Yes, on a good year (not a regular occurrence for figs) that one large fig tree/bush (also brought from Italy ~35 years ago by the previous owner) produces more than enough for me to the point that I was giving some away. But, it’s interesting to note that when I planted one of the cuttings of the same variety at a rental they ripened later, similar to what Alan saw, except my season was long enough for most (not all) to ripen, even if it was late October (vs early September). I’m not sure if it is a quality of the young versions of this cultivar or the fact that the new one is planted along the West side of the building and only gets partial sun.
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That is kind of my overall strategy, and one of the main reasons I have researched so many different types of fruit.
I figure having a few of the “grocery store” fruits isn’t a bad thing, but things like gooseberries and jujubes just seem easy to grow comparatively to plums and apples from everything I’ve read, even selecting for disease resistance.
Pest pressure here is very high. Planted 75 strawberry plants two years ago and got only a few to eat even though I fenced and netted them. I only have a few apples ripening on my young trees and squirrels have already taken half of them despite the bird netting on the trees. I have 8 3 year old gooseberry plants and I got to eat a few berries. Squirrels are now taking my figs.
It is so discouraging. I am close to giving up. I have tried rabbit fencing, bird netting and repellents.
I disagree. To my last count I have around 67+ different types and varieties growing, I would not have a single one of those if I didn’t expect it to produce every year. I did fail to net my strawberries and the robins took them but that’s a live-and-learn, most definitely not an oh-well.
With pests is not like each plant has their singular nemesis; you sort out squirrels for one you sort them out for all.
I finally got some nice strawberries for the first time. But they didn’t last long. Oh well.
I hear you. I have faced my share of pests, complete loss of fruit, black knot, fire blight, PC, scab, car and the like. The year I had no fruit at all was so discouraging. I dropped off the forum for a while. I just couldn’t bear seeing one more photo of beautiful, perfect fruit.
Even so, eventually the growers enthusiasm and helpful ideas plunged me back into it full force. No fruit, I focused on grafts. High pest pressure, I’m trying to revive my blackberry and blueberry plants. I’m trying to find the positive and sometimes it’s tough.
I think I might focus on some real pruning efforts this year too. I watched a video that one of our growers suggested and for the first time the difference between vegetative growth and fruit wood has become so evident. I don’t think I understood before.
Thanks @speedster1
Spellman just added a video today about summer pruning. Nothing much new but he did show a good side by side comparison of vegetative vs fruiting wood.
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There is no reason to grow basically any fruit trees then, by that generalization. Even the natives where I live (pawpaw and persimmons) still deal with losing their fruit to late frost. Jujubes might hit a spell where temperatures are too high for fruit set. Mullberries might be accosted by a horde of birds who don’t have their normal source of nutrition due to drought. That’s the point I was making. You plan for the worst and hope for the best, even with “no spray low maintenance” crops.
The problem with over producing to compensate is that you end up training whatever it is eating the fruit to keep coming back. If you had a problem with a birds one year, that bushy bird feeder will make sure the next year you will get more.
Heck, moose; our worst pest. They keep repeating the same rounds looking for food. Momma moose even teaches the young ones her feeding grounds. If they find food in your orchard they will make a habit of coming back.
I’m not even saying to overproduce. I’m just saying that by growing a bunch of things, similarly to varying your investment portfolio, you’ll likely hedge your bets and end up with a crop even with a myriad of challenges, whether they are disease, pest, drought, frost, etc.
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That might work in Alaska but not in the east. Too many pests here. I am currently battling crows, raccoons, groundhogs, deer, squirrels, birds, and wasps. Plus the diseases and bugs on top of that.
In some ways this is true, but one thing that is a problem when you have a great many things is there is always something ripening that the invader wants … so they move in and set up camp. We currently have a mamma deer and two fauns camping in our yard for example, plus a wide array of birds and a few crows. For this reason I am switching to growing fewer things but more of it - fewer trees that are bigger will make the food more episodic and keep the animals from moving in.
Back on Alan’s original point:
It has taken me too many years but I have come around to this attitude after pulling my hair out over the frost or the deer or the crows or whatever is doing me in at a given point in time. Right now I am getting about 1/3 of my crop but I am still (mostly) enjoying it.
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I must admit that the trade-off between the ground being frozen for half of the year and fewer pests is a net positive.
What I’m trying to say is that the price of produce is eternal vigilance; that’s just par for the course. If I’m having a problem my focus is to fix that problem. Sort of ignoring it while expanding in hopes that something hopefully works doesn’t work for me.
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I killed the raccoon that took most of my saucer peaches this morning so I still have a shot at tasting some on this perfect season for them- they are clean and the brix should be very high should I have the good fortune of harvesting any. Some don’t like it but I consider TangO’s world class. Actually, I’ve never shared one with anyone that didn’t rave about it and want a tree. The problem is that they are very difficult on wet years. Most people don’t thin them enough so don’t taste them at highest quality.
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Me too. I need to shorten branches - and work on getting them thicker. I have spindly branches that have broken off under the weight of just 2 or 3 apples.
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It’s a bit tricky- if you make them short and sturdy, then you could see too much vigor. We were just talking about it in another thread how nice it is when the weight of the fruit pulls the branch down and keeps the tree from shooting for the sky…
The branch in the last pic of post #18 is a graft which used to point up…Now it is fairly flat which makes it good for picking, vigor control, and continued fruitfulness. Of course breaking branches and branches bending to the ground is also bad.
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If you cut back to a smaller branch at least a third the diameter of the cut you won’t likely create a vegetative response. Thinning cuts are also safe in this regard.
Just arboriculture 101. I’m sure there are plenty of you-tube videos on the subject.
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To control excessive green growth you may want to consider root pruning. It is a very effective way to balance growth
I see your June bugs are on the ripening fruit. As soon as I see color on a fig, I put it in a draw-string organza bag. I do this so I can find the fruit among all the leaves to pick them at their peak. These bags are too wimpy to protect peaches, so I don’t know if the beetles would chew through it.
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Seems like if it’s a bad year for one thing, it’s a good year for something else.
For me this year was a good year for lettuce, spinach, strawberry, grape, fig, apple; adequate for plum, tomato; a wipe out for pears and cherries. Keeps me enjoying delicious produce and occupies my mind trying to figure out how to solve the current problem.
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I have my figs covered in a large tulle, but I have one organza bag out there and it disappeared already. Not sure where and how. Right now some of my figs aren’t covered and the June bugs are not bothering them.
But you are right, the minute they turn soft, I pick them.
Pest pressure here is manageable. I can grow anything if I want to. For me the question is how much time are you willing to put in to protect fruit? I decided not to grow sweet corn as the animals love it so much I cannot protect it without my dogs being there all year. I live at my cottage in the summer now that I’m retired. I commute home a couple times a week to harvest and maintain garden. So no more sweet corn for me. It requires more time to protect then I’m willing to do.
On a side note, I too am finding pluots to be superior to plums. In flavor and adapted better to this area. Many lack tart skin which is a huge plus in my book. The large size of most pluots is cool too.
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