Pick figs only when they are ripe

Q: I have a question regarding my fig tree. This tree is approximately three years old. Last year, we had a small but yummy yield of figs. This year it appears we will have double the amount we had last year. I have found two figs that seem to be ripening (as far as the color goes) but when I split them they are not ripe and the middle is rotten. Any clues on what could be the problem? We are really looking forward to this season's crop.

A: Fig fruits must be picked when they are ripe. They do not ripen off of the tree once picked. The method I use to tell if they are ripe is to either lightly squeeze the fruit to see if it is soft or look at the neck of the fig (thin part of the fruit that supports it). The neck will collapse and the fig will begin to droop when ripe.

You can have firm fruit one day, soft fruit the next day and rotten figs the day after that. Figs must be checked daily at the time of year when they ripen.

Remember that we have at least two and, in some protected locations, possibly three crops of figs during the year depending on how the tree was pruned. The main or middle crop of figs is coming in now.

There are several things that could be causing an internal rotting of figs, all of them either disease or insect related. It is very difficult to identify without a pathologist.

There are some things that you can try to minimize this type of problem. First, make sure any old or mummified fruit that remained on the tree from last year is removed and disposed. Remove any fruit that you think might be currently infected.

Any fallen fruit of any kind, particularly citrus, should be picked up from the ground and not allowed to rot there. This can be a source of insect problems that can contribute to fruit rotting. Sanitation (keep ripe and damaged fruit picked) is extremely important.

Q: Last year I harvested about 25 lemons from my Myers lemon tree. This year I find the tiny lemons on ground. I also don't like the light color of the leaves. I fertilized in March with tree spikes and sprayed the leaves with Miracle-Gro fertilizer. If you look closely at leaves they are yellowish. Is this too much water?

A: I looked at the picture you sent and there are couple of things I noticed.

The yellowing leaves is most likely due to a lack of available iron to the tree. This could be partly due to your frequency of watering. We would typically apply iron fertilizers to trees in late January or February to help prevent this. But you still should address the potential watering problem.

The reason I think you may have a watering problem is because your picture shows you have flowers planted beneath your tree. Usually, when plants are growing together, all the plants get the same frequency of watering as the one that needs it most often.

Flowers require water applied more often than trees because their roots are not as deep. This watering frequency is usually too often for fruit trees. Watering fruit trees too often can lead to an iron deficiency.

Underwatering fruit trees does not lead to an iron deficiency but would cause the leaves to scorch on the edges. Underwatering also would probably not support the growth of flowers beneath the trees.

If you are going to grow something beneath your fruit tree, then you should grow something that is deep rooted like the fruit tree.

The most frequent reason for fruit drop is a short period of drought. Our early spring weather was hot cold hot cold. If you missed an irrigation when it got hot and the tree was stressed, it could experience fruit drop.

To get the leaves greener you will need to apply iron fertilizers in the early spring. I recommend using an iron chelate that contains EDDHA as the chelate. Follow the label directions. It should be done each year.

Q: As you had suggested, our apricots ripened very well when picked just before the birds got to them. Now our plums are getting close to full growth. Will they ripen if I picked them before the birds attack them? Also I have a golden delicious apple tree that has produced only small apples. They tasted pretty good, but there was very little meat to them. This year I'm watering more and gave them three food spikes early in the year (first time I ever fed the tree). The tree is loaded with apples. Some are in bunches of two to four. Others are growing alone.

A: We like to pick fruit at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Orchard in North Las Vegas just before the birds attack them. Many fruit will continue to ripen after being picked, as you found with the apricots. Plums are the same way. This is not true of figs or table grapes.

As soon as you start to see some bird damage, I would begin to pick the ripest of the fruit first and continue to pick every two to three days over the coming two weeks.

To get large fruit there needs to be a balance between the amount of fruit on the tree and the amount of leaves. The leaves feed the fruits sugars for good development. If there are too many fruits and not enough leaves, the fruits will be small and not "meaty."

When fruits are enlarging, they need to have adequate water or they will not get very large and may even drop from the tree.

So, after bloom it is critical to remove excess fruit or, in other words, thin the fruit so that the remaining fruit can get large. The remaining fruit will not get large if the water supply to the fruit is not adequate. Make sure that you are watering regularly and the plant is not under stress as the fruit is developing.

Apricots are thinned so they are about 2 to 3 inches apart. Apples and pears are thinned when they are the size of marbles so that only one fruit remains in each cluster. I hope this helps.

Bob Morris is an associate professor with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. Direct gardening questions to the master gardener hot line at 257-5555 or contact Morris by e-mail at morrisr@unce.unr.edu.