surprising success

[BUFFS]

we have had a brown turkey fig now for 3 years(only had to pay postage,freebie offer from a mag),and it only grew leaves,but as soon as it warmed up in the spring,we spotted growing fruits,we had our driest spring in memory and plenty of sun,the main summer was soso,but end was great, and we have just had 4 beautiful figs,thats not a lot,but this is the west coast of scotland and the fig is in a tub,never getting any shelter or cosseting,we are now hoping for an even better summer next year,also,now have just 2 melons left(out of 11),but they are in the g/house with toms and peppers/chillis... have seen that some folks overwinter their pepper/chilli plants,what is required?..hot g/house?..feeding?..i would like to try that..

[Caro]

Hi Buffs,

well done on the fig! Who knew they'd grow here?!

I successfully overwintered some chillies and one pepper last year. The main points seem to be bring them indoors, minimal watering, allow them to be dormant; don't worry if all the leaves fall off and you end up with a twig (though all of mine kept some leaves) and, if you think the plant needs it, give it a hard prune, down to the one main stem if need be.

Keep an eye on it in the early spring and when it shows signs of life, up the watering, the light and the heat.

Mine survived my novice ministrations, so they must be nice hardy little blighters, and I was thrilled with the chillies off them this year

Well worth a try. good luck

[Flummery]

Great to hear that. We have a fig that was given to us as a cutting last year. It overwintered through all that horrible frost this spring and has doubled in height (about 5 ft now) so I'm really looking forward to getting some fruits. It's in JI3 in a big pot.