DELECTABLE FIGS CAN THRIVE IN VALLEY'S CLIMATE.

Byline: JOSHUA SISKIN

The forbidden fruit picked by Eve in the Garden of Eden was a fig, not an apple. This was the opinion of Rashi, an 11th-century biblical scholar. Rashi reached this conclusion after noting that the leaves Adam and Eve used for loincloths were made of fig leaves.

In terms of geobotany, Rashi's opinion makes sense. Figs are native to the Middle East and the Mediterranean while apples originated farther north in the Caucasus region, between the Black and Caspian seas.

If ever there was a sinful fruit, the fig would be it. Its consumption is pure pleasure. It has no peel or rind to be pared, no seeds or pits to be removed. It can be eaten fresh from the tree or dried and kept in storage for many months.

No deciduous tree is more suited to the Valley than the fig. In fact, there were commercial fig orchards in Sylmar up until a few years ago. Of all deciduous fruit trees, figs have the lowest winter chilling requirement. The reason cherry trees do not produce fruit in the San Fernando Valley is because they need a cold winter - Antelope Valley style - to properly bloom. Nearly all apple and pear varieties need a similarly cold winter, as do many varieties of plum, peach and apricot. The fig, on the other hand, does just fine where winters are relatively mild, if not sub-tropical.

Fig trees have shallow roots and benefit enormously from a mulch of straw, dried grass clippings, shredded bark or rough compost. If their leaves show signs of wilt in the afternoon or suddenly turn yellow and start to drop, it means that they are not getting enough water. Generally, a slow and thorough soak from a hose once a week during the summer should provide more than enough water to keep a fig tree happy.

Recent local reports of small or cracked figs may be weather related. The heat wave we experienced earlier this month could have inhibited the figs' development at the very moment they should have been ripening. Sudden changes in humidity, including the light rain we had this past week, could result in split fruit, as could excessive dryness or alternating dry and wet conditions. That is why mulching is so important to fig culture. In the case of figs, tomatoes and other fleshy fruits, constant soil moisture - ensured by a layer of straw or unfinished compost on the soil surface - is the best way to prevent irregular fruit development.

Fig trees require a minimum of fertilizer, if any. Too much fertilizer results in lots of leafy growth at the expense of fruit production. Fertilize only if new shoots put out less than 1 foot of growth during the entire spring and summer growing period. In the event of such sparse growth, fertilize the following year with 1 pound of actual nitrogen, divided into several applications between late winter and early summer. (Five pounds of a fertilizer containing 20 percent nitrogen is equivalent to 1 pound of actual nitrogen.)

Fig trees should not be heavily pruned. They produce two crops a year. The first, known as the breba crop, develops in the spring on terminals of shoots that grew the previous year. The second - and heavier - crop, harvested in the summer and fall, ripens on the current season's growth. This current growth, however, also develops on wood that grew the previous year. Thus, if you drastically prune 1-year-old shoots/wood during the winter, you will dramatically reduce the following year's crops.

The most popular figs for the Valley are ``Black Mission'' and ``Brown Turkey.'' ``Black Mission'' is the tastier of the two while ``Brown Turkey'' yields larger crops. The height and spread of these trees exceeds 20 feet at maturity, so give them plenty of room to grow. There are many other varieties of figs that would grow in the Valley. The Sonoma Antique Apple Nursery carries 12 of them. Call the nursery at [phone] or access it online at www.applenursery.com.

Fig trees are relatively carefree, but you may encounter problems with them now and then. Most important, make sure that they are growing in a full-sun location. If your fruit does not grow to full size or if much of it splits, you are probably growing a fig variety that is not suited to our area.

If you have an older tree with diminished fruit production and yellow patterns on its leaves, you probably have a virus that cannot be treated; you should consider removing such a tree. If fruit dries out on the stem before ripening and leaves drop off in midseason, you most likely have a fungus disease that can be controlled by raking up fallen leaves and applying a copper fungicide.

TIP OF THE WEEK: An exotic fig variety known as ``Panache'' that has green and white striped fruit is available through the Papaya Tree Nursery in Granada Hills. This nursery, which is one of the Valley's horticultural treasures, carries more than a hundred varieties of exotic tropical fruit trees and vines. Visits to the nursery, which are by appointment only, can be arranged by calling [phone].