Hey guys,

I live in Ireland and am new to growing figs. I've trawled the internet to find any othe fig enthusiasts from Ireland but to no avail. So if there is anyone on here from this region let me know what you got and how your figs are doing?

This is my first year growing figs and I've got 2 brown turkeys, a brunswick, bornholm, ice crystal, fig two timer (by a fruit producer in switzerland called Lubera), all in pots. I also have a desert king and some vbd cuttings being delivered soon.

I'm particularly interested in anyone with experience growing in a similar climate.

Thanks

Good luck. You may want to try on ourfigs.com as well (I'm more fond of that forum personally)

Welcome to the forum,I don't know personally of any members in Ireland,there was someone in Ireland selling some cuttings last winter on eBay so maybe.keep an eye out for that and you could connect.There are a few members close by in the UK,at least 1 in Wales,a couple in Scotland and England,others within the EU are scattered throughout Europe as far north as Sweden, into Eastern Europe and as far south as Cyprus.Trading outside the Eurozone can be more complicated but depends on your resources and the specific rules that exist between the EU and that country.

I'm on the edge of Birmingham in the West Midlands so my climate is somewhere between urban heat sink and west of England rain fest.To top that off I'm at a much higher elevation,a few miles from the highest point in the West Midlands so air frost and freezing mist in winter-it's all fun.

What this means for me is when it's wet it's WET and when it's hot it is HOT.My figs get nipped by frost but only the green buds on some varieties and I don't protect mine at all as I only get down to -4C the last few years.

Ireland is broadly in a similar zone to me, and probably to folks in the Pacific North West of the States,but micro climate pays a big part in your own specific growing environment?,Where are you specifically?,what does your weather have in store for you?

Haven't run across any from Ireland on the forums. England yes, France, Portugal, Greece, Tunisia, Hungary, Russia also.

Here is a post with a few fig enthusiasts from the U.K.

https://www.ourfigs.com/forum/figs-home/176575-what-zone-am-i-in

Beautiful Ice Crystal you have there.

Thanks for the signposting Wendy,I'm haslamhulme of both forums though I've historically been more active here.If you are on Facebook try European Figs page which is run by another UK member Vinny.Hes a member here as well but is mainly on Facebook these days.

I second what Wendy said,your ice Crystal is very nice,looks well cared for so we can tell even though you are new here your not really a newbie to keeping plants happy

Thanks Guy's,

haslamhulme, thats good to know. I'm in Dublin and it gets pretty wet here too, particularly in the winter, and cold but the worst is the wind. It'll cut through like ice. Summers are ok. I have the figs in a polytunnel for now just to see how they fare.

What varieties have you got, and how well do they grow for you?


Cheers

As for varieties I have about 30,probably 35 plants total.Ill PM you the list.They grow well here,most of my trees are young,the first few started fruiting this year,squirrels did damage in the spring so lost all my brebas and it knocked back the main crop,I've got Hardy Chicago and Brown Turkey with main crop this year but thanks to the squirrel damage they might not have time to ripen.

About 1/3 of my trees are between 2 and 3 years old,1/3 are 1 year and the rest are rooted this season so in the coming years I'll find out how most of them do.The trees grow well here,they like the mild winters and hot but wet summer were having.Some trees suffer from fig leaf rust due to the wet weather and I've got to fertilise often as the rains keep washing the fertiliser out it seems.

This year I've been focusing on growth,next year I'll switch to fruit mode on the 2-4 year old trees.Getting ripe fruit is the next challenge,I have yet to see how many varieties will do here,about 1/3 of my trees are local unknowns I've collected and some are proven to fruit here so I'm looking forward to that.Most of the trees I've bought are varieties which are meant to do wel in short summers.As a lot of folks here are in USDA zone 7 or below they focus on "cold hardy" varieties which will fruit even if damaged or frozen to the ground,here they won't freeze but those varieties also have the ability to grown and ripen quickly which is a useful trait here as well due to short summers and low heat/sun levels.

With varieties I've been selective as I don't have a polytunnel yet, but I have other varieties which are untested here so I'll find out how they do-if they don't produce I'll get rid..Ive learnt shed loads from this forum and the members here and they have been generous,probably 1/3 of my trees have come from exchanges.

You mentioned wind-freezing wind will do more damage than frost alone.