Brown turkey fig tree dropping fruit

I have a 3 year old fig tree growing in a large container in my greenhouse. In the winter the greenhouse is heated to 50deg at night and goes up to 70's or low 80's in day, although the light gets pretty short in Jan-March. The fig just slows down to almost dormant. This is the first summer I left it the greenhouse since it is just too large to move now. A good crop of fruit was growing in May and they all shriveled up and fell off sometime in July. It is hot in there in the summer;90 deg F , but the tree seemed to like the heat. Any ideas on what went wrong? I have read " too much or too little light or water" How do I figure out which is the most likely culprit?

My brown turkey gets all afternoon sun and hasn't dropped fruit even when we had a week of rain due to remnants of a hurricane. This is its first year in the ground. Why don't you prune your brown turkey in the winter and then you can move it out after last frost into near full sun. Of course you would have to water the pot but the leaves will tell you when water is needed. I have 5 varieties and brown turkey is my next to favorite to eat. My fav. is black mission and that might be hard for you but in a greenhouse, I don't know. I have to wrap and sometimes heat the black mission with a 100 watt light bulb on cold nights.

This message was edited Sep 24, 2008 9:52 PM

How do the leaves tell you when water is needed. My Brown Turkey has dropped all of its fruit, then all of its leaves. This is my first year with figs. It was watered regulalry with all of the other plants. I'm wondering if I have a fungal issue. I'm also thinking of up potting it as it looks like it might be root bound.

I'm a New Orleans resident, just returning after a 6 week trip to Maine to escape the heat and hurricanes. My Brown Turkey's been happily in the ground for about a year. When I left, it was covered with baby figs. Six weeks later, it's covered with orange/brown specks (not rust) and tiny, almost microscopic wiggly bugs on the undersides of the leaves causing the them to cur , dry up from the edges inward, and fall. Most of the leaves now have fallen off and the fruit is ripening, but stunted.

Any idea of what's eating my fig tree? They are too small to see very well. Maybe I need a microscope. A local nursery says it's Fig Aphid larvae, but I can't find anything on the web on it. Other plants in my garden are getting attacked by some kind of scale.

Any thoughts?

My tree goes dormant every year, they are deciduous. Sometimes the second crop of fruit does does not ripen before the days start getting shorter and the fruit shrivels & drops like stones. I lose all my leaves every year - that is when I prune my tree.

I've never had any pest problems, but I hear of aphid problems in more humid areas.

Thanks.

They don't look like aphids. They appear to emerge from the leaves themselves. Very strange. I've ordered a special bug microscope...ever hear of such a thing? I'll let you know what they are if it arrives before all the evidence is gone. ;-)

Temps are still in the 80's...60's at night. Seems like here in the Gulf Coast the leaves should stay a little longer.

Have you asked this question on your regional forum (Mid-South)? http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/region_mids/all/

Local forums are great for local bug questions.