How long have you had the plants? When you bought them, what color was the fruit? Was it still green or was it that purplish-brownish color that Brown Turkey figs turn as they ripen?

The yellowing of the leaves simply indicates stress....and stress occurs in many forms: underwatering, overwatering, underfertilizing, overfertilizing, a sudden change in light exposure (from inside to outside arbuptly, or vice versa, or from underneath a shadecloth to full sun.no shade, etc.). Also, if you transported them home in the back of a pick-up, or even inside a vehicle that had all the windows rolled down, they may have suffered some windburn.

Everything you have read will say full sun, but: (A) full sun in Oklahoma is much more intense than full sun in say Pittsburgh, PA or Portland, OR; (B) going abruptly from some shade to full sun in summer high temps is going to stress plants; and (C) sometimes "full sun" plants will do better here if they have only 6 to 8 hours a day of our hot summer sun instead of 10 to 12 hours.

When we lived in Texas, our Brown Turkey figs had full sun until about 3 p.m. and then had shade from the house. They did just fine on that amount of sunlight. I don't have figs here in Oklahoma (wish I did), but in Fort Worth the early crop of Brown Turkey figs ripened pretty early--probably in May, and the main crop ripened in June or early July. So, the fig trees you purchased might have had some pretty mature fruit on them, which is why I was wondering when you purchased them and what color the figs were at that time.

My guess is that the problem is something physiological, and probably is a combination of the heat and sunlight, as well as the fact that the nursery containers they are in right now probably aren't large enough to hold them in for an indefinite period of time. It is hard for fig trees in a relatively small container to soak up enough water IN OUR CLIMATE to ensure proper fruit development.

If you want to talk to the experts, and I am sure they know a million and one things about figs that I don't know, go to the Fig Forum here at Gardenweb!

Good luck,

Dawn

We had big fig trees on my parents and grandparents farms growing up in California. I love them fresh or made into preserves. I had one in my back yard in Louisiana, too. So when I moved here and bought this place, I wanted one for my little farm here in Oklahoma too. A GW friend in N. Carolina sent my two cuttings several years ago. One survived, so I now have one little Brown Turkey Fig tree in my yard. :)

I grew it in a pot for a year before planting it out in the yard. I set it out in the yard among other plants the first summer and then brought it in and kept it in the greenhouse the first winter.

The next Spring in May, I planted it as close to the south side of my house as I could and still allow growth space. It is nestled in at the foot of my tall Garden Phlox, so gets a tiny but of shade at its feet. Otherwise it gets full sun. I harvested lots of yummy figs last summer. I was delighted.

In the fall when the first light frost came, I covered it with a bottomless metal trash can and packed it full of hay...and I mean packed it full. Covered that with a burlap sack and then covered it over with a big plastic trash can.

It wintered over fine. I have several little figs on it so far but hopeful to have a lot more.

I would say yours went into shock from a too fast environment change. Sheltered area -> to full sun and wind. Any or all of the things Dawn mentioned above could have played into that too.

Give them some shelter right away ( a sheet, some lattice panels, tree branches, boards,etc)...and be patient. You lost the fruit, but you can save the little trees.

Water it by deep soaking. They like soil with good drainage, but need a good long drink in between. Don't get water on their leaves. They can get fungus, but won't if you don't get water on their leaves. They need composted manure feedings several times in the summer. Don't dig it in as their roots are shallow (close to the surface) - just spread a little around in the water base in the drip line area (do not put it against the trunks). They benefit from having hay mulch under them to keep their roots cool and help retain some moisture.

Best wishes
Annie

My poor little fig froze back this past winter--I never protect it in any way,maybe I need to start--so I have no figs this year. I gave a friend in Ft Smith, 50 miles south of me, a start of it 3 years ago and this year she has several figs and is delighted. My fig gets both morning and afternoon shade and full sun only during the middle of the day, maybe 6-7 hours.

Thanks so much for all the info. Still learning my way around the site - I didn't even know there WAS a fig forum! Then I got busy and hadn't had time to respond to all your good suggestions. The good news is that once the initial drop was over, the fig trees settled down. I still haven't planted them but I give them all a really good drenching every evening. And I mulched around them even though they aren't planted. New fruit is forming, I'm not losing leaves, and some of the fruit that didn't fall is ripe and DEE-LISHUS! So exciting! We've had a shade garden for the last 25 yrs, so this sunshine and raising something you can eat is new (and fun). Only downside now is that the birds know to the minute when a fig is ripe and peck a big hole in it, so I'm going to have to net them (next year, I guess). I will get them planted soon, we've just got so many major slash & burn projects, beds to clean out, etc. This first year has been a killer! Thanks again.