News article for June 8, 2009 from LSU AgCenter County Agent Kenny Sharpe:
Fruits are more and more a part of the edible landscape these days. I know that my grandparents had all kinds of fruit trees in their yard. They came from a generation that knew the value of fresh fruit and growing your own.
One of the fruit trees that is fairly low maintenance yet grows well in our environment is the fig tree. My grandfather had a lot of fig trees and would be very annoyed at having to share so many figs with the local bird population, but there were plenty to go around. He and my grandmother imparted the love of fig preserves to me. For me there is no better topping for a biscuit on a frosty morning!
Figs grow well, but they are shallow rooted and require mulch to help conserve moisture. You do have to pay attention to watering figs when the weather is dry. Every year I get calls about figs dropping from the tree. This is a sign of water stress. The variety Celeste seems to be more sensitive to fruit drop than some of the other varieties.
Another common problem with figs is fungal diseases that get on the leaves. There are actually two diseases that I see fairly regularly. These are rust and thread blight.
Rust is a fungus that causes small yellow to orange spots on leaves. The spots usually appear about fruiting time and can enlarge enough to cause some defoliation. The loss of leaf material can cause fruit loss and increase the chances of cold injury.
Thread blight is a more severe problem than rust. This fungal disease will start at the base of the leaf and will spread toward the leaf margins. You will see the yellowing and tanning of the leaf as the disease spreads. If you turn the leaf over you will see a lot of white mycelium or white thread like strands, which gives the disease the name, thread blight.
Thread blight will cause lots of leaves to die and then cling to the branch without falling. You can also have whole branches die. The fruit in an infected tree will stay small, green and be very hard without ever ripening.
Since there are no approved fungicides that are labeled for figs in Louisiana you will want to avoid wetting the leaves during irrigation and allow enough space between plants to allow for good air flow.
Recommended fig varieties for Louisiana would include: Celeste which is an excellent home orchard choice, violet to brown small high quality fruit with light strawberry colored pulp and a closed eye which is not susceptible to splitting and souring. Brown Turkey has small to medium fruit with copper or bronze skin and amber to pink pulp. LSU Purple is medium sized fruit that has a dark red to purple fruit with light strawberry pulp. LSU purple will have three crops of fruit per year but tends to take four to five years to come into production. LSU Gold is a large yellow variety blushed with red and having light red to pink pulp. It has an open eye at maturity which causes spoiling when ripening in high moisture periods. Alma is a late season medium, yellow fig complimenting Celeste by extending the season, but not as cold hardy.
Plant figs trees in full sun but away from mature trees that will suck up all the water and nutrients. I would space trees 20' x 20’ if possible but no closer than 10’x10’.
For more information on these or related topics, contact Kenny at 225-686-3020.