Fig Talk

@Melon
Yes, you can grow fig trees outdoors. Obtaining viable fruit from them in your location is the issue.

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@a_Vivaldi , @jsteph00921

“Thanks Bill, I’ll take Cycads for $2,000.”

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Do cycads command especially high prices among collectors? We can’t grow but a tiny handful of them around here, so I’m not really familiar with the market. I guess it would make sense though given how slow growing many of them are.

I don’t think so because at the yearly fig tasting, there were so many varieties grown and ripened outdoors. If i were in 6b, I’d say yeah, but with an average of 150 growing days and full sun, I think most varieties should ripen here. We have slightly more growing days where I’m at than in most of Philadelphia so i should be good. Last year, the big rain didn’t start until roughly October 30th and it didn’t get below 35 until about November.

Right now, it’s about to hit 70 degrees this weekend for me so i don’t see how figs can’t ripen well here.

Just to name from the top of my head, the ones that stood out to me at the fig tasting down the street from people growing all around:

Del sam juam gran, white + black Madeira, hollier, florea, white Adriatic, Pellegrino, the one, Celeste, brown turkey, desert King, VDB, and that’s just from what i remember. I’ve made new figgy friends around me since then that have many more varieties that ripen well here like lsu champagne, Smith, stella, panache, takoma violet, strawberry verte, petit negra, sangue dolce, Exquisito, and a bunch more i can’t remember. I’m actually doing cuttings of most of them right now and the only ones that i named which I’m not, are ones the gnats took out.

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I am mistaken, it’s actually 203 days says the googler

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If you are in Seattle there are so many fig varieties that make lots of fruit. Breba and short season main crop. Look up Seattle Fig Grower on YouTube he has an orchard.

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She is in Seattle so has plenty varieties to choose from that will make good crops.

Sure enough these unicorns would probably fetch high prices. Though after a short while they would be quite common and eaily obtained for cheap or free. Not unlike new technology I supppse.

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@Melon
I have known fig growers in Seattle for decades. The issue is not with cold hardiness. As @jsteph00921 points out, the issue is choosing cultivars that produce viable breba crops or early ripening unifera crops. Beware of fig plant sellers who have no pictures to show of fig fruit they ripened in Seattle.

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Estate owners in temperate climates will readily pay $2000 to $2500 for mature specimens of cycads, plumeria trees, etc. in tree boxes. There are nurseries here that stock them annually, and a few local tree farms that produce them for wholesale.

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I’m with @Richard on this.
Seattle benefits from a heat island effect.
Even in Seattle city main crop figs are far from guaranteed UNLESS you have a favorable microclimate. And only early varieties.

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@ramv
She is in Yelm.

Yelm might have hotter summers. So @Melon might be ok with main crop figs.

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I will find out by end of season :sweat_smile: they’ll be in full sun from sunrise to sundown so that should help too.

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Googler said this.

Personally, I’ve noticed that my area is always a few degrees warmer than what my weather app says. I’ve left some of my citrus outside since February cause i ran out of room indoors and hoped for the best. The one outside have done amazing compared to the ones i sheltered indoors and it says it’s gotten down to 30 degrees some nights but my outdoor thermostat would read 35 during 30 on my weather app. There have been a few times where it got down to 15 degrees for a few nights but the backyard was unscathed. The front yard told a different story though so somehow, my backyard is warmer than my front yard

I’m in a land far far away from Seattle… about 2 hours south actually and it rains just slightly less here cause I’m farther from big plots of water. My house would be in the multimillions if it were located closer to Seattle just for the amount of land alone :sob:

That’s very true. Of my 15 fig trees, only 1 was purchased. The rest I got from local growers who could attest to their tree’s suitability for the region.

The one I did purchase from a local nursery was supposedly a desert king. 3 years without a single breba fig from that tree convinced me otherwise.

After lots of feedback from people on this site, we concluded that I am in fact growing a Stella. The fruit looks very similar to desert king, except that Stella is almost exclusively a main crop producer.

Fortunately, the Stella will produce quite nicely in the Willamette Valley, something it will not do in Seattle. I think it was RamV who had a Stella, but gave up on it after several years of poor production. Average August high temp in Seattle is 74. Here at my place it is 86. Obviously that makes a huge difference for main crop figs and pomegranates.

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Besides desert king I also have a White Marseille that produces outstanding breba figs. They are every bit as good as a desert king, and ripen about the same time. I got the cuttings from someone in Seattle so I’m assuming you would also get good results in Yelm.

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Yeah the google says I’m about 10 degrees warmer than Seattle as well in the summer on average so I’m excited this year for figs. I’m not a fan of desert King now that I’ve had others :joy:

My Stella is putting out a few breba :heart_eyes: either that or its mislabeled

I’ve had Stella for 5 years and in that entire time only a few brebas have formed, before promptly falling off. The main crop are fantastic, but they just barely make it here in the Willamette Valley. Hope you get them because they are my favorite main crop fig.

Neveralla might be an option for you. It makes a couple hundred figs every year on a tree that’s barely 5 feet tall. They are very good in September, but once the nights cool down in early October they become insipid. Fortunately for the 4 weeks before the cool down they are very good.

My black zadar has the best tasting brebas. Unfortunately it doesn’t make a ton of them. I think the Seattle Fig grower has that one too.

While Seattle isn’t ideal fig growing territory, it’s definitely more than adequate. There really are so many that will fruit in western Washington.

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