Introduction to growing Fruits and Veggies
I will be discussing and documenting many of my typical backyard farming activities. In addition to the many vegetables and herbs that I will be planting, I also have a large variety of fruit on my property that I will be discussing. Currently I have a lowquat, cumquat, tangelo, peach, two huge fig trees, two persimmon trees, two plum trees, one pecan tree, five blueberry bushes, and a thornless variety of blackberry. Of all of these, I would say that the cumquat and figs are the most prolific (providing bag loads of fruit throughout the growing season).
February 4th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I moved into my house nearly 3 years ago. There’s a mature fig tree in back that produced fruit the first 2 summers, but last year nothing, not even buds. The only thing I can think of that may be the problem is that the grass had grown up around the trunk, but it seems like such a small thing that I’m not sure. Any ideas?
February 5th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Hi Ann, and thanks for writing. What type of fig tree is it? I would not think that the grass growing around the trunk would cause this problem (though that can’t help since it robs available nutrients). My experience with figs is that they require very little in the way of soil quality and are very disease resistant. They do like a lot of sun but I assume that has not changed in your case(?). Has anything else changed like fertilization? If you apply too much nitrogen you will stimulate foilage growth at the expense of fruit bearing. I never fertilize my figs and they seem to get all they need from the sandy soil they are planted in.
February 6th, 2008 at 6:15 am
I don’t know what kind it is for sure, black mission or brown turkey. I haven’t fertilized it at all, nor has it been trimmed. I think I will clean out underneath it just for good measure. Do you provide additional water?
February 6th, 2008 at 11:28 am
I find my figs trees to be pretty drought tolerant and so, no, I don’t really do any additional watering. One thing that I have noticed with fruit trees in general is that they seem to have some “off” years for reasons that aren’t always clear. Would you say that the tree appeared healthy other than not budding? I assumed this by your post, but if not, I would also be suspicious of nematodes. It might be a good idea to clear out the grass and place some good compost (preferably vermicompost but not required) out from the trunk a ways. Then water for good measure! Hope this helps–