...You know that "fignuts" are not some new kind of breakfast cereal.

Thank you everyone. Unfortunately, most of the larger leaves on this plant are turning yellow – looks like it might be touch-and-go for this guy. I’ll try to get my three trees in a spot with some afternoon shade. I haven’t fertilized them beyond what’s in the MG Organic potting mix I repotted them in at the beginning of June. Since the sickest tree has to regrow healthy leaves now, does it make sense to start fertilizing at this point?

Here's the current state of the fig leaves I photographed above.  Is this just the slow death of the leaves due to over-watering, or do I have something else going on here?  The brown edge of the leaves is brittle and dry, some with tiny blue-ish spots.  New growth looks good, so it sounds like Navid is right – I’m just double checking :).  Now that I’m watering less, the soil seems to drain faster and much more thoroughly (most of what goes in seems to come out).  It’s amazing how much the hydrodynamics have changed.

A couple of more questions:

Should I pull off leaves that have reached this state?

The figs are still pretty small (like large cherries), but they’ve begun to darken. About how long does it take for them to ripen from this point – days, or weeks?

Thanks for the pictures – I’m glad you were able to pick up some nice trees. The woman told me that she also has Pingo de Mel, but that Alvas is her favorite. It’s too bad that she doesn’t have a name for the black one. I have an unidentified Portuguese black fig from a different vendor at the same market and it’s definitely a different tree.

Has anyone heard of this white Portuguese fig?  A Portuguese woman was selling trees at the farmers’ market.  She says she sells trees and fresh figs from 5 Portuguese varieties.  I’ve seen the mother trees in the neighborhood and they’re huge – I’m always impressed that they manage to cover them for the winter.

Dennis, where did you get your Marseilles White, if I might ask?

Very nice, thanks for sharing.  What do you have growing on the trellis?

I figured there'd be a story -- It's good to hear that they noticed the issue and are seeking to remedy it.  I'd certainly be more likely to do business with an operation that is so transparent about their product.

Gave me a chuckle…

Ficus carica 'Celeste' - formerly 'Black Mission'

http://www.logees.com/prodinfo.asp?number=R1938-4

-Ben

Are 90+ degree temps better than 80-90 degrees for ripening figs?

That's an amazing amount of figs!  How old is the tree?  Do you ever use bird netting?  Most importantly, how do they taste?

Preto?

Have you considered trying Brevas de Galicia?  Galicia has a climate similar to yours.

Since both of these figs can go by the name "Marseilles," I wonder which one was the Marseilles that Thomas Jefferson liked. 

Navid

I didn't add extra bark to the soil -- it's straight from the bag.  The pot is light grey plastic, but with no attached saucer -- you're supposed to buy a saucer separately, but instead of doing that we just have it directly on the patio.  I'm not sure how long it takes for water to drain out the bottom.  My mom has been doing the watering, so I'll have to ask her.  The soil does seem to dry out if not watered every day, at least it was dry for the inch or so I could stick my finger in.

We've been erring on the side of over-watering the new plants, so I think you may have found the problem. 

Ben

Thanks for the suggestion.  No, I haven't sprayed, or even fertilized yet.  I repotted them after purchasing a month ago using MG Organic potting soil.

Hello all,

I just wanted to say hi and thank everyone for the great information on this site -- I’ve already learned so much about fig cultivation from everyone here!  I was also hoping someone could tell me what might be wrong with my fig trees (please see attached images).  I noticed the other day a distinct black pattern on one of the leaves.  It seems to have spread to other leaves and a second tree.  I can’t rub it off with a wet finger.  There are what look like a few stray “rust” marks and looking closely at the pictures, a couple of pale yellow spots, although these weren’t noticeable in the afternoon sun. A couple of the tips looked brown, but maybe that’s normal (?).  The trees seem to be thriving, with a fair amount of fruit (which I thinned a bit).

I bought my first three fig trees at a local farmers’ market.  I have a “black” and a “green” fig tree from a Portuguese man who says they are originally from Lisbon.  My next project might be to get some cuttings from friends of friends in the local Portuguese community.  I live on the south coast of Massachusetts.  The trees are living at my mom’s house, since I don’t have sun in my backyard. Unfortunately, this will probably leave my fig collection severely stunted, for now…

Ben