Identification

• The common fig (Ficus carica) grows fast and spreads its twisted branches wide. The tree can reach 50 feet in both directions, although many backyard specimens stop growing at about 30 feet. Figs prefer Mediterranean climates; in winter freezes, the tree often dies to grow back as a multi-stemmed bush. Fig leaves are vibrant green, sometimes large as tennis rackets and deeply lobed, although they turn yellow and fall from the tree in times of drought. Fig fruit -- the succulent fig -- usually ripens on the tree toward the end of summer.
  
  

Water

• The fig has significant foliage to feed. The green leaves form so thick a cover on the spreading branches that they create solid shade below, preventing any other plant from growing there. Roots spread even wider than the tree crown. Fig tree roots run horizontally, close to the surface of the soil, to take advantage of precipitation. If spring is particularly dry, the fig tree suffers drought stress and drops its leaves even before the fruit has formed.
  
  

Sun and Temperature

• Fig trees need heat and light to thrive. The trees need some sun just to produce leaves, while full sun all day long is the recipe for a full, ripe fig harvest. A fig that is over shaded by the heavy leaf cover of other trees or building shade can drop its immature fruit and lose its leaves. A single, heavy spring frost after a fig tree emerges from dormancy, also threatens the leaves and crop.
  
  

Sufficient Space

• Gardeners with small backyards prune fig trees to fit their space, planting them in pots or espaliering them against south-facing walls. However, an outdoor fig tree needs adequate room to spread its branches and roots. Gardeners who severely cut back a fig reduce and often eliminate the crop. Removing sections of surface roots can kill the tree. Either action, in extreme cases, can cause a fig tree to lose its leaves in spring.