I seem to be getting a bumper crop of figs this year for the first time.
The tree is about twenty years old and either produces nothing to
maturity or only about half a dozen or so mature fruit. Yes, I do know
about root pruning and removing all unripe fruit from the previous year
but this year I did nothing to it and as my reward it is producing
masses (well, a hundred or so) of figs.

I suspect it is more to do with the long, cold spring - but could I be
right? Has anyone else had the same experience this year?

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK

On Wednesday, July 10, 2013 9:05:05 AM UTC+1, David Rance wrote:
I seem to be getting a bumper crop of figs this year for the first time.

The tree is about twenty years old and either produces nothing to

maturity or only about half a dozen or so mature fruit. Yes, I do know

about root pruning and removing all unripe fruit from the previous year

but this year I did nothing to it and as my reward it is producing

masses (well, a hundred or so) of figs.



I suspect it is more to do with the long, cold spring - but could I be

right? Has anyone else had the same experience this year?



David



--

David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK

Yes I also have a bumper crop this year and so does a friend, we both have
quite old trees. Like you, I didn't do much to mine last year.

Now it is how to stop the birds from eating them!

Jenny in Bristol

Yes, Mine's doing quite well too.It's always seemed to me that the second crop - the one that falls off over winter - is larger, but not this year. So could it be to do with less than ideal weather last autumn limiting the second crop so that the tree has more energy for this year's first crop?

Lesson learnt from last year, when I had a good crop but lost most of it in the "june drop", is that I need to make sure the tree has enough water. We think of them as being plants of dry mediterranean countries, but they've got very long roots, so I don't think they suffer water shortages in the S of Europe. Here, we restrict the root run, so they\'ll have a harder time getting water if the weather is really dry.

Never had any problem with the birds. maybe it's because there's plenty of apples and mulberries around when the figs are ripening.

David Rance wrote:
I seem to be getting a bumper crop of figs this year for the first time.
The tree is about twenty years old and either produces nothing to
maturity or only about half a dozen or so mature fruit. Yes, I do know
about root pruning and removing all unripe fruit from the previous year

Oh. I thought you were /not/ meant to remove the unripe fruit, cos it
carried on growing the next year. Mine all dropped off last year cos
the watering system dropped out of it and it dried up. :-/
But it seems about to give its first crop this year.

On Thu, 11 Jul 2013 Vicky wrote:

David Rance wrote:

I seem to be getting a bumper crop of figs this year for the first time.
The tree is about twenty years old and either produces nothing to
maturity or only about half a dozen or so mature fruit. Yes, I do know
about root pruning and removing all unripe fruit from the previous year

Oh. I thought you were /not/ meant to remove the unripe fruit, cos it
carried on growing the next year. Mine all dropped off last year cos
the watering system dropped out of it and it dried up. :-/
But it seems about to give its first crop this year.

Well, I didn't get any fruit to ripen on the fig tree for years and then
one of my daughters said that she had heard that you need to remove all
the previous year's immature fruit. Then the tree will produce new figs
earlier and they will ripen satisfactorily in the same year. So I tried
that - and it worked! - though I've never harvested very many. But this
year the immature fruit from last year *is* growing well.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK

On Thu, 11 Jul 2013 Martin wrote:

On 11 Jul 2013 13:19:48 GMT, wrote:

David Rance wrote:
I seem to be getting a bumper crop of figs this year for the first time.
The tree is about twenty years old and either produces nothing to
maturity or only about half a dozen or so mature fruit. Yes, I do know
about root pruning and removing all unripe fruit from the previous year

Oh. I thought you were /not/ meant to remove the unripe fruit, cos it
carried on growing the next year. Mine all dropped off last year cos
the watering system dropped out of it and it dried up. :-/
But it seems about to give its first crop this year.

Do figs grow tree sized in S England like they do in Greece?

Mine is around 16 foot tall.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK

They can do. Neighbour in Worcestershire had one against his house, and could pick figs from his bedroom window. Our neighbour in Kent had one which overhung our garden very usefully. And there was a big one round the back of the Natural History Museum in London.

On 10/07/13 09:05, David Rance wrote:
I seem to be getting a bumper crop of figs this year for the first time.
The tree is about twenty years old and either produces nothing to
maturity or only about half a dozen or so mature fruit. Yes, I do know
about root pruning and removing all unripe fruit from the previous year
but this year I did nothing to it and as my reward it is producing
masses (well, a hundred or so) of figs.

I suspect it is more to do with the long, cold spring - but could I be
right? Has anyone else had the same experience this year?

Lucky you - I have none.

We had -19° C this last winter, and all the green wood of my fig was
killed. (along with a bay tree and a potato vine.)

--
Rusty Hinge

On 10/07/13 15:48, wrote:

Yes I also have a bumper crop this year and so does a friend, we both have
quite old trees. Like you, I didn't do much to mine last year.

Now it is how to stop the birds from eating them!

Bird lime, just out of pecking-distance?

(Followed by blackbird pie.)

--
Rusty Hinge

On 11/07/13 14:19, wrote:
Oh. I thought you were/not/ meant to remove the unripe fruit, cos it
carried on growing the next year. Mine all dropped off last year cos
the watering system dropped out of it and it dried up. :-/
But it seems about to give its first crop this year.

Figs try to give you three flushes a year. Strangely, in this
climate^h^h^h^weather they don't succeed

--
Rusty Hinge

On 11/07/13 14:36, Martin wrote:

Do figs grow tree sized in S England like they do in Greece?

And the north.

At bawdy school (Brentwood) in 1949/50 we plundered the *huge* fig tree
in the kitchen garden.

Delicious, plump, purple fruit with seedless pink juicy flesh.

'Twas this memory which prompted me to buy my Brown Turkey.

--
Rusty Hinge

In article ,
RustyHinge wrote:
On 11/07/13 14:36, Martin wrote:

Do figs grow tree sized in S England like they do in Greece?

And the north.

At bawdy school (Brentwood) in 1949/50 we plundered the *huge* fig tree
in the kitchen garden.

Delicious, plump, purple fruit with seedless pink juicy flesh.

'Twas this memory which prompted me to buy my Brown Turkey.

Yes - but we have never got more than a couple :-(

My best schoolday example was a quince tree, where only 4 boys
ate the quinces - me, my two brothers and one other.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 14/07/13 10:26, wrote:

My best schoolday example was a quince tree, where only 4 boys
ate the quinces - me, my two brothers and one other.

Not Frinton prep, perchance?

There there were two quince trees, and we used to roast the fruit in
embers like you would spuds.

Delicious!

--
Rusty Hinge