Fig cultivation in Germany

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Fig in Obersöllbach in Baden-Württemberg

Fig cultivation in Germany is possible outdoors in protected locations in wine-growing areas . It is grown by enthusiasts, usually in home gardens and nowhere commercially. Usually the real fig ( Ficus carica ) is cultivated, only very rarely the Punjab fig ( Ficus palmata ). The choice of variety and location are decisive for successful cultivation.

Location

In Germany, fig trees thrive mainly in locations with a very favorable microclimate , which is found almost exclusively in inner-city areas in well-protected areas, such as on the south and west sides of heated houses or thick, high walls, in sunny courtyards or next to densely planted groups of evergreens Woods.

It is also possible to locate it directly on rivers that rarely freeze over, such as streams or small rivers. Slopes where the cold air can quickly flow away in winter are also advantageous. Only the St. Martin's fig thrives in the Palatinate in completely exposed locations outside of built-up areas, for example in a disused vineyard, in a way that is otherwise only known from southern Europe .

sorts

  • Autumn figs of the Negronne variety.

  • Flowering figs of the Negronne variety.

  • Figs of the Goldtropfen variety (Dorée)

  • Figs of the banana fig variety

  • Fig of Brown Turkey on the tree

  • Brown turkey cut open.

In warmer areas of Germany relatively hardy, self-fertile fig varieties
variety Winter
hardiness * 		overall
taste 		growth height Fruit
color 		Fruit
size
Blüh-
cowardly 		Fruit
size
autumn
fig 		Yield
Banana fig ++ ++ weak 3 m yellow-green 90-100 gr 60-70 gr high**
Brown Turkey ++ + strong 4-6 m brown 50-100 gr 30-40 gr high
Brunswick +++ +++ medium 5 m yellow-green 100-120 gr 50-70 gr low
Dalmatia ++ +++ weak 2 m light green 120-150 gr 90-120 gr medium
Dauphine + ++ medium 3 m green Brown 100-120 gr 50-70 gr high
Desert King ++ +++ strong 4 m green 40-50 gr no high
Gold drop ++ +++ weak 2-3 m golden yellow 90-100 gr 70-80 gr medium
Madeleine des
deux seasons 		++ +++ medium 4 m golden
yellow- brown 		100-120 gr 70-80 gr low
St. Martin's fig +++ +++ strong 5 m black no 10-15 gr medium
Negronne ++ +++ medium 3 m black 35-45 gr 30-40 gr medium
Ronde de
Bordeaux 		++ +++ strong 3–4 m black (rarely)      
40–55 gr 		35-45 gr medium
Pastilière ++ +++ weak 2-3 m blue-gray no 55-65 gr medium
Sultans + +++ strong 3–5 m black 55-65 gr 35-45 gr medium
* The difference in winter hardiness of these varieties is not very great; ** in southern Europe.

In order to harvest figs in Germany, one must cultivate varieties that bear fruit without pollination by the fig gall wasp ( Blastophaga psenes ), as this does not occur in Germany. Varieties from warmer regions that are not very cold - resistant and which thrive in pots in Germany , as the plants can be kept in rooms with little or no frost in winter, do not bear fruit if they rely on fig gall wasps for fertilization, which is the case with many varieties Southern Europe or California is the case.

The varieties Ronde de Bordeaux , Brown Turkey (synonyms: Blauer Pfälzer Fruchtfeige, Bornholm), banana fig (synonym: Longue d'Août), Brunswick , Dalmatie , Goldtropfen (synonyms: Dorée ) are considered to be very hardy and suitable for Germany because they are self-fertile ), Madeleine des deux seasons , Martin Feige , Negronne and Pastilière .

Ronde de Bordeaux is the best "all-round" fig. Brown Turkey is grown primarily for its high yield and is the most widespread variety in Germany. Brunswick and Madeleine des deux Saisons are particularly suitable for a climate that is not very sunny and warm. Negronne is characterized by a very good and peculiar taste, the St. Martin's fig because it is hardier than all others, Dalmatia because of its very large fruits and Pastilière because it bears the earliest autumn figs, which are immediately reminiscent of the late flowering figs of Brown Turkey connect. The Desert King variety only bears flowering figs and Dauphine is the only variety with more flowering figs than autumn figs.

Of all the varieties described above, there are quite old specimens in the southwest . The fig variety Florea (Michurinska-10) from Bulgaria is said to be very hardy. Other very hardy varieties are Hardy Chicago and Osborn Prolific , both of which come from North America and are highly recommended for German climates. Contrary to statements made by some tree nurseries to the contrary, the Bavarian fig Violetta and Ice Crystal varieties are not very hardy, especially Ice Crystal often freezes back to the rootstock even in very favorable locations in the warmest wine-growing climate.

It is strongly discouraged to buy fig trees of which you do not know the variety, as is often the case with offers in DIY stores or supermarkets, but this also occurs on the Internet and even in tree nurseries. These can be varieties that do not bear in Germany because the fig gall wasp is missing, that freeze back very easily because they are southern European varieties that are not suitable for the local climate, or inferior varieties that are only found in southern Europe grown as fodder. One should also be careful with alleged new breeds, because very often these are varieties that have been renamed by irresponsible tree nurseries in order to be able to sell them at high prices as improved new varieties. Fig. Breeding varieties of figs is a very costly undertaking that tree nurseries or gardening centers cannot operate on the side. So far, systematic humidification has only been practiced in the USA.

Winter hardiness

No fig variety in Germany is completely hardy, which means that sooner or later frost damage can be expected almost everywhere, perhaps with the exception of locations with a very favorable microclimate in the middle of a large city in hardiness zone 8a such as Cologne . However, there are varieties that are sufficiently winter hardy for outdoor cultivation in the warmer areas of Germany if they are suitably located and cared for accordingly. The winter hardiness of real figs is strongly dependent on the respective variety.

There are imported fig varieties - including most of the varieties described above - which can normally withstand temperatures down to −15 ° C and, depending on the weather, also briefly to around −20 ° C. According to Pierre Baud, the critical temperature for fig trees that are actually very hardy is around −16 ° C to −18 ° C, but, depending on the circumstances, fig trees can freeze to death at −12 ° C or withstand −22 ° C.

In the case of frost damage, only the thinner branches are often affected, in the case of more severe damage first thicker twigs and branches, then the upper trunk and only in extreme frost the entire trunk. The rhizome almost always survives and then usually sprouts again. Most fig trees regenerate relatively quickly after frost damage and often already bear in summer directly after the frost damage, even if it was very severe.

Frost protection through mulch , fir sticks or the like on the ground and by wrapping the whole plant or at least the trunk with reed mats, garden fleece or straw is very helpful in Central Europe to prevent or minimize frost damage, but depending on the location, not absolutely necessary.

Growing regions

Fig tree in Speyer .

Areas of hardiness zones 8a and 7b are particularly suitable for growing real figs . According to many years of experience, fig trees thrive and fruit very well in the appropriate microclimate in the Palatinate wine-growing region on the German Wine Route , on the Bergstrasse and in the Breisgau , but also overall in the Upper Rhine Plain , on the lower reaches of the Main , as well as on the Lower Rhine and in the Ruhr area . Cities like Mannheim , Mainz , Koblenz and Cologne have also proven to be very suitable. Fig trees also thrive in the Dresden Elbe Valley and on Heligoland . While winter temperatures are less of a problem along the North Sea coast , there is often a lack of sufficient sun and warmth in summer. The Brunswick variety is one of the varieties that are most adapted to such northern German climatic conditions .

Other German-speaking areas in which figs thrive are the area around Vienna , parts of South Tyrol and an area in Switzerland that connects Lake Constance with Lake Geneva and the southernmost parts of Ticino around Lake Maggiore and Lake Lugano . In the immediate vicinity of these Swiss lakes, the conditions are even excellent.

Above all, the Palatinate has developed into the home of many fig trees, estimates assume around 50,000 fig trees in the Palatinate. The well-known Palatinate wine village Deidesheim presents itself today as a place of exotic plants, including a lot of fig trees that grow all over the place. As early as 1908, the then mayor Ludwig Bassermann-Jordan had a Feigengasse built, in which many fig trees still grow today. Several Palatinate inns offer dishes made from local fresh figs. Not least to ensure that the innkeepers are supplied with fresh figs, the Palatinate has its own fig market. In order to meet the increasing demand for suitable hardy fig trees, there is even a special nursery for figs in the nearby Electoral Palatinate.

Ripeness and harvest

When it comes to figs, the right time to harvest is very important because figs do not ripen after harvest. You have to leave the figs on the tree until the desired degree of ripeness is reached, because only fully ripe figs develop their full aroma and full sweetness. The most important sign of ripeness is the softness of the fruit, which is usually accompanied by a sudden increase in size. A fig is ripe when the pulp does not snap back into its old shape after being gently squeezed, but remains slightly deformed.

In the case of blue, brown and reddish fig varieties, the change in color is the first sign of the beginning of ripeness. However, the color change is usually not enough for full maturity, which only allows the full taste to come into its own. A number of fig varieties show that they are fully ripe by the formation of small cracks in the fruit skin, especially around the small hole at the tip of the fig, the ostiolum. Some varieties even tend to rupture the fruit completely. It is also typical for full ripeness that the fruit skin loses its firmness and partially sinks in, whereby the whole fruit becomes soft. In figs that are yellow or greenish when fully ripe, darker areas often appear, indicating that they are fully ripe.

Fig trees in Germany bring one to two harvests per year, depending on the variety. The first generation of figs, the so-called flowering figs , normally ripen in Germany from June to August, with a focus on July, the second generation of figs, the autumn figs, usually from August to November, with a focus on September and October. It is not uncommon for some autumn figs in Germany to no longer ripen. Unripened autumn figs normally do not survive the winter outdoors, but when cultivated in pots, which are brought to warmer rooms in winter, it is quite possible that these figs will ripen in the following spring. There is usually a gap of three to four weeks between flowering figs and autumn figs of a fig variety. However, the autumn figs of very early varieties follow directly on from the flowering figs of very late varieties.

Ripe figs can often not be removed from the tree without damaging the fruit. It is not uncommon for the stem or even the upper part of the fruit to tear off, which is why harvesting with pruning shears or a knife is advantageous. When harvesting, the milky sap of the fig tree, the fig milk, often escapes, which causes skin irritation in some people who are sensitive to it. In this case, gloves are recommended when harvesting.

cut

Fig trees also bear fruit without a cut, which is why a cut is not absolutely necessary. However, the cut allows the tree to be shaped, for example to limit it in height or to give it the most favorable shape possible. Depending on the variety, a clearing cut is necessary so that all parts of the tree are well exposed. In the case of varieties that strive strictly upwards, such as Sultans or Desert King , it is advisable to cut back the central shoot so that the tree branches better and does not grow too high too quickly.

Usually figs tolerate the cut very well, but the prerequisite is that they are not cut in winter, but only in spring when there is no longer any threat of severe frosts. It is advisable to cut so much that the shoot growth is neither too strong nor too weak, whereby shoot lengths between 20 and 70 cm are advantageous. An annual, moderately strong cut is preferable to a radical cut every few years.

Varieties that only produce autumn figs bear very well even after they have been pruned heavily , whereas varieties that produce flowering figs require enough annual shoots from the previous year for the setting of flowering figs. A strong pruning can therefore lead to fewer flowering figs. In addition, a strong pruning leads to the autumn figs ripening somewhat later, but they then ripen over a longer period of time. Unfortunately, this also often means that many autumn figs no longer ripen. A summer pruning during the growing season, which usually takes place after the flowering figs have ripened, is also possible and is usually well tolerated.

The pinching of shoots in June, July and August, promotes fruit setting, also carried the earlier by pinching.

Multiplication

Cuttings of the fig variety Ronde de Bordeaux 24 and 46 days after potting

House figs can be carried relatively easily cuttings multiply and cuttings, as they take root with relative ease. You can either cut about 2 to 5 internodes or about 25 cm long cuttings in the winter dormancy and then put them into the soil so that only the last bud protrudes. Dormancy is only weak in figs, so the fig cuttings, even if they are cut immediately after the leaves have fallen , can easily sprout immediately afterwards. Propagation by cuttings in summer is also possible. A very simple way of propagation is by means of root saplings , which can be easily separated from the mother plant.

Finishing

Refinement is also possible in fig cultivation , but is rarely used for propagation, since fig cuttings form roots very well. However, if you have a fully grown fig tree that does not produce good-tasting fruit or that only bears so late in the year that most figs no longer ripen, grafting with a better variety is definitely an option. It is also possible to refine several types of figs on one tree, so that figs can be harvested continuously from the end of June to September through different varieties on one tree (for example Brunswick, Desert King, Brown Turkey, Pastilière and Ronde de Bordeaux) .

The grafting of figs is easier than many other plant species since both the auzuschneidende eye is larger than in other species and the receiving branch. The inoculation is often possible as early as June and usually results in the eye budding in the summer of grafting and not in the following year.

Pests and diseases

Imago of the fig butterfly ( Choreutis nemorana )
Typical web of the fig leaf butterfly

Pests and diseases do not play a major role in fig cultivation in Germany. In regions in the southwest, where there are a relatively large number of fig trees, the fig tree has been introduced, which lays its eggs in a white web in which the caterpillars also develop. It damages the leaves of the fig and causes not only feeding spots but also bends and discoloration. However, there is usually no major damage to the plant and the fruit. Usually, by collecting the caterpillars and pupae, the population can be limited to a level that is hardly damaging.

Another pest is the fig leaf sucker ( Homotoma ficus ), which has only been increasing in Germany since 2014/2015. Aphids occasionally appear on fig trees, but usually cannot reproduce well there, which is why there is hardly ever a damaging infestation. The fig mosaic virus , with which almost all fig trees are infected, but which only emerges under stress conditions, can also damage the fig tree .

literature

  • Christoph Seiler: Figs from your own garden. Verlag Eugen Ulmer , Stuttgart 2016, ISBN 978-3-8001-0809-1 .
  • Pierre Baud: Le Figuier: Pas à pas. Aix-en-Provence 2008.
  • Pierre Baud: Figues. Vaison la Romaine 2005.
  • Steven Biggs: Grow Figs Where You Think You Can't. No Guff Press, 2012.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The fig harvest in Kraichgau and Palatinate is in full swing in the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung .
  2. ↑ Christoph Seiler: Figs from your own garden. Stuttgart 2016, page 26.
  3. ↑ Christoph Seiler, page 78.
  4. ↑ Christoph Seiler, pages 19-20.
  5. ↑ Pierre Baud: Le Figuier: Pas à pas. Aix-en-Provence 2008, page 54.
  6. ↑ Christoph Seiler, pages 64, 76/77, 78, 80, 86.
  7. ↑ Fig tree: Fig varieties.
  8. ↑ Michurinska-10 at floristae.de.
  9. ↑ Michurinska-10 at palmi.bg.
  10. ↑ Ficus Carica Hardy Chicago / Mongibello at feigenbaum1.wordpress.com.
  11. ↑ Ficus carica - The fig website: Ice Crystal /
  12. ↑ Fig varieties: Bavarian fig at feigensorten.de.
  13. ↑ Jules Janick & James Moore (Eds.): (1975) Advances in Fruit Breeding , pages 568-588: WB Story: Figs, West Lafayette, IN, USA 1975.
  14. ↑ Allen Van Deynze (Ed.): 100 years of breeding: UC Davis Plant Breeding Program. , Davis, CA, USA 2008.
  15. ↑ Pierre Baud: Le Figuier: Pas à pas , Aix-en-Provence 2008, page 53.
  16. ↑ Christoph Seiler, page 31.
  17. ↑ When are fig trees hardy? at mein-mediterraner-garten.de
  18. ↑ P. Keil, R. Fuchs, C. Buch, R. Schmitt: Real figs (Ficus carica) in Mülheim an der Ruhr after the cold winter of 2008/2009. In: Decheniana . Volume 163, 2010, pp. 61-70.
  19. ↑ Christoph Seiler, pages 65–66.
  20. ↑ Ulrich Traub: Journey to the Palatinate figs on schwarzaufweiss.de.
  21. ↑ A paradise for rare plants on deidesheim.de.
  22. ↑ Ulrich Traub: Journey to the Palatinate figs on schwarzaufweiss.de.
  23. ↑ The fig harvest begins in the Palatinate - Palatinate Fig Exchange opens on proplanta.de
  24. ↑ Real fig! Now is harvest time for the sweet energy donors on nachrichten.at.
  25. ↑ Pierre Baud: Le Figuier: Pas à pas. Aix-en-Provence 2008, pages 70-71.
  26. ↑ Christoph Seiler, pages 102-103.
  27. ↑ Christoph Seiler, pp. 41–43.
  28. ↑ Pierre Baud: Le Figuier: Pas à pas . Aix-en-Provence 2008, pp. 43-45.
  29. ↑ Christoph Seiler, pages 34–36.
  30. ↑ Christoph Seiler, pages 36–37.
  31. ↑ Pierre Baud: Le Figuier: Pas à pas , Aix-en-Provence 2008, page 20.
  32. ↑ Christoph Seiler, pages 39–40.
  33. ↑ Christoph Seiler, pages 48–51.