Dear vegetable and fruit enthusiasts,

I have two potted fig trees that just finished producing figs for the season and they now look horrible (very sparse and unhealthy-looking leaves). And they seriously produced. About 50 figs each tree. Is there anything special I need to do to cheer them up, or is this just how they are going to look for the rest of the season?





Any opinions/advice is appreciated.
Thanks
~ Aaron

bump

holy cow, 50 each? I think that's excellent.
Mine is in the ground.
I would think fig trees need bigger pots.
Do you have to move them indoors for winter?

Thanks, yes I was a little surprised at how much they produced especially because they are only a year old. I think potting them seriously accelerates the production of figs. For reference I also have one tree in the ground and it hasn't produced any ripe figs yet (but it looks like it will). Yes I move the potted ones to the garage during the winter.

I'm just wondering if there is anything I should do to make them healthier because now that they stopped producing they have started losing their leaves very quickly.

It is normal for fig trees to loose their leaves in the fall after production.
If you keep them in the garage will you be letting them go dormant?
...or putting them under lights?

Thank you Cinda, that is reassuring. I just felt like it's early for leaf loss since it's still nice and hot out. But I guess early to fruit, early to go dormant...

Yes last year was I let them stay outside for one frost around November, and then brought them to the garage. When they were in the garage, I just left them there until April without when temperatures were consistently above freezing. I gave them no water and no light all winter! However, I pruned them at some point in mid-winter.

With that much fruit, I think you are doing it right!

for now keep them watered -

consider finding pots twice the size to prevent wind blow-over -

I have 2 figs in the ground - both are over 30 feet wide and over 25 feet tall - they grow about 6 feet a year ....
in the summer months, figs benefit from an extra thick leaf mulch extending out to the "drip line" ....this keeps their roots cool in the summer ... but also provides an insulating layer during freezes -

at first freeze, the leaves fall off - and start a winter long dormancy

dormancy breaks when green buds are visible -

prune in the spring, to shape ..

you can start new figs with each branch removed - have several buckets of sand with holes drilled in bottom - stick branch into sand - keep moist but not dripping wet .....in a few weeks there should be roots - repot into a top soil rich, lots of mulch, fast draining media