Friday, November 28, 2014

Didn't Know A Fig in a Container Could Produce So Much!

111 and Counting!
Two of Our Figs Almost Produced 200 Figs!
The Brown Fig Getting a Bit More Sun
One of the First Brown Figs of the Year!
Neither of Our Figs in the Ground Produce Any Figs!
Really these are The Herbal Husband's babies.  We have a green fig, a brown turkey fig and he just bought an LSU purple fig from Well-Sweep Herb Farm that has not yet produced.  He first nipped a cutting (the green fig) from a famous garden in Washington, DC to start our first fig.  No, not the White House!  Figs in the mid-Atlantic or Northeast need a southern exposure or a south facing wall to grow against for best results.  We have tried everything sort of burying our plants and that's what they really recommend.  We had an elderly Italian gentleman who buried his fig tree every year and got plenty of figs.  Then he passed away and his widow tried to duplicate his efforts and it wasn't as successful.  We have tried many combinations of trying to get our trees through the winter and we have just given up.  The Herbal Husband turned to containers.

Well, I guess The Herbal Husband has finally come up with the correct combination of fertilizer, water and temperature to produce figs.  He has also read an article published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Susan Silverman called You Also Can Grow Fig Trees in Containers.  Because she lives in our area, it works for us.  The Herbal Husband tends to baby his containers especially the figs.  If it is too sunny, they go into the shade and if it is too windy, they go into the garage for a timeout. The brown fig which I had at breakfast this morning was small but had such intense flavor.  It was very delicious!  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We certainly did.  Cooking the turkey is a process and we only cook it once a year, so it is worth it!

Have a lot to say over the next couple of weeks.  Hope I get it all accomplished.  It is very cold here today, but sunny.  Warmer over the weekend.  Hope you are having a great day.  Talk to you later.    

2 comments:

Terra said...

I am going to buy us a fig tree and plant it in a container. Your containers look small, what size are they? I planted one fig tree in the ground 15 years ago and it is now in the shadow of a gigantic "heritage" tree. You inspired me to buy another in the spring.

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

That container does look small, but it is 20" across. Typically anything that blooms or produces in a container needs to be a little stressed. Meaning they enjoy being potbound. I was just told (by The Herbal Husband) that the two bigger figs will be potted up a size next spring. Probably 24". I don't think they offer 22". Hope this info is helpful to you, Terra! Thanks for stopping by! xo