This is our first post about growing figs in a cold climate. We get asked a lot about how we grow figs in our cold climate and short growing season, so I want to share our first experiences and as usual, we will add more information as we go.
We have had our fig tree now for two summers and have really enjoyed it.
Before you order
Figs are a warm-weather tree but can be small enough to be able to grow in a container. This ability makes it possible to grow and enjoy figs in virtually any climate.
Things to consider before getting a fig tree are:
- How much space will that tree need and do we have it? A fig tree in a cold climate needs two to three places, depending on the season and conditions. More on this below.
- Can we handle a big and often heavy tree? Since the tree cannot be planted out in our cold climate, unless you have a greenhouse sheltered enough, you will have to move and transplant the tree regularly.
- Is there sufficient heat and sunlight in my growing spot for figs to ripen? We often just think about the winter, if we bring a tree through the winter it is all good. That is not so. The tree will not produce if the summer is too short and cool. So you will end up with a green tree and no fruit.
- Do we like figs enough to make going through extra hassle worth it? One can grow almost anything imaginable, but to make it worthwhile, we also want to enjoy the fruit of our labour.
Where to order
We got our Chicago Fig tree from T&T seeds in Manitoba. For Canadians, this is a great place to get a fig tree. They have even added another fig, the Negronne Fig that is smaller and maybe even better for beginners.
Also, local greenhouses often have a good collection of trees. It is advisable to take a look or even ask when is the best time to get one.
I was comfortable buying our tree from a Canadian source and a climate similar to ours, knowing that if it grows there, it should be fine here. Stores are not always concerned about local conditions, so do your research to know if the fig variety you’re getting will grow in your conditions.
Transplanting the Fig Tree
Our fig tree arrived in a small pot and needed to be transplanted right away. T&T seeds suggested transplanting the tree directly into a 10-inch pot to start and upgrade the pot later to a 5 to 10-gallon container.
We transplanted our tree again in February, before bringing it into the sunroom. We choose a slightly bigger pot. Figs like to feel secure in their containers and will grow well in a tight container. The container itself will also help to shrink the overall size of the tree. A 10 to 15-gallon container could be this plant’s final home, but we are not there yet.
For soil Mel’s Mix from the All New Square Foot Gardening book is great. Mixing together 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss. A good potting soil works too.
The tree will continue to grow year after year and respond to trimming. These can easily grow to about 12 ft tall and about 10 ft wide. Depending on how you trim them you can shape them to grow as a bush or as a tree.
Location
We got our tree in spring 2018 and after transplanting we kept it in our geodesic dome greenhouse. To our surprise, it developed some fruit and the fruit ripened already in our first summer.
We could see though, that a late spring start does not give the tree enough time to develop and ripen a lot of fruit.
We left the tree in the greenhouse till late October, so that the tree could go it’s natural way to lose all the leaves and get ready for winter. Our Chicago fig tree is hardy to zone 5, meaning it can handle some frost and should have a resting winter time.
For the winter, before it got freezing in the greenhouse, we moved the tree into our unheated garage. Again, we are in zone 3, so the unheated garage does get frost, but not more than a zone 5 garden would.
I don’t recall watering the tree during the winter, and our garage only has west-facing windows, meaning the tree did not get any sunlight. I don’t think any of it matters since the tree was dormant at this stage.
In February, we brought the tree into our growing room, at the back of our garage, gave it a new pot and watered well. The tree reacted with buds and new growth.
Harvesting figs
It seems that our fig tree produces two crops during the summer. One early that ripens mid-summer and one that ripens in late fall.
Figs are ripe when they change color and are soft. At that stage they are very sweet and delicious, a real treat.
We had to learn though that the window when the figs are perfectly ripe is quite small. If not picked, the tree drops the fruit and it rottens. We lost a few due to not knowing it.
Adding a fig tree to our garden has been a real joy. We would recommend it to anyone who is open to some growing adventure.
If you grow a fig tree, please share your best tips with us.
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Excellent advice! My husband is Italian, from the south, and he tells me often about the wonderful fruit that they had. We had considered an indoor fig tree but they do take over…didn’t now they can be from zone 5.
This is a reasonable way to grow a fig tree for fun and we do have a south facing living room which we could set it up in for the early spring and to extend the season a bit in the fall before it goes to bed in the fall.
Thanks!
You are welcome. This will not be the big a juice figs your husband might remember from Italian, but nevertheless, they are figs. So happy growing!
Good Morning Anna, I love this post your doing! I do some landscape work for a customer and they grow a huge fig tree on their side yard. I harvested a “sprout” that was growing off an exposed root and potted it up. It survived and turned into 3 branches. I finally picked a spot to plant it and put it in ground September of 2017. The following year something attacked the bud on the top of one branch and that was a blessing in disguise! It caused the formation of necessary side branches. My plan is to esplaire it. I’ve seen some that are grown this way (also in greenhouses) and it’s a great way to grow them when you have limited room. Now I have to remove the other two branches. Those have grown quite tall and once I get them removed I’ll pot them up and experiment with them. The Fig tree owner has no idea what type of fig he’s got since it was planted by a previous owner but I’m thinking it’s a Desert King, tasteless but very sweet. My intention is to make Fig Syrup from them and have my own sweetener. Cheers!
Pruning is a whole new thing that I have yet to learn. It is interesting that you plant the branches you cut off. Do you root them in water first? Thank you for sharing.
Since I last responded I chickened out cutting the 2 excess branches off! I dug down to the base and they are all connected at one spot. I didn’t want to make such an exposed wound on it. Well, game change. What I will do is go ahead and install my heavy-duty T-posts and anchor a cut-down cattle panel to it, keeping the cattle panel 3 to 4 feet off the ground so I can clean under it, to spread- train the branches on it. I’ll keep the “well branched one” at center to do what I intended to do and the other 2 I’ll train to go in opposite directions of each other and just see what happens. Mine looks very much like your potted fig. I’ve seen propagation done with “Cutting Globes” and this is some information I gleaned in a conversation: (Quote) Figs root so easily here, I usually just stick my cuttings into the ground, if the winter looks like it’s going to be harsh, I bundle some cuttings together and roll them up in several layers of damp, but not wet newspaper. Then insert in plastic bag with end open for ventilation . May take several weeks, but then little white roots appear all along the cuttings, then pot up. Hoping you put some kind of mulch around your figs , as many roots run laterally for many feet in all directions. I’ve had some as far as 20ft! (Invading other beds) They freeze easily. (End Quote) My neighbors fig tree roots are a bit surface exposed but it’s growing area is very limited. It’s in need of a good pruning by an expert. He’s allowed unknowledgeable people to prune it and it’s been severely damaged but they have a way of coming back!