No fruit fig trees

thepurchases

I have a pair of container grown fig trees that are about 12 years old. Neither have ever produced any fruit. Overall, they are very healthy trees. I have tried pruning back hard and nipping the tops. I have noticed that there is only one node on the stem above the leaf which does produce a leaf if the stem is pruned. 
Are there varieties of fig tree that don't fruit or am I missing something. They were bought from Lidl with no description on what variety they were supposed to be.

Ceres

It's odd that your trees have never produced any fruit. One would expect them to come up with something in that time even if the fruits do not ripen. I cut my fig trees back regularly and have had a lot of fruit on them this year though I do not expect them to ripen in the ghastly weather we have been having recently.

Any chance of a photo of your trees?

Chris314

The best fig bearing tree I have ever seen was a cutting thrown out in the shady corner of my Dads garden, left entirely to its own devices, never pruned/fed/etc and for that matter he didn't even bother to harvest the figs (sacrilege!) .
Every year said tree was covered in large, ripe figs.
Maybe leave them alone for a couple of years ?

Suesyn

Our neighbours have a very neglected tree in a large black plastic pot (the sort you would buy a tree in). It stands in a south facing corner in the angle of 2 stone walls and is about 15/20ft tall. As far as I can tell it has never been pruned and they certainly don't pick the figs. It has brambles bindweed and overgrown raspberry  canes growing through it but the figs are delicious. We have had about 20 and the birds quite a few more. (I did have permission to pick them) They have grapes which the birds eat too but for some reason they cover their cherries so they can't help themselves! 

thepurchases

philippasmith2 said:

If you keep pruning them back as you describe, they will then counteract and produce more stems/leaves. You are therefore encouraging leafy growth as opposed to fruit.
On the whole, Figs are large shrubs/trees and resent the root restriction caused by containerising.
It will also depend on the size of your containers and the orientation and whether they have been in the same containers for 12 years.
There are several threads on the forum regarding Figs - have a nose round and see if you can pick up a few pointers

They have been in their 15 litre pots for about 3 years and are top dressed with a good mulch every year. I have only pruned them twice in their life just to see if it would make a difference. Thanks for the advice. I will have a look around but not come across an issue like mine before

strelitzia32

That is strange. I know the usual advice on container figs but I completely ignore it. I've got a 5ft fig in a small container (not sure what size but less than 15l I think). Every year i prune it back, take off the unripe fruit, trim roots and top dress. Feed and water regularly.

I get 2 crops of figs a year, 10 or 15 figs each time. Maybe I'm lucky, maybe it's the variety (donated tree so I don't actually know what it is), but ignoring the common advice works for me 

thepurchases

Ceres said:

It's odd that your trees have never produced any fruit. One would expect them to come up with something in that time even if the fruits do not ripen. I cut my fig trees back regularly and have had a lot of fruit on them this year though I do not expect them to ripen in the ghastly weather we have been having recently.

Any chance of a photo of your trees?

Hi Ceres, Thank you for tour comment. These are the 2 culprits. However, I was delighted to spot a single fig when i moved them to photo. There is hope Sadly, I don't think it will ripen but it is a positive start. Any tips for an improvement next year?

BobTheGardener

I would put it in a bigger container, something about 50cm dia., so about 40 litres.

Obelixx

I certainly agree a bigger container may help but it's not just potted figs that are shy about fruiting.  We inherited a lovely fig tree in this garden and were looking forward to lots of lovely fruits and the following spring there were hundreds of teeny fruits.  They all fell off or were nicked by the birds before they ripened.    

This has been repeated each year so this year OH took the pruning saw to it and has lifted the crown considerably in the hope that energy will be concentrated on fruits next year and I gave it a generous few handsful of pelleted manure.   Next spring I'll give it a good mulch of horse manure and see if that helps.

The galling thing is that there's one growing out of a hedge near us by someone's front gate that never gets any TLC and it is covered in luscious fruits.

Joyce Goldenlily

Fig fruit take 2 years to reach ripening and eating size. Are you removing the nucleus fruits. I love fresh figs, we had two big trees in my childhood garden. My neighbours now have a large fig tree in the garden but because they do not like figs cut it back each year to keep its size down. There was such a heavy crop of figs on it 2 yrs ago, I was dibbling in anticipation. Just before I plucked up the courage to ask permission to pick them this year, the top of the tree was removed. Not a single fig left. Ah well.

tui34

 Listen to this helpful advice from @Obelixx .  Pop your fig tree into a chosen spot - and just leave it to its own devices.  I have just picked XXXkg of black and "grey" figs for jam and chutney - the birds and wasps are welcome to the rest.