Figs

Over 11,000 years ago, figs were one of our first attempts at agriculture, even before barley, wheat, and legumes. 

Farmers and scientists had curious ideas about wild and farmed fig trees in those early years. They thought tiny wasps flew from the wild (fruitless caprifig) trees to the farmed female (fruited) trees to help them hang on to the fruit! If that weren’t interesting enough, did you know that figs are not fruit? Read on!

Fresh figs

The fig tree

Figs (Ficus carica L.) are deciduous trees or shrubs that can grow 30 feet tall. They send out multiple trunks to create a fan-like tree. The wood tends to be weak, so pruning keeps the tree structurally sound. 

Broad, fragrant leaves provide lovely shade but avoid the sap. It contains a form of latex that can irritate your skin. Fig trees prefer sunny, well drained locations. They can also grow well in poor, rocky soil. These trees are very drought tolerant.

Botanically, fig trees are gynodioecious, which means they have hermaphrodite flowers and female flowers on separate plants. You can either buy a self-pollinating variety or multiple trees. 

It ends up that those ancient farmers were partly correct about fig trees Tiny specialized wasps called Blastophaga psenes pollinate the flowers hidden inside a hollow structure called the syconium. 

The fruit is technically a  scion or infructescence. An infructescence is a fruit head made of the ovaries from a flower cluster. These arrangements are often called false fruits or multiple fruits. Within each fig “fruit” are several one-seeded fruits called druplets. Pineapple, wheat, and corn are other examples of infructescence.

How to grow figs

Originally from the Middle East and western Asia, these resilient trees grow well in regions with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. 

Figs reproduce in several different ways. Naturally, birds and mammals that eat the fruit end up spreading seeds. Fig trees also tend to send out aggressive roots, stolons, and suckers that can generate new plants. You can bend a low-growing branch down to the ground or a container, hold it down with a rock or some wire, and wait for roots to grow. After roots emerge, you can separate it from the parent plant. Most buy fig trees as bare root trees. 

Fig trees can be grown in large containers, but you will want to take advantage of their deep roots. Planting fig trees in the ground practically eliminates the need for irrigation. Like grapes, fig trees have deep roots that allow them to get most of their water from the soil’s saturation (or phreatic) zone.

Fig pests & diseases

Thrips, ants, green fruit beetles, dried fruit beetles, gophers, and birds are the only serious pests. You can thwart ants with a sticky barrier around the trunks. Netting is invaluable for protecting fig crops. 

Eriophyid mites do not cause significant damage, but they can carry fig mosaic. Whitewash the trunks to protect them from Sunburn damage. Just paint a 50:50 mix of water and white later (not enamel) paint on exposed surfaces.
 
Some fig varieties produce two crops a year. The first, or ‘breba’ crop, occurs in mid-summer. The second main crop ripens in late summer or fall. Be sure to allow figs to ripen on the tree. They will not continue to ripen once picked.

Forget the bagged, dried version of this healthful fruit. Plucking a freshly ripened fig from the tree and taking a bite is heavenly. You can always dry your own. Add figs to your foodscape for decades of delicious fiber and welcome summer shade.