Fig lovers can choose from hundreds of fig tree varieties. These differ in leaf shape, growth strength, frost tolerance as well as taste and color of the dummy fruits. However, the flowers of numerous fig species must be pollinated by the fig gall wasp, which does not occur north of the Alps. Therefore, you should only use varieties that produce fruit without cross-pollination.

Hardy Fig Trees

Due to the fruit development without prior fertilization, the harvest yield of the house fig (Adriatic type) is greater, which is why these varieties are now cultivated on a large scale. The fig trees not only thrive in the warmer wine-growing regions and in well-protected places, they are also frost-hardy down to minus twenty degrees Celsius. However, in our latitudes, these fig tree varieties only produce ripe false fruit once a year in late autumn.

Choice of variety: Depends on the future location

If you are planning to plant a fig, you should consider the site conditions in your garden and choose a suitable variety from the wide range available. Not all varieties are suitable as container plants that can be overwintered indoors, because they do not set any fruit in the cramped planter.

Particularly tasty and robust fig tree varieties

Listing all fig tree varieties is beyond the scope of this article. Therefore, only a few representatives that are considered very hardy and thrive well in our latitudes are listed below:

  • Dalmatia: Grows well even in rainy areas. Suitable for tubs due to its compact growth. Large, sweet and aromatic fruits that ripen from the beginning of August.
  • Dauphine: Bears many large, green-violet pseudopods, even when cultivated in pots, which taste excellent and ripen from the beginning of August.
  • Madeleine des deux Saisons: Loves a sheltered and warm location where it produces numerous yellow-green striped, juicy-sweet tasting fruits. Early fruit setting already from the end of July. In very mild years, this fig even bears twice.
  • Negronne: Small blue-black fruits that connoisseurs consider to be the tastiest.
  • Palatinate fruit fig, St. Martin, Lussheim, Violetta: Fig tree varieties cultivated in Germany, which are very robust and temporarily tolerate temperatures down to -15 degrees.

tips and tricks

Fig tree varieties, the cultivation of which has been tried and tested in our latitudes for decades or centuries, are often preceded by the term "recognized" or "old" variety in the plant description.

Category:

Indoor plants