Giant Figs!!

[jomoncon]

Hey jomocon
Ive never heard the blackjack name but I have 3 bushes about 8-9' tall and wide. These have been in our family since the early 1900's as starts passed down. People can't believe the size of these things. But you are right, they can be watery. Ouestion for you. Do you get a second crop in Aug. or early Sept.? I do and these are considerably smaller but much sweeter. I've been told these are Jerusalem figs by an older gardener-as good a name as any!

I've only had this tree a little over a year, so I don't know about a 2nd crop. Right now, there are a lot of unripe figs still, but they seem to be ripening only one or 2 at a time. A branch might have one ripe fig and 10 smaller, still-developing figs. This is good if you want to eat all of them fresh, but bad if you want to can them - and that's what I want. I got my first fig around mid-June. And the way it's going, I'll have ripe figs all the way through August, September, and maybe even October.

I'm trying to buy the empty lot next door through the Lot Next Door program. That will double the size of my existing lot, and with nor house on it, give me 5x the space for gardening! Then I can put in other types of fig trees.

 

[so lucky]

Does anyone grow figs in zone 6 or colder? Are they tropical?

 

[dinkadoo]

Jomoncon,


Thanks for shoutback. Figs, I'm finding out, have many different habits. Some years have found me banking on the second crop and, well, no second crop! Other years I could'nt give them away! But the girls love 'em.

Lucky, I can't speak for the zone 6 folks but 40 degree temps will burn the leaves if they are still on the limbs. This is usually Early Oct. around here. That being said, they bud around mid Nov. and hold there 'till next spring. We had early Dec. temps in the low teens last year and we had a great spring crop and it's loaded for the fall crop. So go figure! It's like so many other sucesses- just try it! Wish you well.

 

[gettinaclue]

Holy WOW! I'm getting ready to get me some Celeste cuttings to plant in the spring once I get them to root. Also the popular varieties here in NC. BUT MAN, that tree and the size of those figs is really intriguing me.

I have celeste, and they are the sweetest, creamiest textured, best tasting fig on earth. Green with a white and pink blush when mature. So sweet that sugar ants will destroy them unless you dust with DE or other organic control. The crops are somewhat unreliable compared brown turkey, sometimes not fruiting at all. But it sure is worth the wait, once you get a good crop. Figs need to be mulched heavily, and water deeply during dry spells. They do not like to be fertilized, even if it's organic. Too much fertilizer will cause the fruit to drop or ripen unevenly. I learned this the hard way.

SS,

I've been told if you get a piece of homemade cold process soap - something mild like a castile - and put it in the crotches of the tree, the rain will melt the soap and it will run down the bark of the tree and repell the ants to keep them from getting the figs.

I've never tried this though, but thought you might like to try it.

 

[Neko-Chan]

Those figs are crazy big.

What have you been feeding them?

 

[jay dee]

I have several starts of these giant figs that i got from a nieghbor. They can be as big as base balls or bigger. But they are not very sweet compared to other varieties, but make excellent preserves.

i got a white fig from Sicily. the second crop is half the size of a soda can. where are your's from? do you want to swap trees or cuttings?

when i was in Naples i bought some figs that were 200 grams - 6 ounces. i didn't ask for cuttings - damn it! i can't find the european large varieties here - can you?

 

[Nyboy]

Welcome Jay what zone are you in? I am in zone 5 Hit or miss with getting fruit. I am happy with trees making it though winter.

 

[jay dee]

Welcome Jay what zone are you in? I am in zone 5 Hit or miss with getting fruit. I am happy with trees making it though winter.

i'm in zone 7. but these days zone 7 swings into zone 6 weather for a week or two which kills off the branches. i never wrap before but the last three winters were a bust. this year i put up chicken fencing and filled it with leaves. i also tried refrigerator boxes filled with leaves. last year i sprayed twice with anti-desiccant coating - did not work. i have 20 trees.

have you ever seen an authoritative scholarly paper on die back; the mechanism by which it happens and an easy way to protect the trees. i figure it costs me about $60 to $80 to protect a tree - it's not worth it; the economics are not there to support that level of investment.

 

[henless]

Right now, we're just eating them as they become ripe. I'm not getting enough at one time to process them. But I just read a publication put out by the LA Extension service that gave instructions for freezing the figs until you have enough for canning. I really want to make some fig preserves.

I love figs! Fresh or canned, doesn't matter. I put up some figs 2 years ago. I did whole figs and preserves. They were so good! I can't wait till I have enough from my own trees to can.

I have 2 Texas Everbearing figs I planted last year. Both did really well and put out 2 crops of figs last year. I brought home another TE fig. I was wanting to get a Celeste, but they didn't have any of those.

 

[journey11]

I have wrapped and still had no luck on Brown Turkey fig which is supposed to be hardy for my area. Only year I got figs was the first year when it was still in a large pot, bagged and brought into my basement. :/