Adriano’s preferred soil consists of one- third peat- based pot ting mix, one third composted manure, and one -third com post, with some added perlitedolomitic limestone, and vermiculite.Repot every three to five years, drilling extra drainage holes along the bottomcouple of inches of the pot.
During the summer, potted figs require lots of water, but when dormant or growing slowly,over watering is the most common cause for failure. If water doesn’t soak into a root-bound pot, insert a large nail into the soil, then fill the resulting hole with sand, providing a channel for water to enter the soil. For feeding, Adriano uses rabbit manure tea and fruit or tomato fer tilizer.
Train side shoots to grow horizontally, which encourages fruit formation.Grow in the form of multi -stemmed bushes instead of trees for ease ofmaintenance and increased fruiting.
Embryonic figs are formed in late summer and carried through winter on dormant branches as bumps. These swell in spring with warm temperatures. Be careful of frost, which can damage the little figs once they begin to grow. Remove all but the closest leaf below the bottom fig to direct energy towards the fruitIn September, remove fruits that are too small to ripen, redi recting energy to those that will. Harvest when soft and the skin shows the impression of your fingerprint. Figs wilt at the neck and droop under their own weight. Splits and cracks often appear when ripe. Picked too early, they bleed a milky- white sap.
Pick off any fruit remaining after leaves drop in the fall. They will not ripen.Bend down boughs of in -ground, multi -stemmed trees, then build anA- frame of wood and styrofoam over the top. For potted trees, lay pots on their side in wooden boxes forming (2- inch wide boards, a wall 12 to 18 inches high.) Cover the top with plywood, Styrofoam and a tarp. In partially heated area such as sunrooms, water only occa sionally. Dormant figs don’t require light.
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