I think your fig collection (after the latest ones that you rooted this/last year) is excellent! You don’t need any more 
…
1 Like
I need to add I-258. I’m waiting for a sale, lol.
1 Like
I-258 is the most flavorful fig I’ve ever eaten. Unfortunately, it’s late for me and highly prone for splitting in my climate. I have not eaten a Black Madeira or Craven’s Craving, which are said to be better.
1 Like
I have both of them. I plan to plant Craven’s Craving in the ground soon. Now maybe I shouldn’t acquire I-258, anyway it’s for fun mostly. It’s in the deep dark of winter and I have something to look forward too, It’s beneficial for my mental health.
1 Like
I’d still grow I-258. Everybody’s taste buds are different, if you grow it, then you can decide yourself. Rooting figs is easy in your climate.
1 Like
Thanks so much. I just returned from a week in Ischia. Wasn’t time for figs yet. I’ll look for those!
I came back from Italy last week. Everyone back home was complaining about puny little figs and very poor production this year. The weather hasn’t been favorable there this year.
Here in New England I had a few Dr. Gowaty figs back in June and they didn’t taste that great (probably brebas?), as they were given a head start in March. I haven’t tasted a fig since.
I have a few in ground Socorro Blacks that should be ripening at the beginning of September. Lots of potted figs with figlets pumped out in the past few weeks, but it might be a little too late for me here in z6b, south of Boston.
It’s been a lousy year with figs for me. Actually, terrible.
1 Like
I picked a VdB yesterday, small but tasty, I never pruned so technically they are all brebas. But the one I picked a month ago was tasteless. Anyway I had to cover mine because the birds have discovered them too. This year figs are very small for some reason.
You can see them ripen before your eyes! You can also see how the small tree is sprawling. I would like it more upright in shape. I’m afraid if its not pruned properly I will not have any fruit next year. It has four long branches.
4 Likes
I have 3 Chicago Hardy plants here is Wisconsin at the bitter, northern-edge of their range that have made it through two winters.
Between the 3 plants I have one tiny, green fruit that I noticed in mid July, that as of today in August still looks like the green fruit in your top photo.
How do you get just a single fig? I thought there had to be at least two blossoms on different plants to get pollination? Is this little fig ever going to grow and ripen?
I am just curious. My main concern is getting these plants, which are now chest high (I am 6-feet tall) through the next winter. Having gotten Chicago Hardy this well established, I guess I could let them freeze and do their “Chicago Hardy” thing of sprouting from the root in Spring 2024. Or I could cover them in wood chips and a dirt/leaf berm as I did the prior two winters, but they are getting kind of big. Any advice from anyone here?
1 Like
Fruitnut can answer your question far better than I.
one is ripe, a florea. one is not there yet, negronne.
I ate them both
I am impatient impatient and often pick things a bit too soon. can’t help myself
I can taste the potential though.
2 Likes
I was that way too. Your Negronne, by the way is just another more common name of Ronde de Bordeaux. They still taste good don’t they?
1 Like
I didn’t know that, it’s just what’s on the label. rdb! they did still taste great
1 Like
I have found Green Michurinska to be an excellent fig in hot and humid climates and it packs adriatic berry flavor with earlier ripening than typical adriatics.
6 Likes
@trustyfarms Looks good! How much earlier is GM than the other Adriatics? I’ve got one air layer of GM working now. Another Adriatic- Rockaway Green from Long Island is touted as earlier than standard Adriatics with good split resistance.
a fig is actually an inside out (outside in?) flower rather than a true fruit. They are only pollinated by tiny wasps that enter the eye. since the wasp only lives in subtropical climates, our cold climate figs are always unpollinated
1 Like
That fig needed one more day to be perfect. I almost always leave my RdB out on the counter for an extra day so they’re perfect but don’t get attacked
2 Likes
I picked a half eaten VdB, it looks perfect, half eaten by slugs, not vermin, but I threw it away and cover the rest. This branch somehow was on the ground. What that means is the one right next to it is going to ripe up soon. Now I know what a super ripe one looks like, maybe I can pick it a bit better time.
4 Likes
Mrs. G,
I think you meant to say that Violette de Bordeaux, not Ronde de Bordeaux, and Negronne figs are known by some people to be the same fig.
Even on this thread, people switch back and forth to talk about Ronde de Bordeaux and Violette de Bordeaux, two different figs. That may cause confusion , too.
2 Likes