Fig Tree

[gardeningmom]

I used to have two brown turkey fig trees. One was in mostly full sun (had morning shade) in a well draining part of the yard. The other was inthe shade of a couple river birch trees in a low lying (damp) spot in the yard.

The tree in the damp, shady area always had green leaves and huge figs, but they weren't very sweet.

The tree in the sunny, dry spot suffered for a couple years much as you are describing your tree. Then, one year, it just exploded in growth. I suppose the root system got well established and deep enough. It puts out smaller figs than the other tree, but they are much sweeter.

You would never guess that they were the same variety.

I still have the tree in the sunny, dry spot. I had to remove the other one a while back.

I would assume that the sun helps the plant make natural sugar for the fruits.....giving you that much sweeter taste.