Desert King Figs
Though figs are of Mediterranean origin, they thrive and fruit well in the Pacific Northwest. They produce small embryonic fruit each year in late summer that over winters and ripens the following summer. They are self fertile. There are a few tips that can make a fig a successful addition to the fruit garden.
Site Selection
Figs will do best if planted in a warm site. Though they can be grown in the open, planting them against a south or west wall can increase ripening success in cooler summers. They prefer a well drained, sandy soil. If the soil is especially heavy, consider building a raised bed or mound for planting. Sandy soil and raised beds warm earlier in the summer, increasing the growing season. Figs are somewhat drought tolerant. Figs can also be grown in large containers, which can be over wintered in a garage, shed, or greenhouse.
Winter Protection
The first few years in the ground, protect the trunk of the fig by wrapping pipe insulation around it in the winter, after the leaves drop. Once the fig is well established, it can resprout from its roots if severely damaged by an especially hard winter. Container grown figs should be moved into a protected location for the winter, such as an unheated garden shed or garage. If left outside, the pot should be wrapped with insulation.
Pruning
Unpruned multi-stemmed fig
Figs can be grown as a single trunk tree, or as a multi-stemmed bush. They can be espaliered into a fan shape. We find that the most productive method of training is to treat them as a multi-stemmed bush. Pruning is done in two phases. In early spring, before the tree breaks dormancy, remove any winter damaged wood, thin out weak shoots, and, on older trees, remove older, non-productive wood to the ground. The goal of this pruning is to keep the fig open to light and air circulation, and to stimulate new productive wood. The second pruning is done in early to mid-summer, and consists of pinching the new growing tips once they have extended 4-6 leaves. New side shoots will grow from these leaf axils, which will then produce embryonic figs in their leaf axils that will remain small enough to over winter and ripen the following summer. Without this summer pinching, the tree will often set fruit too early, and the fruit will grow too large to over winter successfully. In late fall, after a hard freeze, remove any unripe figs that are larger than a marble; these will not overwinter.
Harvest
Figs usually ripen over a several week period in August in the Pacific Northwest. They are ripe when the fruit droops on its stem and becomes quite soft. If we have rain while they are ripening, the base of the fig will sometimes split and exude a sugary juice. This is very attractive to wasps, so keep the ripe figs picked! You can eat the figs fresh (they will store a day or two in the refrigerator), dry them, freeze them, or make fig jam. Try halving fresh figs and threading them on skewer for the grill- they are great as a side dish or in salads.
So bottom line…which Fig Variety produces the best?
Desert King has the longest track record, and it it the fig we have the most experience with. I know of at least one grower in Whatcom County who has multiple trees in the ground of Desert King, in the open where the Northeaster can be brutal, and he still crops enough that people watch his farm stand for their harvest.
I am trying to understand our healthy and productive green fig tree here in Mount Vernon.
The tree is about 20ft tall. It produces large green juicy figs which appear on what looks like last year’s growth. There are hard small figs on what looks like newer green growth.
Is this tree dependent on wasps?
If we pinch off the newer small figs, will we be limiting next year’s production? Are the ripening figs now the result of these little green ones from last year? Or are the figs we pick this year from a separate crop?
So you are correct, the figs that sized up and ripened formed on last year’s new growth, and overwintered as tiny, pea sized fruit. On this year’s new growth, you are getting tiny hard figs forming- if those are small enough, they will overwinter and be next year’s crop. If they get much larger than a small grape this summer, they probably will not survive winter and will drop off and not mature, so it is okay to pinch those off. But you want to leave the really little ones as those will overwinter for next summer. The point of pinching new growth tips in June and early July is to delay the setting of those little figs, making sure they are small enough to overwinter for next year. Without pinching, many will form a little too soon and become too big to overwinter.
I would like to buy a Desert King fig tree this week. How much would one cost and how big? Will I need a pickup to come get it?
I see you ordered 2 1 gl figs, so I guess your question was answered. We’ll have some slightly larger ones later, but they are not fully rooted into their pots yet.
Does it seem likely that a fig tree could survive Seattle’s mostly rainy winter – outdoors – having been planted in a pot, against a south wall…without adding winter protection to the pot or trunk? The type of fig tree I obtained was a Madeleine of Two Seasons.
I’m not familiar with that cultivar, but most fig varieties we grow could probably work in a pot in Seattle….we’re colder up here and recommend potted figs go in a cold greenhouse, shed or garage while dormant for a little extra cold protection. Plants in pots have their root zones fluctuate more in temperatures than ones in the ground. And I would still advise extra protection during unusual cold spells ( we had some the last 2 winters).
What is best size for a container to grow the fig tree in? Also, was informed that if planted in my above ground garden bed I should do something to limit the roots to produce more and better fruit. Is there truth to this?
My only experience growing figs for fruit is in the ground, not in pots (we grow the trees for sale in pots of course). Here at Cloud Mountain, we did try growing figs in 7 gl pots in a greenhouse for a couple of years, hoping to fruit them, but they were pretty unproductive, and pot size could have been an issue. I would say a 15-20 gl pot would be minimum to produce fruit well, and be prepared to protect the pot in winter as roots are usually less hardy than the tops. Their root systems do get pretty big, but have never been a problem for me at home.
I am having a terrible time growing figs. I live in Beavercreek, OR (at 700 ft). I have put 3 in a field and used pallets screwed together on three sides with S side open. I’m trying to keep the wind down with this protection as well as the added heat from the wood being near the trees. I protect them in the winter. Last year, I got 5 figs off one tree and nothing this year. I need a specialist to help me. I REALLY want to grow figs.
It may be your pruning (or lack of pruning) that is keeping your figs from being productive. With our cool summers, we usually can only get the breba- overwintering- crop to ripen. If your trees set that breba crop too early in the summer, that fruit will be too big to overwinter. Our handout under Growing Tips recommends summer pinching to keep the figs from forming until later. A commenter recently posted a link to a similar article- Growing Figs in the PNW- Rick Shory/ – that basically accomplishes the same thing. I’ve also found maturity does make a difference to production, with young figs not producing as well as mature figs.
Thank you for an excellent article. I’m only about 75 miles from the Canadian border and this information will be most helpful. Some I learned the hard way and the new information will be incorporated into my 3 fig trees for maximum yield and survival.
Anyone heard of a Panache Tiger Fig tree? I have one coming and I was wondering if anyone has one of these and what your success was in growing one. I’m excited to see what it produces.
Thank you! Stay well!
From what I know, that fig requires pretty hot summers to ripen fruit. More suggested for southern areas. But any fig is worth trying! Give it the hottest spot in your garden.
Has this tree worked out for you??
I reside in Washington and recently purchased a desert king about 2 feet tall. It currently only has leaves and no fruit. I am worried it will be too young to survive winter. Would you advise I plant it in the ground now or keep it in a pot and plant next spring when it is bigger?
I would plant it and then insulate it this fall when it loses its leaves. The sooner it establishes a root system in the ground, the better. We always recommend some winter protection the first couple of years after planting, and it’s easier to insulate a small plant. Use the foam pipe insulation on all branches plus a mulch, or use chicken wire to form a tube around the tree then fill will straw to insulate. Remove the insulation in mid-to-late March as spring arrives. You can also keep it in a pot, move it into an unheated but protected space for winter and plant in spring, but I would still protect it the fall/winter after you plant.
I live in SW Washington and have a 4yr old fig tree. I think it is a brown Turkey. It has been very productive but always tries a second harvest that never ripens. Would the pinching that you described be helpful?
I also have some starts in a pot on my deck. You recommend a 20 gal container, how big is that ft x ft.
Thanx for any help!
The purpose of pinching is to try to get the tree into one crop per year. The pinching makes the breba/overwintering crop the dominant crop. That is probably already what is ripening for you. Pinching may make that crop bigger, and discourage the tree from trying to get a ‘main’ crop as well (delays the set of the main crop so those fruits are small enough to overwinter).
Typically, a pot big enough for a fig (20 gallon or larger) is going to be 20″-22″ wide, and at least 16″ deep.
I’m looking to plant a few figs, and wondering how tall I should plan on them getting, and what kind of spacing I should allow? I was thinking a single row of a handful of trees, but might do 2 depending on the spacing. Thanks!
It depends a little on variety. Desert King can definitely get big, at least 10-12′ high and wide. Lattarula is also pretty vigorous. Other varieties like Neverella (Osborne Prolific) and Olympia are more compact. The do fruit on new wood, so pruning to keep them a little smaller is fine.
I was thinking 1 or 2 of each, and growing them as multi-stem shrubs. I’ll just plan on planting them 12 or so feet apart then. Thanks!
I have 3 fig trees, live in Bellingham. I usually bring them inside my house in the fall, my house is always at 70 degrees. Is that bad for them?
If they are thriving with that routine, it’s probably fine. They do appreciate a dormant period, which would happen if they were moved into a cool garage or shed.
Can I plant a fig in the fall, or should I wait until spring?
If planting in the fall, try to plant fairly early, before October. Once the leaves fall, wrap the tree to further protect it from winter weather. One way of wrapping is to use closed cell insulation, or use wire fencing around the tree and fill with straw.
I bought a PNW hybrid fig from you 2 seasons ago -I can’t remember it’s name – it’s green/looks similar to Desert King and I recollect choosing it b/c its bred for the PNW . It is planted in a sunny southwest facing spot. It is still alive but it just doesn’t seem to be growing very much. The soil in the area it is in had a lot of clay when we first bought our house but over the years, we’ve added mulch & sand to improve it. Any suggestions to help the fig thrive? (I have covered it with leaves & burlap for the two winters I’ve had it).
Perhaps White Adriatic or Lattarulla is the variety? They are green skinned (like Desert King). The variety could also be Olympian, which is lower growing and multi-branched, and does not grow very tall. When you amended the soil, did you mix it in at the depth of the roots, or only at the surface? It could be that the soil is still too wet, or that it became drought stressed in the summer months if the soil drains well. For best growth, keep the soil moist and apply a fruit tree fertilizer in spring/summer.
Can you help with a resource guide for pruning figs? I have a healthy 10+ yr old Desert King that I’ve pruned into a sort of lose free-standing fan shape that works well for its side yard location. It’s getting a bit tall and gangly so I’d like to prune it to fill out a bit but remain compact and retain its general shape. When I tested with a spring prune of one small side shoot, it grew straight up at a nearly 90 degree angle so now I’m prune-shy. Any tips or a resource I should seek out? Thanks!!
The best fig pruning discussion I saw came from an older pruning book by Christopher Brickell, now out of print. Similar information is in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Guide to Pruning. My own experience is remove old wood at the end of dormancy (late March or early April) then pinch terminals out of new shoots in June and July. We also tie branches into place if they are getting unruly (ours is a loose fan on the south side of our house). Don’t be shy about pruning older wood, but the summer pinching is the key to high production and dense form. Desert King is hard to keep compact as it is so vigorous.
See the excellent Rick Shory article on pruning figs to get fruit: https://rickshory.wordpress.com/2019/11/13/growing-figs-in-the-pnw/
Good article! I’ll recommend it to people for detailed fig pruning. I think our summer pinching method is somewhat equivalent to Rick Shory’s summer pruning- his method will definitely keep the tree smaller.
I have a fig tree – name unknown – last year had great fruit – this year lots of fruit, but none have ripen
And it is getting pretty big and needs to pruned. Can you recommend a person? I had an arborist to prune last year and it still is too big.
If you are local/Whatcom County, contact
Whatcom Pruners Cooperative for help. They specialize in fruit trees.
Is there a similar organization you can recommend for King County?
I don’t know of any. I would reach out to your local master gardeners extension, nurseries, or the center for urban horticulture (CUH) for recommendations.
Can I plant a fig tree now or should I hold it in a pot until March or April?
I would wait until the danger of hard freezes is over, late March or April depending on your location.
I moved from the Midwest to NE Washington state in September. I could not bring my Brown Turkey fig with me, so I cut off a 3’ branch and made 5 cuttings that rooted well. They have been in my heated house, in 1 gallon pots. At this point should I put them in my unheated detached garage? We are expecting temps in the 20s before Spring. Thank you!
If they’ve been inside in warm temperatures and are actively growing, I would wait to move them out until late spring. If they are rooted but haven’t pushed any growth, it might be safe to move them, but not if the temperatures in the garage could drop below freezing. Next year, if you are going to container grow the figs, you can move them into that garage after they have gone into dormancy.
Do deer like to browse fig trees? Wondering how deer resistant they are.
Figs are probably the most deer resistant fruit tree there is, but in high deer pressure areas they may still get browsed. And of course, nothing is immune to antler rubbing. I would recommend caging young trees until they are well established and growing vigorously.
My Desert King is well established. No fruit for the last 2 years. It gets full sun. Am I pruning wrong?
I prune the limbs shorter in spring. That’s all.
The figs for each summer overwinter on last year’s wood, near the tips, as pea sized babies. You may be pruning off the fruit.
Early on I made the same mistake and also wondered why I wasn’t getting any fruit. It’s tempting to just prune for the sake of keeping the tree contained and tidy but in the case of figs, you will be cutting off all of that year’s fruit, as Terry says. Fortunately you’ll have figs next year since the sections of new wood that grew over the summer this year, will produce your fruit next year.
Sorry, just saw that your comment was from ’21. Hope you enjoyed a good harvest this year!
I live in Packwood Washington which is right at the foothills of the cascades at 1200 feet. What variety of fig is best for this area. We do get snow during the winter.
The standard fig for Western WA is Desert King. Most winters, established trees come through with no damage. This past winter was an exception, but established trees are recovering even though there was damage-they can resprout from the root system if damaged. The trick with your location is getting the plant established. Protect it the first 3-5 years in the ground, either by wrapping trunk and limbs with pipe insulation and mulching the roots, or by caging the whole tree with hardware cloth and filling around the tree with straw or other insulation that won’t hold water against the wood. Snow can actually help insulate the tree.
Do desert king figs in Washington state pollenate from wasp?
No. The wasp pollinated figs are another species.
I had a good Breba crop this year but did not pinch the new growth tips early summer so the main crop figs are already too big to overwinter. Should I clip them off, so the tree doesn’t continue to put energy into growing the fruit? Next year I will pinch the new growth tips. Thank you!
Living in Newcastle I have the same issue as Carolyn’s note Sept 11, 2022 but on a 5-year Brown Turkey planted in full sun all day when the sun is out.This is the 1st year fruit has set.
I’ve never pruned and it’s now Sept 5, 2023.
Is this a lost cause?
Brown Turkey can be a difficult variety for the PNW because it requires lots of heat. If you never get a breba crop from your tree, it might be better to try a different variety. The second crop growing on new wood is not likely to ripen. As Terry always suggested, Desert King remains one of the best figs for the PNW.
How much can I prune a potted tree? Moving to the PNW soon and I’m hoping to get my 2 trees manageable for taking with rather than having to leave them behind. I’ve never pruned them before so I’m not sure if I should, or how much to cut, or when. 😅
You can prune pretty hard while dormant, but you will potentially lose your fruit for the year. Figs respond pretty well to being cut back hard. You may have to spend some time then reshaping them over the next couple of years.
Hello, any tips on growing a black mission fig in Mill Creek, WA? A friend of mine in California has started a fig tree for me from a clipping of the three that my Dad gave to her Dad years ago. It has great sentimental value to me and I’d love to be able to keep it alive. Could it survive in a container? I worry that the ground might be too wet for the fig in my area. Thank you.
Black mission is a ficus carica, so it should grow here as well as any, but probably will not produce well as it is a variety that needs a long hot growing season to set and ripen fruit. You can grow it in a large container but it would need to be wintered in a cool shed, garage, or greenhouse as they are less hardy in containers.
Thank you. Do you think it will survive outside close to the house under the eaves? Should I insulate the pot and water it in the winter? Thank you.
Insulating the pot will reduce winter damage to the roots, making it more likely to resprout if the top dies back. Keeping the soil moist but not wet can also help to insulate the roots. Some over head protection, such as under the eaves on the S side of a building is your best bet if you want to keep it outside year-round.
Last year I cut my 20 year old desert kings to the ground because they were out of control. I didn’t have good information on pruning and management when I originally planted them and my plan now is to keep them more shrub like. Is that even possible? Currently, there are multiple shoots at the base of the old trunk – and they’ve grown 3 feet since spring.
Growing figs as a multi-stemmed shrub is recommended to keep the productive wood within reach. This article on pruning figs was shared by Thom in a previous comment https://rickshory.wordpress.com/2019/11/13/growing-figs-in-the-pnw/. You can also look at the picture on pruning in the article above for guidance. It sounds like you made a good start by cutting the trees to the ground.
I am currently growing a mission fig in central WA. I move it outside in the late spring, and back indoors when we frost. What is the best fertilizer to use with a potted fig?
Pots in Figs usually require more added nutrients than those in the ground. A balanced fertilizer that includes micronutrients will work best. Look for something around a 10-10-10 NPK ratio.
The best time to fertilize would be in spring just as the leaves are breaking dormancy.
I am in Bellevue, WA. I bought my house a little over 4 years ago. It came with a large fig tree (15-20′ high), which I think is the dessert king fig tree. I have a good amount of figs this year (now early August), some green (started in the spring, so I think these are breba crop from last year), and some just came out perhaps 1-2 months ago, now turning red (I assume these are the main crop). The green figs are bigger in size than the red ones in general. They are both now ripening at the same time, both deliciously sweet (as sweet as honey/candy). (1) I thought the main crop needs fig wasps, which we don’t have in WA. I am confused. I also have a few green fruits simply drop as a whole, well before ripe. Are these the main crop that needs fig wasps? But they are the bigger green figs, which started in spring. That is breba, not main crop. I am confused. (2) After reading & watching more videos, I think I will prune the tree 1/4 this year so that the height won’t be so difficult to manage.
The majority of commercial fig varieties do not need wasps for pollination. The crop on last year’s growth is the breba crop; the figs that appeared in spring. The figs on the new growth are the main crop, which does not ripen reliably in the PNW without a warm microclimate. Immature fruit drop may be due to drought stress.