Has anyone ever tried giving some K2PO4 to see if it will either increase flavor, speed up ripening or both?  I think I'm going to try it to see how it goes.

I am trying different fertilizer types. I have 100 Peter's Honey figs in five rows of 20. First row I'm using (22-0-31). Second row is (0-45-0). Third row is (0-22-31). Forth row is (22-7-14). And fifth row is 13-13-13. All were rooted at the same time and are in the same size 5 gal pots. Also adding dolomite lime for the pH.

Since I'm going to be growing them for commercial sales. Picking the right fertilizer, that gives me the most figs, with the best taste and the largest size, is very important to figure out. And like you mentioned, anything that could cause them to ripen faster, would make a big difference.

It will be interesting to see what results you get Sid.

Hi Figgysid1,
Why are you using 0-45-0 , if I may ask ?
I always read that N-P-K was -for the short story-, leaves - roots - fruits . So you're sending your roots to the moon or to the kernel of earth ?
I made a trial this year with a fertilizer that had less N and more K. I have to check what it exactly is, if I'm still able to read on the bag (maybe 10-10-20 or something in that field) .
It seems to me that the trees grew less with the same number of nodes, and that they have fruits like the other years.
So limiting N is good to shorten your tree, and lessen your trimming duties and mutual shading problems. Of course, if you were willing to sell cuttings, you should want more N, or at least a balanced fertilizer X-X-X .
IMO, you should avoid "0" . You should use fertilizer with at least some N, some P and some K.

Keep us posted on your tests !

From all your tests, the 22-7-14 and 13-13-13 seem to be the more logical. Although you should want to try a 20-10-30 or 10-10-20 or something like that - because you want fruits while keeping the tree healthy.

Less nitrogen more potassium will help ripening faster.

@jdsfrance: Thanks for your suggestions. I think the P is for fruiting and flowering as well as the roots.

The 0-45-0 is supposed to produce larger fruits/flowers from what I was told.

Definition: N-P-K refers to the ratio of important elements in a fertilizer or soil amendment. N stands for nitrogen, which is responsible for strong stem and foliage growth. P is for phosphorus, which aids in healthy root growth and flower and seed production. K stands for potassium, which is responsible for improving overall health and disease resistance.

The fertilizer that has been the most successful at producing an extremely high production of figs is the 22-0-31. That ratio makes no sense for producing lots of figs, but has done exceptionally well. I used it on my Figo Preto fig trees and have removed over 1,000 figs from my 15 trees, so far this summer. It is looking like I may have to remove another 1,000 or more if they continue to grow at this rate, with a fig on every single node.

It's actually frustrating to not be able to control when the tree produces fruit, since knocking off thousands of figs is quite time consuming.

I will try the fertilizer types you mention on my Panache fig trees I have 75 trees in 3 rows of 25 in 20 gal pots.



I should have updates on the results in November.

Thanks

Thanks, Sid, that sounds great.  Do you know your baseline soil composition for NPK?

Remember that figs are flowers and so P should help them.

I just switched to a different mix. 2 parts Coco coir, 1 part pro mix BX, and 1 part Perlite. I thought the Coco coir and Perlite has nothing, as far as nutrients. Pro mix BX, not sure what they put into that.. I don't think anything I'm using would alter the N-P-K.

I've always used 'leaves, roots and fruits' to remember which part of the ratio does what.

Hmm... I noticed that jdsfrance & mumofstig are in Europe. And both of them say leaves-roots-fruits.

Here in America it's the opposite, just like how you drive on the opposite side of the road. In America Phosphorous and potassium have the opposite effects.

In Europe.

Leaves-roots-fruits

http://crawleyhorticulturalsociety.org.uk/npk.php

In America.

Leaves-fruits-roots

http://sdveggieboxes.com/understanding-fertilizer-numbers/

Hmm... My brain hurts.

It really does depend  :)   Bananas need lots of K with very little P.  Figs are really the flower so P helps them and K might as well.  Plus figs need Calcium.

Simple rules of thumb are generally wrong.  :)

I just thought there was a worldwide consensus on what fertilizers do, but I just learned that is not the case.

I thought of some more experiments.

I think jdsfrance is right about not having zeros. I have 80 LSU Hollier fig trees. I will try four fertilizer experiments of 20 trees each. 5-45-5, 5-5-45, 5-20-20 and 20-20-20. And an equal amount of dolomite lime added to all. That should work to reveal what is most effective for fruit production.

More interesting is will one group ripen their figs sooner. And will one group taste better than the others.

Thanks for doing the work on this!