Hi all! I live in Nova Scotia, Canada and I've been growing figs for a few years now. I've been using figs4fun as a resource to identify figs that are fast growing and produce large breba crop... necessary for my zone 5b garden. I have a few figs in ground and others in pots. If anybody in eastern Canada wants cuttings I have many from Goutte d'Or and Browne Turkey. My Børnholme fig is slow...really slow. They all survive well through our winters. I use the Japanese method of growing figs by keeping the main trunk low to the ground and allowing new branches to grow up. It's easier to cover in November when they go dormant.

On another note, I also travel to Japan (Narita-Tokyo) and Turkey (Istanbul) quite often. If anybody on this forum lives in these countries and would like to trade cuttings please let me know.

Welcome to to the forum!  My wife and I spent our honeymoon in N.S. and P.E.I. many years ago and really enjoyed it though by the end of the 10 days we were tired of eating seafood out of restaurants.

It can certainly get old eating nothing but seafood. Although I do like it (lobster is down to 5$ a pound from local vendors), I get tired of it too... We now have a wine growing region. Reds aren't that great but the whites are increadible. Nothing like fresh figs, drizzled with balsamic and a glass of Tidal Bay wine. The aromas are purely tropical but the wine is dry with citrus notes.

Welcome to the forum Tad.

Hi Tadsamson,

I'm not in Canada, but fairly close by...I'm in Maine.  I'm always very interested in finding out what works out in eastern Canada.  Thank you very much for your post.  What do you cover your figs with to protect them each winter?  All my figs are in pots that I bring in for the winter, but I am also planning to train my figs in the Japanese method when I do start putting them in ground. 

I'm very curious if one can find extra hardy figs in the colder parts of Turkey.  If you know of any varieties or seedlings from that area I would love to know more.

Warmest Welcome to the Forum!

Welcome eh 

I live in B.C, but my brother lives in Kentville.
Welcome to the forums.

Hello,

We are located in central Cape Breton, NS.  I was thrilled to discover I might be able to grow figs on our place here, and I found some "Chicago Hardy" figs at the outdoor garden center at Atlantic Superstore in Sydney. I hesitate to transplant them out of their one gallon containers, but our farm is on a southern slope overlooking an inlet of the Bras d'Or Lakes, and it's at least zone 5b here, so I'm pretty sure they will be happy here, and I'm scouting for a good location. 

I plan to create a protective "fence" of old concrete pilings to the north of the transplants to break the wind, but I'm a bit concerned about how they'll do in our clay/gravel mix soil. Any tips on planting, fertilizing and overwintering would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Hi,
To make a long story short: look for my post about "wintering figtrees" in Zone7.
For your dirt, you could put an eighty liters container in the ground and put full compost inside and plant the tree there ... The eighty liters trashcan with bottom removed technique :) .

Thank you.

Hi! I find that our maritime winters are a bit different from continental ones. Our frost doesn't run deep anymore and I treat my figs like tender roses. I hill them up with soil, put some straw over them and cover that with a tarp. A good layer of snow helps during the coldest days. I also do not plant in ground until the trunk is thicker. The reason I use the Japanese fig training method is to keep them low to the ground. It makes hilling so much easier! My Goutte d'Or seems to do much better than my Brown Turkey. Last winter was harsh and I didn't have any die back at all!

PS: I'm originally from Cape Breton and the only problem there would be getting a long and warm season to even produce a good breba crop. Since you are south facing it should be ok. Don't be discouraged in the spring because they can take a while to leaf out.