Figs Cultivation and Care Knowledge
You may not be familiar with the knowledge of growing figs at home. Here are the details for you.
Figs, also known as milk fruit, have soft and sweet flesh with a unique flavor. They also have certain anti-cancer properties. Figs are easy to propagate and manage, bear fruit early with few diseases and pests, have clean branches and leaves, and have a strong adsorption and resistance to toxic gases such as sulfur dioxide. They can eliminate pollution, purify the air, and their roots can tolerate heavy salinity (generally up to 0.3% to 0.4%). Therefore, they are suitable for planting in front of houses, around factories, and especially in vast coastal beach areas.
Figs are subtropical deciduous shrubs or small trees that can grow into large trees under suitable conditions. The root system is developed, drought-resistant, and salt-tolerant, preferring oxygen and avoiding waterlogging. The branches grow quickly with few branches, and only a few buds at the tips extend upwards and outwards each year. Except for the first few nodes at the base of the new shoots, most leaf axils can form 2 to 3 buds, one of which is a flower bud. After entering the fruiting period, almost all new shoots in the canopy can become fruiting branches. Therefore, fruiting can start 2 to 3 years after planting, and the tree can enter the full fruiting period in 7 to 10 years. The flower bud further differentiates and develops into a unique infructescence. The infructescence is fleshy and sac-like, with a small opening at the top, closed by surrounding scales. The inner wall of the infructescence is lined with thousands of small flowers, forming a hidden inflorescence, so only the fruit is visible and not the flowers. The small flowers can bear fruit without pollination. The edible part is actually a collective fruit formed by the infructescence and the many small fruits it encloses. The fruit development period is 50 to 60 days. Fruits on the middle and lower parts of new shoots mature in the autumn in the Yangtze River Valley, known as autumn fruits. Fruits on the upper part of new shoots that develop later often do not mature and shrink and fall off upon encountering cold. Flower buds on the upper few nodes of new shoots differentiate in late autumn, covered with scales, and can safely overwinter in warm winter areas. They continue to differentiate and develop into summer fruits the following spring. Normally mature summer fruits generally have better quality. Varieties differ in their ability to form summer and autumn fruits. Source: https://
Cultivation Techniques Features:1. Propagation and Planting: Fig branches are very easy to root and also prone to root suckers. Methods such as cutting, layering, and division can all be used for propagating seedlings. A large number of seedlings are propagated using the cutting method, with a very high survival rate. In the Yangtze River Valley, hardwood cuttings are done in late March to early April. Branches with short internodes and a diameter of 1 to 1.5 centimeters can be used as cuttings, each with 2 to 3 buds. The specific operation technique can refer to grapes. Continuous cropping should be avoided when planting to prevent nematode damage. Using plastic greenhouses for seedling cultivation in winter can accelerate seedling growth. The planting distance is generally 3 to 4 meters, with a larger canopy possible in good soil or warm climates, extending the spacing to 5 to 7 meters. Planting time in the Yangtze River Valley can be in autumn or spring. Autumn planting should be earlier, and spring planting is suitable in late March to early April. Coastal beach areas should be planted in autumn, while the north of the Huai River should be planted in spring.2. Shaping, Pruning, and Fertilization and Water Management: Under normal conditions, the branches inside the fig tree canopy are not dense, making it suitable for training a tree shape with a central trunk or a multi-trunk natural open shape, or directly forming a bushy canopy from the ground. When shaping, the trunk is cut at 40 to 50 centimeters, and the tree retains 4 to 6 main branches, with or without a central trunk. The main branches are spaced apart, pruned to 40 to 60 centimeters each year, and 2 to 3 secondary branches are configured at appropriate intervals to expand the fruiting area. After the tree shape is complete, only useless suckers, dense branches, drooping branches, and dry branches are removed, with as many strong branches as possible retained for fruiting. For varieties focused on autumn fruit, as the fruiting position is mostly in the middle and lower parts of the current year's new shoots, the branches can be moderately shortened. For summer fruit varieties, flower buds are mostly located at the top of the branches, and healthy branches should not be shortened in winter to avoid affecting yield. For fig trees with few branches or fruiting positions moving outward each year, a heavier shortening can be done in winter to promote new branches. Some branches can be left with 2 to 3 leaf buds at the base. The branches of fig trees have loose tissue, and pruning wounds heal slowly, often causing a section of the branch below the cut to dry out, affecting the growth of the cut bud. Therefore, large pruning cuts should be coated with graft wax or other protective agents, while smaller branches can have the shortening position slightly raised.3. Overwintering Protection: Figs prefer a warm and slightly dry climate and have low cold resistance. In temperate regions, the branches are often frostbitten, especially for trees under 5 years old, which can die when exposed to temperatures of -16 to -18 degrees Celsius. In the north of the Huai River, earth should be piled around the base of the trunk to prevent frost, about 35 centimeters high, and removed after thawing in spring. Large branches can be wrapped with straw for overwintering protection. As the tree ages, its ability to overwinter gradually increases. If the plant is frozen, the frozen branches should be cut off promptly, and new branches should be selected to replace them. Sometimes, even if the above-ground parts are completely frozen, strong branches often still sprout from the rootstock in the spring, forming a new canopy.Pest and Disease Control: Figs have few pests and diseases. The most harmful ones are the mulberry longicorn, root-knot nematodes, and fruit (T-J) disease. Control of the mulberry longicorn can refer to the apple section, using poison sticks to plug. The control of root-knot nematodes mainly involves avoiding continuous cropping in old gardens and inspecting and disinfecting seedlings, with soil disinfection also possible under conditions. For fruit (T-J) disease, 200 times lime Bordeaux mixture or 75% carbendazim 600 to 800 times solution should be sprayed in advance before the fruit becomes ill in summer and autumn, with a safe interval of 7 to 14 days after the last application.The above explanation of fig cultivation and care knowledge hopes to bring a little help to your life!