4000 figs harvested this year from this tree. Cutting was taken from George Washington’s Mt Vernon farm he planted figs in 1798
Looks like they sell rooted cuttings.
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Some harvest this morning:
Middle: White Madeira #1
Clock-wise from the top:
Hardy Chicago
“Bella’s Mocha”, California seedling. Fruit consistently
Carini (Frank?), EBT
“Big Brown”, Mt. Etna
Long Island: Mt. Etna
LSU Gold
Sorrento AD
Portuguese Yellow AD
Italien Yellow Westfield IYW (AD)
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Today I harvested Joualle Noire figs. It has a very strong berry flavor. Maybe stronger than Black Madeira. It’s one of the best tasting figs I’ve ever eaten. But I’ll need more time to decide if it’s really better than BM.
Speaking of BM I harvested some for drying. Also Bass Favorite Fig, BFF.
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Second one from Roberts golden rainbow not sure if I like it. I definitely like others more we’ll see.
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I think you can leave it on for several more days for full color and flavor to develop.
They should also color up much more in the PNW to an almost orange hue
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With the split skin I was thinking it was ready. I’ll see if I can leave it longer. Expecting heavy rain though.
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The Golden Rainbow has been very controversial. Even quite some very experienced growers do not give good review on it. Some want to get rid of it.
I like mine with its large size and the intensive amount of sugar.
@RedSun I’ll give another couple of years. I’m just not sure I like the flavor as I’ve never been a fan of just sugar or sweet flavor.
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This is the Hybrid Brown Turkey popular in some Asian countries. In China, it is called BoJi Hong and other names. In Japan, Masui. In Malaysia and Indonesia, they call it Big Red. There are also various other names due to the different sizes and different colors. But they are hybrid with parent from California Brown Turkey.
This is the jumbo one from China.
This one weighs 90 grams. Some can reach 150 grams. When fully ripe, the flavor is very sweet with pleasant figgy taste.
In Asia, this is served as desert.
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How do you rate BFF? Top 10? Top 5?
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So far, the Smith figs I ate last year from my trees are the best figs I’ve grown. This year they are struggling due to my neglect in watering but are still average. Definitely worth growing Smith.
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Overall it’s probably top 10. That’s mostly based on superior size, appearance, and production. Eating quality is very good but not as good as Black Madeira.
Smith is a good fig. The earliest I grow. But it’s small and average eating for the types I want given my very long hot growing season.
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Under the assumption you haven’t already, check out the threads on step over figs and low cordon style protection. The intention is to keep more wood above ground using geothermal heat to reduce the growth needed above ground prior to fig ripening. I’ve learned from the best and succeeded in overwintering 2 strong plants using that method this year. A weaker tree didn’t make it, I’ll start with something that has more robust roots next time.
I think Florea would fit the bill for you? Super early for many and medium sweet from the small sampling I’ve tried.
I tried pinching the tips of growth in August on my Unk Abington and Chicago Hardy in ground to see if they focused on the existing figs. They are still not ripe as of my last check but I also have no comparison for prior years. I definitely don’t want either tree making more small figs after August, they won’t be ripening. I also figure the leaves surrounding existing figs should gather enough resources to ripen fruit already on the tree. At the least, I’m hopeful the trees focus on sending more roots if they aren’t growing new wood I don’t need as I’ll be cutting back for the winter.
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Sept 13th all potted; Top: Atreano
Left: Smith
Right: Ronde De Bordeaux (I think)
Sept 19th, potted Maltese Beauty
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Next year try pinching earlier. I pinch and thin out all my in ground trees around July 4th to 15th (depending on when I get to it) it’s been working well for me. Usually by then RDB which is my latest to set fruitlets/flowers has set.
I have more successful and complete crops since I started.
Dom
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Thanks for the advice Dom, I’ll make a note to try that. I appreciate you sharing your experience.
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I finally picked my first Boston-12 (unk.). All the figlets dropped early of the season. Otherwise, I’d have had ripe figs about two weeks earlier.
The fig is very large. More than 70g. I had to pick this fig due to the rain and the crack/split.
This fig looks like a Brunswick variant. From leaf shape, to fruit shape and flavor. I like to hear from Steve and other growers. Not sure if it is the Stella type.
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Those look fabulous! How is the taste?
I was reading that pingo de miel was first identified in the United States when grown by a Portuguese immigrant in Pennsylvania.
When I saw you pic it struck me how similar they look to desert king figs. I’ve been getting a basket a week of main crop figs since the first week of September. Not that I’m complaining, because they are extra large, and phenomenally sweet with bright red flesh reminiscent of strawberry jam.
The odd thing is that my region doesn’t have the fig wasp which the desert king requires to make a large main crop. Supposedly, desert king figs grown in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest only reliably produce a breba crop, which doesn’t require pollination help from the fig wasp. In regions without a population of fig wasps the desert king is only supposed to produce little more than a handful of main crop figs. Yet this year my desert king tree has appears to have a mind of its own. So far it’s produced a few dozen main crop figs.
Does anybody know if this is a ‘normal’ amount of main crop figs for the desert king growing in regions outside of the fig wasp’s rage?
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According to Condit, DK will produce a decent amount of main crop figs in cooler or coastal non wasp areas in CA. They produce quite a few main crop in warmer years here.
When pollinated, DK main tastes like a high quality Adriatic fig but in the PNW it is a mediocre “honey” fig.
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