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Jim Kamas, Monte Nesbitt & Larry SteinExtension Fruit Specialists, Texas AgriLife Extension

Figs

TexasFruit & NutProduction

Introduction

Throughout history, figs have beengrown and prized as one of the classical fruits

sought out by ancient civilizations. It is be-lieved that figs are native to western Asia andwere spread throughout the Mediterranean byman. Figs were brought to California fromSpain in the mid eighteenth century and theywere then spread to warmer growing regionseast of the Rocky Mountains. They are gener-ally limited in cultivation to areas where win-ter minimum temperatures do not go below 5F, although stem tissue can be injured at tem-peratures well above that. In winters with sus-

tained cold, mature trees can survive tempera-tures in the low teens but trees can sustain se-vere damage during dry winters or if plants arenot properly acclimated.

Figs should be planted in well drainedsoils and can grow well in either coarse sandysoils to relatively heavy clay soils. Figs are oneof the most problem-free fruits that can begrown in mild winter areas. In sandy soilshowever, fig trees can suffer extensive damagefrom root knot nematodes

There are four distinct horticulturaltypes of figs, but climatic factors preclude thecultivation of all but the common fig in Texasand other states along the Gulf coast. "Fruit"of common figs are parthenocarpic (formedwithout fertilization) and are actually fleshystem tissue with no seeds. The structure isknown as a synconium and the resinous inte-rior contents are actually unfertilized flowerstructures. Commercial fig cultivation in

Texas has been largely unsuccessful, but smalldooryard plantings can certainly meet all of afamily's needs and provide some limited in-

come from local sales. Figs must be ripenedon the tree, are quite perishable and wellplanned marketing will be needed if even mod-est commercial ventures are pursued.

Common figs are generally grown asspreading, multi-trunked trees that can growto twenty feet in height. They have fibrous,shallow root systems and are relatively sensi-tive to drought stress. Because of the wideswings in winter temperatures, figs commonlysuffer mild to severe winter injury in all but

the warmest parts of the state. In severely coldwinters or more northern growing locations

when fig trees are frozen to the ground, somevarieties produce a crop on the new currentseason's growth, while others will wait to comeback into production the following year.

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Standard VarietiesThere are several standard fig varieties thathave been grown throughout the south, andremain reliable choices for home or limitedcommercial production. The characteristics ofthe fruit "eye" is a major consideration in ad-

aptation. Varieties with an open eye may besusceptible to dried fruit beetle feeding orsouring when rain enters the interior of thefruit.

'Alma'is acommon fig va-riety released bythe Texas Agri-cultural Experi-ment Station in

1974. It is a lateseason varietywith very highfruit quality. Thefruit skin israther unattrac-tive, however the flesh has an excellent rich,sweet flavor. The tree is moderately vigorous,very productive and comes into production atan early age. The eye of 'Alma' fruit is sealedwith a drop of a honey-like resin that inhibits

the entry of the dried fruit beetle and reducingon-the-tree fruit souring. 'Alma' is very frostsensitive, especially as a young plant and ismost adapted when grown no more than 200miles from the Gulf of Mexico. 'Alma' typicallyproduces little or no fruit in years followingsevere freeze injury.

'Celeste' (aka Celestial) is a small, brown topurple fig that is adapted to the most diverseportions of Texas. 'Celeste' appears to be themost coldhardy of all figvarieties thathave been

evaluated inTexas. Thetree is large,vigorous andvery produc-tive. 'Celeste'usually ripensin mid to lateJune, well be-fore most other fig varieties in Texas. 'Celeste'fruit has a tightly closed eye which inhibits theentry of the dried fruit beetle and rain thatmay cause fruit souring. 'Celeste' has excellentfresh dessert quality with a rich sweet flavor. Itis an excellent processing fig, either frozen orprocessed as fig preserves. Do not prune ma-ture Celeste trees heavily because this can re-duce the crop. Although relatively cold hardy,'Celeste' usually does not produce abundantfruit in years where winter injury is sustained.

'Texas Everbearing'(aka 'Brown Turkey','Ramsey',

'Everbearing'),while not quiteas cold hardyas 'Celeste' ,will produce afair to goodcrop on newgrowth follow-ing severefreeze injury.

In addition, 'Texas Everbearing' ripens fruit

over an extended period of the summer fromJune through August, making it prized as a re-liable producer almost every year. The fruit ismedium to large, with a reddish-brown skinand a reddish-pink pulp. The fruit has a mildsweet flavor. The fruit is plump with a shortstem and moderately closed eye which reducesfruit souring on the tree. In very wet years,however the fruit can sour or crack.

Fig Eye CharacteristicsLeft, open eye. Right, closed eye

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Varieties for Trial PlantingMore recently, variety trials have identified ad-ditional promising varieties that are suggestedfor trial plantings.

'Lemon'is a fig vari-ety that was found

growing on the banksof a levee near DelRio, Texas. It has anattractive yellow skinwith a creamy,smooth flesh and aclosed eye. ' Lemon'has a unique flavorwith mild citrusnotes. It has pro-duced well in Fred-ericksburg and SanAntonio and is sug-gested for trial plant-ings on the southernhalf of the state.'Lemon' is somewhat cold tender, but producesmoderate crops on new growth in years winterfreezes kill it to the ground.

'Bournabat'is a fig variety that is believed tohave originated in the town of Bournabat, onthe Turkish Aegean coast, northeast of the

town of Smyrna. It was introduced into theUnited States through France. It bears a largefruit with a pinkish skin and a juicy, sweet lus-cious flesh with a unique flavor and texture.

Blue Giantwas introduced by Fanick's Nurs-ery in San Antonio. It is a large fig with a pur-ple skin and a pinkish flesh and a closed eye.It is less cold hardy than 'Celeste', but is quiteproductive in south and coastal parts of the

state. It has a mild flavor and is quite sweetwhen fully ripened on the tree.

'LSU Purple'wasreleased in 1991 byLSU and is quicklybecoming a stan-dard in many figgrowers' fields.Medium to darkpurple skin with astrawberry coloredflesh, this fig has amild, sweet flavor that many find most appeal-ing. The fruit has a closed eye which detersinsect an fungal problems near harvest. LSUPurple is relatively cold hardy and widelyadapted across the Gulf Coast.

Planting & Care

Fig trees are traditionally planted as dormantrooted cuttings in late winter or early springand perform well if planted two to three inchesdeeper than grown in the nursery. Becausetrees can reach heights of 20 feet, trees shouldbe planted no closer than 16' apart.

Dig a hole deeper and wider than necessary forthe root system. Place the tree upright at theproper depth. Crumble the soil around theroots, and pack it down several times during

the filling operation to bring all roots into con-tact with moist soil. After planting, water thetree to settle the soil firmly around the roots.

Do not fertilize at the time of planting. Theinitial growth of the young fig tree will comefrom stored carbohydrate reserves in theyoung trunk and roots. The dormant trunkshould be cut back by approximately one thirdat planting to help compensate for root loss

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when it was dug in the nursery. Because dor-mant pruning is an invigorating action, wesuggest that even dormant potted plants be cutback to encourage vigorous growth the firstseason.

Figs perform best when planted in locations

that receive full sun exposure. It is common tosee figs planted on the south or east side of ahome or barn to help protect from cold wintertemperatures and to make sure morning sunhelp dries fruit and foliage quickly after anevening rain.

In sub-tropical locations,figs can be grown assingle-trunked trees, but are commonly grownas multi-trunked plants in more temperateparts of Texas. In years when figs are frozen tothe ground, they typically respond by sending

up a multi-tude of newshoots. Onceshoots areapproxi-mately twofeet high, it isbest to go andselect five orsix strongshoots to be

kept as newtrunks. Re-member,summerpruning is adwarfing ac-tion, so con-sider reduc-ing the num-ber of new

shoots over a two to three week period to

lessen the shock of leaf area loss. In a singlegrowing season, the fig tree that was frozen tothe ground can rebound, perhaps bear fruitlate that summer and be positioned to be infull production the following year.

Because they are shallow rooted, figs will bene-fit from organic mulch through conserved soilmoisture and improved soil structure. Small,frequent amounts of nitrogen will benefit both

young and mature fig trees.

Insects & Diseases- Fig rust (Ceroteliumfici)is the greatest disease threat to fig produc-tion in Texas and disease severity is worse inareas or seasons with high rainfall. Infectedleaves exhibit browning on the leaf surface

with orange fruiting structures on the lowerpart of the leaf. Severely affected leaves fallprematurely leaving the tree weakened and un-able to ade-quately ripenthe crop.Sanitation,raking anddestroyinginfectedleaves is animportantpart of dis-ease control.

There arecurrently noconventionalfungicideslabeled forthe controlof fig rust. Organic materials containing cop-per are generally effective at controlling fig

rust if applied at the first onset of the disease.Dried fruit beetle is typically the only insectpest that impacts the quality of ripening figs.Choosing varieties with closed eyes is the bestmethod for limiting injury. No conventionalinsecticides are currently labeled for control,but elemental sulfur can deter dried fruit bee-tle from colonizing fig trees with ripening fruit.Registration of organic materials change fre-quently, so refer to the National Organic Pro-gram or Organic Materials Review Institute for

up-to-date registration information.

Root-knot nematodes,Meloidogyne sp., aremicroscopic, soil inhabiting worms which at-tack the plant's root system. They attack andfeed on roots, causing them to swell or gall;thus, interfering with normal uptake of waterand nutrients. These galls are easily seen ifroot samples are observed. Nematode prob-lems may go unnoticed for several years. As a

Fig rust on foliage

Young, multi-trunk fig trees

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heavy population builds up, the tree loses vigorand declines gradually. Nematodes contributeto premature fruit drop. To prevent root-knotnematodes in figs, obtain nematode-freeplants and plant in nematode-free soil.

Fig mosaic virus is thought to be a disease

caused by a complex of viruses that invade figtrees. The disease first appeared in Californiabut has now spread to most areas in the UnitedStates where figs are grown. Leaves on in-fected fig trees exhibit a mottled appearancethat typically appears with the heat of mid-summer. On infected trees, fruit quantity isreduced and fruit are smaller and misshapen.There is no control for fig mosaic virus otherthan to carefully inspect nursery material priorto purchase.

PropagationFigs are one of the easiest fruit crops to propa-gate. Hardwood cuttings taken when theplants are fully dormant readily root and aremost commonly used for propagation of figs.Cuttings should be six to ten inches in lengthand approximately one-half to one inch in di-ameter. Place the cuttings in a warm, humidenvironment such as wrapping them in a moistpaper towel and placed in a polyethylene bagfor 10-14 days to encourage callus formation.

Cuttings can then be planted in pots in a com-mercial potting media to encourage rootingand shoot formation. Softwood cuttings canalso be used for propagation, but a mist systemis usually needed for successful plant produc-tion.

Freeze ProtectionFigs are in fact a sub-tropical crop, but canwithstand varying degrees of sub-freezing tem-peratures. The degree to which they can avoid

cold injury is dependent on variety, soil mois-ture status, and climatic pre-conditioning.During dry falls and winters, thoroughly wa-tering fig trees a few days before a hard freezecan help minimize freeze injury. Typicallywith sustained cold, figs can tolerate 17 F, butyoung plants or young, tender trunks are moresusceptible than older, mature trunks. Somegrowers choose to mound older trees withspoiled hay two to three feet above the ground

line for insulation. Young plants can similarlyhave wire cages placed over them at the onsetof winter. These cages can be stuffed with hay,lawn clippings or leaves for protection. Cagesshould be removed after the risk of spring frosthas passed and on both old and new plants,organic matter can be pulled back from the

trunk and be used as organic mulch for weedcontrol.

Young fig plants fitted with wire cages to facilitatepacking for freeze protection.

For More Informationhttp://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut