Happy New Year,

Hopefully this isn't been asked already but, I've got this little Black Maderia tree that is bearing but it's bearing around the middle to end of september when we don't have enough day length and sun heat coverage to ripen them.

Does anyone know of a way to force figs to begin to produce a crop sooner than it would normally begin sprouting fruit for that season?

We were in the midst of a move this past fall so I couldn't experiment with a hoophouse but, I did put the BM under a large clear sterilize container, dug its' pot into the soil (that was filled with rabbit manure for heat) and kept it covered during the night and parts of the day.

It didn't get the fruits to fully ripen but some of them at least turned a little reddish which led me to believe that I might have been on to something that could possibly havr helped work if it were tried sooner.

I'd just love to sample this famed fig.

Wake the tree up early with a green house, Give you a head start anyway.

Thanks, Iowafig I'm gonna try that.

In addition to a greenhouse you might try to putting flowering spectrum lights on it. I have a Figo preto that i rooted a cutting of in September, that i put under a combination of 2300k, 2700k and 3000k spectrum led lights and in 10 days under the lights, it had 4 figs popping out of the branches. For flowering I use a 12/12 on/off light cycle.

Classic advice is to pinch the new growth after 6 leaves.  This sometimes convinces the plant to start forming figs rather than continuing the all out shoot extension.  Will also trigger branching.

I'm not sure what more experienced gardeners or professionals would recommend but I think I got a rather stubborn fig to start fruiting by using fertilizer with higher levels of phosphorus. I've read that phosphorus is important for the development of fruit and flowers, so you might want to give it a try earlier in the season.

Not to mention, it's my understanding that potted figs produce fruit earlier than their in-ground counterparts. I'm not sure if that's because of limited access to nitrogen or other nutrients or if it's because of root constriction.

Either way, now maybe a mix of earlier applications of high-P fertilizer and pinching could do the trick.

If anyone sees an error here, let me know and I'll stand corrected.

Yes phosphorus is what I put on it, as well as the lights.

GM: I've heard of pinching after 6 leaves but never had a reason to try it before. I'll have to remember to do that.
I have removed all leaves at the end of the season to get figs to ripen on my Monstreuse and surprisingly worked on that variety.

FS1: Perhsps maybe you could post a link to the lights that you have that got your Pretoria up and running? All I have at the moment is a T5 24 watt 5700K bulb for my 2 foot Jumpstart grow system.

I'm really a newly born infant in grow light knowledge. Don't know much yet about color spectrums and kelvins more importantly, I need to understand how much I need for figs to produce and how to keep costs low at the same time. It's back to Google university for me :)

Thanks to all. I'm gonna try everything that you all suggest.
What about ferilizers?Any favorites for incourahing fruits?

For the lights if you already have a t5 you can get 2300k t5s at hydroponic stores. Otherwise home depot or ace hardware stores sell 3000k led spotlights. Lights with a higher amount of red vs blue spectrum encourage flowering.

Here is a picture of my Preto.

It sounds like you want it to start producing figs 2 months earlier.  Getting it into warmth and light 2 months earlier than last year is one way.  You could use a greenhouse which you'd probably have to heat, a sun room in your house, or you could get an HID or other high light setup in the house.  Eventually, plants outgrow almost anything but HID, especially if you're starting with a rooted plant, not a cutting.

Another thing to consider is the rain last season.  If you had a June and July with non-stop rain like some of us, then that rain will wash nutrients out of your pots, delaying fig development.  I'm pretty sure I under-fertilized relative to conditions and a lot of plants had figs first developing in August, 1 month after the rains stopped and 2-3 weeks after I caught on to the fertilizer deficit and added some.

The only way to get figs to mature earlier (when it is warmer and sunnier) to to induce them to break dormancy earlier, which means artificial warmth and light. You can't really shorten the season or total time required to mature and ripen a fig, you can only shift the season so that ripening happens at a more advantageous point in you season.

You're going to have to get yourself a green house.  And if you think of a particular size green house, then double it!  If you don't you will wish you had!

A green house allows me to winterize my trees and allows my trees to leaf out in February and put out figs much sooner.  It will also extend your growing season a month or 2 depending on its location.  Black Maderia ripens late so if you're up North, good luck tasting a ripe fig without a greenhouse!

Pinching is a funny thing.  It works really well for my Kathleen Black but it doesn't work at all on my Hardy Chicago.  So if you're going to try it I'd recommend trying it on half or fewer of your branches of any 1 variety.  If it works, it's dramatic.  Lots of buds swelling within 2 weeks.  Also, the time you pinch at is more important than the number of leaves.  Figs can take up to 120 days to ripen so you need to pinch 120 days before your daytime highs drop down under 80 or so.  Some varieties need less time so you can adjust accordingly.  For me that's mid Sept on average, although last year it was mid October  :)

So I'll pinch KB mid June.

A greenhouse is definitely a great thing.  I wish I had one.  A grow room is cheaper. 

Dennis,

1. how are you holding up from the floods?

2. Do you think Preto and Black Madeira are the same?  I got plenty of fruit from my Preto while my 1 surviving BM hasn't even attempted to swell a bud  :)