Brown Turkey Fig

Ficus carica 'Brown Turkey'

fruit

Brown Turkey is a popular, easy-to-grow fig with brownish-purple skin and sweet, richly flavored pink-amber flesh, well suited to home gardens and containers. It is self-fruitful, needing only one plant, and where the season is long it can bear two crops a year: a light early breba crop on last year's wood and a heavier main crop in late summer and fall.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• French Marigold — Helps suppress root-knot nematodes around the roots
• Rue — Traditional companion thought to deter pests
• Strawberry groundcover — Shades the soil and uses space efficiently
• Comfrey — Deep roots draw up nutrients for a mulch

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Birds →

  Net the plant as fruit ripens, since ripe figs are a favorite target

• Dried fruit beetle →

  Pick ripe fruit promptly and remove any split or fallen figs

• Root-knot nematode →

  Mulch well and interplant marigolds; keep plants vigorous

• Fig rust →

  Space for airflow and rake up fallen, spotted leaves

🌾 Harvest & storage

Pick figs only when fully ripe, since they do not ripen further off the tree: the fruit softens, droops on its stem, deepens to brownish-purple, and may show small cracks and a drop of nectar at the eye. Ripe figs are delicate and perishable, so handle them gently and eat or preserve them within a day or two.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Figs are a good source of fiber and supply potassium, calcium, and antioxidants, and as one of the sweeter fruits they make a naturally rich treat fresh or dried, when their sugars and minerals concentrate.