Figs and Apricots

[julie]

Hi

Can anyone tell me if figs and apricots survive the winter or do they need to be kept in a greenhouse. I have seen figs planted in the ground and too big to be moved for winter but maybe these are plants bought here whereas mine has been transferred from the UK

We are in the Creuse and fairly high up.

Julie[I]

[Tresco]

Apricots I know nothing about, Julie. Sounds tender to me though.

The fig, if you bought it in England (or thereabouts) is likely to be hardy. Is it a Brown Turkey? (I'm going on memory here).

 

[julie]

Hiya

Not sure which one it is as i inherited from a friend . It did survive last winter in UK (lots of frosts and damp weather) but here it gets a lot colder and apparently the ground can stay frozen for several weeks. Poor ole fig tree.

Got apricot tree in a bubble wrap coat so I guess its wait and see with that one

Julie

[chris pp]

No problem with either, however Apricots should ideally be planted against a south or south west facing house wall as they are the earliest fruit tree to blossom and for good fruiting the blossom needs to be protected from hard frost.

Chris

[Tresco]

Re the fig: If it isn't planted in the ground yet, perhaps it's an idea to wait and think about a good place for it.

Mines within 3 ft of a south facing wall, and it's been fine so far.

I'd change the bubble wrap on the apricot for horticultural fleece, if I were you, unless it's just round the pot.

Edit: I see Chris has posted in the meantime. I think he's more 'with it' than me.

 

[Suze01]

My abricotier has been in the ground over winter with no protection when it's been down to -12, so quite hardy! Like ChrisPP says though, protect the early blossom from any frosts.

[andyh4]

Either plant in the ground or put in a greenhouse with some protection against frost.  The worst thing you can do is leave them in a pot on the patio - bubblepack or not.  Temperatures will drop - perhaps well down into minus double figures - and in that case the cold gets to the roots through the side of the pot.

Bubblepack will help protect when daytime tempertures rise above freezing, but if you have a week where the daytime high is still well below freezing then the cold eventually seeps through and can kill the roots of a plant.

 

If you want to keep them as pot plants then sink the pots into the ground and lift them again next spring.

 

 

[Llwyncelyn]

Chris is the expert but I think one of the largest fig orchards was in the UK and if my memory serves me well in Kent.

We are in (50) and figs are ok and our neighbour grows nectarines peaches and apricots without any problem.  However its mainly mild here.

However and I think Chris will agree but all the books say that you have to restrict the roots of the figs.  Thus square hole line it with stones bricks that sort of thing to stop the roots for otherwise great root growth equates to no fruit. Or in the alternative in a pot.

Also in the milder and colder climates I am led to believe that between the leaf axis joints on your fig should be figs the size of a pea  and which are next years crop.

Again and from reading and nothing else I seem to remember that in the summer and after you have seen five leaves then pinch out the growing point and thus forces the energy down the line and creates other growths.

In my earlier life I would have loved to have been Percy Thrower or Arthur Billitt from Ombersley in Worcestershire and to be able to have Arthur's soil................ Now those were the days and Gardeners World was superb.  Shows my age and yes I am a bit of an anorak.

[Missy]

I have a fig tree in Wales. It's against a south facing stone wall and its roots have at one time, long before I came to live in this place, been surrounded by the tarmac of the footpath going past that wall. Last winter was probably the most severe we've had that I remember and the fig tree did not mind in the least. I don't do anything to it but cutting the lower branches that overhang the footpath. Had plenty of fruits on it this autumn for me to make a few pies.

[Iceni]

We live in N Lot, on an exposed hillside at 464 m. We inherited 2 fig trees aged maybe 5/6, 1 tight against the S wall of our barn though protected by neighbour's laurel hedge 3 m high on the other side of ther little road, the other out in the open. Both survive our winters despite the occasional -10 and thrive. Don't worry if you lose the first crop there will be another in the autumn. Don't have an apricot but our vine peach seems to love the climate.

John

not  

[chris pp]

A little snippet on the subject of apricots.

"The Igdir plain crosses the eastern border of Turkey into Armenia, on the western edge of the apricot’s most fertile region. Although the apricot originated in China, it found fecund soil here in the terrain stretching toward Turkestan. In these plains, there are apricots small as marbles and big as peaches, white apricots, pink apricots and apricots so deeply purple they seem black".

In this region temperatures can fall to -45C in winter, so cold that if you touch metal your hand immediately sticks to it, anyone who has been there in winter will know all about that. Turkey is also where large quantities of figs are grown. It's not the winter temperatures that matter, it's a relatively early spring, followed by a long hot summer and ideally a prolonged warm autumn.

Almonds also blossom very early, and are also grown in Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, all Countries with extremely low winter temperatures.

Figs and grapes require relatively poor soil conditions, minerals are more important than richness of soil, so don't add compost or manure, by keeping the soil poor you will restrict unnecessary growth and encourage fruiting, which is what we want.

Apricots at my house.

Chris

 

[Jeanneclaire]

Chris your apricot tree looks great, could you please tell me which variety it is? do I need to look for any particular rootstock? do the number of the rootstocks follow the same as in England, do you cover it with fleece over the winter? do you pollinate it? if they are supposedly self fertile, is the fertility improved by having a second tree.  I am sorry to bombard you with all these questions, we are about to buy an apricot, you could probably save me making a tremendous mistake, also what length of wall would I need to plant two, or may be a  nectarine or peach alongside. 

Thanks for your patience

jeanneclaire

[julie]

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

Very helpful

Julie

[chris pp]

Apricots are rooted on plum stock, so you will get a full size tree which you can manage to suit your circumstances, fan train it on the wall or let some of the branches grow away from the wall.

I have no idea what varieties I have, sorry.  I have two completely different varieties, one produces huge fruits and the other lots of small ones, unfortunately, although it really doesn't matter to me, they were not marked, and the only two apricots there were, mixed in with a lot of apple trees by mistake I should think at a supermarket, here in France.

They are self fertile and you will need a fair bit of wall space, say 4 metres each, but you can train them above any windows.

We have found that once they get going they are very productive, we bottle loads as well as eating them fresh. Any pruning, as with plums, needs to be done when the tree is active, so early spring or just after fruiting.

If you ask your local nursery in France what is good locally, you should be OK.

Oh, pollination is greatly assisted if you can "arrange" for plenty of early bees (and flies) to be around at blossom time.

All organic, Chris