Figs - An Overview
From: Gardening Australia Fact Sheets
Although figs have been grown for thousands of years, we still do not know a lot about their cultivation, and this becomes apparent when we look at their morphology.
Not far from Gawler, in South Australia, Tony Stevens has established a substantial collection of figs. He and is a keen member of the Rare Fruit Society of South Australia and a practitioner of permaculture. He grows about seventy individual trees, which encompasses between thirty and forty varieties when they are finally identified.
Figs enjoy a Mediterranean climate that has a long hot dry summer. This area gets about 400mm of rain, which is supplemented with an underground watering system. Tony does everything he can to harvest all water, including every roof on his property. During the winter the sub-soil gets well soaked because all the water collected runs into drainage trenches that Tony has constructed. In the summer the trees get no water at all. This growing method produces magnificent fruit with good sugar levels and excellent flavour.
Ficus ‘Black Ischia’ is a variety of fig with a very soft skin and flesh. One of the joys of growing figs is being able to eat them fresh, and this is an excellent variety to be able to pick directly from the tree. Because of its soft skin it is very difficult for growers to get them to a commercial outlet in good condition. As a backyard tree though, it is wonderful variety.
Figs set their fruit on both new and old wood, depending on the variety. At the end of the growing season, tiny figs can be seen just as the leaves drop. They will swell up early in the next growing season. They will be the first crop, sometimes called the breva crop, and then the new wood that begins to grow will also produce fruit that will ripen later, this is the main crop or higo crop. Figs develop as the stem develops, so there is a continuous succession of fruit as the tree grows, which gives a wonderful extended picking season. Having a few fruit ripe at a time over a long period of time is perfect for a backyard situation.
An unusual summer rain has split the fruit of the Ficus ‘Yellow Ischia’. This swelling of the fruit has also spoiled the flavour. Prior to the rain the fruit was rich and sugary. There is the possibility that the fruit will recover and the flavour will build up again with dry air and hot weather.
Ficus ‘Spanish Dessert’ is a cultivar of Ficus smyrna, the best variety of fig to grow. However this type of fig only has female flowers, and if you want fruit from it you will also need a Ficus ‘Capri’ Capri fig, whose fruit is generally inedible, but is the only variety to have both male and female flowers, and is essential for the pollination of the Smyrna varieties. Like all figs, the flowers are enclosed within the fruit, inaccessible to all normal pollen vectors like wind, bees and insects. Capri fig is the host of a specialist fig wasp, which spends most of its life cycle within this fig. The female wasps leave the Capri fig through a tiny pore at the base of the fruit. Coated in pollen the wasps search for other developing fruit to lay their eggs, and when a wasp enters the Ficus Smyrna pollination takes place. But as the long styles of the Ficus smyrna are unsuitable for laying wasp eggs it has to return to a Capri fig to do so. If fertilisation does not take place the fruit aborts and drops form the tree.
One of the best times for propagating and planting figs is mid winter, when they are deciduous. They can be propagated easily from hardwood cuttings about 30 to 40 cm long. These can be placed directly in the ground, buried halfway up the cutting. They will establish roots and even set fruit in their first year. If they are already well-established plants in containers then they can be planted at any time of the year. Planting hint: A slab of concrete or slate in the bottom of the planting hole will force the plant to spread shallow roots and encourage it to produce heavily. Conversely, if the fig tree establishes a deep root system it will grow large with a healthy canopy of foliage at the expense of fruit.
Included in Tony’s collection is a potted specimen of Ficus ‘Mission’, probably the only one in Australia. It originated from a plant that grew in Spain about 200 years ago, and plant material was then was taken to southern California. It was from here that the plant was propagated. It is examples like this that make collections a valuable resource to be passed on to others.
Rare Fruit Society of South Australia. Hon. Secretary, P.O. Box 177, Crafters, S.A. 5152. Telephone: President John Thompson - (08) 8252 3929
Website: www.rarefruitsociety@hotmail.com
Tony Stevens - Australian Fig Collector
From Food Forest:
Tony Stevens undertook a project in Association with the SA Rare Fruit Society which seeks to establish a register of varieties true to name and with good descriptions as they grow in Australia. He has a large number of un-named varieties as well as those below. He has some notes below the plant list which talk about the status of the various varieties in his collection. .
Preston Prolific
5, 1st St.
5th St.
Adam 6 04
Archipal
Black Genoa
Black Ischia
Black Turkey
Blue Province (Provence)
Brown Turkey
Cape White
Capri
Celeste
Citrus
Clancy
Conadria
Deanna
Dons Drying 6 04
Dons Early 6 04
Eileen Wilde
Evangelista
Excel
Fiesta di Desire
Flanders
Giant tripletrunk
Green Ischia
Harold Jo
Kadota 2 04
King
Lemon Lennie
Mary Jane Jelly
Mission
Panachee
Paradise 6 04
Plum
R1T1 6 04
Schombergk
Skoss 5 6 04
Smyrna
Spanish Dessert
St John NT
St. John
Tena
Uley Black
Uley white
White Adriatic
White Genoa
Williams 5 6 04
Williams oth 6 04
Yellow Ischia
Zidi (Zida) 2 04
Codes to origins/nature of trees
L= Loxton Research Centre collection, (S.A. Govt), now destroyed. D= Uni Califirnia USA germplasm orchard. 57= listed in Australia in 1957. S=Smyrna. SP= San Pedro variety
Adult fruiting trees which seem to match published descriptions
Brown Turkey LD 57, Capri pollinator D 57, Celeste D, Excel LD, Mission D, Preston Prolific, Spanish Dessert, Verte LD, White Genoa LD,
Varieties which are immature, (Juv) for juvenile or do not match published descriptions
Adam (Juv) L 57, Adriatic LD 57, Archipel (Juv)LD, Black Ischia D 57, Black Genoa LD 57, Blue Province (Juv )L, Calimyrna /Sari Lop S LD, Cape White L 57, Conadria(Juv) D, Deanna LD, Flanders LD, Kadota(Juv) D 57, King SP (Juv) D, Mary Lane Jelly (Juv) D, Panachee D, St John (Juv) L, Skoss 5 (Juv), Smyrna(Juv) L 57, Tena LD, Williams 5 (Juv) Williams, (Juv),
Yellow (White) Ischia LD 57, Zidi (Zida)(Juv) D.
More About Figs
Also from Food Forest:
Known as ‘The tree of life’ by the ancient Egyptians and much enjoyed by Cleopatra and Ulysses, the fig is a wonderful and delicious species. There are several fact sheets on figs (Ficus carica) available from Departments of Agriculture around Australia and many entries in books on fruit growing. This sheet merely summarises information I have had as personal communication from various sources and is not, to my knowledge, available elsewhere.
If you have a fig which never produces a crop it may be a Capri, a San Pedro or Smyrna fig without a nearby pollinator (see 'caprification') or a poorly adapted Common Fig. Whilst Smyrna used to be the main drying variety grown in South Australia, its management is somewhat tricky and I have not seen one for sale in any nursery. One presumes that there are still a lot of old Smyrnas and their pollinators (Capri) on old fruit blocks in the Riverland in South Australia.
Despite the fact that figs have been in cultivation for over 3000 years they remain somewhat of a mystery crop. They are extraordinary producers of high energy food.
No responsibility is taken for the accuracy of information which follows as much of it is from other people.
Glace figs: Virtually all figs can be successfully glaced.
Dried figs: Varieties favoured for drying are generally those that have high levels of sugar and usually make good jam too.
Dessert or fresh-eating figs: Those with an agreeable flavour and texture… sometimes good for drying too.
Varieties
White Adriatic
An early fig suited to cooler areas like the Adelaide Hills, one crop which ripens February, medium to large fruit, brownish-green skin and pink flesh, excellent fresh and very good for jam. A spreading tree.
Deanna
A large fig suited to the fresh market, greenish skin, very popular in the USA.
Archipal
A large greenish-yellow fig with a very thin, edible skin and honey-coloured flesh. Early to mid season. One of our best and most reliable bearers at The Food Forest.
Flanders
A shy bearer, but good quality green skinned fruit with pink flesh.
Black Genoa (San Piero)
A medium sized, pear-shaped fruit, purplish skin and red flesh, good for fresh eating but not suitable for drying. Vigorous tree, ripens Dec-Feb.
White Genoa
Mid season and good in cool areas with large greenish-yellow fruit with amber flesh, good fresh eating variety and favoured for jam making. Light crop in Dec and more in Feb-Mar, unique flavour.
Preston
Seems to have trouble maturing Dec-April, somewhat hairy, large green-brown fruit, white flesh, vigorous grower, high quality fruit.
Brown Turkey
Medium sized, late season (March), brownish striped fruit with pinkish flesh. Excellent for jam. Second crop is main crop. Hardy tree.
Spanish Dessert
Late maturing, spectacular dark purple skin and dark red flesh. It now seems quite likely that this is a fig that needs caprification..ie needs to be planted with a Capri fig for pollination.
Yellow Ischia
Small, possibly useable for jam.
Excel
Small, early season, light yellow skin, amber flesh, limited value for commercial market because of yields but good flavour for fresh eating.
Celeste
Commercial variety in USA, violet skin, light coloured, firm flesh.
Persian Prolific
Strong grower, mid season fruit, light purple skin and honey coloured flesh.
Cape White
Early maturing, ripens Jan, medium-sized fruit, green skin, cream coloured flesh. Great for jam, compact tree.
Sugar Fig
Is it another name for White Adriatic, the White Genoa or a separate variety? There is much confusion and misnaming of figs. Our Sugar fig is great for jam and drying and is a medium-sized, sweet, green-skinned variety obtained from a local nursery!
Growing Figs
The fig is a deciduous, sub-tropical tree producing its best fruit in hot, fairly dry areas with extra water provided to the root system. The Riverland in South Australia provides the ideal climate. Too high summer temperatures can result in pulpless fruit and cool, damp conditions during ripening give rise to splitting and fungal attack. It doesn’t like cold but can survive temperatures of minus 10 degrees C when dormant. Late frosts hurt it badly.
It is tolerant of alkaline soils of many textures but will not put up with wet feet or very acid soils (under pH 6). It is somewhat forgiving with respect to salinity accepting water of up to 1000 ppm salts.
Figs are not nearly as tough as many people would have you believe, so kid-glove treatment is in order for the first year in the ground particularly but even beyond that time they need plenty of water and fertilizer to be productive.
The fig dislikes wind but loves creekside locations and high fertility sites (and is adept at cracking its way into underground sewer pipe systems).
However too much nitrogen can cause excess leaf production and slower ripening of fruit. Its spreading root system is quite shallow and competitive, giving nearby trees a fairly hard time. It doesn’t appreciate having its roots torn up by cultivation.
Prune the tree up on a single trunk of at least 75cm and don’t allow sucker growth or you’ll end up with an unpickable thicket. Generally annual pruning for form is all that is required. Bear in mind that the fruit is borne new wood. The Californians have some new-generation orchards which look almost like vineyards with the trees trained to just a couple of metres in height in a hedgerow. This helps with picking and with netting the trees.
Fig Leaf Mosaic is a common disease in figs and reduces vigour but does not lead to the death of trees.
On current prices you would not grow rich growing figs for the dried market and if you decided to chase the fresh market your bird netting arrangements would need to be of a high standard. Birds are enormous fig-lovers.
Figs often produce two crops annually; the early picking, often in about Dec, is known as the Breba crop (these are frequently big fruit) and the later picking is the Higos or main crop.
Traditionally figs for drying were allowed to drop on the ground to ensure absolute ripeness and maximum sugar. We tend to pick when the fig softens and droops. Judging ripeness in the Common fig is a bit of an art. The milky sap which oozes from the stem of unripe or not-quite-ripe figs when picked can be irritating to the skin, so you may want to wear gloves.
Drying is an efficient way of storing these very perishable fruit but you lose about 40% of the Vitamin C and B group by so doing. In his great book ‘The complete book of growing fruit in Australia’ Dr Louis Glowinski notes that, like dates, dried figs have so much sugar in them (per gram) that diabetics are warned not to eat them.
Propagating Figs - its easy
In the winter, when the fig trees have lost their leaves, take cuttings about 25cm long from the trees you want to multiply. This can be conveniently done when you are pruning trees. Make sure you label the bundle of cuttings from each variety.
To make sure your cuttings have their requirement for winter cold satisfied it is not a bad idea to put them in the fridge for 2 or 3 weeks (this doesn't seem completely necessary but helps set the wood's biological clock). This is also a way of temporary storage while you get propagation materials organised. To do this wrap the bundle of cuttings in damp newspaper and then put in a plastic bag in the fridge. Don't forget that it is there!
Striking the cuttings should be done in coarse sand or similar - plasterers sand or the commercially available propagation mixes work well - and the cuttings should be planted at least 2 or 3 buds deep (you only need a couple of buds above ground). Ensure that the cuttings are planted the right way up! You can do this in pots, bags or in the ground itself but I prefer to do it in containers so you can keep them all in one spot in the nursery for watering etc.
Before planting the bud sticks are dipped in one of the hormone powders or liquids that encourage root development (with indolebutyric acid - available through nurseries) and planted in the propagation material. Keep moist but not wet in a shady place until leaf shoots emerge and as the plant develops full leaves feed regularly with a fairly dilute liquid fertiizer. When it has a lot of leaves (maybe after a month or 2) carefully transplant (avoiding root damage) into a bigger container with potting mix. Keep in a shady spot for a week or 2 to avoid transplant shock. Grow on and plant the tree in the field the next winter.
Caprification - essential for the production of figs of some varieties
Whilst most fig varities are self fertile the San Pedro or Smyrna figs need to be pollinated by a Capri type fig. This is done by a tiny wasp which lays its eggs in the Capri fig and, when moving around inside the fig, ends up covered in its pollen. When the wasp flies around the orchard checking out other figs for laying sites it goes into other types of fig but finds them unsiutable for her purposes and leaves...but not before she has spread pollen from the Capri fig onto the female parts of the Smyrna or San Pedro type, thus pollinating it.
Acknowledgement is made for images drawn from the Fruit Gardener vol 23 6 1991
The World’s best fig recipe
This is the most amazing and delicious way of keeping figs I’ve come across and was collected by my grandfather Tom Bowen who worked with dried fruit growers in the Riverland when figs were a significant crop up there.
Grandfather Bowen’s Figs
6 lbs figs, 4lbs sugar, 2ozs ginger (half that will do), 6 wineglasses vinegar,
1 wineglass water
Boil figs in the above ingredients until clear (about 2 hours)
Drain dry and press-roll in castor sugar
Bake in hot oven for 5 minutes and allow to cool
Store in an airtight container
Links
Sustainable Gardening Australia
Ray Givan's Homepage (California)
California Rare Fruit Growers
|
