Favorite figs
• Angelique — medium, roundish fruit that are yellow with white specks. Flesh white with pink tinge. Good for pots, does well by walls in a greenhouse.
• Brown Turkey — the large, pear-shaped fruit are brown with occasional purple tinge. Sugary rich flesh at centre. Excellent by garden walls or in a greenhouse. Easy to force in pots.
• Castle Kennedy — very large fruit. Skin greenish- yellow. Tender white flesh stained red. Very early cropper.
• Fig d'Or — golden fruit with pink-tinged flesh. Very indented leaves. An old variety most suited to pots in a greenhouse. Strawberry flesh, rich, sweet, and good quality.
• Kadota — medium-sized fruit with yellowish green to white skin. Rich, sweet, amber flesh, very old variety
• Panachee — striped wood and striped sweet fruit. Delicious eating. The figs look like little hot air balloons! Vigorous habit, but easily controlled.
• Rouge de Bordeaux — medium-sized fruit. Purple skin with violet bloom and red flesh. Excellent rich flavor. One of the best figs for greenhouse culture, border, or pot.
A rig fitness programme Caring for your fig trees couldn't be simpler. When the weather gets hot and dap remember to give them plentu of water.
As with many plants, mature trees require much less water than young trees. Potted figs need regular watering at all times. A mulch will help to preserve moisture, since the fig roots grow close to the surface. Because of the shallow root system, don't plan on digging or cultivating around your fig trees.
Figs need little pruning, and most pruning should be done for size and shapeliness when the tree is young. If you are into pruning, be aware that some fig trees fruit mostly on new shoots, and others fruit on both old and new branches.
Some people advocate wrapping fig trees for the winter. A simple way is to tie the branches together to make a cylinder. Use a wire cage to enclose the branches and fill the empty spaces with dried leaves. Cover the cage with a waterproof fabric. Few insects or diseases annoy fig trees, except birds and wasps. Weeding must be thorough near trunks to prevent rodents nibbling the bark.
Fabulous figs
FIGS ARE AMONG THE OLDEST of cultivated fruits. Records show that people have been planting figs (Ficus carica) since at least 2500 BC, but their history pre-dates that time. According to the Old Testament, while Adam was strolling around the Garden of Eden, he ate the apple Eve had given him and then had to cover his nakedness with a nearby fig leaf.
A cage made with one bird cage wire mesh
ReplyDeleteis just the right size for a cockatiel to stick a head through. Instead of pulling their heads back in through the same hole, cockatiels have been known to bend their necks into a 'U' shape and stick their heads into a different hole.