Southernfigsforum.com

Thank you for sharing your first fig of the year with us! I'm a little jealous since it may be a long time before any of my trees ripen a fig. They're all still very new. I don't get brebas on most of my trees because they're in-ground and they freeze down to the roots in the winter, killing most of the branches.

 It was wonderful to see your home orchard, though! How many trees do you have, and how do you organize them? Alphabetically? In order of ripening? By flavor profile? Or just randomly in the order that you acquired them or something?  And how do you water them all? Just watering seems like a full time job, but I bet it would also be a great video if you want to show us.

I learned a long time ago that one should never fertilize a plant that has dry soil/potting mix.  I always touch the top of any container before applying anything even if it's organic just to be on the safe side.  I use Miracle Gro All Purpose and other chemical fertilizers every so often, but ALWAYS make sure that the top of the root ball is damp. I now water at night if I am going to fertilize the next morning.  If I remember correctly about the cause of burning, it's because the plant absorbs the fertilizer too fast when it's dry.

If the tree was in container, I would have said that it was maggot but in the ground, I don't know but the problem started with the root.

Expert advice urgently needed!

The Fig Study that my gardening friend and I are conducting has been going great up until today.  I was at the site yesterday and everything looked fine, but when I went out to the site this morning, one of the figs had entirely wilted in the past 24 hours.  Please see photos. 

The soil is very moist but not wet. It is on a daily drip irrigation system and all the other figs on that line still look lush and green. 

The tree is about 22" tall, was an air layer taken on 9/23/21, overwintered in an unheated shed, leafed out this spring, and was planted at the study site on 5/15/22.  I see no insects or insect damage on the leaves.

Last week we noticed that one side branch had wilted, but I didn't examine it closer, thinking that perhaps it had been bumped or broken off.  That is the small lower branch that is browner than the rest.  However, upon examining the plant today, I see that the small brown branch is still firmly attached and I cannot see any reason for it to have just wilted. 

Can anyone advise me on what to do to save the tree?  What might be wrong with it?  Will it come back?  How long do we wait to see?  Should we pull it up to inspect the roots?  What are we looking for if we do that?  And if we find nothing, do we replant it or replace it with another tree?  This is a 10-year study, so I don't mind replacing this particular plant after only 40 days, but what if it's something in the soil?  We had the site tested for nematodes prior to planting and it came back negative (for the bad ones). 

HELP!  Any advice is very welcome. 

Susan, who runs the fig trial in Fort Smith, has used a comfrey slurry to doctor a sick fig in the past, so we're preparing that but it takes 2 weeks to steep.  Is there anything else we can do or test for?

If it matters, the variety is Takoma Violet, although we have the trees labeled A1, A2, B1, B2, etc.

This was the first year I got any of this fig variety.  I was hoping for something sweeter but nope, not this yr.  I also know this is its first yr so it still needs more time to mature.  Fingers crossed

Weight:          9 grams
Eye:               Closed
Skin Color:     Dark Purple
Pulp:              Dark Red, No cavity
Taste/Flavor:  Tasted like a fig.  A little sweet.
Seed:             Some seed crunch