Is it possible?? Maybe with your help I can do this..

[Jamie0507]

Hello Fig Friends,

As some of you may know, I'm really new to figs but this "dreaded fig disease" has really got me good.. Even though I've yet to even taste a ripe fresh fig, my fascination with this fruit began many years ago with my now 96 y/o grandmother who shared stories with me about how her father brought their fig tree to their new home in Newark, NJ from Salerno, Italy. She smiled & laughed about how she & her 13 siblings would feast on the delicious fruits their special tree gave them every summer and fall for many years. I never tired of hearing her tell these great stories & I told her one day I would grow a fig tree for her again..

Fast forward to present, although thank God we still have my gram with us, she has developed dementia over the last 5 years. After a series of falls, (the last one broke bones in her face) last year my parents, aunts, & uncles reluctantly decided it was time that she needed around the clock care & she was moved into a nursing home about 7 miles from my home. I visit her weekly (she never forgets who I am thank goodness), but I often find her staring out the window looking at "the beautiful trees". This sparks her memory of her most favorite tree, and she will excitedly tell me the stories again that I mentioned earlier..

This got me thinking.. Could I possibly find her a variety of fig tree that is particularly well suited to container living and could be happy in her south-facing window in the home? I know if anyone could advise me on how to make this happen it's all of you.. With your combined experience, wisdom, and know how behind me, I just might be able to pull this off in time for Christmas.. If anyone has a particular variety that just screams "PERFECT" or even "just might work" please do share that with me.. Or any other tips on how to make fig trees primarily kept indoors fruit, please do let me know any ideas you may have. I was thinking of getting her a small lamp for extra light, but I obviously need to clear that with the nursing home first. She does have a huge south facing window though.. Hoping that may just be enough..

Thank you for reading & just know that any advice at all you may share with me on how to make this gift a real possibility for my gram will be appreciated more than words can ever express!

[Tonycm]

Jamie I think you could get her some ripe figs by keeping a few trees and switching them out when the figs are ripening. Have an early ripening fig, mid season and late ripening tree. The trees would probably develop more and better figs outside in natural sun. Then when they're about to ripen switch the trees that way she could watch them ripen and pick them fresh by herself. I'm sure she would enjoy doing that. I hope she gets her tree.

[Jamie0507]

That is a GREAT IDEA! I never thought about that but if I can acquire a few small varieties myself that are known to fruit pretty well then I could just grow them here at my home & do the switch as we come into fig season again.. Hmm now I need to do some research to find maybe 3 or 4 varieties that are smaller in stature (so I don't break my back shuffling them in & out lol) , produce a nice & early breba, earlier/midsummer, late summer, & early fall! Great idea thank you!

[SarinaP]

From what I've been seeing, and I'm definitely a newbie, Petite Nigra does well in a pot. It can stay small and still produce fruit, apparently. I just got one from Hirt's for $10 and it's a well rooted cutting, no leaves. I have high hopes for it!

[Jamie0507]

Thank you Sarina! I'm definitely looking for some named varieties that are known to be smaller (happy in a 5 gallon pot basically) so that I would be able to carry it in (and out when needed). So Petite Nigra is definitely going on to my "must research" list! Thanks a whole bunch for your suggestion I truly appreciate this advice as I need as much as I can get to make this mission a success

[eboone]

Just another thought - was her childhood fig tree green or purple? Might be good to give the same color.

[Sarahkt]

I think this is a wonderful, thoughtful idea.

I also have Petite Nigra from Hirt's, can send you cuttings later this year if you decide to go that route but as Sarina says, an already rooted cutting is not expensive. It does stay very, very small in its pot, but ripened 3 figs (all of which ripened and fell off before I noticed, they don't seem to droop as they ripen). If she likes looking out her window there and the staff (or you) are willing to care for the trees, what about leaving all the potted trees on the grounds and just swap them into her room as they ripen, or take her outside to pick them?

[fitzski]

I have Petit Negra from Logee's and it is a small container variety.

http://www.logees.com/fig-petite-negra-ficus-carica.html

Hope you can figure something out for your gram.

[Harborseal]

Where does she live (zone/state)? You might be able to plant one outside her window. You can get fruiting sized trees from many places. If you wanted to go with a potted tree I'd get a fruiting sized one anyway. You'd want her to have fruit ASAP.