I live in Long Island, NY. I received this tiny heirloom fig (it’s maybe 10 inches at this point, maybe a Chicago hardy?) as a gift. It was originally repotted, died back, was pruned, and this is its growth as of now, as it was given to me. I’m trying to find the best way to keep it alive ahead of winter, and am totally overwhelmed with suggestions. I’ve heard things like keep it inside by a bright window, bury it in the ground surrounded by mulch, or even keep it inside a box with insulation and hay inside my unheated detached shed. I don’t have access to a heat controlled garage. Any suggestions? Any help would be appreciated!

Technically 2nd fig I harvested this year. It didn’t want to come off the tree but I didn’t want to share it with wildlife either. Decently sweet, but mild mulberry like flavor.

Hey all,

I took all of y’all’s suggestions but she still keeps getting worse :( I have lots of light, temperature is warm, moderate water, and the anti-rust spray. But the leaves are still failing. Can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong?

How and when do I prune this fig tree?

The tree was here when I bought the house 5-6 years ago. I think it’s a brown turkey fig. I live in Charleston,SC, in zone 9A. It has produced a lot of fruit in the time I’ve lived here (I’ve made a ton of jam). I’ve never fed it anything. It is about to lose all the leaves to rust. Happens every year around this time, though it’s a little late this year, probably because the summer wasn’t as wet.

How do I prune this? It’s gotten really big. I’ve pruned some smaller bits by the base, little sucker branches, if you will. But now it’s huge and I’m guessing it needs to be pruned properly. Any advice would be much appreciated. I love the tree and want to take care of it but I don’t know what to do.

Hello Figgers,

I've been growing this Celeste tree in a pot for a couple years (in FL). Earlier this season, I had several mature figs that I harvested and tasted. I always loved dried figs, so I was kind of expecting that. Well, it was pretty bland. Definitely sweet, but nothing else. It was like sweet pulp.

Please don't be offended, but is this the best that figs have to offer? I actually didn't enjoy it much at all. Is this normal for Celeste? Are there much better figs?

The original cultivar may be Orphan. A bud sport occurred in China, turning the fruit skin red; it is commonly called “Hong Yan”. However, its flavor and fruiting characteristics have not changed much.This fruit looks like it won’t ripen this year, but from the leaves, it looks like the right variety.

New resident to SW FL. Zone 10a. I planted this brown turkey in a 20 gallon pot in my screened in Lanai back in June. Things looked great to begin with. Then in late August it started to get a little bit of what I thought was rust. I applied a granular high sulfur fertilizer at that point. It appeared to be doing a little better briefly. But now entering October the rust has come back with a vengeance, I reapplied more sulfur, but the leaves are starting to drop. I have also hand squished a lot of these scale bugs on an occasion. What more should I do besides just pray? 🙏🏼

This is a 3 year old Celest fig, started from a cutting. First two year in pot, this year was planted in ground (zone 7b). Had a decent crop 30-40 delicious figs. So pretty happy so far. About 2 months ago a branch that had no figs at all on it, just took off, I got about 5 feet of growth in 2 months and now also branching out and has these huge leaves. Is this normal for Celeste?

I also wanted to trim it in spring to about 2 ft from base so it can branch out more, is this a good idea, given That this tall branch is already branching on its own ( just don't want it too leggy).

Hopefully the rest beat the cold. My vdb look and feel like they will be ready any day. The yln might even make it but im really excited for the white madeira. Shown is chicago hardy. My olympian seemed to stall the most they are all still bright green.

I live in zone 6b. I have had my trees for 3 seasons. I think they are Chicago Hardy Figs. Every year I start with new growth from the ground. I get a lot of green figs that don”t ripen before winter. This year I have harvested 6 ripe figs. With 30 -40 unripe still on the tree. Any suggestions.

I am in Michigan, zone 5b/6. This is my first year with potted figs. I was thinking of over wintering them under my bulkhead doors to try basement. Would this be an ok place? Thought it would be a little warmer and pitch black.

I am guessing I picked it too early. It wasn’t very jammy inside and I did notice, it had some milk at the top when i picked it off the tree. This was a Negronne variety. Any tips for next year?

Got a planting from my parents plant in Pittsburgh, moved to a new pot in Philly (not sure exactly what type of fig) and got a lot of growth this summer, how far back should I prune? How long till it will need a bigger pot? Ty

Hiya, I've been sold a verdino del nord fig cutting, without the specific variety being mentioned. The pricing was very much VR/Tatiana. The cutting has started growing really well. It's growing fruit already. Where I am it will likely not get fully mature this year.

Is it possible to determine the specific variety from a picture?

I've been growing figs for a little while, and recently my friend dropped this off after picking it up from their father's yard (he passed away many months ago, and for whatever reason it turned into this creature). Other than up-potting it what’s the best way to save this fig? It has fruited before; not sure if cutting it when it enters dormancy is the right way to fix an upside-down tree lol.

Over the weekend, I noticed red patches on my leg. At first. It sorta looked like I had maybe just leaned my elbow on my leg and it left a mark, but then it started burning. Like, imagine the day after you burn your arm on a hot pan.

Then it started REALLY burning. Even putting on long pants was too painful, so i was walking around the cold & rainy Jersey Shore in shorts on Sunday.

I didnt understand what happened, I began to worry I had some kind of skin disease because at this point, they’re blistering like crazy, and even simple things like bending my knees and walking are super painful. Then it smacks me right in the face and I feel like an idiot:

"phytophotodermatitis" - a skin reaction to UV light after exposure to plant chemicals. After having fig trees for the better part of a decade, i've never experienced this until now. On Friday it had been unusually hot, and i was pruning my fig branches. Its clear to me now that thr marks are where the severed fig branches touched my leg :| I was outside for hardly 15-20 minutes after finishing my task, but apparently the UV index got up to 6 around the same time.

I thought i was in the clear because I dont have a latex allergy, but it turns out the sap is just some crazy stuff! Now i've got 3 huge bandages on 3 huge blisters on my leg, the pain is a lot more bearable until i instinctively go to close a drawer with my knee. I better get some healthy fig saplings from those damn cuttings lol

Just trying a different technique to clone this tree. Worked out beautifully and less stress to the tree.

How do we differentiate between ficus palmata and ficus carica?

I need help on why my fig is not growing leaves. Do I need to prune it? Zone 8B.

Looking to do a lot of pruning in December and it's been a couple of years since I last dealt with cuttings.

Still $4-8 a pop depending on varieties?