I saw the UCR Strawberry 🍓 Teardrop Fig. I lived in Southern California for fifty-five years. Most of my life I lived coastal and the last sixteen years I lived about fifteen miles from UCR. The weather and conditions there were different from the coast. UCR is about fifty-five to sixty miles from where I spent most of my life. The weather and conditions are hot and dry. The soil is more or less decomposed granite. I didn't have figs near the coast but had them in Woodcrest near UCR. My three fig trees were gigantic, prolific and I got two to three crops from each tree each season. Woodcrest was where I learned about figs and had my first one. I was hooked.
The First year they sleep The Second year they Creep and The Third year they LEAP ! But some Figs just take off to the sky. as soon as they are put n the ground. Thanks for sharing what your trees do .
My fig trees are houseplants but they are loaded w figs&new ones continue to form.I really pruned them last Dec&now that will be yearly chore.I didn't know figs only form on new wood but I know now.I rooted all but one cutting&had trees to give away.Share the love!
I think you’re thinking of a Fiddle Leaf Fig. They are a very different species. Fruiting figs need intense sunshine and heat, and they will not do well indoors. They love 8-10 hours of unfiltered sun a day and 85-90 degree temperatures.
If you looked at Harvey's videos you could see how much more vigorous his Black Madeira trees are when grafted on Brown Turkey than they are on their own roots. Also, there will hardly be any dieback on figs in Central California, so grafting is actually a very good idea in that scenario.
I know grafting sounds like a good idea, but it only is until something happens. It's true that there isn't a lot of dieback in Visalia where Harvey lives, but when it happens, he risks losing a lot. My Black Madeira is quite vigorous, at least enough for me, but that being said, I'd rather have a tree that has less vigor and will never die on me. You just can't get that with grafting. Look at what just happened in Texas: so many people lost their grafts in that 100-year freeze. When a 100-year freeze hits California, it'll cause devastation. Let's not forget that downtown San Diego has seen sub-20 degree temps, and it will happen again. They're due. I personally think one of Harvey's issues is his soil type. I think his trees struggle in that hard, salty California clay and he could see some better results planting the trees a little high on mounds.
my friend, you have an insane collection. I couldn't stand it any longer and bought me a few plants. Black Madeira, CDD Noir, I-258, and Golden Rainbow. Hopefully next year, I will not just be watching someone else eat figs lol
@@georgiapeach7666 Depends on which state you live in. My state is restrictive, so I have to find sellers who are willing/licensed to ship to my state. I got mine from dan foster on figbid. Good luck on your search!
nice tour!!! They look great, I have no idea what kind of fig tree I have, but it is on its second batch, the birds are beating me to them at this point.
I got my longue d’aout omfrom my neighbor and it looked like your. I put it in the ground it didn’t grow the first year at all but the second year it grow to 2” and I didn’t even use any fertilizer or take care of it. And now I have it for 2 years and it’s been amazing I had harvested my first fig today. It’s absolutely delicious. I live in Maryland.
OK, I've got to grow fig tree. After all I live next "Capital of Fig" (Valinhos/SP/Brazil). My neighbour's got a couple of fig tree and they are doing great.
Thank you. My goal is to help as many people garden successfully as possible and spread the lifestyle, so I try to show failures as well as successes to save everyone else their time!
I grow mine in the very north of England. My tree's are just starting to get tiny little bumps at the leaf nowds but they are not yet big enough to tell if they are figlets yet let's all pray they are tonight please. 😅🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Awe… Dale looks IDENTICAL to my dog Gypsy! So much so, they look like they’re from the same litter! That’s so crazy 😂 but mine is wild, not as calm as Dale! & 3 years old still with just so much energy.
I really appreciate that. Right now isn't the best time to start a cutting because it won't have enough time to develop hardwood before the cold weather, but if you want to contact me this winter maybe we can trade! Thanks for watching.
Thank you. They have to be protected in the winter to get them to fruit. I show you how to do it here: ruclips.net/video/Eq8xGdPR3ko/видео.html They can be grown as ornamentals without protection, but if you want fruit in Zone 8, they need to be wrapped somehow.
In Durham NC, I’ve always seen fig trees around without anyone “tending” to them. Maybe this is bc of their age & so well established; one in my yard around 2000 had been there for a very a long time & fruited every year like clockwork
I would find a video tour of your whole yard very interesting so that we can see how much of your residential yard is given over to food production and if you have any purely aesthetic landscaping.
Too much risk. Unless you live in a place that never freezes, I wouldn't risk it. I've even heard of figs in subtropical areas that don't see freezes taking damage in the upper 39's and dying back significantly.
try stella and banane. The two varieties are often said to be good in my country. They are big figs. I wanted to buy stella and banane cuttings for propagation in my country this year but they were all sold out. I would like to see your reviews for desert kings, too. You may plant the three varieties.
I have never heard of "banane." Did you mean "banana"? I'm not familiar with that variety. I have heard of Stella. I do not grow Desert King. Desert King only sets breba crops without pollination, and breba's tend to fail down south, so it's not something I can grow. I would not recommend growing Desert King unless you live in the PNW. It seems to be the only place it does well.
@@TheMillennialGardener that's fine. You may just try stella. Some fig varieties in my country don't have an English name. Maybe the name "banane" is just created by some Chinese seller of figs. I just did a little searching and some said desert king belonged to San Pedro type. In my country there are no fig wasps.
I have a small one in a pot that I have no idea what it is variety wise, it could even be a caprifig. it was a cutting I took of a random one that grew in my yard, but now it has a single breba on it, I was gonna get rid of it to replace with my newer cuttings, but I'll hang onto it and see what happens with the fruit. It didn't grow well at all the first year either so I dunno, but we'll see
Hello I love love you thankyou for all this ,I got a fig cuttings person didn't know what kind I replanted it pot thankgod I see little leaves growing back ,I actually prefer the green ones I don't know what this will be .
Glad you enjoyed the video. Unfortunately, unknown figs cannot be identified for sure without DNA testing, but as long as you enjoy the variety, that’s all that matters.
The Fig Tour!!!!! I remember the vid you posted after the late frost date. We knew you would turn it around and Wow, you did it in style. Here in 7B (Northern Virginia) I was also hit with the up-and-down weather. I have hundreds of figs on the fake tree but they are still very young. I can’t wait to start the harvest.
Well, my figs in ground are genuinely 4-6 weeks behind. Some of the varieties like BBN and MR probably won’t ripen this year, unfortunately. But luckily I have enough other varieties that it softens the blow.
@20:50 on grafting and dieback - Harvey C. has a video showing how to bury the graft union so even if it dies back you don't lose your scion stock (because it's also below ground) - you should check it out. Might be harder in pots.... but some are very difficult to establish on their own roots.
I just bought 5 figs watching this. Haha. My husband asked me don't you think we have enough fig trees? I told him the more we have the more we eat. My son loves figs and I never seem to get any myself.
Oh no, I hope I'm not helping create a monster 😂 Just kidding! The more figs, the merrier! I don't know what it is about fig trees, but they're just so interesting. I've never seen so many people into collecting fruit trees as there is with figs. They're truly special plants.
Now I have a different problem- I am moving from NJ to Florida and have about 8 Fig trees in 5 gallon containers. The known varieties can be replaced, but I have a few from friends whose families came over from Italy back in the 1920's with cuttings- those I can't replace. Right now the trees have little figlets- is it possible to take cuttings this early and wrap them in paper towels (?)...or do I cut down to the trunk and create a small root ball - I'm probably driving down the end of August.
I don’t know what kind I got but I was tired of mine growing to the moon last winter I cut it about a foot from the ground. Well this year it is so stinking thick it is unbelievable. I’m in Goldsboro NC and mine hadn’t come out early enough to get the damage yours did . But I saw a few figs on the north side but the rest was so slow to get them to grow . So hopefully I will get some this year .. if you took four or five of your trees and stick all together then that’s how mine grows . Hopefully this fall I can make some cuttings and try to have single stacks instead of stacks everywhere.
The problem with the Wilmington area is the days get very warm before the threat of freeze passes. We often get long strings of 70 degree weather in late February, and March is generally nice and comfortable during the day. The problem is, we're still susceptible to a plunge. Things tend to leaf out early here, so it can be a headache trying to scramble to protect new growth in late winter/early spring. We must have 4 "false" starts to spring here each year 😅 Figs respond very well to hard pruning. They're one of those trees where the more you prune them, the more they respond by growing. Mine are compact because I established short, tight cordons, so it limits the growth. You may want to adopt something like that like I show here: ruclips.net/p/PL1gY7BoYBGIFlbg2ri_7gCJPhXaZ_nOvy
I don’t know how I’ve missed so many videos!? I just checked and my notifications were turned off, though I swear they were enabled. Loved this video! Keith has been looking up fig based recipes in the hope we might get a small harvest this year.
It's tough to catch everything. I *do* appreciate you trying! These days, I find myself spending so much time filming, editing and responding to comments that I struggle to keep up with those I follow and often can't.
Your ( long day out ) fig definitely look's stressed out in this case I'd definitely place it a sheltered position in indirect sunlight for the rest of the year. Don't be tempted to place it back when it greens up and starts to push out new growth as this will only give it a second shock that may be fatal. 😎👍🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳
Believe it or not, that tree has been sitting in that pot in the exact same position for 3.5 months, now. It was also kept outside all winter, so it's fully acclimated to the climate. Something else is going on. It may be rotting. I'm considering pulling it and putting it in a smaller container to see if it recovers. This is the only variety I've ever had problems with. It is so bizarre.
Interesting! Would you be so kind as to recommend a good book about learning to propagate figs? I’m really interested in exploring this and giving it a try! You’ve inspired me. Thanks - You are a great presenter.
Thank you. I have a comprehensive video on how I do it here: ruclips.net/video/ExfavYO0Qos/видео.html These days, I use the 4"x9" tree pots from Greenhouse Megastore instead of the clear plastic cups, though. But the method is about the same.
Hi, love the channel. I live in East Tennessee and have 2 older fig trees and 2 young ones a Chicago hardy and brown turkey. I don’t know the variety of the 2 older trees but one grows to about 7ft tall and 12ft wide it always die back does not emerge till late May and has never produced one fig it grows in full sun the other tree is about 12 ft tall figs begin to emerge in late August and do not ripen till Halloween then going into November a great deal of the un-ripen figs are lost for it is getting too cold. I got these figs from the local Home Depot.
It sounds to me that your growing season is not sufficient for your varieties to ripen fruit from total dieback. What you are going to want to do is protect the tree. After the first frost or two knocks all the leaves off, cut the tree down to a single trunk about 24 inches tall. Then, take some welded wire fence, build a 2 ft wide cage around it, stuff it with straw, then throw a white trash bag over it. That will keep the precipitation from rotting the tree, and a white bag won't attract heat like a black bag. This will insulate it and help prevent dieback. Remove the cage after your last frost date, and this will give your tree an *enormous* boost for the next season if you can prevent dieback.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you for your reply I will try your advice. I’m currently in USDA zone 7a, the funny thing I lived in NY north of NYC and had 2 fig trees variety unknown (a white fig and a purple) I gave them no winter protection and enjoyed delicious figs from both trees by the middle of August .
All figs do better in ground, but there are many varieties that are superior to dedicate space. With space so limited, I would rather grow others with superior fruit quality.
In terms of growing degrees, the summers here are about 3 times hotter. It's fairly mild here in the Wilmington area during the winter, and far warmer than anywhere in Washington State.
Pretty impressive and awesome. I was gifted 3 Osborne cuttings, and they all have rooted nicely, but I had never heard of it. Was hoping you had one so I could get some insight. Anyway, awesome fig collection
Hello. Took the tour of your fig varieties. Excellent. Thanks. Questions? I only have two varieties. First is Celeste and second is White Marseilles. I want to take cuttings and duplicate. It is October 8, 2021 and I am just above Tallahassee FL. Zone 8. They are second year and in ground. Can I take cuttings and use root hormone now? What are your recommended steps to best propagate these two varieties? Thank you in advance for any detailed advice.
I generally advise against pruning until the trees are dormant. In your zone, fig trees may not go fully dormant, but they will go close (if not completely) dormant in January. This is also advisable to save you a lot of time and headache. Freshly rooted cuttings need to be protected from frost and freeze, so waiting until January to root cuttings means they won't actually root until February, so you won't have to shuffle them in and out on cold evenings all winter long. This rooting video will help point you in the right direction: ruclips.net/video/ExfavYO0Qos/видео.html
Dale is really good with the biting. We’ve been very good at teaching him “gentle,” and he almost always is. I actually have a meyer lemon tree in-ground. It is about 5 feet tall growing as a bush, not as a tree. I’ve elected to grow a rooted cutting instead of a grafted tree for winter hardiness purposes.
Every one but that darn Longue d'Aout, the bane of my existence for 3 seasons! I seem to be the kiss of death to this variety! It's tough living on the East Coast with our polar fronts. Springs can be a time of great joy and great sorrow when those late freezes occur. Thank you for watching.
19F isn't much of a challenge for a fully dormant fig tree, believe it or not. I would expect minimal cold damage for a brief dip under 20. All my fig trees have seen 22F many times and have never taken any damage from that when it happens in January. Organza bags will help protect against birds: ruclips.net/video/OdAlScEu238/видео.html They won't help much against squirrels, opossums and raccoons, though. You may want to put up some chicken wire, or at least get some bird netting.
Sometimes, you find something you love by accident. I always loved figs, but I didn't know there were so many amazing varieties, and they're all so different.
My fig tree is at least 15 yrs. old & has never a ripe fruit. It falls off before it ripens. Makes me grrrr! I have pruned is drastically coz it just grows & grows if I let it. I now treat it like a shade tree.
You are most likely growing a smyrna variety. Most "natural" varieties of figs are smyrna, meaning they will not grow without pollination from the extremely rare fig wasp, which is endemic to the Mediterranean and only exists in tiny pockets of California in the US. If it's a smyrna, and it sounds like it is, you'll never be able to eat the figs. It would be best to remove the tree and replace it with a common fig, which will set fruit without pollination. All my figs are common figs, because pollination isn't possible naturally where I live. If the tree is too large, you could cut it down, wait for new growth to sucker, select a sucker and graft a new variety onto it, then remove all the other suckers. Then, let the graft be your new tree. A fig tree can easily grow 8 feet in a season, so within 2-3 years, it'll be a nice tree once again as long as it doesn't take winter damage.
At this time of year, it's very simple because so few figs are ripening. Right now, only my Ronde de Bordeaux and Chicago Hardy are ripening, and I had my first Olympian swell today. Everything else is a bit later.
It's difficult to do that. In-ground and container figs ripen differently, so it isn't really possible to scale them. It's also highly temperature dependent. Usually, a handful of random varieties will get some frostbite on the tips and have to be cut back a little, so that sets them back. I can give you a rough approximation as to what is early, but I don't think any chart that says "Variety A is August 29" and "Variety B is September 3" is true. It's not possible to be that accurate. If I grow two clones of Col de Dame Noir and treat them equally, they aren't going to ripen their first fig on the same day. There is a 2 week variability built into the trees as environmental conditions play a factor
@@TheMillennialGardener I guess I was just thinking about Early, Mid Season, Late kind of scale, as opposed to quantitative date specific. For instance, RdB vs Smith vs I258.
The only thing I know about Golden Dawn is that LeeAnn (sacredorigin on Ourfigs) discovered it growing wild in California somewhere. I obtained a copy, and I believe I was told her seedling died, so I don't even think she has it anymore. I don't know much more than that. It may be one of a kind, or extremely limited in availability. I didn't get many figs off it last year, and it doesn't look like I'm going to get a ton this year, so I want to do more research before I spread it.
Figs, in my experience, respond very well to hard pruning. Now, cold damage that kills them down to the base definitely sets them way back, but aggressive pruning seems to help.
No. The taste is identical. The yields of potted figs will be much lower, but the fruit quality is no different. These are the containers I use and recommend: ruclips.net/video/LuBHbBmh3hU/видео.htmlsi=s_3wiwsmRwI4thCP
I have watched you plant these trees in the ground but I did not see how you water them and how often you water them? Amazing vigor in most of the trees.
My in-ground trees almost never require water, because we get so much rain here in the summers, and the springs, falls and winters usually produce more rain than the weaker sun can evaporate. For the container trees, this is how I water: ruclips.net/video/bQMqpQHDbl4/видео.html
We had such a horrendously wet year that really nothing did well the second half of the summer. White Madeira #1 had never burst on me, but ever since we got a few deluges, every single fig exploded. It's tough to judge these trees that are spending their first season in-ground, though, and my older in-ground trees got set back badly with an April hard freeze. It just wasn't a good fig season this year, but I still got a few gems here and there. My Smith cranked out some really nice figs in early September before we got washed out.
I have a brown turkey and I am pinching it off now I want it the fruit but I don't know how I'm looking at your video and I have a couple of cuttings that I'm rooting too but I have a brown turkey and some curtains thank you give me some advice
It was doing great...until I was moving my containers for the season, backed up and snapped the graft off. I knocked it clean off. I was really bummed. It had 7 big old leaves, so I lost it 😔
@@TheMillennialGardener Ahhhhhh losses happen man, cuttings die, trees die and grafts snap.., You’ll get it again... Your collection is completely insane though, you’re now officially the Harvey of the Carolinas 😂👍
How did your cdd cuitat turn out? I have that and del la senyora(h). Both first year rooted cuttings. Is it worth keeping both? Or is once clearly superior, without tasting they seem quite similar and I have limited space. FYI. In Los Angeles zone 10b
I just got back from that 1.5 month long trip and only one of the two neglected I-258 cuttings survived. However, it has now entered a rapid growth phase. I am so excited! She is going into the Ground late next Spring. Along with the CDD Blanc, CDD Gris, Negronne, VDB, Smith, and Adriatic JH! I cannot wait!!!!
Those are some very good figs. One word of caution: while all the varieties you mentioned are excellent, Violette de Bordeaux and Negronne are the same fig. If you have both, you have a double. The names are interchangeable: www.almostedenplants.com/shopping/products/11127-violette-de-bordeaux-fig-negronne-fig/ If you want both trees, that's great, but if you don't want to plant two identical trees, you may want to save that precious in-ground space for another variety.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you. I am aware of it already. However, I got one tree from edible landscaping and one from Onegreenworld. One has had almost only spade leaves and the other has had almost only the long finger leaves. If they are indeed the same tree… then they have adapted themselves for different places. Even tue clones I have made of them have remained the same (for the leaves). I want to plant both for trial. They will be near the garden anyways… since they will both be small trees. Some folks swear at the Negronne has slightly better flavor. Lol
Fantastic tour, thanks so much. Your channel is fast becoming my favorite on RUclips. What would be your favorite variety for container growing in Zone 5 and where are a few good places to get them? I currently have two new Chicago Hardy growing in ground and container, but sounds like it’s not one you like. I’m new to fig growing.
Thank you! That really means a lot to me! For your zone, your challenge will be ripening in your short season. I think the two figs you must have are Improved Celeste and Ronde de Bordeaux. RdB ripens so fast compared to all my others it is crazy! I’ve also heard Florea is extremely early, so you may want to consider that, too. With those 3 plus Chicago Hardy, that will give you 4 very early figs with very different flavor profiles.
Love this tour. MY heart sank when you got to the Chicago Hardy, as I was gifted this last year. It is my first fig. I live in Northern NJ. I remember you said you are from NJ. So please tell me the best fig I can grow in a container (stored in garage over winter) that will yield fruit in a short grow period.
It'll produce figs just fine. He's got a lot of premium fig varieties, so Hardy Chicago has a hard time competing. That said, Ronde De Bordeaux and Violette de Bordeaux are available at big box stores and usually on the top 10 list of many serious hobbyists.
All fig trees grow well in a container. If you want early fruit, Ronde de Bordeaux, Improved Celeste / Celeste, Chicago Hardy and Olympian are some of the earliest. Smith may be another good choice. My Chicago Hardy's are finally starting to swell, and I have one that actually swelled up pretty large. Maybe this is the year the tree will finally come into its own? Lots of people LOVE the fig and call it one of its favorites. Taste is extremely subjective, so just because I'm not the biggest fan of it doesn't mean you won't love it. I'm not a big fan of honey figs, but others go crazy for them.
incredible in ground progress! I have all my figs in ground in coastal los angeles but south facing backyard. Even my three year old trees don't look as good as yours. I wonder if its the fact you planted a little higher, which i didn't do. Maybe mine needs more fertilizer.
Planting high, I believe, really helps them take off quickly. It allows surface roots to run along the ground more easily, and I think that gives them a big head start. I also have quite sandy soil, and I amend it heavily with compost and mulch. They are under a very thick mulch layer. Probably a solid 4-5 inches of compost and mulch, and they just go crazy. Figs are very heavy feeders. The more you give them, the more they give you.
I've got a White Genoa, here in Melbourne Australia. Have you tried growing one of these? It's on its third summer and starting to look really good, it is also supposed to give a good breba crop too, although with my winter prune I ended up cutting off almost all of last summer's nodes.
Hi Anthony, did you end up getting any hand pollinated figs to maturity? I can’t remember if you did a video recently on this topic. I am interested in doing this as I live in Sydney where we don’t have the wasp either.
Thanks. It depends where you're located, how much rain you get and how long your growing season is. The varieties of figs you grow depends on how warm and wet and long your summer is. You'd have to give me a breakdown of how your climate is.
Super channel, which I am of course subscribed to and always likes! Figs are my weakness :)) I live in South Carolina on the ocean. Has grown a lot of air layers of the Japanese variety, for some reason very rare in our adjacent states. But these figs are surprisingly easy to grow, they are not capricious, and they yield a large yield of sweet, large fruits with a sour taste. And its big plus is that it is renovated !!! This is Masui Dauphine. But one of my figs of a different variety gives a lot of fruits and then drops them: ((I can't understand why ... Soon I will make a video on my channel and maybe the professionals will help me get a good result with it.
I’m not familiar with any Japanese figs. As for the your fig tree that drops its figs, it is probably a smyrna. Smyrna figs must be pollinated by the fig wasp, which only exists in small areas of California. We cannot grow smyrna types here in the Carolinas, because they won’t ripen without the special fig wasp.
I have an in-depth tutorial on how to fertilize here: ruclips.net/video/8uw5ngYW44Q/видео.html Figs prefer dry summers and mild winters, but they are highly adaptable.
He is an outstanding dog. Smart as a whip. Smarter than most of us humans, I tell you. He is a rescue, but we did his DNA. He is 50% American Foxhound, 33% Pit Bull Terrier and 17% American Staffordshire Terrier. I would highly recommend Pit Bull and hound mixes. They are so strong, healthy, whip-smart and loyal. And very little shedding. I’m very allergic to cats and dogs like labs, German Shepherds, Golden’s, etc. I have no issues with Dale, and he barely sheds.
@@TheMillennialGardener that's hilarious because I have a dog that seems to have a very similar demeanor as Dale. He is also a rescue and we did a DNA test on him, as well. He has American Staffordshire Terrier and pit bull terrier in him as well. However, he is also German Shepherd and Boxer. The only thing about him that isn't the best is the hair and dander.
OK, you are on my FIG list cuz I love everything about them! I have a Peter's Honey Fig that has 2 figs on it atm in ground. It has never been pruned. Im fixin to move and I need to dig it up as it is coming with me. I need a Celeste and a Brown Turkey. Why don't you have the 2 LSU figs? How did you become interested in growing and collecting figs?
You can actually take cuttings from the tree and clone it, so you won't have to go through the effort of digging it up. Rooting a cutting is an exact clone of the mother tree, and fig trees can easily grow 6-8 feet or more in a season, so it'll save you a lot of time and effort. I have a Celeste, and since the LSU figs are similar to Celeste, I never really got into them. I would not recommend Brown Turkey unless you really like the fig. It is the only fig I don't personally care for, but if you've had it and enjoy it, disregard my comment.
I live in the Atlanta metro area. I have plenty of room, and plenty of direct sun. Which figs varieties would you recommend? Also, why do you grow so many figs? Do you sell them, or consume them all yourself?
Start with some cold hardy varieties for in-ground like Violette de Bordeaux, Olympian, Ronde de Bordeaux, Improved Celeste. Then look at potted trees, Italian 258 and Smith are top rated and fairly available.
@@ashtanga2000 Thanks. I assume the potted ones are so they can be taken inside during winter? Are they so much better than the outdoor variety they are worth the trouble of moving?
@@spsmith1965 some are indeed better. Look at what he has in ground. I’m not sure if Atlanta is same. If so, you can put those in ground too. But yes, pots are to bring into garage to avoid below 20F which kills branches.
Any variety that I have in-ground will do well for you. The figs I plant in-ground are the ones I recommend for the South. I grow so many figs because figs are not like most fruits. They are incredibly unique. If I blindfold you and give you 10 different types of apples, you'll know they're all apples. if I blindfold you and give you 10 different types of oranges, you'll know they're all oranges. With figs, I can give you 20 different varieties that taste nothing alike. A "fig" is more of a texture than a taste. They have the widest variety of any fruit I've ever seen. It isn't even close. You can grow 50 different trees with none being alike.
Have 3 Chicago hardy figs and have been using your recommended fertilizing regiment. My 3 are nothing like yours though. Real green, lush and between the three approaching if not have more than 80 figs on the three. Real solid plants. Looking for recommendations for another colder weather fig for up here in mass I can keep in a bucket that will be in a greenhouse in the winter. So the elements won’t affect it but the cold will be present. Also rooted 6 cuttings this year from the Chicago hardy that are doing real well. 👍👍 A question though, having a real hard time with a yellow and black beetle (potato beetle I’ve known it as) eating the leaves. But from what I was told the saliva from the bug gives the plant a disease in which it wilts like it’s dry. It isn’t, the disease prohibits water from circulating in the plant, thus killing it. Any way of getting rid of these bugs? They’ve killed like 10 cucumber plants so far.
That's interesting. My Chicago Hardy is my only tree that doesn't want to budge. The only other tree that struggles to grow for me is my Sao Miguel Roxo, which, ironically, is grafted onto Chicago Hardy. I'm pretty convinced it is a more dwarfing variety. Maybe it'll benefit from a hard pruning and a re-potting next season if I decide to keep it. I do not believe there is a significant difference in "cold hardiness" between figs. From my observations, they are all about the same once dormant. The figs that will be susceptible to cold damage are the figs that fall into dormancy last during the fall and wake up from dormancy first during the spring. From my observations, that's not variety-dependent, but environmentally dependent. Figs in sunnier locations will try and wake up first, so they'll be the most susceptible to dieback. If you live in a place with colder winters, what you'll probably want are figs that ripen earlier since your challenge will be ripening them during the growing season. The earliest figs I know of are Ronde de Bordeaux, Improved Celeste, Celeste, Florea, Olympian and Chicago Hardy. Of those five, I have Ronde de Bordeaux, Chicago Hardy, Celeste and Olympian, and they are all ripening figs as we speak (except Celeste because it got so damaged in the freeze, but it's USUALLY my FIRST fig). They are so far ahead of the others. I do not own Improved Celeste and Florea, but everyone says they're 2 of the absolute earliest. I'd look into all of those. I have not heard of potato beetles eating figs. However, I do have Japanese beetles occasionally munching on leaves. They're doing it now as we speak as we're in peak beetle season right now. The way I deal with it is by using my ULV fogger and spraying everything down with natural pyrethrin every 7 days. You can use a regular old 1 or 2 gallon pump sprayer to do this, but the fogger I use here makes it 10 times easier: ruclips.net/video/YVgCfWLR9aA/видео.html If you need pyrethrin concentrate, I have it linked in my Amazon Storefront. It's very effective. If you need caterpillar and worm control, I also recommend spinosad concentrate (also linked in the Amazon Storefront in the video description). Between spinosad and pyrethrin, it will kill almost every pest naturally. The stuff does kill pollinators, so I only spray at sundown since bees are usually long gone by then.
@@TheMillennialGardener awesome, I’ll have to look into those varieties for early ripening! I should’ve been more clear, the potato beetles are affecting my squash and cucumber plants. Entirely separate issue. Their saliva causes the plant to not be able to suck up water and kills the plants. The figs are incredibly healthy and have zero issues with bugs for the time being. I will look into those treatments for the potato beetle issue on the squash and cucumber plants through your Amazon storefront. Thank you very much for the help!
Which variety of your amazing tasting closed eye figs pulled through your freeze 🥶 the best. Figs do great in my area (Texas) I think they must really like sandy soils.I had a Russia pomegranate die from the -3 freeze we had and I’m deciding if I should replace it with a Feijoa or a fig. I already have my Celeste and I’d like to get a cold hardy fig that ripens at a different time or taste better. I love the taste of Celeste. It’s hard to imagine there’s better tasting figs but I know they’re out there. There’s an itailian guy in Ft. Worth that breeds his own varieties. He has a large fig nursery. I saw him on Facebook Marketplace 2 years ago. I could try to find his info if you’d be interested in trying some of his.
I have found there is no significant difference in hardiness between fig varieties. They all perform the about same, and how injured they get depends on how early or late they go into dormancy. The trees that go into dormancy last, or wake up first, are most prone to damage. It doesn’t seem to be tied to variety, and figs that ripen earliest don’t necessarily wake up earlier. The good news is fig roots are hardy to below 0, particularly if you mulch them to insulate them, so even if you fig tree dies to the ground, it’ll come back in April. By November, it’ll be a 7 foot tall tree again. I find Celeste to be a basic sugar fig. If you love Celeste, you’ll be happy to know many other varieties will blow your mind. If you think. Celeste is good, I-258, White Madeira #1, Smith, Black Madeira, Bordissot Blanca Negra and ALL the Col de Dame’s will blow your mind. Col de Dame Blanc, I-258 and White Madeira #1 will send you into orbit.
@@TheMillennialGardener I’ll go back to the time stamp and check those last 3 out. Where is the best place to pick those up at a reasonable price and get a true variety. I’ve been burned by some nurseries. I’ve bought 4 pecans that were not even true to variety. That’ll make you mad because it takes pecans so long to start production only to find out it’s wrong after it gets so big. That native took about 12 years until It produced. One was a junk native and 3 were junk Stewart’s. I started doing all my own grafting. I’ve bought a lot of mislabeled trees over the years.
The best place to search is the website Figbid. There, you're buying from collectors. Almost all of my figs come from various collectors, because nurseries tend to just re-sell very common varieties.
Live in Ohio. First year with a Chicago Hardy. No figs even though healthy. Would like to try a better variety. Suggestion please. And where to get. Thank you.
For your shorter season, you may want to look into Ronde de Bordeaux, Improved Celeste and Florea. These are, by most accounts, the 3 earliest figs. I do not have Improved Celeste or Florea, but I do have Ronde de Bordeaux. In my opinion, the flavor of Ronde de Bordeaux is superior to Chicago Hardy. The downside is Ronde de Bordeaux can split in heavy rains, and Chicago Hardy handles rain very well. The best place to look for specific varieties is Figbid.
I saw the UCR Strawberry 🍓 Teardrop Fig. I lived in Southern California for fifty-five years. Most of my life I lived coastal and the last sixteen years I lived about fifteen miles from UCR. The weather and conditions there were different from the coast. UCR is about fifty-five to sixty miles from where I spent most of my life. The weather and conditions are hot and dry. The soil is more or less decomposed granite. I didn't have figs near the coast but had them in Woodcrest near UCR. My three fig trees were gigantic, prolific and I got two to three crops from each tree each season. Woodcrest was where I learned about figs and had my first one. I was hooked.
The First year they sleep
The Second year they Creep
and The Third year they LEAP !
But some Figs just take off to the sky.
as soon as they are put n the ground.
Thanks for sharing what your trees do .
Hope you will give us a 2023 review of your fig trees
Millenial Gardener shows us the way 😊
Nice fig plantation you've got there. Thank you so very much for sharing your knowledge.
My fig trees are houseplants but they are loaded w figs&new ones continue to form.I really pruned them last Dec&now that will be yearly chore.I didn't know figs only form on new wood but I know now.I rooted all but one cutting&had trees to give away.Share the love!
I think you’re thinking of a Fiddle Leaf Fig. They are a very different species. Fruiting figs need intense sunshine and heat, and they will not do well indoors. They love 8-10 hours of unfiltered sun a day and 85-90 degree temperatures.
@@TheMillennialGardener They are definitely not Fiddle Leaf Figs.Where can I send a pic?You might be impressed....lol
Finally! Keep up the good work, my trees are loaded because of your videos.
This is the annual video I dread. It took literally 12+ hours to film and edit 😂 Hope it was worth it! Thanks for watching.
@@TheMillennialGardener It is a very comprehensive "must view" vid on figs!
Nice. That’s the greatest compliment right there. 👍🏻
If you looked at Harvey's videos you could see how much more vigorous his Black Madeira trees are when grafted on Brown Turkey than they are on their own roots. Also, there will hardly be any dieback on figs in Central California, so grafting is actually a very good idea in that scenario.
I know grafting sounds like a good idea, but it only is until something happens. It's true that there isn't a lot of dieback in Visalia where Harvey lives, but when it happens, he risks losing a lot. My Black Madeira is quite vigorous, at least enough for me, but that being said, I'd rather have a tree that has less vigor and will never die on me. You just can't get that with grafting. Look at what just happened in Texas: so many people lost their grafts in that 100-year freeze. When a 100-year freeze hits California, it'll cause devastation. Let's not forget that downtown San Diego has seen sub-20 degree temps, and it will happen again. They're due. I personally think one of Harvey's issues is his soil type. I think his trees struggle in that hard, salty California clay and he could see some better results planting the trees a little high on mounds.
my friend, you have an insane collection. I couldn't stand it any longer and bought me a few plants. Black Madeira, CDD Noir, I-258, and Golden Rainbow. Hopefully next year, I will not just be watching someone else eat figs lol
Those are four very good figs. You are going to be very happy. Glad to hear you were inspired to buy some!
What is a good source for fig trees?
@@georgiapeach7666 Depends on which state you live in. My state is restrictive, so I have to find sellers who are willing/licensed to ship to my state. I got mine from dan foster on figbid. Good luck on your search!
Have any one of you tried the Green Fig Preserve? Boy, it's super super yummy.
nice tour!!! They look great, I have no idea what kind of fig tree I have, but it is on its second batch, the birds are beating me to them at this point.
Thank you. As long as you enjoy the tree, that's all that matters. And there's always room for one more...or 50 more!
I got my longue d’aout omfrom my neighbor and it looked like your. I put it in the ground it didn’t grow the first year at all but the second year it grow to 2” and I didn’t even use any fertilizer or take care of it. And now I have it for 2 years and it’s been amazing I had harvested my first fig today. It’s absolutely delicious. I live in Maryland.
OK, I've got to grow fig tree. After all I live next "Capital of Fig" (Valinhos/SP/Brazil). My neighbour's got a couple of fig tree and they are doing great.
Very nice. I like how you speak honestly and show your successes and failures.
Thank you. My goal is to help as many people garden successfully as possible and spread the lifestyle, so I try to show failures as well as successes to save everyone else their time!
I grow mine in the very north of England. My tree's are just starting to get tiny little bumps at the leaf nowds but they are not yet big enough to tell if they are figlets yet let's all pray they are tonight please. 😅🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Do you grow them for breba or main crop? I would imagine main crop could be a challenge in most areas of the UK.
Mostly for braber but in a year with an Indian summer I've a good chance of some mane crops.
Thanks to you I got cuttings for three varieties of figs, Nazareth, Olympian, and Pastilliere. Looking to get two more
Great tour, some very nice trees you have there. Keep us posted as they ripen.
Thank you! I will have a update shortly.
Awe… Dale looks IDENTICAL to my dog Gypsy! So much so, they look like they’re from the same litter! That’s so crazy 😂 but mine is wild, not as calm as Dale! & 3 years old still with just so much energy.
I'd like to send you some cuttings of a few different varieties that were originally from my small town in Syria.
I really appreciate that. Right now isn't the best time to start a cutting because it won't have enough time to develop hardwood before the cold weather, but if you want to contact me this winter maybe we can trade! Thanks for watching.
Did you bring them from Syria to America? I’m kinda surprised they got through to be honest
@@sasquatchdonut2674 I did, I'm pretty surprised I was able to bring them too.
@@agent4127 I’ve been looking into getting some fig cutting from the holy land but everybody is saying that they got theirs confiscated.
@@sasquatchdonut2674 I'll make an air layer and send it to you.
Your banana trees look really healthy. I didn’t think you’d be able to grow them in an area that freezes. Thanks for sharing the video 🙂
Thank you. They have to be protected in the winter to get them to fruit. I show you how to do it here: ruclips.net/video/Eq8xGdPR3ko/видео.html
They can be grown as ornamentals without protection, but if you want fruit in Zone 8, they need to be wrapped somehow.
@@TheMillennialGardener are yours Cavendish?
Your trees look beautiful,I have only 1 tree
Don't have room for more,but I am very happy to just have one.
I LOVE FIG❤❤❤
In Durham NC, I’ve always seen fig trees around without anyone “tending” to them. Maybe this is bc of their age & so well established; one in my yard around 2000 had been there for a very a long time & fruited every year like clockwork
And i thought I had a lot of figs. Nice collection
Thanks! I appreciate you watching.
I would find a video tour of your whole yard very interesting so that we can see how much of your residential yard is given over to food production and if you have any purely aesthetic landscaping.
Agree 100% on the grafting. Only as a last resort in my book.
Too much risk. Unless you live in a place that never freezes, I wouldn't risk it. I've even heard of figs in subtropical areas that don't see freezes taking damage in the upper 39's and dying back significantly.
Thank you for making this video. It is so awesome to see how passionate you are.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching! I appreciate it.
Very nice tour, excellent job and good luck this fruiting season.
Thank you! Thanks for watching!
That's funny LDA is giving me a hard time as well, I'm on number 6 with the cuttings I'm not giving up!!!
try stella and banane. The two varieties are often said to be good in my country. They are big figs. I wanted to buy stella and banane cuttings for propagation in my country this year but they were all sold out.
I would like to see your reviews for desert kings, too.
You may plant the three varieties.
I have never heard of "banane." Did you mean "banana"? I'm not familiar with that variety. I have heard of Stella.
I do not grow Desert King. Desert King only sets breba crops without pollination, and breba's tend to fail down south, so it's not something I can grow. I would not recommend growing Desert King unless you live in the PNW. It seems to be the only place it does well.
@@TheMillennialGardener that's fine. You may just try stella. Some fig varieties in my country don't have an English name. Maybe the name "banane" is just created by some Chinese seller of figs.
I just did a little searching and some said desert king belonged to San Pedro type. In my country there are no fig wasps.
I have a small one in a pot that I have no idea what it is variety wise, it could even be a caprifig. it was a cutting I took of a random one that grew in my yard, but now it has a single breba on it, I was gonna get rid of it to replace with my newer cuttings, but I'll hang onto it and see what happens with the fruit. It didn't grow well at all the first year either so I dunno, but we'll see
Hello I love love you thankyou for all this ,I got a fig cuttings person didn't know what kind I replanted it pot thankgod I see little leaves growing back ,I actually prefer the green ones I don't know what this will be .
Glad you enjoyed the video. Unfortunately, unknown figs cannot be identified for sure without DNA testing, but as long as you enjoy the variety, that’s all that matters.
The Fig Tour!!!!! I remember the vid you posted after the late frost date. We knew you would turn it around and Wow, you did it in style. Here in 7B (Northern Virginia) I was also hit with the up-and-down weather. I have hundreds of figs on the fake tree but they are still very young. I can’t wait to start the harvest.
Well, my figs in ground are genuinely 4-6 weeks behind. Some of the varieties like BBN and MR probably won’t ripen this year, unfortunately. But luckily I have enough other varieties that it softens the blow.
Just start to grow fig this season. Has been watched your fig tree for a while now I start to got into it.
You have all the figs but you miss one specific fig which is siyah orak fig. It is from BlackSea and very delicious. Congrats for your efforts!!!
@20:50 on grafting and dieback - Harvey C. has a video showing how to bury the graft union so even if it dies back you don't lose your scion stock (because it's also below ground) - you should check it out. Might be harder in pots.... but some are very difficult to establish on their own roots.
I just bought 5 figs watching this. Haha. My husband asked me don't you think we have enough fig trees? I told him the more we have the more we eat. My son loves figs and I never seem to get any myself.
Oh no, I hope I'm not helping create a monster 😂 Just kidding! The more figs, the merrier! I don't know what it is about fig trees, but they're just so interesting. I've never seen so many people into collecting fruit trees as there is with figs. They're truly special plants.
Now I have a different problem- I am moving from NJ to Florida and have about 8 Fig trees in 5 gallon containers. The known varieties can be replaced, but I have a few from friends whose families came over from Italy back in the 1920's with cuttings- those I can't replace. Right now the trees have little figlets- is it possible to take cuttings this early and wrap them in paper towels (?)...or do I cut down to the trunk and create a small root ball - I'm probably driving down the end of August.
I don’t know what kind I got but I was tired of mine growing to the moon last winter I cut it about a foot from the ground. Well this year it is so stinking thick it is unbelievable. I’m in Goldsboro NC and mine hadn’t come out early enough to get the damage yours did . But I saw a few figs on the north side but the rest was so slow to get them to grow . So hopefully I will get some this year .. if you took four or five of your trees and stick all together then that’s how mine grows . Hopefully this fall I can make some cuttings and try to have single stacks instead of stacks everywhere.
The problem with the Wilmington area is the days get very warm before the threat of freeze passes. We often get long strings of 70 degree weather in late February, and March is generally nice and comfortable during the day. The problem is, we're still susceptible to a plunge. Things tend to leaf out early here, so it can be a headache trying to scramble to protect new growth in late winter/early spring. We must have 4 "false" starts to spring here each year 😅
Figs respond very well to hard pruning. They're one of those trees where the more you prune them, the more they respond by growing. Mine are compact because I established short, tight cordons, so it limits the growth. You may want to adopt something like that like I show here: ruclips.net/p/PL1gY7BoYBGIFlbg2ri_7gCJPhXaZ_nOvy
I don’t know how I’ve missed so many videos!? I just checked and my notifications were turned off, though I swear they were enabled. Loved this video! Keith has been looking up fig based recipes in the hope we might get a small harvest this year.
It's tough to catch everything. I *do* appreciate you trying! These days, I find myself spending so much time filming, editing and responding to comments that I struggle to keep up with those I follow and often can't.
Thank you for this. It is a bit hard to keep up with all the varieties. My head is spinning.
There are, literally, thousands of fig varieties. There are countless options out there!
Your ( long day out ) fig definitely look's stressed out in this case I'd definitely place it a sheltered position in indirect sunlight for the rest of the year. Don't be tempted to place it back when it greens up and starts to push out new growth as this will only give it a second shock that may be fatal. 😎👍🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳
Believe it or not, that tree has been sitting in that pot in the exact same position for 3.5 months, now. It was also kept outside all winter, so it's fully acclimated to the climate. Something else is going on. It may be rotting. I'm considering pulling it and putting it in a smaller container to see if it recovers. This is the only variety I've ever had problems with. It is so bizarre.
It's extreme but I've seen people successfully wash all the compost off in tepid water before repoting
Dude you are crazy 50 fig trees really? But I do like your passion for gardening!
I have 42 new seedlings to care for this year, too. I'll be close to 100 on this year's fig tour...
Interesting! Would you be so kind as to recommend a good book about learning to propagate figs? I’m really interested in exploring this and giving it a try! You’ve inspired me. Thanks - You are a great presenter.
Thank you. I have a comprehensive video on how I do it here: ruclips.net/video/ExfavYO0Qos/видео.html
These days, I use the 4"x9" tree pots from Greenhouse Megastore instead of the clear plastic cups, though. But the method is about the same.
Great walk through! Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Hi, love the channel. I live in East Tennessee and have 2 older fig trees and 2 young ones a Chicago hardy and brown turkey. I don’t know the variety of the 2 older trees but one grows to about 7ft tall and 12ft wide it always die back does not emerge till late May and has never produced one fig it grows in full sun the other tree is about 12 ft tall figs begin to emerge in late August and do not ripen till Halloween then going into November a great deal of the un-ripen figs are lost for it is getting too cold. I got these figs from the local Home Depot.
It sounds to me that your growing season is not sufficient for your varieties to ripen fruit from total dieback. What you are going to want to do is protect the tree. After the first frost or two knocks all the leaves off, cut the tree down to a single trunk about 24 inches tall. Then, take some welded wire fence, build a 2 ft wide cage around it, stuff it with straw, then throw a white trash bag over it. That will keep the precipitation from rotting the tree, and a white bag won't attract heat like a black bag. This will insulate it and help prevent dieback. Remove the cage after your last frost date, and this will give your tree an *enormous* boost for the next season if you can prevent dieback.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you for your reply I will try your advice. I’m currently in USDA zone 7a, the funny thing I lived in NY north of NYC and had 2 fig trees variety unknown (a white fig and a purple) I gave them no winter protection and enjoyed delicious figs from both trees by the middle of August .
Wonderful tour. Looking forward to your tasting tour!! Nice work
Thank you!
WOW!! beautiful
Thank you!
@@TheMillennialGardener I watched it twice trying to look an see what figs I have.
Try putting the Chicago Hardy in the ground , it might preforming better
All figs do better in ground, but there are many varieties that are superior to dedicate space. With space so limited, I would rather grow others with superior fruit quality.
FYI I grew up in Olympia, live south of Greensboro now. Winters here are colder.
In terms of growing degrees, the summers here are about 3 times hotter. It's fairly mild here in the Wilmington area during the winter, and far warmer than anywhere in Washington State.
Do you have any knowledge of Hunt figs?
Pretty impressive and awesome. I was gifted 3 Osborne cuttings, and they all have rooted nicely, but I had never heard of it. Was hoping you had one so I could get some insight. Anyway, awesome fig collection
Hello. Took the tour of your fig varieties. Excellent. Thanks. Questions? I only have two varieties. First is Celeste and second is White Marseilles. I want to take cuttings and duplicate. It is October 8, 2021 and I am just above Tallahassee FL. Zone 8. They are second year and in ground. Can I take cuttings and use root hormone now? What are your recommended steps to best propagate these two varieties? Thank you in advance for any detailed advice.
I generally advise against pruning until the trees are dormant. In your zone, fig trees may not go fully dormant, but they will go close (if not completely) dormant in January. This is also advisable to save you a lot of time and headache. Freshly rooted cuttings need to be protected from frost and freeze, so waiting until January to root cuttings means they won't actually root until February, so you won't have to shuffle them in and out on cold evenings all winter long. This rooting video will help point you in the right direction: ruclips.net/video/ExfavYO0Qos/видео.html
Are you sure Dale didn't get a finger with that fig? LOL! Great job on the video. You need a Myers lemon tree in there with those fig trees!
Dale is really good with the biting. We’ve been very good at teaching him “gentle,” and he almost always is. I actually have a meyer lemon tree in-ground. It is about 5 feet tall growing as a bush, not as a tree. I’ve elected to grow a rooted cutting instead of a grafted tree for winter hardiness purposes.
Awesome collection! And every one looks healthy and prolific. Sorry you had the late freeze otherwise the trees would look even better.
Every one but that darn Longue d'Aout, the bane of my existence for 3 seasons! I seem to be the kiss of death to this variety! It's tough living on the East Coast with our polar fronts. Springs can be a time of great joy and great sorrow when those late freezes occur. Thank you for watching.
Very nice. My fig is loaded (SE Texas) after 19°F in February. But I don't get to have any because of the blue jays, squirrels, opossum, and raccoons.
19F isn't much of a challenge for a fully dormant fig tree, believe it or not. I would expect minimal cold damage for a brief dip under 20. All my fig trees have seen 22F many times and have never taken any damage from that when it happens in January. Organza bags will help protect against birds: ruclips.net/video/OdAlScEu238/видео.html
They won't help much against squirrels, opossums and raccoons, though. You may want to put up some chicken wire, or at least get some bird netting.
Dude is an absolute fig chad
🇮🇹
Sometimes, you find something you love by accident. I always loved figs, but I didn't know there were so many amazing varieties, and they're all so different.
amazing!
My fig tree is at least 15 yrs. old & has never a ripe fruit. It falls off before it ripens. Makes me grrrr! I have pruned is drastically coz it just grows & grows if I let it. I now treat it like a shade tree.
You are most likely growing a smyrna variety. Most "natural" varieties of figs are smyrna, meaning they will not grow without pollination from the extremely rare fig wasp, which is endemic to the Mediterranean and only exists in tiny pockets of California in the US. If it's a smyrna, and it sounds like it is, you'll never be able to eat the figs. It would be best to remove the tree and replace it with a common fig, which will set fruit without pollination. All my figs are common figs, because pollination isn't possible naturally where I live. If the tree is too large, you could cut it down, wait for new growth to sucker, select a sucker and graft a new variety onto it, then remove all the other suckers. Then, let the graft be your new tree. A fig tree can easily grow 8 feet in a season, so within 2-3 years, it'll be a nice tree once again as long as it doesn't take winter damage.
@@TheMillennialGardener Interesting coz I’ve been to Smyrna. Thx for the informative reply
My I258 never ripens in Maryland zone 7A. It grows like a weed after a freez but no result.
Great video tour! I just had my first 3 figs of my negronne, which looks exactly like your RDB. Enjoy the season!
Negronne is actually Violette de Bordeaux. It is the exact same fig. It is quite different from RdB in shape, but they have a similar taste.
How do you inventory all the ripe figs! Ha I feel like I’d be running around every day looking for ripe figs bc I’d be afraid I’d miss one.
At this time of year, it's very simple because so few figs are ripening. Right now, only my Ronde de Bordeaux and Chicago Hardy are ripening, and I had my first Olympian swell today. Everything else is a bit later.
Right? I am a scavenger when it comes to gathering the food I’ve grown. 🤣
It would be cool if you could post some sort of scale regarding ripening earliness for each.
It's difficult to do that. In-ground and container figs ripen differently, so it isn't really possible to scale them. It's also highly temperature dependent. Usually, a handful of random varieties will get some frostbite on the tips and have to be cut back a little, so that sets them back. I can give you a rough approximation as to what is early, but I don't think any chart that says "Variety A is August 29" and "Variety B is September 3" is true. It's not possible to be that accurate. If I grow two clones of Col de Dame Noir and treat them equally, they aren't going to ripen their first fig on the same day. There is a 2 week variability built into the trees as environmental conditions play a factor
@@TheMillennialGardener I guess I was just thinking about Early, Mid Season, Late kind of scale, as opposed to quantitative date specific. For instance, RdB vs Smith vs I258.
Would live to see a golden dawn and learn the history
The only thing I know about Golden Dawn is that LeeAnn (sacredorigin on Ourfigs) discovered it growing wild in California somewhere. I obtained a copy, and I believe I was told her seedling died, so I don't even think she has it anymore. I don't know much more than that. It may be one of a kind, or extremely limited in availability. I didn't get many figs off it last year, and it doesn't look like I'm going to get a ton this year, so I want to do more research before I spread it.
I think if I cut everyone of my stalks off at the ground it would still be as big next year .. it sends babies all around it this year
Figs, in my experience, respond very well to hard pruning. Now, cold damage that kills them down to the base definitely sets them way back, but aggressive pruning seems to help.
Have you noticed a difference in taste between potted vs in ground figs? And what size pot do you use?
No. The taste is identical. The yields of potted figs will be much lower, but the fruit quality is no different. These are the containers I use and recommend: ruclips.net/video/LuBHbBmh3hU/видео.htmlsi=s_3wiwsmRwI4thCP
I have watched you plant these trees in the ground but I did not see how you water them and how often you water them? Amazing vigor in most of the trees.
My in-ground trees almost never require water, because we get so much rain here in the summers, and the springs, falls and winters usually produce more rain than the weaker sun can evaporate. For the container trees, this is how I water: ruclips.net/video/bQMqpQHDbl4/видео.html
You did a walk-though in July! I'd be curious to know if a few months changed your mind on any of these.
We had such a horrendously wet year that really nothing did well the second half of the summer. White Madeira #1 had never burst on me, but ever since we got a few deluges, every single fig exploded. It's tough to judge these trees that are spending their first season in-ground, though, and my older in-ground trees got set back badly with an April hard freeze. It just wasn't a good fig season this year, but I still got a few gems here and there. My Smith cranked out some really nice figs in early September before we got washed out.
Keep up the good work Terrence from New York I need a fig tree thanks for info
Thank you for watching. What trees are you looking at? In-ground or in containers?
I have a brown turkey and I am pinching it off now I want it the fruit but I don't know how I'm looking at your video and I have a couple of cuttings that I'm rooting too but I have a brown turkey and some curtains thank you give me some advice
Yes man 🤓👍👌🏽
Been waiting for this, your collection is insane man, well done 👏🏿
Did your grafted bnr make it?
It was doing great...until I was moving my containers for the season, backed up and snapped the graft off. I knocked it clean off. I was really bummed. It had 7 big old leaves, so I lost it 😔
@@TheMillennialGardener
Ahhhhhh losses happen man, cuttings die, trees die and grafts snap..,
You’ll get it again...
Your collection is completely insane though, you’re now officially the Harvey of the Carolinas 😂👍
have you tried growing a black mission fig?.
How did your cdd cuitat turn out?
I have that and del la senyora(h). Both first year rooted cuttings. Is it worth keeping both? Or is once clearly superior, without tasting they seem quite similar and I have limited space. FYI. In Los Angeles zone 10b
I just got back from that 1.5 month long trip and only one of the two neglected I-258 cuttings survived. However, it has now entered a rapid growth phase. I am so excited! She is going into the Ground late next Spring. Along with the CDD Blanc, CDD Gris, Negronne, VDB, Smith, and Adriatic JH!
I cannot wait!!!!
Those are some very good figs. One word of caution: while all the varieties you mentioned are excellent, Violette de Bordeaux and Negronne are the same fig. If you have both, you have a double. The names are interchangeable: www.almostedenplants.com/shopping/products/11127-violette-de-bordeaux-fig-negronne-fig/
If you want both trees, that's great, but if you don't want to plant two identical trees, you may want to save that precious in-ground space for another variety.
@@TheMillennialGardener
Thank you. I am aware of it already.
However, I got one tree from edible landscaping and one from Onegreenworld.
One has had almost only spade leaves and the other has had almost only the long finger leaves. If they are indeed the same tree… then they have adapted themselves for different places.
Even tue clones I have made of them have remained the same (for the leaves).
I want to plant both for trial. They will be near the garden anyways… since they will both be small trees.
Some folks swear at the Negronne has slightly better flavor. Lol
Fantastic tour, thanks so much. Your channel is fast becoming my favorite on RUclips. What would be your favorite variety for container growing in Zone 5 and where are a few good places to get them? I currently have two new Chicago Hardy growing in ground and container, but sounds like it’s not one you like. I’m new to fig growing.
Thank you! That really means a lot to me! For your zone, your challenge will be ripening in your short season. I think the two figs you must have are Improved Celeste and Ronde de Bordeaux. RdB ripens so fast compared to all my others it is crazy! I’ve also heard Florea is extremely early, so you may want to consider that, too. With those 3 plus Chicago Hardy, that will give you 4 very early figs with very different flavor profiles.
Thanks for the advice, I’ll definitely look into those. Any suggestions on where to get these?
Going Commercial!!!
Not in North Carolina with our rain, unfortunately. I would need a high tunnel 😂 But it is a fun hobby.
@@TheMillennialGardener You have the space...
Love this tour. MY heart sank when you got to the Chicago Hardy, as I was gifted this last year. It is my first fig. I live in Northern NJ. I remember you said you are from NJ. So please tell me the best fig I can grow in a container (stored in garage over winter) that will yield fruit in a short grow period.
It'll produce figs just fine. He's got a lot of premium fig varieties, so Hardy Chicago has a hard time competing. That said, Ronde De Bordeaux and Violette de Bordeaux are available at big box stores and usually on the top 10 list of many serious hobbyists.
All fig trees grow well in a container. If you want early fruit, Ronde de Bordeaux, Improved Celeste / Celeste, Chicago Hardy and Olympian are some of the earliest. Smith may be another good choice. My Chicago Hardy's are finally starting to swell, and I have one that actually swelled up pretty large. Maybe this is the year the tree will finally come into its own? Lots of people LOVE the fig and call it one of its favorites. Taste is extremely subjective, so just because I'm not the biggest fan of it doesn't mean you won't love it. I'm not a big fan of honey figs, but others go crazy for them.
This is true. RdB is a must have because it is so early. RdB will be giving you ripe figs when others are setting figlets. It is an amazing variety.
incredible in ground progress! I have all my figs in ground in coastal los angeles but south facing backyard. Even my three year old trees don't look as good as yours. I wonder if its the fact you planted a little higher, which i didn't do. Maybe mine needs more fertilizer.
Planting high, I believe, really helps them take off quickly. It allows surface roots to run along the ground more easily, and I think that gives them a big head start. I also have quite sandy soil, and I amend it heavily with compost and mulch. They are under a very thick mulch layer. Probably a solid 4-5 inches of compost and mulch, and they just go crazy. Figs are very heavy feeders. The more you give them, the more they give you.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you, i know they're young, but any pinching to your in grounds to encourage scaffolding?
I've got a White Genoa, here in Melbourne Australia. Have you tried growing one of these? It's on its third summer and starting to look really good, it is also supposed to give a good breba crop too, although with my winter prune I ended up cutting off almost all of last summer's nodes.
I have not tried White Genoa. I have a lot of green-skinned, red-interior figs as is 😂
Hi Anthony, did you end up getting any hand pollinated figs to maturity? I can’t remember if you did a video recently on this topic. I am interested in doing this as I live in Sydney where we don’t have the wasp either.
Everything looks amazing! Love the video. I want a fig tree now, which do you recommend for starters?
Thanks. It depends where you're located, how much rain you get and how long your growing season is. The varieties of figs you grow depends on how warm and wet and long your summer is. You'd have to give me a breakdown of how your climate is.
What fertilizer do you suggest for ficus carica brown Turkey. Just received two for my birthday.
It is 3 years later and which of those fig trees do you still have?
I did think you can grown bandana tree I. CAROLIAN? WHAT'S YOU DO WITH ALL THE FIGS?
Super channel, which I am of course subscribed to and always likes! Figs are my weakness :)) I live in South Carolina on the ocean. Has grown a lot of air layers of the Japanese variety, for some reason very rare in our adjacent states. But these figs are surprisingly easy to grow, they are not capricious, and they yield a large yield of sweet, large fruits with a sour taste. And its big plus is that it is renovated !!! This is Masui Dauphine. But one of my figs of a different variety gives a lot of fruits and then drops them: ((I can't understand why ... Soon I will make a video on my channel and maybe the professionals will help me get a good result with it.
I’m not familiar with any Japanese figs. As for the your fig tree that drops its figs, it is probably a smyrna. Smyrna figs must be pollinated by the fig wasp, which only exists in small areas of California. We cannot grow smyrna types here in the Carolinas, because they won’t ripen without the special fig wasp.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank sooo much :))
Dear friend
Which kind of whether it need
And what is the good fertilizer for fig trees
I have an in-depth tutorial on how to fertilize here: ruclips.net/video/8uw5ngYW44Q/видео.html
Figs prefer dry summers and mild winters, but they are highly adaptable.
How often do You PRUNE Your Fig Trees for Height/Size management?
wouldn't it be better a white ground cover, to reflect light, but prevent overheating?
No. The point is to absorb heat, not to reflect it. I want the area warmer.
I'm curious why you don't have brown turkey or black mission fig trees... is there a reason you left those out?
Grown in the pot not working for me,my tree got so big the pot busted,how do you get them not growing too big???
What kind of breed is Dale? He seems like a great dog.
Awesome video, as always. I have seen all of your videos!
He is an outstanding dog. Smart as a whip. Smarter than most of us humans, I tell you. He is a rescue, but we did his DNA. He is 50% American Foxhound, 33% Pit Bull Terrier and 17% American Staffordshire Terrier. I would highly recommend Pit Bull and hound mixes. They are so strong, healthy, whip-smart and loyal. And very little shedding. I’m very allergic to cats and dogs like labs, German Shepherds, Golden’s, etc. I have no issues with Dale, and he barely sheds.
@@TheMillennialGardener that's hilarious because I have a dog that seems to have a very similar demeanor as Dale. He is also a rescue and we did a DNA test on him, as well. He has American Staffordshire Terrier and pit bull terrier in him as well. However, he is also German Shepherd and Boxer. The only thing about him that isn't the best is the hair and dander.
OK, you are on my FIG list cuz I love everything about them! I have a Peter's Honey Fig that has 2 figs on it atm in ground. It has never been pruned. Im fixin to move and I need to dig it up as it is coming with me. I need a Celeste and a Brown Turkey. Why don't you have the 2 LSU figs? How did you become interested in growing and collecting figs?
You can actually take cuttings from the tree and clone it, so you won't have to go through the effort of digging it up. Rooting a cutting is an exact clone of the mother tree, and fig trees can easily grow 6-8 feet or more in a season, so it'll save you a lot of time and effort. I have a Celeste, and since the LSU figs are similar to Celeste, I never really got into them. I would not recommend Brown Turkey unless you really like the fig. It is the only fig I don't personally care for, but if you've had it and enjoy it, disregard my comment.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you so much for the info!
I cannot watch this video. I want all of these trees lol.
I did this all in 3 years, so it is totally doable!
@@TheMillennialGardener I don't doubt the doability but I don't have the space for all of them. Haha
You can always graft multiple varieties onto a single tree. Make a “frankenfig.”
So much Figs, I would sicken eating so much like jujube.
Figs can be easily stored. Dehydrate them or make fig jam: ruclips.net/video/M_UBfb_eekI/видео.html
I live in the Atlanta metro area. I have plenty of room, and plenty of direct sun. Which figs varieties would you recommend? Also, why do you grow so many figs? Do you sell them, or consume them all yourself?
Start with some cold hardy varieties for in-ground like Violette de Bordeaux, Olympian, Ronde de Bordeaux, Improved Celeste. Then look at potted trees, Italian 258 and Smith are top rated and fairly available.
@@ashtanga2000 Thanks. I assume the potted ones are so they can be taken inside during winter? Are they so much better than the outdoor variety they are worth the trouble of moving?
@@spsmith1965 some are indeed better. Look at what he has in ground. I’m not sure if Atlanta is same. If so, you can put those in ground too. But yes, pots are to bring into garage to avoid below 20F which kills branches.
Any variety that I have in-ground will do well for you. The figs I plant in-ground are the ones I recommend for the South. I grow so many figs because figs are not like most fruits. They are incredibly unique. If I blindfold you and give you 10 different types of apples, you'll know they're all apples. if I blindfold you and give you 10 different types of oranges, you'll know they're all oranges. With figs, I can give you 20 different varieties that taste nothing alike. A "fig" is more of a texture than a taste. They have the widest variety of any fruit I've ever seen. It isn't even close. You can grow 50 different trees with none being alike.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks very much.
What are you gonna do about room? Just prune them? Fig can get bigger than a house. Here at least.
I got some figs from people that didn't know the names of the figs. How can I tell what I got? lol I can do a video... but is there an easy way?
It’s Dale a ridgeback? I’m just now getting into figs.
Dale is a rescue, so he's a mix of things. He's a blend of American Foxhound and two different terriers.
Have 3 Chicago hardy figs and have been using your recommended fertilizing regiment. My 3 are nothing like yours though. Real green, lush and between the three approaching if not have more than 80 figs on the three. Real solid plants. Looking for recommendations for another colder weather fig for up here in mass I can keep in a bucket that will be in a greenhouse in the winter. So the elements won’t affect it but the cold will be present. Also rooted 6 cuttings this year from the Chicago hardy that are doing real well. 👍👍
A question though, having a real hard time with a yellow and black beetle (potato beetle I’ve known it as) eating the leaves. But from what I was told the saliva from the bug gives the plant a disease in which it wilts like it’s dry. It isn’t, the disease prohibits water from circulating in the plant, thus killing it. Any way of getting rid of these bugs? They’ve killed like 10 cucumber plants so far.
That's interesting. My Chicago Hardy is my only tree that doesn't want to budge. The only other tree that struggles to grow for me is my Sao Miguel Roxo, which, ironically, is grafted onto Chicago Hardy. I'm pretty convinced it is a more dwarfing variety. Maybe it'll benefit from a hard pruning and a re-potting next season if I decide to keep it.
I do not believe there is a significant difference in "cold hardiness" between figs. From my observations, they are all about the same once dormant. The figs that will be susceptible to cold damage are the figs that fall into dormancy last during the fall and wake up from dormancy first during the spring. From my observations, that's not variety-dependent, but environmentally dependent. Figs in sunnier locations will try and wake up first, so they'll be the most susceptible to dieback.
If you live in a place with colder winters, what you'll probably want are figs that ripen earlier since your challenge will be ripening them during the growing season. The earliest figs I know of are Ronde de Bordeaux, Improved Celeste, Celeste, Florea, Olympian and Chicago Hardy. Of those five, I have Ronde de Bordeaux, Chicago Hardy, Celeste and Olympian, and they are all ripening figs as we speak (except Celeste because it got so damaged in the freeze, but it's USUALLY my FIRST fig). They are so far ahead of the others. I do not own Improved Celeste and Florea, but everyone says they're 2 of the absolute earliest. I'd look into all of those.
I have not heard of potato beetles eating figs. However, I do have Japanese beetles occasionally munching on leaves. They're doing it now as we speak as we're in peak beetle season right now. The way I deal with it is by using my ULV fogger and spraying everything down with natural pyrethrin every 7 days. You can use a regular old 1 or 2 gallon pump sprayer to do this, but the fogger I use here makes it 10 times easier: ruclips.net/video/YVgCfWLR9aA/видео.html
If you need pyrethrin concentrate, I have it linked in my Amazon Storefront. It's very effective. If you need caterpillar and worm control, I also recommend spinosad concentrate (also linked in the Amazon Storefront in the video description). Between spinosad and pyrethrin, it will kill almost every pest naturally. The stuff does kill pollinators, so I only spray at sundown since bees are usually long gone by then.
@@TheMillennialGardener awesome, I’ll have to look into those varieties for early ripening!
I should’ve been more clear, the potato beetles are affecting my squash and cucumber plants. Entirely separate issue. Their saliva causes the plant to not be able to suck up water and kills the plants. The figs are incredibly healthy and have zero issues with bugs for the time being.
I will look into those treatments for the potato beetle issue on the squash and cucumber plants through your Amazon storefront. Thank you very much for the help!
Which variety of your amazing tasting closed eye figs pulled through your freeze 🥶 the best. Figs do great in my area (Texas) I think they must really like sandy soils.I had a Russia pomegranate die from the -3 freeze we had and I’m deciding if I should replace it with a Feijoa or a fig. I already have my Celeste and I’d like to get a cold hardy fig that ripens at a different time or taste better. I love the taste of Celeste. It’s hard to imagine there’s better tasting figs but I know they’re out there. There’s an itailian guy in Ft. Worth that breeds his own varieties. He has a large fig nursery. I saw him on Facebook Marketplace 2 years ago. I could try to find his info if you’d be interested in trying some of his.
I have found there is no significant difference in hardiness between fig varieties. They all perform the about same, and how injured they get depends on how early or late they go into dormancy. The trees that go into dormancy last, or wake up first, are most prone to damage. It doesn’t seem to be tied to variety, and figs that ripen earliest don’t necessarily wake up earlier. The good news is fig roots are hardy to below 0, particularly if you mulch them to insulate them, so even if you fig tree dies to the ground, it’ll come back in April. By November, it’ll be a 7 foot tall tree again.
I find Celeste to be a basic sugar fig. If you love Celeste, you’ll be happy to know many other varieties will blow your mind. If you think. Celeste is good, I-258, White Madeira #1, Smith, Black Madeira, Bordissot Blanca Negra and ALL the Col de Dame’s will blow your mind. Col de Dame Blanc, I-258 and White Madeira #1 will send you into orbit.
@@TheMillennialGardener I’ll go back to the time stamp and check those last 3 out. Where is the best place to pick those up at a reasonable price and get a true variety. I’ve been burned by some nurseries. I’ve bought 4 pecans that were not even true to variety. That’ll make you mad because it takes pecans so long to start production only to find out it’s wrong after it gets so big. That native took about 12 years until It produced. One was a junk native and 3 were junk Stewart’s. I started doing all my own grafting. I’ve bought a lot of mislabeled trees over the years.
Where can you get fig trees online if your local nursery dont have much variety? Thanks for the videos!
The best place to search is the website Figbid. There, you're buying from collectors. Almost all of my figs come from various collectors, because nurseries tend to just re-sell very common varieties.
Live in Ohio. First year with a Chicago Hardy. No figs even though healthy. Would like to try a better variety. Suggestion please. And where to get. Thank you.
For your shorter season, you may want to look into Ronde de Bordeaux, Improved Celeste and Florea. These are, by most accounts, the 3 earliest figs. I do not have Improved Celeste or Florea, but I do have Ronde de Bordeaux. In my opinion, the flavor of Ronde de Bordeaux is superior to Chicago Hardy. The downside is Ronde de Bordeaux can split in heavy rains, and Chicago Hardy handles rain very well.
The best place to look for specific varieties is Figbid.