About Fig Trees
Figs are a popular dried fruit, commonly tucked into winter holiday fruit gift baskets. Sweet and candylike, the fig grows from the tree with the same name. This is a sun-loving tree that requires full sunlight to bring forth its sweet fruit. Fig growers produce new trees by cutting branches from other fig trees and planting them. Does this Spark an idea?
-
Identification
-
Fig trees are fruit trees that have been cultivated for more than 5,000 years. Their fruit, the fig, is small and may be round or pear-shape. Depending on the variety of fig tree, the color of the fruit might be pink, purple, brown, green, yellow or black.
The fig can be dried, preserved in sugar, canned or preserved. Figs can also be eaten fresh.
Features
-
Fig trees can grow more than 30 feet in height, with a trunk diameter of 3 1/4 feet. The leaves are deeply scalloped, and the fruit grows in pod clusters along the branches and contains hundreds of small flowers. A fig tree has two or three crops of fruit each year. The fruit is fleshy and has a high sugar content.
-
Types
-
There are four primary types of fig trees: common figs, caprifigs, Smyrna figs and San Pedro figs. Although the wild caprifig tree typically produces inedible fruit, its pollen makes it possible for the Smyrna fig tree and San Pedro fig tree to bear fruit. The fig wasp, which makes its nest in the caprifig tree, carries pollen to the Smyrna and San Pedro. The Smyrna fig relies completely on the caprifigs for pollination.
The San Pedro produces two crops each year. The first, harvested in the early summer, is done with self-pollination, while the second crop, which matures in the late summer, is pollinated by the fig wasp.
Common fig trees do not rely on caprifig pollination to bear fruit.
Geography
-
Fig trees originated in the Mediterranean region. Ancient documents from Greece, Rome and Egypt mention the popularity of the tree's fruit. The tree thrives in regions with dry, hot summers and moist, cool winters. Countries that produce figs include Italy, Greece, Turkey and Portugal. In the United States, California is a major fig-producing state.
Considerations
-
It will take 2 to 4 years before a new fig tree will bear fruit. Fig growers typically dry the fruit in the sun or ovens before shipping long distances, as ripe figs spoil quickly. The trees are susceptible to the destruction of the Mediterranean fruit fly and the nematodes, which are small worms.
-
