New to fig tree growing!

Looking for a good spot on my property to plant a fig tree or two. Most of the property is hard and clay. We hope for good eating figs - any special fig tree to seek out or avoid?

You don't say where you are located.  Some varieties do better in different planting zones than others.  ALL varieties don't like clay soil.  You will have to amend your soil so that it drains well.  Figs don't like wet feet.  Just dig a big hole and mix the clay with compost and sand or turface.  The good news is you won't have to water as often.

Welcome to the forum!

Suzi

Hi Suzi

We live in City Heights. I could excavate, amend and go from there. What are the best varieties for growing eating figs? We have lots of full sun and I will most likely plant 2.

Jeff

Jeff, Is that in Ohio?  If so, you will need cold hardy figs such as Hardy Chicago or Rhonde de Bordeaux or maybe Desert King.  It's very mild here in winter, so I'm not the best to advise on cold friendly figs.  Others should chime in.

Do you know your planting zone?  That will help others help you.  Go to the control panel top right, and edit your signature with your planting zone and state.  By doing that you will help us to help you!

Suzi

City Heights is in San Diego..

LOL!  Who knew?  All varieties should grow there.  Since you are there, you should go over to Jon's Encanto Farm Nursery, the Figs 4 Fun fearless leader.  He has tons of varieties, many for sale, and he can recommend the tastiest ones for you!  Lucky you live so close to his place!  http://encantofarms.com/

Suzi

Ok great! I will head over Saturday

Welcome, and what Shailesh said:) You should e-mail Jon to be sure he'll be there. It's not your typical retail outlet, I don't believe.

Jon and I have communicated - it's all setup!!

Ha!  Bet you don't stop at just two! :-))  Be sure and tell us what varieties Jon recommended for you!

Suzi

A lot depends on the type clay that you have, here in Texas we have Red, White, Black and mixes of all the above.  Suzi is right, in most cases if there is not enough sand mixed in it will "cake" and hold water.  Digging a larger hole and using a "Filler" is like putting mulch or potting soil, or dirt in a reservoir, it will still hold water.  I have a white clay, I planted 12 trees, dug up 6 on the lower end of the lot to keep them from drowning.  The balance is doing okay, not great but okay.  I believe the main issue that I have is the cakeing is restricting the roots.  Since that particular area seems to drain okay I am going to go back and dig a ring about 2 feet deep, 3 ft out from the trunk and amend the soil.  I think mature roots will penetrate the clay but the young will not.

Disclaimer - I do not know what I am talking about, do your own homework and experiments based on what you find.

Fig tree or two?  Hah.  Set you limit at 10, and go from there.  I'm pretty sure figs are the pokemon/beanie babies of the fruit tree world.

As for clay...yeah I'm in middle/north Georgia.  I had never encountered anything like this.  This clay is truly spectacular, yet around town are dozens of large trees that do great.  Celeste is probably the most common, but there are a few others around as well.  Honestly, if your in SD, you likely won't have to worry about the "wet feet" issue for fig trees, as you don't get a ton of rain, right?  Clay, although it has its issues with drainage/density, is very nutrient rich.  Most hardy plants not only tolerate it, but thrive in it, provided they drain okay.

My 22 year old Hardy Chicago is in red clay.  It's on a hillside so drainage is less of a problem.  Don't put it in a water collecting basin but it will do best near a water collecting basin.  Wild figs thrive on river banks.