Got my first fig of 2022 this morning. It’s a breba from an airlayer of White Madeira #1 I’ve been growing under lights all winter – I planted the mother tree in ground last year and wanted a backup in case it doesn’t survive.
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@SMC_zone6 — man that looks so good.
How did it taste…considering ripening under grow lights ?
It sure looks fine, so moist and jammy looking… the color reminds me of blackberry jam.
I have some cuttings … working on rooting now.
My only producing Fig… a Chicago Hardy is in ground and still deep under protection at this point.
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Looks amazing! Like @TNHunter I have the Chicago Hardy and it’s protected as well. 2 weeks into trying to root some cuttings from it. In the spring I’m going to trialing Marseilles in ground in zone 6b
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Not nearly as good as a fig ripened in the heat of summer. But still very good. The sweetness wasn’t quite there, but general richness and flavor profile were. Like a mild honey and jam.
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I think I might prefer the reduced sugar flavor
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That is what people commonly state to be “Bland” taste. That is what we try to avoid by all means.
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I feel like there is plenty of other complex flavors in figs that could be better appreciated with a lower sugar content. However if it’s supposed to be very sweet and that didn’t develop that sweetness maybe those other flavors didn’t either which leads to it being bland. Maybe you can’t have one without the other but a boy can dream…or breed.
I just wonder what fig varieties that have “plenty of other complex flavors in figs that could be better appreciated with a lower sugar content”. Figs are mainly grouped by colors. Honey and sugar figs are just what the names say. Other than the sugar content, those figs lack any other flavors. Dark berry figs have more complex flavors, but they taste very figgy if sugar content is low. I tend to stay away from light berry figs since they may lack both sugar and berry flavors. Some figs like Kadota and Conadria are known to lack sugar content. But they are mainly used for processed figs, not for fresh eating. If you try some figs with low sugar content and like them, let me know.
Outside figs, the other varieties I remember are Granny Smith apple and Chinese Hawthorns. The tart of sour tastes are overpowering. But they still retain some sugar content and make them flavorful.
Yes it can, esp. if it gets watered a lot or regularly.
However, in my experience, shriveled CH figs with “stretched marks” on the skin taste best. They are gooey, jammy and wonderfully sweet like what good figs should taste like.
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Ok cool thanks for the response. I like to let them go longer too but we have a lot of rain coming and birds attacking.
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I have chicago hardy in pots and in ground. Can’t do anything with in ground plant. I moved the potted plants in my garage knowing we had over 24 hours of rain.
If you ever have the opportunity, let your figs droop well before you pick them.
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Trust me I do.
Some figs from the hoop house.
Ischia Black UCD
Black Madeira UCD & LSU Purple
In ground Hative de Argentile
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Don’t know what variety this is. An Italian guy gave this potted tree to me. He said he took cuttings from his home town in Italy 50+ years ago.
The fruit is medium in size. I am not good at describing it but it was amazingly sweet with syrupy taste (in a good way) to it. I call it my Italian fig.
@SMC_zone6, @hoosierbanana want to guess?
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So many figs look similar to me. I can’t guess the name, but I’d say it looks like a winner.
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In different climates the figs of a same cultivar can look different and taste different, even as the weather changes in the same year they can look and taste different. The only way to get a good guess unless you have a cultivar with unusually unique figs and or leaves, is to grow all the similar looking cultivars on the same property, in the same amount of light, all grafted on to the same root stock is the very best way to compare.
