I just saw this on a gardening forum:

"If you'd seen fig trees growing, you'd see it in action, any other tree planted near a fig just doesn't thrive."

What say you all to this?  Any comments?
 
 

Can't comment as to the truth of the statement - I've never grown trees close to a fig - but I can believe it.  The link below is to a picture James posted.  My guess is that a root system like this would "win" in a tree to tree competition.

Propagation by Root Cuttings:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0323545512105.html?13

You'll have to explain it to my bananas, citrus, and other fruit trees. They don't seem to have gotten the message. You also didn't specifiy if you meant edible figs, Ficus carica.

i don't beleive it is true. i have blue berries next to a fig bush  ( 5 different bb varieties) and strawberries under and around and no problem. also last year had tomatoes next to it and had lotsa tomatoes.

kevin

First question is; what does it mean "near"? for example, I have a plum tree to  3.5 meters from a big fig tree (10+ years,  8" trunk diameter) and I haven't noted any damage for the plum tree.

Another thing is the shadow of the canopy, obviously, some trees under the shadow of a big fig tree won't grow well, but it isn't a peculiarity of the fig trees, all big trees do shadow.

Linda,

I have had figs growing next to and around various fruit trees for 20+ years and I have never had a problem with this.

Jack

Thanks for all the advice.  I read the article about not having anything too close to a fig tree on a forum at the Royal Botanical Garden site.  I questioned it when I read it so I thought I would see what everyone here had to say.

Thanks all