Fig tree

[WildMatt84]

So I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong here. I have had a Celeste fig tree for 3 years now and it has grown beautifully and produced an abundant amount of fruit every year. But none of that fruit has ever ripened. I have a sprinkler system in the back yard and it gets about 20 min of water every other day and I have always used fruit tree spikes to fertilize it. Anybody have any recommendations?

[MadHatter]

Sounds like lack of water.
20 min every other day isn't much depending on the size of the tree.
Figs have shallow roots.
What is your soil like.
Which spikes, Jobes 10-13-13?

[lab man]

Here is some good info.

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/fruit/Figs/figs.html

[WildMatt84]

Sounds like lack of water.
20 min every other day isn't much depending on the size of the tree.
Figs have shallow roots.
What is your soil like.
Which spikes, Jobes 10-13-13?

It’s sandy houston soil. I can’t remember what the spikes are pretty sure the package just said fruit tree

[twistedmidnite]

I was told by a guy I work with that figs ripen after they are pollinated. They are pollinated by a tiny tiny wasp that flys inside of the pod to the flower inside. Haven't looked into it though lol.

[Greenheadless]

It’s sandy houston soil. I can’t remember what the spikes are pretty sure the package just said fruit tree

Sandy Houston soil?

Man, I wish I had sandy soil over here, or even a little assemblance of sand in this rock hard gumbo clay.

[RifleBowPistol]

I would say, it's not a result of lack of water. We have had fig plants, or bushes, whatever you want to call them, two places where we have lived. Both times, the figs had been there long before we moved in. Both places, we never watered them never did anything to take care of them. Every year they would produce figs.
The last place we lived where there were fig plants, I would notice there were small figs on the plants, weeks later there were still figs growing, then numerous weeks later, they were finally getting to a decent size. The fruit does not seem to grow very fast at all.

I saw you said the soil is sandy. Both places we had fig plants, the ground was black clay and typically hard as a rock. So I would say figs probably prefer dry soil. Both times we had fig plants or trees, they were quite a ways from the house, quite a ways farther any any water hose we had, so I know they never got watered. I know the one we had when I was a kid, was probably 8 ft. tall, every year, it had lots of figs. The last place we had fig plants, they were only about 2 ft., to 3 ft. tall, a bunch of short bushes, in about a 12 ft. diameter clump. Those had figs on them every year. I am going to guess the cattle eating them regularly, is why they never grew very tall, I would bet they were well fertilized. Where those figs were, was under a huge live oak tree that the cattle liked to hang out under.

You may be dealing with the same problem we have been dealing with, with our peaches. We don't have any bees where we are and very few humming birds. As soon as I have time to deal with keeping bees, I am going to get a few nucs of bees.
I am sure that's why our peach trees don't produce any peaches. Every peach tree we have bought, had flowers on them when we bought them, most of those flowers turned to peaches. Since we have planted each of the trees, they have lots flowers each year, but hardly any peaches. Out of six trees, we might get three or four peaches.

[turkeyhunter1]

Fig trees don't need a lot of water.

There are two kinds of trees. Ones that need wasp to pollinate, and newly developed breeds that don't need wasp.

The wasp lives in side the fig fruit. If your tree needs wasp and the tree has never been pollinated before, you probably won't have rip fruit.

You can find a existing tree and bring some rip figs to your yard. Drop the rip figs on the ground around the tree. You should start getting figs in a year or so.

Cool thing about figs. Every one you eat has a dead wasp inside.

[Brazman]

There are no fig wasps in the United States except for certain areas of California. So, if you buy figs that were grown in California, there’s a great chance they have wasps in them.

Celeste is known to drop Thig’s if it receives water in consistently or does not get enough water. This season, you might try feeding it more heavily with fish fertilizer, throw in some Epsom salt and some bonemeal around the base of the tree, and then try watering it more frequently especially during the 100° days and see if that helps.

[Brute Killer]

We had a fig tree when I was growing up here at the ranch, in sandy soil, that was about 8 ft tall and in about 14 ft wide. It was not watered regularly. It put off a lot of fruit.

[Walker]

Give it another 1 to 2 years most figs mature in 3 to 5 years