How to grow Fig

Ficus carica · common fig

The common fig is a deciduous fruit tree or large shrub from the Mediterranean, grown for its sweet fruit. It can reach 7–10 m in a warm climate and can be damaged by frost at about −9 °C, so in cool regions it is grown against a sunny wall or in a pot.

Fig — Photo: Stefan Thiesen, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts

Type	Fruit tree
Family	Moraceae
Light	Full sun
Frost	tolerates light frost
Sowing to harvest	1095 days
Where it grows	Open ground

When to plant

Planted as a young plant from a nursery while it is dormant — in early spring before the buds open, or in autumn after leaf fall.

Harvest from August to October (northern hemisphere).

Care

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Growth	every 7 days	—	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage
Flowering	every 7 days	—	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage
Fruiting	every 7 days	—	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage
Harvest	every 7 days	—	—
Winter rest	—	—	—

Growing notes

Light

Needs a warm, sunny, sheltered spot with at least 8 hours of sun, ideally against a south- or south-west-facing wall.

Soil

Any free-draining soil will do, even a poor one; figs crop better when their roots are restricted.

Care

Plant in spring so the tree has a full season to establish. Keep the soil evenly moist through the growing season, about 2.5 cm of water a week from rain or watering. Feed a balanced fertiliser in early April, early June and mid-July; figs in pots get a high-potassium feed every two weeks until the fruit starts to ripen. Prune in spring and early summer. In cold areas wrap wall-trained figs with straw after leaf fall and move potted figs into an unheated greenhouse, shed or porch until the last frost.

How to tell it is ripe

The fruit has its full variety colour, which may be purple, brown or greenish-yellow.
A ripe fig droops and hangs limply from the branch.
The skin may split slightly or show a drop of sweet liquid at the eye at the base.
A ripe fig feels soft when gently squeezed.
It comes away easily when lifted and bent back towards the branch.
Milky sap oozing from the broken stalk means the fig is not fully ripe.
Hold the stalk and tear the fig away from the branch, and eat it soon after picking.

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.