Fig
Ficus carica
Family: Moraceae
The edible fig is one of the first plants that were cultivated by humans. Nine subfossil figs of a parthenocarpic (and therefore sterile) type dating to about 9400–9200 BC were found in an early Neolithic village (in the Jordan Valley, 13 km north of Jericho). The find precedes the domestication of wheat, barley, and legumes, and may thus be the first known instance of agriculture. It is proposed that this sterile but desirable type was planted and cultivated intentionally, one thousand years before the next crops were domesticated (wheat and rye). In ancient Palestine, fig-cakes were often produced from selected ripe figs.
Figs originated in Western Asia and made their way to the Mediterranean in prehistoric times. They became one of the very first cultivated fruit trees, probably as early as 4,000 B.C. in Egypt or Arabia.
The Spanish brought figs to the Americas, and they became important plants to the tropical and subtropical regions like our own. Figs have been found at old abandoned haciendas and mine camps still persisting without water after a century or more. After periods of suffering from lack of water, or being cut down, figs can re-emerge with a vengeance.
FIG POLLINATION IS FASCINATING
Did you know that figs are parthenocarpic? That means they can develop fruits without fertilization.
Fertilization can only occur with the presence of a fig wasp (Blastophaga psenes). Because B. psenes relies on Ficus carica to breed, it is found in regions where this fig species grows. These wasps' native range is in Southern Europe near the Mediterranean Basin. B. psenes has been introduced on other continents to ensure that Ficus carica bear fertilized fruit there. Here's a video for an in-depth look at the pollination process which is absolutely wild and bizarre.
There have been attempts at introducing them in Arizona, but so far, we don’t have these fig wasps. But a fig wasp species has been found at the University of Arizona campus on another species of Ficus, native to the tropical deciduous forest of Sonora. Most Ficus species have an associated fig wasp species as a pollinator and there are several Ficus species native in nearby Sonora.
GROWING
Fig are easy to grow in Arizona but they need care while they are young. Plant figs in full sun in amended soil—make sure the soil is well-drained and not overly compacted. During the first few years, they will need more water as their leaves are large and the root system needs time to develop.
Young fig trees in the ground are not drought tolerant and should be watered every two days during the growing season. Water established trees every 7-10 days when fruiting starts, through the hottest months of the year. Yellow and dropped leaves, fruit drop, and fruit shriveling before becoming ripe are signs of insufficient water. Reduce irrigation to once a month from late fall through late winter to avoid freeze damage.
You can get away with feeding once a year, but if you want copious fruit production, feed three times, in late February, mid April, and late June.
Most people over-prune fig trees. Avoid the temptation to expose the trunk—this doesn’t make your plant into a tree, but exposes the trunk to possible sun damage. Fig trees don’t need pruning, they just need room to grow.
USING AND PRESERVING FIGS
Though figs are probably most often eaten fresh, they can also be used dried, made into jam, chutney, used in sauces, or added to salads.
Figs can be preserved by drying, freezing, or made into chutneys that will store in the fridge for a while.
Figs are easily dehydrated—in our dry climate you can dry them outside over the coarse of a day or so. You can also use a dehydrator, or the warm setting on an oven.
You can freeze figs individually on a cookie sheet, then transfer them to a bag.
COMMON FIG VARIETIES FOR OUR REGION
Black Mission The classic, mostly commonly planted fig grown in our region. Medium to large fruit, purple to black skin, red flesh, resin berry flavor. The tree grows 25-30' tall.
Brown Turkey Medium to large fruit, brown to purple skin, red flesh, sugar flavor. This tree grows 15-25' tall and as wide.
Desert King Small fruit, yellow skin, strawberry red flesh, honey berry flavor. This tree grows 8-10’ tall.
Kadota Medium sized fruit, yellow-green skin, amber flesh, faint honey flavor. This tree grows 15-25' high.
Violette de Bordeaux Small fruit with purple-black skin, red flesh, resin berry flavor. This dwarf tree grows 6-10' tall and 4-5' wide. This is one of the most cold-hardy figs.
Kadota fig photo by Chic Bee
MISSION GARDEN FIGS
Over the years, people with the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and Mission Gardens have been preserving fruit varieties found at old homesteads, missions, former indigenous settlements and abandoned towns in the borderlands of Arizona, Sonora, and Baja California.
Sosa Carillo Black Mission Fig Sourced from the historic Sosa Carillo house in Tucson’s Barrio Viejo. Leopoldo Carrillo’s descendants believe he acquired the cutting for that tree from the original Mission Garden during the 1880s. First crop, or breva, ripens in late May, early June. The second crop ripens in mid-July. Young plants are somewhat frost sensitive.
Ruby “White” fig sourced from an old tree in the ghost mining town of Ruby, AZ. Starts ripening in June. Green skin and pink flesh. Less frost sensitive than Black Mission.
Oro Blanco Sourced from Oro Blanco, a former mining town south of Ruby, AZ. First crop starts ripening in late May, second in early July. Less frost sensitive than Black Mission. Small fruits, when ripe, have pinkish to purple skin and pink flesh.
Quitobaquito Originally sourced in the 1980s by Gary Nabhan and Wendy Hodgson from the last surviving trees of an orchard in the O’odham settlement of A’al Waipia, known as Quitobaquito Springs, and now part of Organ Pipe Cactus National Forest. Stock preserved and reproduced at Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix.
Precidio This is basically a black mission fig, but propagated from the enormous old tree at the historical Precidio in downtown Tucson.