Can Figheads Help Me Decide on These Two Lists?

[TK421]

I was given two lists from two different people I know.

The question posed to them was: “Can you recommend some varieties that will actually produce fruit in my zone (5B in the NE) & also taste good?”

In other words… what varieties taste good and ripen early?

These are the lists, what do you all think?

1st List Received:

Florea
ronde de Bordeaux
improved Celeste
Teramo
Malta black
Blanche de Argenteuil
Susser Georg
unk Yellow Greekunk
unk Owensboro

And the 2nd List:

Smith
Raspberry Latte
Violet Sepor
Sao Miguel
Ravin de Calce
Ronde de Bordeaux
Florea
Marseilles Black VS

[Danegeld]

trick question. any fighead worthy of the name knows you simply. must. have. them. all.

the challenge is heat, specifically late in the season to finish the ripening.

I may also ask what their growing situation is like. knowing that would offer insight into how they get the season started, how they finish the season, and how their situation compares to yours.

For example: if they place their figs against a south facing stone wall and you don’t have one, that would be good information to know, in particular in the late season.

florea, ronde de bordeaux, celeste/improved celeste are good to start with.

I’d grow bushes, not trees. figs fruit on new wood, so number of growth points is important. I prune to keep the fruiting branches short. I’m never going to be able to ripen all the figs on a long branch, so why keep them

[Melon]

@Danegeld

must. have. them. all

Heavy on this. I have about 10 rare varieties and multiple cuttings of each variety coming in the mail… along with multiple uncommon ones as well coming in running out of room naturally

[a_Vivaldi]

In your zone, I assume you’ll be growing in pots and protecting them over winter?

I think a few of the ones on your lists will work well under those circumstances, but I wouldn’t go with either list myself but pick and choose.

Florea
I don’t grow this one so no comment. I’ve heard lots of good things. It is quite early according to most people.

Ronde de Bordeaux
This is one of the earliest figs there is, and the flavor is good to excellent. The figs are small though and it is a bad splitter, especially when grown in pots, just as a heads-up.

Improved Celeste
Reliable, tried and true. It’s not the most amazing tasting fig, but it’s good, and it won’t fail you so long as it’s got enough water. Everyone grows some kind of Celeste fig for a reason.

Teramo/Malta Black/Violet Sepor
No idea. I think some of these are Mt. Etna types, which are good in ground figs for zones where figs get killed to the ground but not killed outright, so like 6 and 7. I’m not sure how good they’d be where you are though.

Blanche de Argenteuil/Susser Georg/unk Yellow Greekunk/unk Owensboro/Ravin de Calce
Never heard of these, good luck finding them is all I can say.

Smith
Smith is considered excellent in the deep and mid South, but you’re not in the South at all. It’s a very good to top tier fig but it has less hardiness than average. If your winter protection is good though you would be fine.

Raspberry Latte
I don’t know of many people outside of California growing this one. Perhaps it’s good on the east coast as well, but I don’t know.

Sao Miguel Roxo/Marseilles Black VS
Both of these are very good figs. My guess is they’d ripen for you but might be late or borderline.

Whatever you do, avoid Black Madeira, Brown Turkey, and any fig that costs above average compared to whatever other prices you’re seeing. And don’t go overboard just yet. Two healthy, well-kept figs of good varieties for their area in great conditions will out-produce twenty neglected figs of inappropriate varieties, and they’ll taste vastly better as well. Get some organza bags or bird netting and some tanglefoot if you have ant issues. Trim some branches back if you don’t have much sun, and have a good watering/fertilizing regime ready as figs, especially in the first few years, respond really well to being pampered a bit.

[TK421]

Ok, so growing situation is in the middle of my front yard which is ~6 acres & wide open to sun. They get full sun until it hits the west trees at ~1700. I MAY build of buy a greenhouse in the future… Maybe…

And I have no problem with buying them all, IF they are all appropriate for the questions posed, good taste & early ripening…

Thank you

[TK421]

I haven’t read your whole post, but yes, 20 gal. containers & in the garage for the winter.

[Phlogopite]

Green Michurinska is an early ripening Adriatic type worth trying
Verdolino, Malta black, and Kesariani are other good early ripening berry type figs
Lattarula, or LSU Champagne for pure honey type figs
Atreano and Brooklyn white are good early honey berry types
Florea or improved Celeste for sugar type
And LSU tiger for a sugar berry sort of flavor

[a_Vivaldi]

Atreano has been a very good potted fig for me. I find the flavor so so, but the plants grow and produce like crazy, and the figs are enormous yet have very little splitting. They have a long hang time for to their size, and I had to get extra sized organza bags, but that’s just because they’re so big. Ripening green to greenish yellow helps a lot with critters too. The texture is kind of different, thin skin, soft, few seeds, and very high moisture content, most of mine were downright juicy. I suspect they are great grilling figs but my grill broke and I haven’t gotten around to fixing it yet.

[Danegeld]

mountain figs is a guy in west virginia with a blog. he’s a good place to start when it comes to growing figs for short season/cool season, including a decent discussion of how to get things to ripen.

so you’re maybe willing to build a high tunnel of some kind? before you get into figs? we can jump start this and get to the end a lot faster…just do it.

what I have learned with figs is every one has a slightly different way they do things. figure out the one that works for you and don’t be afraid to tread your own path.

and keep an eye on craigslist of marketplace for a tree cart. not a dolly of some kind, an actual ball cart.

[Melon]

@a_Vivaldi

have a good watering/fertilizing regime ready as figs, especially in the first few years, respond really well to being pampered a bit.

I can’t stress this enough lol. My LSU champagne grew from a 7 inches to 3+ft just this year alone. They absolutely love being pampered unlike some other plants that wanna be left alone for the most part lol.

This picture doesn’t do it justice. It’s leaves are bigger than my hands and it’s trunk is nice and thick. Also for size reference, it’s in 20 gallon nursery pot.

@a_Vivaldi

Florea

Had Florea at the fig tasting and it was pretty good. Compared to the others i had, it rated lower on my list of 7 most wanted taste wise.

@a_Vivaldi

Raspberry Latte

Grows incredibly fast compared to the 30+ varieties i have now. I just got them though so no clue outside of “just getting it” and seeing it skyrocket.

@TK421

20 gal. containers & in the garage for the winter.

Try 25… my 20 gallons say they want bigger…

[krismoriah]

You only really need one fig. LSU Cherry Bomb…it grows anywhere and everywhere and its the best fig in the world other then the others that The Fig Doctor will allows us to have. Just kidding.

Nobody has talked about Improved Brown Turkey in a long time on here i dont think… its at a few nurseries… so its obtainable. Has a few other names like CA Brown Turkey and i think Vern’s Brown Turkey?

Figs, figs, everywhere!

Speaking of big figs, for the last two days I have been watching the ripe figs. And today I noticed a huge brown turkey! How I missed it? Looks a lot like the RGNN but not as big. It’s an improved brown turkey or CA Brown Turkey. I just loved the bark on the Mother tree. If was almost free(postage) I could not resist! here’s the mother tree. [image] Here’s a fig off that tree, so far my 1 foot tree is producing smaller figs, still big, but not like this one! [image]

Seems easy enough to grow in a pot also.

Vern's Brown Turkey Fig Review

[Melon]

I would say you need “The One” as well as a Petite Negra. Maybe a Cherry Pie or Raspberry Latte as well. They’re my fastest growers so far.

I think The One has been the most flavorful fig I’ve tried. Also had an unripe petite Negra too and that was really good.

For some reason, everyone keeps giving me a random Scott’s Black with all my random fig orders so i think you need that too. Along with some random Smiths lol. Haven’t tried those but since everyone seems to have it, they may be good common varieties of common figs.

[JesusisLordandChrist]

Why not 55 gallon oil drum? Cut the bottom off and pop some holes around the top with a pick axe, remove caps, turn over, add dirt and plant.

[disc4tw]

Florea, RDB, Reservoir, Smith, Hardy Chicago. I’d begin there.

[jrd51]

@TK421

The question posed to them was: “Can you recommend some varieties that will actually produce fruit in my zone (5B in the NE) & also taste good?”

First, you will have to grow them in pots.

Second, you need early ripeners.

If I give an opinion, it means I grow (or have grown) the variety:

Yes:

Florea
Ronde de Bordeaux
improved Celeste
Teramo
Malta black

No, unless grown only for brebas:

Susser Georg

I don’t know:

Blanche de Argenteuil
unk Yellow Greekunk
unk Owensboro

And the 2nd List:

Yes:

Smith
Ronde de Bordeaux
Florea
Marseilles Black VS
Sao Miguel [Roxo]

No:

Violet Sepor

Don’t know:

Raspberry Latte
Ravin de Calce

[Melon]

That would need a forklift to move lol.

We’re renting and waiting for the right home to come along. Eventually i want all of mine in ground with duplicates in pots that may need a forklift. But until i can get a forever home, everything will be in manageable pots lol.

[JesusisLordandChrist]

Gotcha, yes everyone needs a set of forks around the farm.

[disc4tw]

Dolly it around. There are some designed for pots.

[Melon]

55 gallon though? It was hard enough trying to get my 25 gallons into the uhaul lol. And i had them on rollers

[JCT]

IMO, Smith’s deserves its reputation as an excellent fig that deserves to be in everyone’s collection - where it makes sense. It is a mid-season fig, so not always the best variety for short season growers.