Common Fig, Edible Fig, Higo 'Brown Turkey'

On Sep 10, 2018, Stan_in_NJ from Trenton, NJ wrote:

Dependable bearer in central New Jersey (zone 6a). Gets very sweet if allowed to ripen to slightly-droopy-stem stage. Ripe fruit attract hornets, and split if much rain. Winter-hardy in ground with bedding down and tarp plus woodchip cover (stems under 3/2" caliper only!) -stems must be neither too dry nor too wet. Fruit large, soft, copious, early by comparison with Chicago (much smaller but no splitting), Green Ischia (same size, fewer but firmer and more caprified taste), Black Mission (shy bearer, and the hornets start chewing even before ripe), and a few other cultivars.

On Aug 31, 2017, dreamwild from Green Lane, PA (Zone 6a) wrote:

My dad has 2 Brown Turkey Figs that have survived uncovered with hardly any stem/branch injury through our last 2 winters here in PA zone 6. They are planted under an over-hang on the south side of his house. They propogate easily from cuttings and grow tall quick and produce a good amount of figs, but they keep dropping most of the figs before they ripen. I would say its a nice tree but I have 2 fig varieties that I like better so far: Black Mission and Chicago Hardy. I like them better because they have produced more fruit for us than my dad's Brown Turkey. They even produce fruit the same year they are rooted from a cutting, which the Brown Turkey did not do.

We have our Black Mission Fig tree planted on the South West side of our house in an area where we set up a hoop ... read morehouse for the winter and it does great there. Chicago hardy is supposed to be more cold hardy than the other two varieties, so we planted ours far away from the house and did not cover it durring deep freezes. It died down to the base and grew back in the spring and is producing fruit.
Our chicago Hardy and Black Mission Figs have shorter spaces between the branch joints than the Brown Turkey branches so the figs grow in closer groups toward the ends of the branches. They also apear to be more dwarf in size for a longer time but I read they eventually will grow taller than the Brown Turkey if they are not kept trimmed.

On Feb 28, 2016, YLcalif from Yorba Linda, CA wrote:

Here in California, we are in the midst of an extended drought and I've got a Brown Turkey fig tree on a hot, dry slope of sandy soil with limited water. Under these tough circumstances the tree stays at about 5 feet tall with sparse fruits that are chewy rather than succulent. This variety does much better in gardens with rich moist soils but it CAN survive during extreme droughts.

On Sep 19, 2013, gammaneetz from Garden City, MI (Zone 6a) wrote:

I purchased my fig tree 3 summers ago and kept it as an indoor potted plant until the next spring. It was planted out, along the south facing wall of my house, and it did well. It did produce a few fruit that first year. It died back this past winter as I did not do anything to it for protection. It did come back this spring and is bearing a good amount of fruit. I just don't know if I will have had enough summer this year for the fruit to ripen. We'll see how things go this fall.

On Jun 18, 2011, oscarkat01 from Rochester, NY (Zone 6a) wrote:

I have this plant growing near a south facing wall. I had 10-15 fruits the first year and it was very small. It survived our brutal Rochester winter and is coming back mostly from roots but one branch made it too. I have not done anything special to it but a slightly thicker mulch layer over winter.

On Sep 7, 2010, suentommy from Souderton, PA (Zone 6b) wrote:

Brown Turkey Fig Trees are a very easy plant to grow. I had one at my first house, just outside of Philadelphia and then planted one here about ten years ago. I do nothing to it and it keeps growing year after year. The foliage is always healthy looking and it does not seem to be bothered by any pests. Drought doesn't seem to affect it either. There is some stem die back at the tips in the winter but the plant has never died all the way to the ground. There is no winter protection provided other than that given by a slight windbreak of cherry laurel. Each year we get a fair amount of figs off the tree - and while they are not huge they are very tasty, Unfortunately my dog also finds them very tasty and there are very few figs from about the four foot level on down. I found him in t... read morehe tree this morning looking to see if he missed any.

On May 30, 2010, blueflower19 from Lufkin, TX (Zone 8b) wrote:

I wanted to try my hand at air layering, and read the ficus family was easy to do, so I decided to experiment on the 'Brown Turkey' fig at our old house. I peeled the bark back to the cambium layer on a branch that had the thickness of a pencil, which was fairly easy to do with an exacto knife. I wrapped the wound in sphagnum moss that had been soaked in water over night. I secured the moss with kite string. Then I wrapped the moss in plastic cling wrap and just kept it moist. After a few weeks I could see the roots through the cling wrap and when I felt there were enough I cut the branch off right below the new roots, removed the wrap, moss and string, and potted it up. I did this fairly early in spring - about late March - and my new fig tree made a couple of figs that summer.
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On Mar 16, 2009, RosieDay from Greenfield, NH wrote:

I have a potted Brown Turkey fig which I bring into the garage (min. temp ~ 40 degrees) in the winter. Got a few delicious figs the first year, more the second, and looked like many more were developing the third season but none matured, despite fertilization and regular watering, with a good deal, but not all day sun.

On Jul 23, 2007, BrooklynJon from Brooklyn, NY (Zone 6b) wrote:

I have my Brown Turkey in a container. For the winter, I moved it into my unheated garage, watering it twice. So far it's doing great this year, growing vigorously, and getting started on its second crop of figs. Big, juicy figs. Yum!

On Sep 25, 2006, MsCarolanne from Madison, AL wrote:

I have just moved into a house in AL and this beautiful tree is growing heartily in my backyard. It brings fond memories of my childhood where my grandfather had one in AR. This tree is about 20' tall and just beautiful. I have small fruits appearing for the fall-bearing time but they seem small. I'm not sure how large they should be. I am happy to learn that I should mulch, but can you tell me with what? I love the way this tree looks, it 'feels' cool in the yard and I have seen a variety of songbirds flitting in and out of the dense foilage. I also love the thick furry-feeling leaves. If I can figure out how to harvest the fruit successfully that will be an added bonus!

On May 31, 2004, nick89 from Tallahassee, FL (Zone 8b) wrote:

Brown Turkey figs make nice trees and are quite popular in here in Alabama. They have no major pest problems. The fruit takes longer to mature than other figs and splits when it rains. I personally think brown turkeys are kind of bland and the skin rough but they are okay.

On Mar 28, 2004, clv from Columbus, OH wrote:

I have this fig planted in the city, along a south facing brick wall of my home. We wrap it for the winter in a heavy paper bag filled with leaves. It has made it thru the winters without die back for the last few years and is doing well.

On Nov 24, 2003, suncatcheracres from Old Town, FL wrote:

There is a huge Brown Turkey fig tree growing in my 97 year old Aunt's yard in South Georgia. This was originally her Parent's, my Grandparent's, home, and I believe this fig was planted by my Grandmother in the 1950's, as it has always been there during my lifetime. Every summer this ten foot tall tree, probably kept pruned by my Aunt's almost equally ancient yard man, is literally covered in the most delicious, medium sized figs, with a pink-red flesh and a dark purple-brown skin. They can be eaten fresh out of hand, or put up as a "preserve" in canning jars for later use.

I recently bought a small fig tree labeled 'Everbearing,' but the grower said this term is used interchangably by fig nurseries with 'Brown Turkey,' and the few dozen figs I got from this little tree... read more this past Summer were exactly the same as the fruit from my Aunt's 'Brown Turkey' tree.

I also recently purchased a booklet about growing low-chill fruit trees in Florida, where I live in zone 8b, and it says that figs have been grown since Biblical times and will grow all over Florida from the Panhandle to the Keys, and "like limestone soils with a high pH of 7.0 or more" so they do well planted by the foundation of a house, which is usually more alkaline due to the leaching of concrete foundations, walkways, driveways, etc. In more Northern climates figs freeze back to the roots, but resprout vigorously again in the Spring. Older plants are more hardy and can survive 15F degrees or lower.

Figs bear in their first year after planting, and usually produce two crops, in the Summer and in the Fall. My new fig tree had some figs this past Spring and again in July, so I hope it lives up to its 'Everbearing' name. I planted it in a low spot in a perennial bed, surrounded by several types of water loving iris, including Louisiana iris 'Black Gamecock," and planted some sprouting garlic found in a grocery store close by its trunk as an insect repellent. Country folk, who often have their washing machines out in a shed, will usually drain their wash water into a bed of fig trees, as they are heavy feeders, and can handle the heavy phosphates found in detergents and also like a lot of water. Supposedly the only serious pest of figs is nematodes, but heavy mulch helps the tree roots resist them.

I recently attended a plant propagation session, and the speaker used some fig cuttings in his demonstration. He simply put the 6 inch cuttings in a sandy soil in a pot and put them under a mist system located under a protective screening, without even using rooting hormone.

'Brown Turkey' is the most popular fig tree in the South, and the fruit is absolutely delicious.

On Jun 27, 2003, planter64 from Alexandria, VA (Zone 6b) wrote:

Michael Dirr in his Manual Of Woody Landscape Plants says that excessive cold will cause injury and it is best grown in Zone 7 and south. Dieback can occur further north but new growth will appear.