Just curious. I'm a new fig hobbiest. So far I have 10 varieties and will be growing 12 more over the winter.
Are there any fig tree collectors here?
- Thread starter CoastalVADawg
- Start date
Yes!
would not call myself a collector;
have 4 in the Yarden...
they have become Large!
down side is yellow jacket attraction...
Yes. Just picked up an Olympian from a Lowes in griffin. That was unexpected. Looking to order a Smith from a company in florida sometime soon. What varieties are you looking to acquire? You putting in the ground or container?
Give them plenty of room to grow… I can’t imagine one doing well in a pot for very long… nothing better than heading out to the big fig tree and having a dozen or so warm juicy ones in the evening… my 2 black labs sit by the tree waiting for me to give them some lol… man my mama made the best fig preserves from that same tree… are you in Atl area, zone 7?… yellow jackets, wasp, etc. are part of it… from experience check all sides of the fig before you grab it… good luck OP and keep us posted on which ones do best for you!
I only have 2 mature trees I've been growing in containers. One is 5 years old - a Hardy Chicago variety. The other is 2 years old and I think it's a Brown Turkey. Both were grown from cuttings given to me and neither variety was known. I'll probably cull the BT fig - it's kind of boring.
About a month ago I bought a Black Madeira (not sure I'll keep it as I quickly learned it doesn't do well on the east coast). I also bought a Ronde de Bordeaux, Bourjassotte Grise, and Adriatic JH. I met a local guy near me who has about 50 varieties planted on his property. He gave me several young trees he started from cuttings:
Celeste
Sultane
Wuhan
Italian 258
As well as a cutting from his Godfather fig tree.
I up-potted the young trees into 5 gallon containers and have successfully rooted the Godfather cutting.
I connected with another guy in Northern Virginia who has a ton of trees he grows in containers. He is kindly giving me cuttings from several of his trees in November:
Smith
Malta Black
Sao Miguel Roxo
Red Lebanese (Bekka Valley)
Green Michurinska
Col Littman's Black Cross
Craven's Craving
Socorro Black
LSU Tiger
Hollier
Coll de Dame Rojo
Improved Celeste
White Madeira #1
Hative d'Argenteuil
So I should have quite the lineup next Spring if these cuttings successfully root and grow.
My plan right now is to grow them all in 5 gallon containers over the next year and see which ones I like the best (and perform best in my growing area - zone 7b/8a). I'll plant a few of the more Hardy varieties in ground but most will get up-potted to 10-15 gallon containers where they will stay. A lot of growers seem to successfully maintain their trees that way.
Two good YouTube channels I've been following are Fig Life (who is in NoVA) and Milennial Gardener (who lives in the Wilmington, NC area).
Ourfigs.com has also been a good resource.
I love the millennial gardener on YouTube, he is one of my main YouTube guys for figs. That’s where i got Smith and Olympian from, his top 10 recommendations for home gardener. I would hold off from culling BT. Does it have a tight/closed eye on the bottom? If so def keep it. Fruit flies will ruin many figs because they don’t have closed eyes, and eggs get laid in them. That’s one of the things BT is supposed to be good about.
Nice list btw. I have a dozen or so fig varieties right now. I plan on getting most of that top ten list eventually. Question, how is the white Madeira? What is your favorite right now?
this is the kind of chat conversation I can get behind.
to all ye fig raisers : look up Julia Reed (RIP) first cookbook - there is a recipe for Bruschetta with Fig Relish and Burrata in there that will blow the doors of anyone you hope to entertain.
to all ye fig raisers : look up Julia Reed (RIP) first cookbook - there is a recipe for Bruschetta with Fig Relish and Burrata in there that will blow the doors of anyone you hope to entertain.
It’s the kind of Chat conversation we used to have daily. Amazingly there is next to zero football Chat anymore. This world is in a tough spot and it is a terrible shame. The recipe sounds incredible. I’d eat Burrata on cardboard.
I will post it if it can't be found online. Someone @ me if nothing develops.
My fav recipe: take a larger fig, brown turkey will work nicely. Needs to have some size.Cut the top third off and core out center of fig so that it can be stuffed with soft cheese. The recipe calls for goat cheese, but my wife doesn’t care for goat cheese that much so i also use Boars Head blue cheese. Anyway, stuff the fig with cheese of your choosing, wrap it with a piece of prosciutto, this is important , use a rosemary sprig to hold whole thing together , maybe drizzle a little honey on it all, and then grill over lump on the egg…..its done when cheese starts to melt out…..unbelievable!!! It has everything, sweetness of fig and honey, savory cheese and prosciutto , and the herbal from rosemary…very seasonal dish i look forward to, also love to make for people who are having it for the first time.
My parents had a persimmon tree in the yard. The yellowjackets would be a major PITA once the fruit was on the ground. So what do y'all do with the abundance of figs? Make preserves?
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I won't assume you live in upper MW Georgia or south from there;
being said;
this is my Third Year.
bought seedlings three years ago.
got them in the fall of same.
Green house didn't hurt to overwinter.
Next year, in the ground.
Deep hole.
Good dirt.
grew tremendously.
today... Make Room, as the wise man above stated.
I only have 4 hardy Chicago-s
reality can be funny too?
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