This is a blog I hadn’t really planned to write for a while. One of the species I’ve been wanting to grow as bonsai forever is edible fig, Ficus carica, also known as common fig. Many of you may grow tropical figs, of which there are seemingly countless species. It’s an area of bonsai I haven’t yet explored – but the edible fig is hardy so that makes it easier for me. No greenhouse, no heaters and so on.
Several years ago I dug a small fig from my mother’s yard and planted it in mine. It’s borne fruit religiously each year, with the crops getting better each year. A couple of years ago I finally got around to rooting a few cuttings – for any of you who grow figs, you know how easy they are to propagate. I now have a couple of those in the ground getting larger. Last year I rooted more, and this year those are in pots getting larger.
Here’s one that’s a twin-trunk in the making. I love the curves in each of the trunks, and I think I’ll be able to make something out of this specimen in a few years.
But here’s the really cool thing about this cutting that’s just a year in the making – it’s covered in figs! I haven’t had this happen before, though it could well be common. I’ve seen it happen on a young green island ficus cutting, but not yet on an edible fig. So I’m waiting now to harvest my first crop off this guy.