Stark Bro's Plant Manual for Kadota Fig

Cross-Pollination

Is a pollinator variety present? Cross-pollination by a different variety, of the same type of tree, is key to the success of many fruit trees. In most cases, its absence is why trees don’t bear fruit or produce poorly.

Sun and Good Soil

Your tree would love a sunny place with well-drained, fertile soil. But it will be quite satisfied with six to eight hours of sunlight. Good drainage is required to keep your trees “happy.” If your soil has high clay content, use our Coco-Fiber Potting Medium or add one-third peat to the soil at planting time. We do not recommend planting fruit trees in heavy, pure clay soils.

Even if your yard isn’t the most ideal location, take heart. Fruit trees are very adaptable and respond well to fertilizers, so they can get along well even where the soil is nutritionally poor. Just steer clear of sites with extremely heavy soils or very poor drainage.

Surroundings

If you’d like your tree to become a landscaping asset, choose the planting place with this in mind. Imagine it as a full-grown tree and check everything out: Wires overhead? Sidewalk underneath? Does it obstruct something you want to see? Can you keep an eye on it from the house? Will other trees be in the way, allowing for their additional growth in the meantime?
Even a year or two after planting, your tree will be very difficult to transplant. So take the time to plant it in just the right place.

Space Wisely

First-time fruit tree growers often ask about recommended planting distances from patios, sewer lines, water pipes and so on. Ordinarily, patios will not be a problem because the soil beneath them will be dry and compacted. Therefore, the roots will not grow into this area as much. It’s still recommended, however, that you plant at least 8-10’ away from patios, water pipes and sewer pipes. You might not expect sewer and water lines to be affected since they are buried so deeply. But, since sewer and water lines tend to be wet, roots will grow to them and around them if the tree is planted too close. By planting your trees far enough away from these items, you can avoid this problem.

Spacing between trees:

• Dwarf, 8-10’ (sweet cherry: 12-14')
• Semi-dwarf, 12-15’ (sweet cherry: 15-18')
• Standard, 18-25’
• Miniature, 6’
• Colonnade, 2’

Space for Future Plantings

Once you’ve found out about fruit growing goodness firsthand, you’ll want to expand your home orchard. It’s important to plan for tree spacing so that the future growth areas will be ready when you are.

One way to help you visualize your exact tree spacing is by staking out the positions of your present and future plantings. But how do you make sure the hole goes where the stake is? One method is to prepare a notched planting board. The planting board is used to show where the original position was after the hole was dug. To use it, simply put the stake in the tree notch as indicated and then put stakes on each end. Then, remove the board and dig the hole. When the hole is big enough to accommodate the roots, replace the board between the two stakes and place the tree in the tree notch. Use the planting board as a guide, keeping the tree erect. The planting board can be used over and over again.

Planting Site

• Figs prefer a sunning location that gets sunlight 6 to 8 hours a day.
• Figs can be grown in a variety of soils, from light, sandy types to heavy clay.
• Figs do not like alkaline soils.
• Space your tree 10-35 feet apart, depending on variety.

Planting

• Dig a hole large enough to accommodate the root system.
• Plant your fig trees 2-4” deeper than they were in the nursery row or pot.
• Water your plant thoroughly.
• Do not fertilize your fig tree at time of planting.
• No pruning necessary at planting time.
• Keep the ground mulched around the trees to keep it free of weeds, but don’t cultivate so deeply that the surface roots will be damaged.
• Fig trees need winter protection if you live north of zone 7.

Figs may also be grown in pots and stored in an unheated basement or garage for the winter. If grown in pots, they should be repotted every second year with fresh soil.

When To Prepare Your Soil

Soil preparation can be done at any time that the ground is not too wet or frozen. Your trees may be planted even when temperatures are quite cool. If a hard frost is expected, it is advisable to delay planting for a while until temperatures become more moderate. Generally, as long as your soil is workable, it is fine to plant.

How To Prepare Your Soil

• Roots grow faster when they’re spread out. Dig the hole deep and wide enough so the root system has plenty of room to easily expand. Keep the topsoil in a separate pile so you can put it in the bottom of the hole, where it’ll do the most good.

• To loosen the soil, mix dehydrated cow manure, garden compost or peat moss (up to 1/3 concentration) into your pile of topsoil. Make sure the peat moss you get is either baled sphagnum or granular peat. You can also add our Coco-Fiber Potting Medium or 2 or more inches of organic material and work in evenly with the existing soil.

Your lawn can provide you with ideal organic materials such as grass clippings and shredded leaves. Not only will the grass and leaves break down to provide soil nutrients, but they will help loosen the soil as well. You can gather these in the fall with spring planting in mind.

Common soil amendments:

• compost
• sand
• manure
• lime
• peat moss
• sawdust

Adding organic materials, such as our Coco-Fiber Potting Medium and compost will improve most every soil type. Organic materials bind sandy soil particles so they retain moisture and nutrients better. They also break apart clay and silt particles, so that water can infiltrate and roots can spread.

Soil Types

• Clay and silt soils are made of very small particles. They feel slick and sticky when wet. Clay and silt hold moisture well, but resist water infiltration, especially when they are dry. Often puddles form on clay or silt soils, and they easily become compacted.

• Loam soil is a mix of sand, silt or clay, and organic matter. Loam soils are loose and look rich. When squeezed in your fist, moist loam will form a ball, which crumbles when poked with a finger. Loam soils normally absorb water and store moisture well. Loam soils can be sandy or clay based, and will vary in moisture absorption and retention accordingly.

• Sandy soils contain large particles that are visible to the unaided eye, and are usually light in color. Sand feels coarse when wet or dry, and will not form a ball when squeezed in your fist. Sandy soils stay loose and allow moisture to penetrate easily, but do not retain it for long-term use.

Fertilizing Tips

• Be sure not to over-fertilize because excess nitrogen will encourage growth at the expense of fruit production. This can often cause figs to ripen improperly, if at all.
• If the branches of your fig tree grow less than one foot the previous year, you should fertilize.

Fig Rust

Disease appears on leaves as a small yellowish-orange spots, then enlarges and spreads as the growing season progresses, eventually causing the leaves to drop.

Natural Control

• Serenade® Garden Disease Control

Fig Mosaic

Disease appears as large yellow spots on the leaves, then a rust colored ring surrounds the spot. Can cause fruit to drop and leaves to be smaller.

Control

• Remove and destroy all infested trees.
• Plant disease free trees.

Other Control Options

• Consult County Extension Agent

Root Knot Nematodes

Small worms that feed on roots and burrow into the root system and eat the roots causing reddish-brown lesions, leaves will turn brown and wilt. Roots swell reducing their ability to absorb water and nutrients.

Control

• Plant disease free trees.
• Remove and destroy all infested trees.

Other Control Options

• Consult County Extension Agent

Anthracnose

First appears as small black, yellow or brown spots on leaves, then spots enlarge and merge to affect entire area.

Natural Control

• Serenade® Garden Disease Control

Scale

Usually on bark of young twigs and branches, encrusted with small (1/16”) hard, circular, scaly raised bumps with yellow centers, may also be on fruit. Sap feeding weakens the tree.

Natural Control

• Bonide® Insecticidal Soap

Mealybug

Adults are ¼“ long, flat, oval shaped with a white waxy covering. Yellow to orange eggs are laid within an egg sac. Crawlers are yellow to brown in color. Over winters as an egg or very immature young in or near a white, cottony egg sac, under loose bark or in branch crotches, mostly found on north side. Damage is by contamination of fruit clusters with egg sacs, larvae, adults and honeydew, which promotes growth of black sooty mold.

Natural Control

• Bonide® Insecticidal Soap

Maintenance Pruning

• Weak, diseased or dead limbs should be removed each dormant season.
• Thin the blooms on older fig trees (which grow very little each year) to increase fruit size and to stimulate about a foot of growth per year.

Before you begin, read and follow all instructions on labels.

Natural Control

When To Spray

At the First Sign of:

• Serenade® Garden Disease Control for anthracnose and rust.

• * Bonide® Insecticidal Soap* for mealybugs and scale insects.

Container-Grown Guidelines

If your fig tree is growing in a container it will require watering more frequently. The best way to determine if your container needs water is to check the soil by inserting your finger into it. If the feels dry, water your container.

Ground-Planting Guidelines

Unless you’re in an area where irrigation is usually needed for normal plant growth, you probably won’t need to water after the first growing season. Until then, follow these steps to get your new trees off to a great start.

• If summer brings about an inch of rainfall every 10 days or so, you won’t need to use the hose. But if it gets really dry, you can give your new tree a good, thorough soaking. The best way to do this is to let your garden hose trickle slowly. This gives the water a chance to soak in instead of running off. You can also use a soaker hose to water several trees at once. Give your tree enough water to soak the ground all around the roots.

• It’s important to note that even if you’re in the midst of a brown-lawn drought, you don’t want to water too much. Once every 10 days or two weeks is plenty. Worse than dry, thirsty roots is waterlogged, drowning roots.

Winterizing Tips

• After the leaves fall, before severe weather arrives, wrap the branches with several layers of paper or burlap.
• Tie them together in a bundle, as tight as possible without breaking them.
• A final layer of tarpaper, oilcloth or plastic film should then be wrapped around and secured. (Make sure the top is closed so water can’t enter.)
• Remove the wrapping in spring just before new growth begins.

An alternate method is to grow them in large tubs or pots and move them into a cool frost-proof cellar or outside building over winter.

When to Harvest

Figs should be allowed to ripen fully on the tree. Fruit will be a brown/purple color when ripe. Microorganisms carried into the open eye of the fruit by insects will cause souring, so figs need to be picked as they ripen. Fresh figs will only keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

You may want to consider using gloves or wearing long sleeves when harvesting. Fig latex, exposed when the fruit is removed from the tree, can cause skin irritation.

Figs are ever-bearers and produce fruit on shoots that grow this year. Next year, they will produce the first crop of the season on wood that grew the previous year, and a second crop on the new seasons growth. In cooler areas, however, the second crop may not have enough time to ripen before cold weather.

Drying Figs

Figs may be dried in an oven or in the sun. In either case, choose fully ripe fruit to dry.

Oven Drying

1. Remove stems
2. Bring one-cup sugar and three cups water to a boil
3. Add the figs and simmer 10 minutes
4. Remove the figs and place them in a single layer on a drying rack
5. Place in 115-120°F oven for 10-20 hours. Leave door cracked open to allow moisture to escape.

Sun Drying

When drying in the sun, leave the stems on.

1. Wash well
2. Cut figs in half to the stem
3. Place cut side up on the drying rack & cover with cheesecloth or nylon net to keep insects off
4. Put the rack in the sun on a table, on a car or on a roof. Bring in each day at sundown.

Figs should be dry after about 2 days. Figs are dry when the outside is firm & leathery but pliable and inside is soft with no sign of juice. Store in refrigerator or freezer in moisture proof bags.