There is a specific, fleeting moment in late August, right here in our San Diego orchard, when the dry heat breaks and the air smells sweet like honey and dust. I am standing next to my favorite tree, a sprawling “Smith” variety I planted twelve years ago, holding a fruit that feels as heavy and soft as a water balloon ready to burst.
When you crack open a perfectly ripe fig, exposing that jam-like interior of crimson and gold, you realize why ancient civilizations revered this fruit. Here at Exotic Fruits and Vegetables, we’ve found that growing figs (Ficus carica) is not just about agriculture; it is about connecting with one of the oldest, most genetically complex cultivated plants in human history.
Many people assume that because we live in the “Sunny San Diego” climate, exotic fruit farming is effortless. That is a dangerous misconception. While our Zone 10b climate is forgiving, the Ficus carica demands specific strategies to thrive, especially if you want high-quality fruit rather than dry, mealy disappointments.
I want to walk you through exactly how I propagate, grow, and harvest these trees, stripping away the vague advice you find in gardening books and replacing it with the hard data I’ve gathered from years of trials, failures, and dirty hands.
Beyond the “Black Mission”: Decoding Varieties
Most nurseries will sell you a “Black Mission” or “Brown Turkey” and call it a day. While these are decent starter trees, they are the Honda Civics of the fig world—reliable but boring. In my orchard, flavor is king. Understanding the flavor groups is essential for choosing a tree that excites your palate.
We generally categorize figs into four distinct flavor profiles. I have grown over 40 varieties, and these are the ones that actually perform in our microclimates:
| Flavor Profile | Description | Top Variety Recommendations |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar / Caramel | Brown or amber pulp; intense sweetness like brown sugar or maple syrup. | Improved Celeste, Brown Turkey |
| Berry type | Red to purple pulp; complex acidity mixed with sweetness, tasting like strawberry or raspberry jam. | Violette de Bordeaux, Col de Dame Noir |
| Honey type | Amber or yellow pulp; pure sweetness with very little berry flavor. often drips nectar. | Peter’s Honey, Kadota, Yellow Long Neck |
| Adriatic type | Green skin with bright red interior; intense strawberry flavor. The “gold standard” for flavor. | Smith, Verte, Battaglia Green |
Critical Tip: In coastal areas with marine layer fog (like La Jolla or Encinitas), you must choose a variety with a “tight eye” (ostiole). If the hole at the bottom of the fruit is open, moisture enters, and the fig will sour or mold before it ripens.
The Mystery of the Two Crops: Breba vs. Main
One concept that confuses almost every new grower I meet is the difference between the Breba crop and the Main crop. Understanding this distinction is the difference between a bucket of fruit and a handful.
The Breba crop grows on the previous year’s wood. These buds went dormant over winter and wake up early in spring. The fruit ripens early (June/July). However, Brebas are often lower quality and less sweet.
The Main crop grows on new growth produced that same spring. These ripen later (August-October) and are generally superior in flavor and sweetness.
Ever wonder why you pruned your tree in winter and then got zero fruit until October? You likely cut off all the wood that held the Breba buds.
Some varieties, like the “Desert King,” are strictly San Pedro types—they only produce a Breba crop without pollination. If you prune a Desert King hard in winter, you have effectively sterilized your tree for the year.
Advanced Propagation: Air Layering vs. Cuttings
While hardwood cuttings are popular, I have shifted 60% of my propagation to Air Layering (Marcotting). Cuttings have a failure rate; air layering, when done correctly on the mother tree, has nearly a 100% success rate because the branch is still being fed by the parent system while it roots.
My Air Layering Protocol
- Timing: I start this in May or June when the sap is flowing aggressively.
- The Wound: I select a branch about the thickness of a thumb. I use a sterilized knife to cut two rings around the bark, 1 inch apart. I peel off the ring of bark, exposing the white hardwood. You must scrape the exposed wood to remove the slippery cambium layer, or the bark will just heal back together without making roots.
- The Medium: I take a handful of sphagnum moss (not peat moss), soak it in water, and squeeze it until it’s like a damp sponge—no dripping water.
- The Wrap: I wrap the damp moss around the wound and seal it tightly with clear plastic wrap, securing the ends with zip ties. Finally, I wrap the whole bundle in aluminum foil. The foil blocks light (roots hate light) and prevents the sun from cooking the new roots.
- Harvest: In 6-8 weeks, I unwrap the foil. If I see thick white roots filling the bag, I cut the branch below the roots and pot it up.
I once ruined a batch of air layers by using clear plastic without the foil shield. The San Diego sun created a greenhouse effect inside the plastic, steaming the delicate new roots to death. The foil is non-negotiable.
Soil Chemistry and Preparation
Figs are tolerant, but they are not invincible. Our native soil here is often heavy clay or decomposed granite. While figs can survive in clay, they won’t thrive. However, do not fill your planting hole with potting soil or pure compost, or you will create a “bathtub effect” where water sits in the loose soil and drowns the roots. Instead, I plant on a mound. I raise the soil level 8-10 inches above the native grade using a mix of 50% native soil and 50% cactus mix/pumice to ensure drainage is aggressive.
Mycorrhizal fungi are the internet of the soil. When planting, I dust the root ball with a granular mycorrhizal inoculant. These fungi attach to the roots and effectively extend the root system’s reach by 100x, mining for phosphorus and water that the tree couldn’t reach alone.
We target a soil pH between 6.0 and 6.5. If your soil test comes back alkaline (above 7.5), which is common here due to our hard municipal water, incorporate elemental sulfur six months before planting. I apply 1 pound of sulfur per 100 square feet to lower the pH by one point over time.
Container Culture: Growing in Small Spaces
Not everyone has an orchard. Fortunately, figs love containers. In fact, restricting the roots often encourages them to fruit faster. I have successfully grown productive trees in 15-gallon fabric pots.
The secret to container figs is Root Pruning. Every three years, the tree will become root-bound, and growth will stall.
- Pull the tree out of the pot in late winter.
- Use a reciprocating saw (yes, really) or a sharp bread knife.
- Slice off the bottom 3 inches of the root ball.
- Slice 2 inches off all distinct sides, turning the round root ball into a square.
- Re-pot with fresh soil.
This sounds brutal, like surgery, but it rejuvenates the plant. Within months, the tree pushes vigorous new growth. Our experience at Exotic Fruits and Vegetables has shown that container trees require significantly more calcium than ground trees to prevent “end rot.” I add a handful of gypsum to my potting mix every spring.
Watering and Fertilization: The Specifics
There is a myth that figs barely need water. While a mature tree won’t die from drought, the fruit will be dry, small, and hollow. I use drip irrigation with two 2-gallon-per-hour emitters per tree. In the heat of summer (July-September), I run these for 2 hours, three times a week. That is 12 gallons of water per tree, per watering. If the leaves droop at 4 PM, that is normal; if they are still drooping at 7 AM the next morning, you are underwatering.
For fertilizer, timing is everything. Nitrogen is great for leaves, but too much of it creates a giant, leafy bush with zero fruit.
- March (Wake up): A balanced 10-10-10 organic granular fertilizer to jumpstart the canopy.
- May (Fruit Set): I switch to a liquid feed high in Potassium and Phosphorus (like a 2-5-5 fish hydrolysate) applied every two weeks. This supports fruit swelling.
- August (Cut off): Stop all fertilization. You need the growth to slow down so the wood can harden off before winter.
Beware of the white milky sap (latex) that oozes from the tree when you cut leaves or branches. It contains furocoumarins, which are phototoxic. If you get sap on your skin and then go into the sun, you will get severe chemical burns and blisters.
Pest Management: The Battle for Sugar
Even in paradise, we have enemies. My biggest battles are not with weather, but with creatures that love sugar as much as I do.
The Fig Beetle
The Green Fig Beetle (Cotinis mutabilis) is a clumsy, metallic tank that dives into ripe fruit. They don’t just eat; they leave behind feces that spoil the rest of the cluster. I don’t spray poisons. instead, I use “bait traps.” I hang a milk jug filled with 50% water and 50% grape juice with a pinch of yeast. The fermentation attracts them, they fly in, and can’t fly out.
Rust Mites & Mosaic Virus
Almost all fig trees carry Fig Mosaic Virus (FMV). It causes mottled, yellow patterns on leaves. It’s incurable, but usually cosmetic. However, if your tree is stressed by lack of water, FMV will stunt it. The best “cure” for FMV is simply aggressive nutrition and water.
Ants are not just a nuisance; they are farmers. They will carry aphids up your tree and place them on the tender leaves to harvest their honeydew. If you see ants marching up the trunk, apply a sticky barrier like Tanglefoot on a paper band around the base.
Harvesting and Culinary Use
Harvesting figs requires precise timing because figs stop ripening the moment you pull them from the tree. Unlike bananas or avocados, they will not get sweeter on your counter. I look for the “droop”—the neck of the fig softens and the fruit hangs vertically. The skin often develops small hairline cracks, which we call “sugar cracks.” This indicates the sugar content is at its peak.
But don’t ignore the leaves. At Exotic Fruits and Vegetables, we love using fig leaves almost as much as the fruit. By toasting young leaves in the oven at 300°F for 15 minutes, you can crush them into a tea that smells incredibly like coconut and vanilla. It is a natural way to lower blood sugar and utilizes a part of the plant most people throw away.
Drying figs concentrates the flavor and extends your harvest. I halve them and place them on wire racks in the sun, covered with cheesecloth to keep flies off. In 3 days of San Diego heat, they turn into chewy, candy-like treats that last for months.
Growing your own figs is an exercise in patience and observation. It is about noticing the slight color shift from green to yellow, feeling the humidity in the soil, and fighting off the beetles for that one perfect bite. The soil acts as a battery storing nutrients, and the tree is the machine that converts that storage into energy. Don’t be afraid to fail with your first tree; be afraid of never tasting a fig warmed by the sun in your own backyard. Get your hands dirty, and I promise, the first bite will make every hour of labor worth it.
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