Ficus carica 'Brown Turkey'

Native to Syria and Persia, the fig tree was originally introduced to Britain by the Romans and Ficus 'Brown Turkey' is a self-fertile cultivar which can be grown successfully outdoors or under glass. The fruit takes up to 12 months to develop in the United Kingdom and are usually edible in August or September after the previous years flowering.

They grow best when trained against a sunny, warm wall as the reflected heat helps ripen the fruit in summer.

• Position: Hot in full sun.
• Soil: Well drained soil. Ficus carica 'Brown Turkey' will tolerate dry soils and is drought resistant.
• Hardiness: Hardy. A very cold, prolonged winter may cause die back on some shoots, but it will recover well in the following year.
• Flowering Period: June - September.
• Flower Colour: Green
• Rate of Growth: Moderate.
• Habit: Small branching tree once established.
  • Height: 6 m (20 ft) if left unpruned.
  • Spread: 6 m (20 ft) if left unpruned.

• Pruning: Prune in late spring to remove any frost damaged material and thin out new shoots to ensure that plenty of light will reach the inner branches. This will help stimulate fruit production.

• Notes: Ficus carica 'Brown Turkey' should be planted with a restricted root run outdoors to encourage fruiting and reduce over development. This can be achieved by either planting it in a large container, or digging quantities of gravel, stone, old terracotta pots, etc into the planting site. If planted into a nutrient rich soil, fig trees will usually produce huge amounts of new growth, lush leaves and very little fruit.