Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
saralee38425

pollination for fig trees

saralee123
11 years ago

I bought some figs trees 4 years ago. According to the info tag on each one I needed to have 2 different varieties for pollination. I bought Brown Turkey and Celeste figs. Some of the trees died during the winter but had lost there tags so I don't know which ones I need to replace.

The next year I some of both varieties to make sure I had what I needed for pollination. OK, so this keeps going on and now I have about 10 fig trees and I don't know what kind they are. So the question is Can I tell them apart to know if I have two different kinds for pollination? Or is it even important to have different kinds? I'm afraid I'm a complete novice when it comes to figs. I just know I like to eat them and I need a source that I don't have to buy. Thank you for your help and patience.

Comments (5)

  • wertach zone 7-B SC
    11 years ago

    Personally I don't think that you have to have different kinds.

    My old tree is the only fig tree in may area and it produces great.

    It might do better with cross pollination. But I don't think it's necessary.

  • saralee123
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks for the info. I still have them potted in 5 gallon buckets so I can bring them in each year. Since I read the other post telling me how to plant outside and keep them alive through the winter I will be planting them out side soon. I appreciate your help. Maybe if they produce something this year (some of them are 5 years old) I will be able to tell what kind each is by the fruit. I guess well find out. Thanks again.

  • MrClint
    11 years ago

    Common figs such as the ones you (and the rest of us) are growing, do no not require cross pollination.

    "The tiny flowers of the fig are out of sight, clustered inside the green "fruits", technically a synconium. Pollinating insects gain access to the flowers through an opening at the apex of the synconium. In the case of the common fig the flowers are all female and need no pollination. There are 3 other types, the caprifig which has male and female flowers requiring visits by a tiny wasp, Blastophaga grossorum; the Smyrna fig, needing cross-pollination by caprifigs in order to develop normally; and the San Pedro fig which is intermediate, its first crop independent like the common fig, its second crop dependent on pollination."

    Here is some required reading for fig growers:
    Fig Fruit Facts
    From Twigs to Figs

    Just grow whatever common figs that you like. Hope that gives you one less thing to worry about! :)

  • jolj
    7 years ago

    What's of interest to the would?be fig grower is that the unusual flower structure complicates the process of pollination. Bees, which are the pollinators we most rely on in the garden, can't reach fig flowers to pollinate them. Only one pollinator can do this—a small wasp, whose own life cycle further complicates the fig pollination process. The wasp must find a home for its young inside the fruits of a fig species known as 'Caprifig'.

    Caprifig, then, must be available in the vicinity of the edible fig tree so that wasps hatching from the caprifigs can enter the edible figs and pollinate the hidden flowers. (The wasps are actually laying eggs for the next generation and, in the process, are carrying pollen to the female flowers.) This process is referred to as caprification. Fortunately for the backyard fig grower, most fig varieties do not require pollination by wasps.

    Varieties recommended for this area include:

    Celeste (Celestial, Blue Celeste, Sugar Fig) is a small, dark and sweet high quality fig which ripens in mid?June. Celeste fruit have a distinctive closed eye that prevents entry of the dried fruit beetle and on?the?tree spoilage. The tree is moderately vigorous and very productive. It is a good fresh?eating fig and is also excellent for preserving purposes.

    Texas Everbearing is a medium?large, pear?shaped fig with copper brown skin and yellow flesh. It ripens in late June. The tree is very vigorous and produces over a long period of time. The fruit has a relatively closed eye that prevents premature fruit spoilage.

    Alma is a high quality fig that is extremely productive and ripens in late June. The tree is moderately vigorous, comes into production at an early stage and produces extremely heavy crops. Alma is a recent release of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. The fruit eye is closed by a drop of thick resin that inhibits on?the?tree fruit spoilage.

    Caring for Your New Fig Tree

    http://www.plantanswers.com/garden_column/aug04/1.htm

    So most figs do not need a wasp to bear fruit.

  • kudzu9
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    And I believe that fig wasps are only found in the U.S. in parts of Florida and California, which explains why some wonderful European/Mediterranean fig species don't produce fruit in most areas of the U.S. The role of the fig wasp was unknown a number of years ago and until botanists figured it out there were some pretty baffled fig growers.