fig question

11 years ago

After we lost a massive sapodilla tree in the non-hurricane in August (I get the prize for having the only damage in Dade County, yay me!) we went down to Pine Island Nursery to repopulate our postage stamp with producing trees. Then it rained like crazy throughout the fall (finally some weather luck for my yard!) The ice cream banana seems happy, as do the sapodilla and the macadamia nut trees. But the fig bush has lost all of its leaves.
It has buds and seems to be alive.
I know my parents' figs go dormant in the Virginia winter, but is anyone growing them down in Miami? Are they supposed to go dormant? I'm hesitant to water it, since we still are getting some rain, and because I don't want to encourage spring growth now if it should be dormant.
Any ideas? We're growing brown turkey. (And yes, I planted it far from any water line.)

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Comments (5)

brute
11 years ago
I live on the gulf coast and my brown turkey fig loses its leaves in winter. If your tree has green buds, I wouldn't worry about it. It'll come back when it's ready.
slopfrog
11 years ago
In Port Saint Lucie my figs go dormant. They also tend to get fig rust real bad and lose their leaves several times throughout the year. It drives me crazy and I've about given up on them.
whgille
11 years ago
Susannah - My fig trees loose the leaves in winter, they did the same thing in Phoenix. Right now I have one in the ground, and two in pots. One in the pot has all the leaves, I guess it is in a spot more protected.

Silvia
natives_and_veggies
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks all. It's hard to buy a plant, put it in the ground, and then watch it look like it's dying. I realize that plants do this up north and that's normal but so few things go dormant down here. I was willing to believe it was normal with the fig.
Thanks for confirmation!
zzackey
11 years ago
I would think you would have to keep them watered whether they are dormant or not. Why don't you ask your local agricultural agent and let us know!!