Hello, I bought a house that has (had?) a beautiful fig tree. The owner told us it was the thing that saddened him the most about selling. We told him he can still come and collect figs no issues. But to our surprise, the tree did absolutely nothing since April (purchase date) and it started cracking. While I am quite competent with plants I know nothing about trees, and my gut feeling is telling me it’s pretty much dead and has been for a while? Husband thinks it may still be saved. I checked google maps satellite and it was indeed HUGE and beautiful a couple years ago 🤔
I don’t think we killed it, as we did nothing to it and had cero hints of growing anything in April. I don’t want to contact the former owner as I feel awful 🙈
I am based in Spain, close to Tarragona in case it helps. Attaching some pictures.
Can someone guide us through this, please?
by violetpauline
2 Comments
Does lightning cause this? I’ve never seen a tree crack before
It’s dead, or at least the top portion of the tree is dead. The wrinkled, black-ish bark at the tips shows that these are gone. The splits in the trunk are a sign that the whole died a while ago and is drying out, or it could be a sign of freeze damage. How was this last winter?
The area around the tree looks really dry. Do you provide any irrigation? While figs are somewhat drought-tolerant, they need a decent amount of water. If the roots completely dried out, the tree will die.
In any case, I’d cut it down to the base as everything above the ground looks dead. Water around the drip line and then wait. Figs are remarkably tough and will often pop back up from the roots, long after one might think they are dead.
For more, check out r/Figs