One of the people I sent cuttings to last fall actually got a ripe fig before I did this year. But, they rooted them in a greenhouse over the winter, so that was cheating!
I checked the bush again today and there weren’t any more brebas. It looks like the breba season stretched for less than a week (first picking 8-9 pounds, 2nd picking 1.5 quarts, 3rd was about a quart, each picking 2-3 days apart). I think there should still have been some more, but an animal must have discovered them and cleaned out anything close to ripe.
I’ve got the Reservoir fig planted at 3 other locations, with a 4th to come soon.
Here’s one I rooted from cutting in the winter/spring of 2019 and planted in July 2019. I didn’t count, but it has about 100 figs on it, though I didn’t notice any brebas.
At the same time I planted the above, I also planted a MBVS a bit further along the side of the house. It is about half the size and has only 4-5 figs.
I kept your fig in the garage overwinter along with the “World’s Best” mulberry, it was alive into the spring. I scratched the bark and it was green but I managed to kill your fig. It was either a watering issue or maybe it was too cold in the Spring for it. The “World’s Best” is in the ground now but I’m unfortunately going to need to go begging you for more cuttings this winter. Hopefully I’ll get to try it. There’s a spot near the house I was meaning to put the Reservoir fig into so I could try and replicate your success from up here ~15 miles away from Long Island Sound.
No problem- as you can see in the first pic, the original plant has gotten huge, so I should be able to prune some out.
That’s a good idea. In fact, as you can see in the last pic above, I not only placed it near the house, but near both a window and an AC unit. Here’s a pic of the nearby MBVS (also near an AC unit).
The trade-off is that these figs only get Western sun and are blocked on the East by the building. To the South would have been better, but it wasn’t practical here due to parking and a patio.
Both this site and the original are about a mile from LI sound. But, I’ve got Reservoir planted at another site which is 4 miles inland and not near a building (just a fence), so that will be more of a test (a slightly older Black Bethlehem is planted next to it and is doing very well so far). . At the 4th site, it is only a mile inland, but not near the house, so I’ve got a bunch of permutations covered. I just remembered a 5th place I have it (~2,5 miles inland and not near the house).
I have a spot where they can be on the south side of the house and get eastern and western sun. I’m not sure if that’s the right call, but that’s the spot I have in mind.
I can’t really tell any figs apart by their leaves, so I’m sure your eye is far more advanced than mine. I can post pics of the fruit and maybe that will narrow down what it actually is (or confirm MBVS).
I’ve dug around in my records and they appear a bit lacking on this one. The most I can find is one list from Nov 2018 (listing all the figs I have) which includes “Marseilles Black vs or MBVS etc. - hoosierbanana”. But, I can’t find any messages or emails between us. Also, the note about this planting was “MVB”, but I assume that is just a mix-up on the order.
So far to me ‘Reservoir’ seems different from ‘Marseilles VS Black’ as well, ‘Reservoir’ is better rooter, and seems to fruit earlier in the year than ‘Marseilles VS Black’, yet the ‘Marseilles VS Black’ trees and the ‘Reservoir’ trees we have ‘which are the same age’ are still very young. It’s a project that I helped to start in NYC, so I have not experienced the trees personally yet.
I got reservoir from eboone. It’s still small no fruit yet. I got rid of MBVS last year. I prefer other Etna’s. MBVS produced well I just didn’t care for the flavor compared to other Etna types. Some are much better at least to me. I being picky here, MBVS is a fine fig. If I had room I would have kept it. But with about eight other Etna types, others have to go too. Keepers for me are Red Lebanese BV, and Malta Black. I’m still checking out Antonelli Unk , Black Bethlehem, Sao Miguel Roxo, and Takoma Violet. I probably have more disguised as unknowns. I have a few from local greenhouses and such. It’s amazing even in Michigan many people and some gardens have figs in greenhouses. I have to check them out.
I think I figured out what happened. When Drew sent me his list, I think I must have copied and pasted the ones I already had out of it and sent it back to him. At least, that’s the only explanation I can think of…
I think Brent was commenting on the (presumed) MBVS that I posted as a comparison to the Reservoir’s growth.
I’ve given up on protecting figs. It’s a lot of work and often enough I don’t succeed anyway. I’ve just planted a bunch and will see what is able to take out winters. The last two years have been comparatively mild, so a lot of figs have been doing well.
How does Red LBV compare to Black LBV? I think I got both from you. Last month, I planted both in-ground at a rental, but I would have swapped their locations and given the Red the better spot if I knew. Though come to think of it, the Red has more winter protection (South side of house) and the Black has a bit more sun, but no protection.
The black is fairly new to me. I’m also trying a different black Lebanese that little John introduced. Also Black/Purple Lebanese. Which most like a lot from what I hear. I’ll know more with time.
To get that tree to fruit in ground will be tougher than any of the precocious Etnas, you are spoiled .
Most varieties will only fruit from secondary growths, and will simply not reliably set figs on suckers. Some are even worse, and need a fully mature branch structure to fruit. In a pot, that happens quickly because of lower vigor.
I assume that is what people are talking about when they say certain varieties need a few years to fruit, what they mean is a few years of established growth to tune down vigor. That can be quite difficult to achieve on a vigorous tree in a cold climate though.
Found 3 more local figs while out doing garage sales today. I’m not shy about taking plants, if someone is out in the yard, but I didn’t see anyone at any of the houses…
My own in ground fig (Florea) has quite a fruit set, but we’re in that long pause that figs seem to get as the summer goes on…
This fig looks like another fig that I try to ID. It is from a town in Long Island. I called it Gus Fig #1. I also got another fig variety (Gus #2 with different leaf) that got mixed with this variety.
The leaf shape is similar to other Mt. Etna, but different. The middle finger is broader and the leaf is thinner than typical Mt. Etna. So I believe it is not part of the Mt. Etna family.
I have yet another Syrian dark fig that has similar fig and leaf shape. I call it Syrian Ammary Black and it is direct from Syria. They are all similar, but not the same.
Leaf shape can really vary with the Etnas, very rapid growth can make the shape almost be like Brunswick. I could never mistake Brunswick for an Etna though, there are so many other differences like leaf texture, growth habit, fruit shape, bud color etc.
Yes, agreed. By knowing the origin of the Syrian fig and its color, I would not want to group it with the Mt. Etna. As to the “Reservoir” and the “Gus #1”, I’d say that they could be related. But need further investigation.
I get several more with similar shapes. I’ll see if there are any differences. Not sure how we can do some genetic testing of those varieties.
The leaf shape above does not even look like the Reservoir. Not sure this is the same fig.
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