Why isn't this tree producing figs?

[drphil69]

Hello friends,

I have a small collection of fig trees on my North Carolina property. The 3 in the photos were put in ground 2 years ago. The one in the center is supposed to be Smith, and was 2 years old when put in ground. As you can see it is a good sized mature tree with a bush structure (and probably too many branches!). There is not one single fig on the whole tree! The tree to the left is White Triana (from Joe Morle) and has quite a few figs on it, and the one on the right is Black Triana (also Joe Morle) and is absolutely loaded. They are in a raised bed with excellent high organic soil, and are on drip irrigation. They all get the same fertilizer treatment which is very little as I am not able to get there very often. I give them Osmocote and miracle grow 2x per year, and some dolomite lime and ironite once a year. I've heard very good things about Smith, especially for high humidity areas like coastal North Carolina. Any idea why it's not producing or what I can do to help it (for next year)?

Thanks,
Phil

[AscPete]

Auxins / Cytokines ratio due to "excessive" (auxins) vegetative growth...

Have you tried pinching / tip pruning to remove auxins and induce fruit bud development?
It may be a bit late in the season, but you could still try to see if it works.

[drphil69]

Thanks Pete. I have not. I just don't get there often enough. If I can get there 3x per year it's a lot!

[don_sanders]

Is it in a sunny location? Lack of sunlight can affect fruiting.

Does it die to ground in the winter? I wouldn't think so in 8A but that could have a negative affect.

Pinching has produced good results for me if you can get there. Removing some of the stems when you do might help too.

Some varieties take a while to fruit. I've read that Smith from JF&E can take 3-4 years to fruit and that Smith isn't very productive when it does. Kathleen's Black and sometimes tissue culture trees have been known to take a while too.

Some people have reported having good luck with high phosphorous fertilizers inducing fruit on stubborn trees. Maybe give it some extra P and less N when you fertilize.

[AscPete]

Good idea on the fertilizer, but since its in-ground it should probably be a basic 10-10-10 fertilizer or something similar as suggested by most Ag Extensions... The Osmocote and MG may be providing too much Nitrogen.

[drphil69]

Thanks both of you.

[Rewton]

I've actually never fertilized in-ground trees other than putting on lime. I also don't water with the exception of newly transplanted trees in hot/dry weather. Figs are capable of growing out of stone walls and they seem to be very adaptable (other than not tolerating acidic soils). Other the other hand, too much nitrogen can cause foliage growth at the expense of fruiting. Your other two varieties are fruiting but some varieties seem to fruit more readily than others.

[LouNeo]

Phil, I am picking up a couple year old Smith in the next couple weeks that has been growing potted in NC for the last couple years and its much smaller than yours is. It also is growing bushy, has only a few stems though but it does have figs on it. It should be in Wilmington in the next couple weeks to see how it does with our humidity. If you need help with your trees PM me and just let me know how I can help. Im local.

[drphil69]

Thanks for the offer. I actually live in TX but have a house in Wilmington as well. It be around new years the next time I get there. I'm going to give it a real good pruning.

[LouNeo]

Phil, we had chatted briefly a while back about you being down there but still having a place and trees here. Just know that I'm in town if you do ever need anything with them. I have more trees than I know what to do with currently so genuinely just offering to help.

[drew51]

To me it doesn't look like a nitrogen problem. Not sure what is wrong though? Sometimes the trees with a lot of root room, spend too much energy establishing root system. Which is good as once established it should fruit just fine. Why some do this and others do not? Unsure?