Best tasting fig for SoCal?

[kh0110]

... This fig hobby is getting expensive real quick.
...

Tell me about it!!! BTW, I didn't eexpect Negra d'Agde to be this good compared to the last 2 years when it was at best equal to an excellent VDB. It seems this year the figs are trying to out compete each other. And the winner is a baby possum. The little guy has been helping me around the yard, so this is his paycheck.

[simon_grow]

Is black manzanita a black madeira type? I want to add a black madeira type to my fig espalier I'm making. I only have room for one so I was thinking cravens craving but by all reports black manzanita is phenomenal.

Black Manzanita is not a Black Madeira type. The fruit pictures that the finder, Alastair B, posted were super dark black in the interior. You can see his pictures here
https://www.ourfigs.com/forum/figs-home/867064-recognize-this-fig-i-believe-it-s-a-seedling

The shape of the leaves, although not the best identifier, is also different. The tree grows more vigorously and easily roots from cuttings. My tree is a rooted air layer less than a year old so the flesh will likely get darker in color as it matures.

Black Madeira and it’s synonyms are very good figs. I like Cravens Craving more than Black Madeira because the fruit are larger and sweeter. I have both varieties grafted onto the same tree but they are different types of grafts.

Here are some pictures of Black Madeira











Simon

[simon_grow]

And here’s Craven’s Craving








And Black Madeira side by side with Cravens Craving. For these two particular fruit, I noticed the drop of fig honey at the eye of Black Madeira was clear in color and for Cravens Craving, the drop of honey in the eye was red.





Simon

[hammer524]

Simon, thanks for details and pics. I’ll stick with purchasing some cravens craving cuttings this winter for my little project.

[Longranger]

Hi everyone,

I just got the fig bug this summer. I have 6 varieties in the ground in Bonsall, north San Diego county. Only second year but both the VdB and Panache have been and still are excellent and very productive. Way better than any store purchased figs. Already have picked up several others to plant early next spring and plan on getting many others including a couple from the black Madeira group. Just did a float test and it looks like I have the wasp. Woohoo. Already have the unk pastiliere to plant. Have any of you planted Male Capris to ensure fog wasps in your gardens?

[sc4001992]

I have the fig wasp, saw them in my capri figs. Also got my large capri fig trees from my neighbor when he wanted to get rid of the tree since it was getting large and too close to his border line block wall. It was nice after I dug it up, got 3 air layer branches first, then dug up the main tree (all capri fig) now in my yard. Only took me 3 hrs to dig it up and move it.

[Seanny]

My favorites for this year (2021) has to be the Vista.

Vista is same as VdB.

[johnb51]

My sister has fig trees in Richmond, VA, and my brother-in-law in DFW, TX.  My sister and I were talking recently about how much we loved figs growing up in SoCal, and those were just good old Black Mission, and occasionally we came across a Kadota tree.  Fig trees don't grow here due to nematodes in the soil.  The closest thing we have in the same category of "super-sweet/non-acidic" is sapodilla, which like fig makes a beautiful tree, too (albeit much larger).

[Seanny]

Fig trees don't grow here due to nematodes in the soil.

Have you tried growing them in pots?

[johnb51]

Fig trees don't grow here due to nematodes in the soil.

Have you tried growing them in pots?

Ha!  That's what my sister suggested I do.  I might try it in the future.  Which varieties do you recommend for pots?

[Seanny]

Which varieties do you recommend for pots?

I don’t have an answer for you.
Grow all then pick.

Are you NV of Simon’s NV1?

[sapote]

One of my favorite green fig is Bataglia. I discovered this variety on the way walking home from voting for President election in November 2015. I had never been interested in fig, as I had tasted mediocre figs. I saw some good plump figs on the sidewalk front of an apartment, reached up and got two. It tasted so good and I came back to get couple cutting.
https://www.ourfigs.com/filedata/fetch?photoid=172954&thumb=1

[Seanny]

Anyone else envy of Simon’s Envy 1?

[sc4001992]

Anyone have updates on their figs for 2023 in SoCal?

My wild seedling find, called Betty#1 is doing well after I grafted it on my potted trees. I'm getting some fruits for the first time this year, it is very good tasting. I did measure the brix =28, reminds me of fig newton tastes. I will taste a few more next week so I will try to see what other flavors it has. I plan to make more smaller trees of Betty#1 for myself since it tastes so good. Maybe I will sell it on Figbid for $200. Once I taste the Angelito fruit I can see if it ranks in the top 10 here.

Anyone tastes any of the following, please comment on their taste:
- Angelito
- Boysenberry Blush
- Cessac
- Figoin
- NV1
- Exquisito
- NSDC
- Thermalito
- Jamal Al Asfar
- White Madeira #1
- Black Manzanita
- Meteorito

I only tasted the Cessac, Exquisito so far on this list. Need to reduce the number of fig varieties in my yard.

[sc4001992]

If anyone want to buy one cutting of the wild seedling tree called Betty#1 for $100 each plus $10 shipping, let me know. I'm going to go to the place and cut some more branches for me to graft next week. I don't know still if it is a common fig, didn't cover it in time and I have fig wasp here. No one else has this new variety anywhere, so it's an exclusive now. I'll try to take a few more photos and post by tomorrow. I doubt that I will sell any cuttings or rooted plants of Betty#1 on Figbid so this is your chance now. If it tastes better than Angelito then the price will go up to $200 ( haha).

Send me a PM (message) by Sunday if interested.

[fruitnut1944]

Anyone have updates on their figs for 2023 in SoCal?

My wild seedling find, called Betty#1 is doing well after I grafted it on my potted trees. I'm getting some fruits for the first time this year, it is very good tasting. I did measure the brix =28, reminds me of fig newton tastes. I will taste a few more next week so I will try to see what other flavors it has. I plan to make more smaller trees of Betty#1 for myself since it tastes so good. Maybe I will sell it on Figbid for $200. Once I taste the Angelito fruit I can see if it ranks in the top 10 here.

Anyone tastes any of the following, please comment on their taste:
- Angelito
- Boysenberry Blush
- Cessac
- Figoin
- NV1
- Exquisito
- NSDC
- Thermalito
- Jamal Al Asfar
- White Madeira #1
- Black Manzanita
- Meteorito

I only tasted the Cessac, Exquisito so far on this list. Need to reduce the number of fig varieties in my yard.

I've tasted all of those except JAA. The best ones IMO are NV1, NSDC, and Black Manzanita. THe later is the best of the CA seedlings I've tasted.

[sc4001992]

Fruitnut, thank you for the reply. I just tasted an earlier ripe Black Manzanita fruit and I was not impressed, but maybe it was not properly ripe. I have one now that looks perfect, with some cracks and open eye. I haven't tasted but 5-6 fig varieties and so far to me, the best tasting was the Cessac and Betty#1. I don't have any fruits on the others you mentioned, and I don't have the NV1 yet.

I better add a few more NSDC grafts on my trees, my 2 grafted branches are growing slowly. How do you compare the Angelito, NSDC, Cessac, and Manzanita if you were to rank them to your favorite tasting?

[fruitnut1944]

Cessac is a good fig and matures early. To me the main drawback is small fruit size. If that doesn't bother you then you'll probably like it.

I haven't had many Angelito. Not enough to really say. And it may well need pollination to reach the level seen in CA by Doug who found it. That's the main drawback of many CA seedlings. Even if common they may need pollination to stand out from the crowd.

There are many great figs. Growing conditions are just as important as variety.

[sc4001992]

yup, I agree with you on the growing conditions. I think most of my figs will be caprified so it may not be easy to separate the taste of the excellent ones from the very good ones. I just need to get collection down to 3-5 varieties that tastes very good to excellent here.

[sc4001992]

I don't mind the smaller size figs are long as they taste excellent. My in ground larger tree is the Brown Turkey, and the fruits are large, but not much flavor to me.

[simon_grow]

Anyone have updates on their figs for 2023 in SoCal?

My wild seedling find, called Betty#1 is doing well after I grafted it on my potted trees. I'm getting some fruits for the first time this year, it is very good tasting. I did measure the brix =28, reminds me of fig newton tastes. I will taste a few more next week so I will try to see what other flavors it has. I plan to make more smaller trees of Betty#1 for myself since it tastes so good. Maybe I will sell it on Figbid for $200. Once I taste the Angelito fruit I can see if it ranks in the top 10 here.

Anyone tastes any of the following, please comment on their taste:
- Angelito
- Boysenberry Blush
- Cessac
- Figoin
- NV1
- Exquisito
- NSDC
- Thermalito
- Jamal Al Asfar
- White Madeira #1
- Black Manzanita
- Meteorito

I only tasted the Cessac, Exquisito so far on this list. Need to reduce the number of fig varieties in my yard.

I’ve tasted all of those except for Angelito.

I like sweet figs and my favorites out of that bunch is
Cessac
NV1
NSDC
White Madiera #1
Black Manzanita

Cessac actually gets to a decent size, not huge but a decent size fig and it is consistently delicious and sweet with or without caprification. My issue with Cessac and many other figs that grow in tight clusters of fruit is that it is extremely difficult to bag the fruit.

NV1 is also consistently sweet and top tier.

Black Manzanita stands out because of the dark interior that sometimes gets a black or purplish color. Caprified Black Manzanitas gets huge. I got one that was as big as a large Golden Rainbow.

White Algier, Sicilian 33, Cosme Manyo and Violet de Solliies are also top quality figs.

Simon

[sc4001992]

Good to hear your list of best tasting Simon.

-------------
Cessac
NV1
NSDC
White Madiera #1
Black Manzanita
------------

I tasted the Cessac from my grafted tree and it was good, making more grafts on my trees. The Black Manzanita is a nice-looking fig, have many on my tree now. I gave one ripe fruit to Thera, and he said it was excellent and caprified. Where did you find the NV1, I don't see it on sale anywhere? That's the only one on your list that I don't have yet.

My Bett#1 that Thera tasted was open eye and to watery (not caprified) he said. When I ate my first fruit it was caprified and excellent, reminded me of fig newtons. I only have a few more fruits so I hope they can stay on the tree longer, I picked the open eye fruit since it cracked large and also we had some sprinkle. I took some photos of the Manzanita fruit and Betty#1 that I will post later.

The neat thing on the Betty#1 fig is that it is bright red inside when the outside if still green, then when it ripens, it has small crack lines and the flesh is dark brown.

[simon_grow]

Hey Kaz,

I got my NV1 from the original source when it came out. Send me a PM and I can send you a cutting this Winter or in early Spring. If you ever stop by San Diego, you can hit me up and get a fresh cutting as well.

There are lots of great tasting figs out there but beware that many figs that taste super awesome are only mediocre when not caprified. Although I have the fig wasp in my area, I ended up keeping only the varieties that are sweet and taste consistently good to excellent when Not caprified.

This is an important consideration especially with the fact that the BFF has been spreading around California and bagging is one of the best ways to protect your fruit from BFF, fruit flies and fig wasps that carry fungal spores.

Not sure if other fig growers have noticed but about half my caprified figs get infected with a fungus that ruins the fruit. I spoke with several other friends that noticed the same thing. Bagging the fruit or the entire tree, if small, is the only way I can ensure top quality fruit.

Without bagging, fruit flies lay eggs in the fruit and it is nasty when you open a fruit full of maggots. Because bagging is becoming the way of life for fig lovers in San Diego, I highly recommend planting varieties that taste great without caprification.

For more detailed (Brix, weight, flavor) information regarding sweetest and best tasting figs, check out this thread.

https://www.ourfigs.com/forum/figs-home/972877-sweetest-fig-varieties/page6

Simon

[sc4001992]

Thanks Simon for the link. Now I need to add the White Algier.

Why wait until winter or spring, we can trade cuttings now. I can send you a few of the Betty#1 and you can send me the NV1.

I just went to where the mother tree is growing, it still had some fruits, birds ate most of the ripe ones hanging on the trees there. Here's some photos of the fig. When the fruit is still very green on the outside, the inside is bright red. But after it ripens, the skin has a neat looking green background with gray & blue hue, very pretty. I'm not sure if the ripe fruit when not caprified is dark red or not. All my fruits on my grafted tree has the dark inside flesh.

Simon, I will show you some photos so you might change your mind and do the trade now so I can graft the NV1 on my tree.

[seng]

Black madiera type, coll de dame type, and violet de bordeaux type are my favorite.

I'm in mira mesa area.  I got a few of the good ones, mentioned here if any of you interested.