Hello fellow fig enthusiast! I relocated from PA to Fl Plant city area. Before I left a good friend gave me a shoot from his fig tree, I planted in my yard against my house it's been three years and I have not had any figs. It is mid may now I do see little bumps where the figs would be please review pictures and let me know if I should move it or if you think I will be having figs this year. It grows very fast and I cut back every year but no figs :( Do you think I should move so it gets more sun? It gets around 5-6 hours of hot florida sun.
   

Hi,
Welcome to the forum !
My advise: Stop cutting it .
Let the tree grow for one year or two.
If that tree is a San Pedro type and you keep cutting... You'll never get any fruit out of it .

I see some root-shoots at the base. Try to get them out and with roots and plant them somewhere else in a sunnier spot.
Then you'll see if the tree is lacking light .
From the look of the growth, I would say that the tree is in a shady spot. The stems look leggy.
Good luck !

Thanks JD

Probably doesn't get enough direct sunlight.  The growth does look leggy.  You can see how the internodal spacing is closer together at the top where it has finally gotten to some real sunshine. 

Why did you put it next to the house?  In Florida, I would say there's no need to do this.  Anywhere you plant it should be able to survive the winters fine. 

Rather than moving this one, why not start with a variety that you know will produce?  There are many to choose from.  There are folks on this forum that live in florida and grow figs successfully and could recommend a good variety.  I'd think that celeste would be one good option. 

In your photo above the leaf you can see the bump.  This could be a new shoot or fig or both.  You can't really tell at this stage. 

Some folks are concerned with putting trees right next to the house because they might grow into the foundation.  I have no idea if this concern is real or imagined.  I guess you probably don't have a basement, just a concrete slab, so I don't know why a root would try to grow into it. 

Thanks that's what I thought I just moved it, if it survives it will be in full sun all day. I bought a lsu purple fig to try will be here friday. Here is a pic after I just moved and kept the biggest trunk and cut back the tops.  

Hard to tell from the picture but maybe you have sandy soil.  If you do you may want to amend with organic matter.  I've heard that nematodes like sandy Florida soil with little organic matter, and figs are very susceptible to nematodes.

Don't be surprised if your tree is stressed by the transplant and drops some or all its leaves.  Doesn't mean it's dead, just hasn't built out enough roots to support the tops.  It should come back.  Probably was smart to cut off some of the leaves so that maybe this lessens transplant shock

Thanks Rob

7 days later still has a few leaves on but I noticed a nub starting
 
 
  

Yes, nematodes are a pervasive problem in a lot of our state... they love our beach sand.

It is an old Southern tradition (and probably up North, too) to plant a fig by your house. My grandfather always told me they liked their roots to be cool.  The more Ive thought about it, and knowing that Nematodes actually have to have sunlight to survive, I'm beginning to think that the fig trees also like having a root structure in a Nematode free (or 'freer') zone as well.

As you build up your soil with nice rich compost you will see a reduction in your nematode problems as well. Ive noticed that over the years as I continuously work on enriching my soil.

The LSU purple fig is a good one for our state... supposedly nematode resistant roots and , when it matures, you will get three crops a year.

If your tree stresses, dont worry too much. Our growing season is so long that they usually bounce back pretty good from a lot of assaults ... which is a good thing because with our climate, soil conditions, bugs, etc etc etc there's always something to contend with :)

Now that they've found Nile Crocs in the southern portion of the state, and the Boas are running amok, Im just waiting for the other shoe to drop and have them develop a taste for figs (or fig fanciers)

Thanks James, I seen a youtube video of a farmer from plant city that cuts the bottom out of a 5 gallon bucket and buries it leaving only a inch above the ground. He then fills it with a couple bags of garden soil and plants the fig inside. He said the roots go down out the bottom of the bucket and nematodes don't live that deep so its a way of combating them.

I may give it a try..

 

hine sight I think if I would have pinched when it was planted next to the house it may have produced. It was growning like crazy I cut back several times just never produced any figs so I moved thinking it was not getting enough sun.

If you had transplanted it while it was dormant it would have been much better.  A tree that large is going to be really stressed to be moved with all that new growth.  Hopefully it will recover without too much die back, but it will be a slow process.

If this is going to be your first summer here    I would not put anything new out in full sun.   It is going to fry.   Fall best time or spring is what I have found.   Also  you wont find any wonderful figs growing in peoples yards to get cuttings    also   no special figs to be had.   get from forum members.   :)

Thanks guy's

*update my unknown fig tree lost all but 5 leaves and now is starting new growth and I have two figlets.

   

Thanks Rob!

Rob, I wasn't talking about planting a potted tree.  I was talking about digging up a tree with a lot of tender growth and transplanting it.  With a potted tree it is not a big deal if you can keep it watered properly.

Hi jvarrati,
You'll need to keep the tree watered every other day at least - if you have no rain . Even if the weather is cloudy, you'll need to water her.
Now, that she's budding out again, the transplant shock is behind ...
I would stake the tree so that the wind doesn't toss her ounce the leaves are grown again.

Update the tree is rebounding!


 

And i bought 3 black maderia cuttings off of eBay (from Portugal) and grafted it to one branch and it took!
 

now the rest of the family!
I258 Purchased from Harvey
 
Galacia Negra purchased from Harvey
 

Lsu Purple from Top Tropicals

 
VDB from Top Tropicals
 

and a Walmart Celeste
 

My galacia negra looks identical to yours.

Sad day, one of my expensive prize possession fig trees turned into cuttings :(

I went to check on my figs after a rain storm and noticed my Galacia negra laying down.

The graft came out..

 
    

Sorry to hear, but from the pic it looks like the scion has roots. Maybe, if you've done nothing yet, an option is to plop it in a pot under shade and lop off the top to graft onto your moved tree.

Wow nice catch let me try that!