Growing Fig Trees in the South.mp4

Hey everybody, Jeff, the Executive Gardener. This episode is on one of the oldest fruits to mankind, which is the fig. So it's one of the oldest fruits that has been cultivated and it dates back I think 11,000 years ago. And figs are a delicious fruit, most of us know by eating them in cookies like Fig Newtons, but behind me is a fig tree. I believe this is a brown turkey fig tree. There's multiple varieties of fig trees across the United States and across the world. So a lot of people in the north don't know what a fig tree looks like because fig trees mainly grow in tropical climates like Florida, Southern California, Texas, and the like. And figs actually started out in Southeast Asia, it's believed, and then they were brought over to the Mediterranean area, so Greece, some of the Persian areas, and then the Spaniards actually brought the fig and the fig trees over to Texas when they settled in Texas. So you see in Texas a tremendous amount of fig trees all over the place and this is one right here. Again, most people know the fig from the Fig Newton and all that, but the fig is actually a fruit and this is what it looks like. A lot of people who have fig trees have eaten figs in the past, but when they try to eat it fresh from the tree, it burns their mouth. And the reason is that if a fig is not completely done, a completely done fig is soft. So this is soft to the touch, it's brown as you'll see, and if it's not completely done, there's an enzyme on the outside of the fig, it's called a protolytic enzyme, and that enzyme actually, protolytic means it's an enzyme that eats protein. So what it actually does is it will create, it'll burn your mouth and tongue and so forth. This one is done so there's no protolytic enzyme oozing from the stem. If I picked one fig that's not done, and I'll pick one, oh, there it is. So take a look, there's white milk-looking substance that's dripping from that, that is a protolytic enzyme. And what that's meant to do is it's meant to protect the plant and when a worm or something bites in or burrows into this, it drips on the worm, it literally will eat the worm, the enzymes will eat the worm, and that protects the fruit and pests from getting it beforehand. But this one didn't have that. Now what happens when that protolytic enzyme goes on your tongue, it's also called vicin, once it goes on your tongue, it will burn and create an unbelievable burning sensation. But this one doesn't. So let me show you how to eat a fig fresh, let's take a look at this. And you just simply break it open as such, and let me get a close-up, that's what a fig looks like. And from there, you can simply put it in your mouth like such. Ow! I'm kidding, no burn. There's no enzyme in there that burns your mouth. If you want to prevent it from burning, you can simply take the orange piece or the white part, and squeeze that out, and eat that by itself, but excellent. So figs are incredibly yummy, and this tree behind me, a lot of them are dropping, but probably has, I don't know, probably 200 figs, and about 50 of them are ripe, so I'm going to pick them up, we're going to use them for baking and make a whole bunch of stuff, but we're going to really enjoy. So we'll get a whole bag, we'll put them in a bag, but if you don't have a fig tree, I'd encourage you to do so. Now most fig trees that are based, that we sell these days, like the Mission fig or the Turkey fig, are self-pollinating, so the fruit will pollinate itself, it doesn't need a male and a female fruit to pollinate. This one, self-pollinating itself, I'm actually on a field trip now, because I'm doing this from a friend's backyard, and I'm really enjoying these figs. So the question is, what does it take to grow a fig tree? Well, they only grow in climates where the temperature doesn't go below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, which is difficult, that's why you'll mostly find them in Texas, Florida, Arizona, some of the tropical climates. The pH for the soil when you plant your fig tree should be between 6 and 6.5, and they do get about 15 to 20 feet in height, so you want to probably space them 15 to 20 feet apart, and this one is spaced fairly good. They do need about 7 to 8 hours of sun a day, and they need consistent water, okay? If you do all those types of things, and I would recommend once a year putting a good general tree fertilizer, maybe a 10-10-10 or a 20-20-20, around the base of the tree, keep them away from the roots, and it does a great job, but again, the key is it's going to have to be in a tropical environment. If you plant this thing in an environment where it gets below 20, curtains, you won't have any luck there. So this is the fig tree, there are plenty of figs to be eaten here, and I'm going to And again, to prevent the enzyme from burning your mouth when you eat a fig, only go after the ripe ones, and you can tell right away, if they don't have that protolytic enzyme dripping from the tip, you're probably okay. But obviously figs are extremely nutritious, a great part of the diet. One of the things I will warn you about, though, is once the figs get ripe like this, you need to get them off the tree, because we're not the only ones that like figs, the birds, the squirrels, and all that do. So what I'm going to do is do my work, pick as many figs as we can in one setting here, I'll leave my neighbor, my friends, some of them as well, but I hope you've enjoyed this little tidbit on figs. Many of you don't live in areas where you can go fig trees, but it's a great, enjoyable fruit, one of the oldest fruits known to mankind, as I talked about. 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