Figs Falling From the Tree? Does Your Fig Variety Require Pollination? An Easy Test

If you’ve ever watched in frustration as your fig tree drops its entire crop before you can harvest a single bite, your tree isn't necessarily sick—it might just require pollination.

Certain female fig types, specifically Smyrna and San Pedro varieties, require pollination to ripen their main crop, while Common varieties do not. Instead of wasting years guessing or paying for expensive genetic testing, you can solve this mystery with a quick, simple slice-and-look test: cutting open an unripened early-stage fig to inspect whether its internal anatomy is solid or hollow.

In this guide, we’ll break down how to perform this simple test step-by-step, explain the crucial differences between Smyrna, San Pedro, and Common varieties, explore how hand-pollination works if you don't have fig wasps nearby, and share critical buying tips to ensure you never bring home a tree that drops its fruit.

First, you must understand that newly created female fig varieties that are born from seed will fall into 3 different categories: Common, San Pedro, or Smyrna.

Understanding the Types of Female Figs

San Pedro and Smyrna figs contain only perfect female flowers, meaning they are not parthenocarpic and require pollination either by hand or by the fig wasp (Blastophaga psenes). Unlike Common figs, which have flowers believed to have mutated to never form flower gills or male flowers, Smyrna and San Pedro figs need this pollination to ripen their main crop.

Simply put, there is a difference in anatomy and flowers within each type of female fig.

Step-by-Step Checking for Pollination Requirements

Simply cut them open and inspect the inside.

1. If it's hollow and has a history of dropping its figs, there's a good chance it requires pollination.

2. If it's solid throughout the inside, there's a high likelihood it doesn't need to be pollinated to ripen properly. This trick is extremely helpful for identifying your fig variety, skipping expensive genetic testing, while also saving you time, money, and effort.

Timing Matters

This test may not always be accurate. Here's why:

1. During a fig's third ripening stage, fig varieties that require pollination will drop prematurely if they haven't received it. This is why this test must be performed in the first or second ripening stage of each fig's development.

2. Once Smyrna and San Pedro fig varieties are pollinated, their internal anatomy changes during the first or second ripening stage, making it difficult to distinguish between varieties that do or don't require pollination.

3. If you're located in an area with the fig wasp (exclusively California in the US), the anatomy may have already changed from pollination.

   
   

Pollinating Fig Trees: What Does That Mean?

Frequently, I'm asked if you need two fig trees for cross-pollination. The answer is no.

Fig trees share a symbiotic relationship with a special species of wasp called the fig wasp. And because a fig's flowers are inverted (on the inside of the fig), usually only the fig wasp will enter a fig and cross-pollinate them.

Remember, Common figs are parthenocarpic, meaning they don't need to be pollinated to ripen. If your female fig variety is not Common, you'll need a male fig variety called a Caprifig that produces pollen (interestingly, not all caprifigs do). In areas where the fig wasp has naturalized, they'll do the job of pollinating your figs for you with a Caprifig present.

Hand Pollinating Figs

In areas without the fig wasp, you'll need to hand-pollinate your San Pedro and Smyrna female varieties, which involves growing a male Caprifig that produces pollen in what's called the Profichi crop. This is basically the brebas of a male fig tree.

1. Cut the male Profichi open and tap the back of each half to extract the pollen.

2. Add the pollen to water, mix it well with a milk frother, and uptake the solution into a syringe.

3. Inject the pollen/water solution into the eye of the female fig varieties you wish to pollinate during the 1st or 2nd ripening stage.

The video below quickly illustrates the steps toward successfully hand pollinating your figs.

Tips for Purchasing Fig Trees

So, to avoid this mess, make sure you're buying a Common female variety that is not propagated from seed. This is usually what nurseries sell in the US (including my own), unless otherwise noted. The only "commonly" found female fig variety in the US that requires pollination is called Desert King, which is highly useful to growers with mild winters and summers for its prolific breba crop.

What Happens If Fig Trees are Propagated by Seed

A fig variety propagated by seed has roughly a 25% chance of being Common. Even if it proves to be Common, there is a small subset of Common varieties that can greatly benefit from pollination. Without it, they won't reach even a par-level eating experience. Simply put, if you've eaten a fig variety that has poor eating qualities, it's likely due to a lack of pollination.

Thankfully, fig varieties have been selected for 1000s of years to produce the high quality fruit we know and love today.

Additional Locations

1. In Europe & Australia, you'll find a greater variety of Smyrna and San Pedro fig varieties for sale. However, this is on purpose. They are propagated from cuttings (hopefully, with the knowledge of their pollination requirements).  

2. In Asia & the Middle East, you'll find a much greater likelihood of fig trees being sold that are propagated from seed. This is very bad practice, because it yields very inconsistent results for the consumer. You might get something good from seed, like a unique and special fig variety, but frequently I get messages from growers in these areas wondering why their figs don't ripen.

For more on this topic and the test of cutting them open to check their pollination requirements, watch my latest long-form video. I cover several varieties that need pollination, how to determine if this is true, while comparing them to other varieties that do not require pollination. This trick can save you years of trouble, money, and unnecessary effort.

Check it out below: