Keepin it growing

[cjmach1973]

If I have a slow growing fig like a B Madiera, and I give it strong light and good care, canI keep it growing all year without ill effects? I see a lot of the trees seem to have dormant times throughout the summer, where growth stops for a period of time. Do
I have to let a tree drop it's leaves in the fall and sit in a cool, dark area, or can I keep the conditions good indoors to get the slow growth to continue for the wasted 6-7 months up here?

[fruitnut]

You might be OK skipping one winter. But skipping the dormant season can and eventually will devitalize the tree. Meaning it will probably stop growing all together. You can only cheat mother nature so long.

[don_sanders]

The longest I have grown a tree is a full year but with good results.

Some in more tropical or hotter climates (Hawaii, Thailand, etc) seem to experience great year round growth and don't sometimes fruit from posts I have seen.

You could always let it go naturally dormant for a short period and then bring it in under the lights to extend the season and possibly help revitalize it.

Appropriate lighting gets more difficult and expensive the bigger the tree gets but certainly doable.

[fitzski]

From what I've heard, it best for folks in our climate to extend the season on either end with a GH or hoop house.

Figs need a lot of sunlight so unless you supply them with the right spectrum of light in the winter months the figs will kind of go dormant anyway.

Good luck.

[COGardener]

Art,

I have grown several different varieties in my garage green house over the winter to allow them to put on additional size. Many of these trees have ripened fruit in December and January, then strating producing again as early as March with no break in growth, no dormant period. Once back outside the following year I allowed them to go dormant that fall.

[cjmach1973]

It's just my B Madiera that is brutally slow in growing. All my others seem to grow like weeds. The new growth on my H. Chicago and K Black has been more in the last two months than what the B Mad has done since it was started-last year.

[fitzski]

You could do what HarveyC does and graft BM onto a vigorous rootstock like brown turkey or hardy chicago.

I saw his side by side comparison after two years and the grafted one was.2-3 tmes the size.

Not sure if the fruit tasted the same though.

[HarveyC]

I've not noticed any difference in fruit size or taste. My grafted tree is maybe 6' tall by 6' wide in one direction and 4' wide in the other direction compared to about 4' x 4' x 3' for the non-grafted, about 3 times the size overall. It would be more than that if it were not for pruning. I think that a non-grafted tree might pick up the pace eventually as roots slowly expand their reach but I doubt it would ever reach the same size.

[fitzski]

Thanks, HarveyC . That's a dramatic difference. I might try to do grafting this winter.