Black Mission Fig - Ask Extension
Five or six years ago my wife bought a small Black Mission Fig. We transplanted it from the nursery's pot to a larger one. It's been in the larger pot...
Knowledgebase
Black Mission Fig #877274
Asked July 15, 2024, 11:16 AM EDT
Five or six years ago my wife bought a small Black Mission Fig. We transplanted it from the nursery's pot to a larger one. It's been in the larger pot ever since. For two or three years it fruited. By spring 2023, it looked unhappy, possibly dead in parts, so I pruned it. The fig recovered but (perhaps because of when I pruned it) did not produce fruit in 2023. It's green now but shows no sign of fruit. I've suggested planting it many times but we haven't. Should we try to plant once it/if it cools off a bit?
Baltimore County Maryland
Expert Response
Are you certain of the variety?
Black Mission figs are not as cold hardy (zone 7-11) as the ones we generally recommend for Maryland. Have you been wrapping or taking the pot into a protected area in the winter?
Here is our page on Growing Figs in Maryland:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/growing-figs-maryland/
If you are sure of the variety and want to get it in the ground, which may be iffy but it will be happier if placed/cared for well, we'd recommend planting it in a protected area or micro-climate if you have one, like next to a warm brick porch and wall.
Normally we'd suggest waiting until the cool and increased moisture of fall to plant it in the ground but to give it more time to grow roots you could do it now but would have to be religious about keeping it watered, and maybe even give it a shade tent/cloth on the hottest days to prevent leaf scorch.
Christine
Black Mission figs are not as cold hardy (zone 7-11) as the ones we generally recommend for Maryland. Have you been wrapping or taking the pot into a protected area in the winter?
Here is our page on Growing Figs in Maryland:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/growing-figs-maryland/
If you are sure of the variety and want to get it in the ground, which may be iffy but it will be happier if placed/cared for well, we'd recommend planting it in a protected area or micro-climate if you have one, like next to a warm brick porch and wall.
Normally we'd suggest waiting until the cool and increased moisture of fall to plant it in the ground but to give it more time to grow roots you could do it now but would have to be religious about keeping it watered, and maybe even give it a shade tent/cloth on the hottest days to prevent leaf scorch.
Christine
