fig
When to prune fig trees?
- Botanical name
- Ficus carica
- Family
- Moraceae
Fig trees are pruned from March to June. They are planted from October to March. They are harvested from August to September.
Fig trees are woody perennials. The edible part is the fruit.
_in_Southern_France.JPG){kind=link}
Fig trees through the year
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
this week
Pruning
Planting
Harvest
15913172125293337414549
- pruning
- planting
- harvest
In short
Pruning
from March to June
weeks 10 to 26
Planting
from October to March
week 40 to week 13 of the next year
Pruning cut
in summer
Spacing between plants
2.5 m
First crop
after 3 to 4 years
Harvest
from August to September
weeks 32 to 39
Growing conditions
🪨
Soil
light and loamy
☀️
Sun
full sun
💧
Water
moderate water
❄️
Frost
overwinters outdoors
🧣
Overwintering
wrapped
📏
Height
3 to 9 m
🐝
Pollination
no pollinating variety needed
⚠️
Toxicity
toxic to people and animals, toxic part: sap
Pests and diseases
Listed here is every problem for which the sources name this plant as a host. The problems are not listed in order of how common they are.
Honey fungus
disease- Signs
- The plant dies suddenly, often in mid season and without any decline beforehand. Peel the bark at ground level and under it there is a white or cream sheet of fungal tissue, thin as the skin of a mushroom. In the soil there are black or brown strands like bootlaces. In late summer and autumn tufts of honey brown mushrooms with a whitish ring on the stalk appear by the stumps or over dead roots.
- Prevention
- The fungus spreads through the soil with its strands, from a few centimetres to a good hand's width below the surface, and infects the roots of a living plant when it touches them. So do not leave stumps and dead roots in the ground. No plant is completely resistant, but the source names privet, lilac, viburnum, weigela, forsythia, butterfly bush, rhododendron, thuja and walnut as particularly susceptible.
- What to do
- There are no products. The only thing that works is digging out and removing every infected root and stump, which takes away the food without which the strands in the soil do not grow. A vertical barrier of rubber or thick plastic sheet, buried about half a metre deep and standing a few centimetres above ground, stops the spread into an unaffected part of the garden.
Spider mites
pest- Signs
- Small pale dots show over the upper side of the leaf, with a generally faded look. In a heavy attack the leaf browns or yellows and the plant dies. When it gets worse, a fine web is visible between the leaves.
- Prevention
- Most at risk are the plants that stand in the dry air of a room all year. Mist regularly and raise the air humidity to lessen the trouble. Keep new plants apart from the others for a few weeks.
Spotted wing drosophila
pest- Signs
- A ripening, still firm fruit gets tiny puncture holes and collapses within days. In the flesh there is a white larva. Unlike the ordinary fruit flies this one attacks undamaged fruit that is not yet overripe, so it is not a sign that the fruit has already spoiled but the reason it spoils.
- Prevention
- Pick as the fruit ripens and leave no overripe, damaged or fallen fruit on the plant or under it. Pheromone traps hung on the shady side of the bush or the tree do not put the population down, but they tell you whether the fly is already about and when it is time to protect. In a garden beside a wood or scrub hang them at the boundary first, because the fly overwinters in the wild.
- What to do
- Once the fruit is set, protect it with a very fine net, the mesh under one millimetre, because an ordinary net against birds does not hold the fly back. On top of that, strict hygiene: remove and dispose of every overripe and fallen fruit.
Keep track of your plants with Tendask
Log the task and set a reminder for the next one. Every plant keeps its own history, so there is nothing to guess at.
Related plants
The plant below is in the same botanical family (Moraceae).
Sources about the plant: Clemson Cooperative Extension, GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, NC State Extension Plant Toolbox, Oregon State University, Royal Horticultural Society, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, Wikidata. Checked between 14 and 28 August 2026. The problem descriptions also draw on: EPPO Global Database.