Author Topic: Fig trees  (Read 7736 times)

ClayMango

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Re: Fig trees
« Reply #25 on: June 13, 2018, 09:55:12 PM »
I'm interested in growing a fig tree in a 20 gal container here in S. FL.  I'll be following this thread looking for what variety would be best suited for my climate.

thx


If you get a chance, I highly recommend you check out the Ourfigs forum which has a lot of great information among the fig crazy nuts.
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beefyboy

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Re: Fig trees
« Reply #26 on: July 01, 2018, 10:20:43 PM »
I have 31 varieties of figs here and have 40 total. Just got into collecting rare ones from cuttings in late 2017. I am loaded with figs from 1st. year cuttings as of now and our climate is not as bad as many think if you know what your doing. Fig collecting is an expensive hobby and many you are better off buying as young plants vs. cuttings because they do not start well from cuttings and are best started by air layering. Remember figs like cool roots and are also best potted here do to nematode problems. To protect your pots, nothing beats tin foil. I also use shade cloth overhead!

CA Hockey

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Re: Fig trees
« Reply #27 on: July 01, 2018, 11:00:03 PM »
I have 31 varieties of figs here and have 40 total. Just got into collecting rare ones from cuttings in late 2017. I am loaded with figs from 1st. year cuttings as of now and our climate is not as bad as many think if you know what your doing. Fig collecting is an expensive hobby and many you are better off buying as young plants vs. cuttings because they do not start well from cuttings and are best started by air layering. Remember figs like cool roots and are also best potted here do to nematode problems. To protect your pots, nothing beats tin foil. I also use shade cloth overhead!


Beefy boy, what are your top varieties? I have some 28-30 or so. I started almost all from cuttings this past winter. I haven’t gotten to taste fruit yet but curious what you may have. Pm me if interested. I hear colonel littmans black cross originated in Florida. I had a cutting but it went moldy.



Jct

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Re: Fig trees
« Reply #28 on: July 02, 2018, 11:57:34 AM »
Both my LSU purple and gold figs are growing one shoot mainly. Just got 4figs from the gold, funny looking as the bottoms are flat. My only source of manure os black cow so I will buy some and pile it on. Celeste full of figs but small, all this rain might help.
Sometimes figs will produce right away, I'm always jealous when people report that rooted cuttings produce their first year.  I'm entering my third year with two in-ground figs, a VdB and Mission.  The VdB cropped lightly last year and produced about a half-dozen breba this year.  It has over a dozen main crop figs growing right now, mostly pretty small.  When figs fruit, there is an initial burst of growth, then they sit for ~60 days until they finally get to full size, change color, wrinkle up and start to droop. At that point they are ready to eat.  As someone mentioned, too much rain/water will make the fruit bland, so avoid that if possible.

My Mission still has not fruited.

With respect to pinching, look at the nodes.  If you see two bumps at a node, one's a fig, the other a prospective new branch or leaf.  Pinching usually cause the fig to form.  If you only see one bump, normally you will not get a fig.
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ManVFruit

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Re: Fig trees
« Reply #29 on: July 03, 2018, 02:56:42 AM »






 Family favorite, its usually loaded with honey delicious figs, the mother tree is in ground. Once established figs do very well in dry full sun, and enjoy lots of watering. Avoid over watering seedling, or young cuttings, but give them plenty water when established, basically don't let the soil dry out, and you should be just fine.

beefyboy

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Re: Fig trees
« Reply #30 on: July 07, 2018, 05:51:39 PM »
Our warm temps and high humidity get figs to grow much faster here. Most of my first year cuttings are over 3 1/2 ft. tall and a few at 5 ft. now. My Cavaliere has 21 figs or more on it now and is a rare fig. My LSU Black has just under 20 but I expect about 30 figs minimum it's first year. I think you have to push more fertilizer in what I call snacks. I use a 20/20/20 with micro's and run it at 300-350 ppm which is roughly a half teaspoon per 1 gal of water. This light amount of food given at each watering pushed the growth and fruiting immensely. I also have a good amount of 13/13/13 in my potting mix that is very slow release over a 11 month period. Just remember the bigger the pot, the bigger the plant. All mine will be in 25 gal pots this year! I go from 1 gal to 5 gal, and then 5 gal to 15 gal, and then to 25 gal. for my final pot size. 25 to 30 gal is no difference, they are the same damn pot so a waste of time.

beefyboy

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Re: Fig trees
« Reply #31 on: July 07, 2018, 09:49:55 PM »
Take that back. Recounted LSU B.  and I have 28 now.  I see 40 -50 for a first year plant.

Levar

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Re: Fig trees
« Reply #32 on: July 08, 2018, 03:26:26 AM »
I'm interested in growing a fig tree in a 20 gal container here in S. FL.  I'll be following this thread looking for what variety would be best suited for my climate.

thx

Smith, Jh Adriatic, Violette de Bordeaux, and Emerald Strawberry. Hollier and Tena are also good. I used to grow over 70 varieties of fig and only about 20 are still with me. Those are my best performers so far; I'm still testing a few more.

VdB may require midday shade. Mine wilts like crazy in intense heat and direct sunlight. I remember a few growers in CA thought VdB was better suited to more mild climates.

 Italian 258 has a good honey drop at the ostiole but it's really sensitive to ovetwatering and will split a week before it's ripe.   

Ronde de Bordeaux ripens in June so you'll likely get to taste fruit before the rains. You must be patient and wait for it to wither slightly and turn jammy to get the full flavor. This applies to all figs but especially RDB.

Brown Turkey, Texas Blue Giant, and all of its other cousins just really have underperformed for me. TBG is only slightly better than BT but they're generally not really respected by many fig enthusiasts, even under ideal growing conditions. Something to think about.
« Last Edit: July 08, 2018, 03:43:42 AM by Levar »

ManVFruit

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Re: Fig trees
« Reply #33 on: July 08, 2018, 09:30:07 PM »
I'm interested in growing a fig tree in a 20 gal container here in S. FL.  I'll be following this thread looking for what variety would be best suited for my climate.

thx

Smith, Jh Adriatic, Violette de Bordeaux, and Emerald Strawberry. Hollier and Tena are also good. I used to grow over 70 varieties of fig and only about 20 are still with me. Those are my best performers so far; I'm still testing a few more.

VdB may require midday shade. Mine wilts like crazy in intense heat and direct sunlight. I remember a few growers in CA thought VdB was better suited to more mild climates.

 Italian 258 has a good honey drop at the ostiole but it's really sensitive to ovetwatering and will split a week before it's ripe.   

Ronde de Bordeaux ripens in June so you'll likely get to taste fruit before the rains. You must be patient and wait for it to wither slightly and turn jammy to get the full flavor. This applies to all figs but especially RDB.

Brown Turkey, Texas Blue Giant, and all of its other cousins just really have underperformed for me. TBG is only slightly better than BT but they're generally not really respected by many fig enthusiasts, even under ideal growing conditions. Something to think about.

I had similar experience with VDB, I ended up selling a 5 gallon tree, but mainly to make more space, I still have over 80 varieties of figs. Italian 258, Fico Preto, and Black Madeira taste the best in my opinion.

Black Madeira and Panache love the heat you described above, in fact they tend to put out much more growth during the hottest seasons.

kc_moses

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Re: Fig trees
« Reply #34 on: July 09, 2018, 10:22:49 AM »
When I frequent the Figs forum, a lot people raved about MBVS figs. I got some cutting from ebay, rooted and am growing them now. I'm South Florida, and MBVS is crazy productive! I will upload picture later and it's insane for a 1.5 years old tree. We had a lot of rain lately so the figs I have been getting is not that sweet. I also tried VDB in the ground but the first year they just suffer from rust and die back. So I move the VDB into 25 gallon pot and it's doing great so far, I'm not sure if they really need the shade since I have them at full sun.

Tropheus76

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Re: Fig trees
« Reply #35 on: July 09, 2018, 10:42:16 AM »
One thing I have learned after 5 years of growing figs is not to put them in the ground. I have had zero success with in ground figs even in highly organic soil. That said I have a lone Bordeaux in a good sized pot and it does great in Orlando. I had fruit started right after the last of the freezing weather and was able to eat some before I left in May. Tends to fruit during all the warmer months and even try to ripen fruit in the colder months.

Going to try the bottomless 5 gallon bucket method at some point.