How to Grow and Harvest Ripe Olympian Figs

Yes, Olympian Fig trees can be container-grown. Started from a cutting in the summer of 2023, my 3-year old tree is in a 17-inch pot. I bottom dressed it this Spring, as it had settled down about an inch since it was potted in April 2025. It was a good opportunity to inspect the roots. Thankfully, there were no signs of root knot nematodes.

What's this got to do with bees? As bee survival rates decline, it's important to know what your #GrowItEatIt options are. Figs are a food crop you can reliably produce without bees.

 

It's a "self-watering" pot, which means it has a reservoir. Figs are thirsty trees, and it turns out that 12 inches of rain in the month of July is just the right amount. That is record rain, but generally speaking Coastal Virginia is a very wet place, so I lined the sides of the pot with Better Than Rocks, to discourage root rot and encourage air pruning of the root ball. The latter 🤞 should help keep the size of the tree in check. The red mesh on top of the soil is repurposed onion bags, to stop squirrels from planting acorns, another item of abundance here.

 

Especially when it rains that much and strips the soil of nutrients, regular fertilization is important for potted trees. Just don't feed when it's really hot and plants are stressed. 

Olympian can produce a breba crop, and this Spring we had 12 figlets—that fell off when the tree went into leaf-growing mode. 
 

This is our very first fig harvest. The Summer crop began to develop in early June. The ribbed figlets were steadfastly green for more than 2 months. Once they go a little jaundiced, ripening happens quickly: 3-4 days and they're ripe. They're ready to harvest when they slip off the tree, like a ripe melon slips off its vine. 

 

After a very wet (and hot) July, we had a very hot dry spell, followed by a couple of severe thunderstorm just as the figs were ripening. With the irregular watering, one started to crack. An organza bag worked to protect the fruit from sugar ants while it ripened. 

Four figs. That was our entire crop. A nice sized fig (paring knife in photo for scale), they weighed between 1.25 and 1.75 ounces each. Thin skinned, creamy smooth, and delicately sweet… we couldn't be happier with our homegrown figs!

My Prune & Propagate Plan

I plan on pruning this tree for maximum fruit production next year, and to have cuttings! For both to happen, I must wait until the tree is fully dormant (February to early March).  

What about you? Have you grown figs? Are you interested in a cutting?