Seed preparation
Fertile seed comes only from figs pollinated by the fig wasp. If you extract your own, mash a fully ripe pollinated fig in water; good seed sinks, while hollow seed and pulp float and can be poured off. Dry the seed in the shade.
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Fruit tree growing guide
Fig seed is tiny and somewhat dormant, but it germinates well on a warm, moist surface, especially after a short soak or a few weeks of cold. Seedlings are variable, so treat them as an experiment and plant the best ones in a sunny, well-drained spot.
Fertile seed comes only from figs pollinated by the fig wasp. If you extract your own, mash a fully ripe pollinated fig in water; good seed sinks, while hollow seed and pulp float and can be poured off. Dry the seed in the shade.
Not needed. The seed is small and takes up water easily.
Useful. Fig seed has mild physiological dormancy. In a Turkish study, keeping seed moist at 4 °C (39 °F) for 21 days raised germination of one variety from 48% to 95%; 14 days also helped. Mix the seed with damp sand or paper in a closed bag in the refrigerator.
A 24-hour soak in water before sowing roughly doubled emergence in the same study (from 32% to 67% for one variety). Soaking in potassium nitrate or gibberellic acid worked even better there, but plain water or cold treatment is enough at home.
Aim for about 25 °C (77 °F). Seed emerged well at room temperatures of 21-27 °C (70-81 °F). In hot tropical weather keep trays in shade so the surface does not overheat or dry out.
Scatter the seed thinly on the surface, press it in and cover with no more than a dusting of fine mix or vermiculite. Deep sowing buries the tiny seed beyond reach.
Fine, moist peat-free seed compost or coir with some fine sand. Fill trays or small pots and firm lightly.
Water from below or mist so the seed is not washed away. Cover the tray with a clear lid or film to keep the surface moist, and lift it daily for air.
Keep trays in bright, indirect light; strong direct sun dries the surface and scorches seedlings.
Most seed emerges within 30-40 days; treated seed comes up faster and more evenly.
When seedlings have two or three true leaves, move them singly into small pots of soil-based compost. Handle by the leaves, not the stem.
Pot on as roots fill each pot, ending in a container about 30 cm (12 in) wide and deep. Keep evenly moist and give a high-potassium liquid feed every two weeks in the growing season.
Plant in spring, or at the end of the hot season in the tropics, in a warm, sunny, sheltered spot with free-draining soil. Restricting the roots, either in a large container or a 60 cm (2 ft) slab-lined pit, encourages fruiting rather than leafy growth.
Common figs, the type sold in most nurseries, fruit without pollination. Smyrna and San Pedro figs drop their main crop unless caprifigs and the fig wasp are present, and a seedling can turn out to be any of these types.
Too much fertilizer gives lush leaves and few figs. In-ground trees with a mulch at least 5 cm (2 in) deep often need no feed; potted trees get a high-potassium feed while fruit develops.
Figs fruit on young wood. Where trees grow freely, prune lightly after harvest; heavy winter pruning can remove the next crop. Trained trees in cool climates are shaped in spring and pinched in early summer. Wear gloves: the sap irritates skin.
A fig is ripe when it softens and hangs down on its stalk, sometimes with a drop of nectar at the eye. Twist it off by the stalk.
Sow fig seed on a warm, moist surface and raise your own unique fig seedlings.
Only if the fig was pollinated by the fig wasp. Seeds of common figs that set fruit without pollination are usually hollow and do not germinate.
It may, but seedlings vary: some are caprifigs with inedible fruit, and Smyrna-type seedlings need the fig wasp to hold their crop. Named varieties are grown from cuttings.
No. Press it onto the surface and cover with only a dusting of fine mix, then keep it moist at about 25 °C.
