweet as honey. Last year I came back from holiday in late
July to find one which was just the sweetest fruit I have ever eaten.
Sadly this year there have been none (but then I pollarded it early in
the season, so didn't expect anything).

Good luck.

In message , Rupert
writes

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Rupert" contains these words:

I have had a potted fig for many years. This year 2 figs and they were
superb (the first ever, apart from fruitlets) . How do I make it more
productive in West Yorkshire?

Kay has a productive fig in Leeds, iirc. If she doesn't pop up, try
"advanced search" in urg's archive on google/groups.

Janet

Kay Easton lives within a few miles of here and we both agree that our
gardening conditions are similar --so thanks for the info.

I guess I had better respond, then!
I made my fig more productive by taking it out of its pot and planting
it in the ground - but that was quite possibly because I found it hard
in the greenhouse to keep it free of red spider.

It's in the middle of a south facing terrace which is quite a sun trap.
I haven't got the roots restricted, but reckoned the poor quality of
soil under the terrace slabs was the next best thing.

I don't know how productive it is in real terms - it's now about 4 ft
across and had about 25 figs this year, which is not a high density. But
because it's trouble free (I don't pay it any attention) and it's not
getting in the way of anything else, I'm not fussed. 25 beautiful figs
picked an eaten straight from the tree has got to be good.


--
Kay Easton

"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...
In message , Rupert writes

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
.. .
The message
from "Rupert" contains these words:

I have had a potted fig for many years. This year 2 figs and they were
superb (the first ever, apart from fruitlets) . How do I make it more
productive in West Yorkshire?

Kay has a productive fig in Leeds, iirc. If she doesn't pop up, try
"advanced search" in urg's archive on google/groups.

Janet

Kay Easton lives within a few miles of here and we both agree that our
gardening conditions are similar --so thanks for the info.

I guess I had better respond, then!
I made my fig more productive by taking it out of its pot and planting it
in the ground - but that was quite possibly because I found it hard in the
greenhouse to keep it free of red spider.

It's in the middle of a south facing terrace which is quite a sun trap. I
haven't got the roots restricted, but reckoned the poor quality of soil
under the terrace slabs was the next best thing.

I don't know how productive it is in real terms - it's now about 4 ft
across and had about 25 figs this year, which is not a high density. But
because it's trouble free (I don't pay it any attention) and it's not
getting in the way of anything else, I'm not fussed. 25 beautiful figs
picked an eaten straight from the tree has got to be good.


--
Kay Easton
Thanks that gives me hope of at least five figs next year