How to Grow Fig Trees in Georgia
- 1). Choose a site on your property that is exposed to at least eight hours of direct sunlight and contains a fertile, well-draining soil. You want an acidic soil (pH 5.5 to 6.5). Conduct a soil test to determine if any amendments must be added to your native Georgia soil to create optimal growing conditions for your fig shrub.
- 2). Cultivate the planting site to a depth of 8 to 12-inches with a power tiller or garden shovel. Incorporate lots of organic matter to the soil, such as compost or well-rotted manure. Sandy soils in Georgia need organic matter to improve nutrient capacity and retain moisture. Clay soils in Georgia need organic matter to improve texture and drainage. Incorporate the organic matter well into a planting site that measure 6 by 6 feet square for each fig tree.
- 3). Plant the fig bush 4 inches deeper than it was growing in the container. Backfill the planting hole with soil that it has no fertilizer added to it, according to the University of Georgia Extension Service's recommendations. Planting the fig 4 inches below the soil grade encourages the sprouting of additional branches that will bear fruits.
- 4). Prune all branches of the newly planted fig back by one-third. Make the pruning cuts with hand-held pruners, making the pruning cuts 1/4 inch above a bud, leaf or lower branch junction.
- 5). Water the fig with a garden hose to compact the soil, wet the root ball and eliminate any air pockets. Grade the soil as needed to create a catch basin for irrigation or to even the overall planting site as soil settles. Monitor the soil over the next six months, supplementing rainfall to make the root ball and surrounding soil evenly and consistently moist (but not waterlogged or soggy).
- 6). Place a 3- to 4-inch layer or organic mulch over the planting area around the fig trees to suppress weeds, retain moisture, moderate temperatures and to provide nutrients.
- 7). The following winter, prune away all but three to eight main, vigorous-looking stems on the shrub. These "leaders" should be widely spaced from each other, as they will become 3 to 4 inches in diameter over the upcoming growing season.
- 8). Fertilize your fig bush with a balanced fertilizer product (for example: 8-8-8 or 10-10-10), sprinkling it in a circle around the center of the shrub to a distance of 18 inches. Fig shrubs need fertilization once in early spring (March) and again in mid-May and mid-July, according to the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. Established, older fig plants needed only one application of the fertilizer annually in early spring.
- 9). Monitor the soil moisture around the fig plants in the summer as flowers and fruits develop. As a general rule, the shrubs need 1 to 2 inches of rainfall or irrigation weekly. Yellowing leaves may mean the soil is too dry.
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