Some Petite Negra brebas - the first brebas for this tree.

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Nice tree and nice fruits.Looking forward for mine to do the same next year.This year(third) no breba.My fig come from PARKS Seeds,too.Regards

Hello,

Today, because of this thread, I went and counted my breba.
This is a good topic to consider, however do not count
my observations anywhere as scientific, most of my trees
are either too-small/wrongly-pruned/or-just-chopped-up.
This should by no means be a heavy bearing (influence) on any cultivar in particular.
What would be of interest to me now, is how many of them
actually hold on till I eventually eat them.

One breba: Alma, Hardy Chicago.
Two breba: Conadria, my #1 UnKnown (Black Jack - type).
Three breba: 3 variants of a Brunswick (type).
Five breba: Lyndhurst White.
Six breba: Kadota.

George (NJ).

I have brebas on English Brown Turkey, Magnolia, Marseilles, and Desert King, a San Pedro breba only fig in areas without the fig wasp for pollination of its second crop. It is my observation that brebas on White Marseilles and several others, are more likely to be retained if there is no terminal growth on that shoot. I strongly suspect that apical dominance has a strong influence on breba drop in figs. I plan to do some experimenting next spring with terminal bud removal on selected shoots.

Well I had breba fruits on other figs as Early violet Encanto brn trk, Wht Russian,Colde Dame,Black Jack,Etc,but it woukd not grow pass the size of a small Grape,
and they changed color toward yellow and in case of early violet ,purple.
I broke one off and cut it in two pieces.
Found out is hollow and gray inside and sooner or latter will abort anyway.
So i REMOVED all the stagnant figs on these trees.
The three varieties mentioned in my above post have healthy figs the size of a wallnut now,and i have a filling they will mature just fine.The rest mentioned in this post are abortion figs that would have fallen out any way.Regards

All my plants are entering their 2nd year, except for a Celeste and VDB.

The VDB had about 12, now there are 4 and I have a couple others here and there.
DidnÂt want to jinx them by counting my chickens before they hatch but 2 of my Lyndhurst Whites have about 4 dozen, hope they donÂt abandon ship, they are bigger than grapes so IÂm hopeful. I have another LW that is potted, had about 15 then I let the pot dry out and a dozen fell off over night. I think IÂm putting it in the ground. Best of Luck to everybody.

KK,
I am jealous...

>>>>I am jealous...

You should see the mother plant.....

my count...

Alma: one breba (only one of the two trees had one). It ripened last week while I was in NJ and the birds, followed by ants, left me slightly more than half. The remnant is in my freezer waiting for a photo op. Both trees have many main crop figs growing.

Hardy Chicago: Started off with 16 Brebas, but only one has hung on for the long-term. It grew before the Alma did, but is still not ripe. Interestingly, it has started growing two more "brebas" lower down the branch from the first brebas after it has started a large batch of main crop figs. Also, the two "new" brebas resemble the main crop figs' shape moreso than it does the other breba.

Kadota: One breba. It started growing after the main crop began growing.

Unknown: One Breba

~james

KK, how old are those fig trees? Did you prune them? Mine is three years old and had some die back over winter.
I have one breba (very excited!). I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. It's putting out plenty of leaves but just one lonely breba. Any ideas? Thanks.

The LWÂs are entering their 2nd full season. The 1st season was a bit extended. I stuck the cuttings in the soil/perlite Dec 2004, after they rooted I grew them under halide/sodium lights until it was time to put them outside. The first one over wintered outside protected by tomato cages full with dry leaves, The 2nd one grew potted in the ground and over wintered in the garage. Thankfully I didnÂt have any dieback, such a warm winter. I pruned them at about 6-7 feet during the season.

I'm so jealous, everyone has multiple trees. I have a small yard and one Brown Turkey. It has about 15 brebas ranging in size. I've had a few drop off, but have about 7-8 around walnut size. This is my first breba crop and I'm hoping they stick around.

I hope this question doesn't sound too silly, but what is a breba? I planted a fig tree last year (all of the leaves promptly fell off and I thought it was dead, but leaves have appeared quite well this year) and I bought two more in February and planted them. I am trying to read up in your forum in order to learn about the care and feeding of fig trees - and I keep seeing the word breba, but can't figure out what it means.
Thanks for your help!
Renee

'Breba' is the fruit on LAST year's wood.
The fruit on THIS year's (new)wood is known as the 'main crop'.

'Breba' is the fruit on LAST year's wood.
The fruit on THIS year's (new)wood is known as the 'main crop'.

Hi fellow fig lovers! I have brebas that are hanging on and getting big & fat for the first time since I started my cuttings 2 years ago. Got a crop of about 50 figs on 4 trees of "hardy & grow huge old homestead". Last year there were a few brebas & a few figs, but only one got ripe in the Fall. It was brownish & sweet. I am growing them in big pots, and one that is covered with figs & huge leaves I repotted, and had to root prune BIG time to cut it out of the ground, in early March. I am learning by trying & reading this forum - so hang in there, too, you guys - we WILL all grow good figs soon! ~ marea

I started with about 40 breba here in philadelphia and now i only see about over a dozen brown turkey by the way. THe tree died back very little like 5-6 inches from the tops.I noticed one laying on the ground and they arent ripe yet. i am going to wait and see. Some of the breba fell off very little now the figs are size of a quarter i am wondering when they ripen. THis would be my first year of it producing.

A watched breba never ripens. They do look like they are getting bigger, though.

'found variety' - tentatively ID'ed as brunswick, found in vancouver, so labeled 'vancouver brunswick' until/unless i get a better ID on it... only 2 breba but it's only in its 3rd summer.
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PN - this is the 1st year for breba on this tree that I bought 5 years ago. It did have some main crop last year.
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Both trees are groomed (I hesitate to use the term 'prune' since such small shoots are removed) using the 'pinch at 5-6 leaf stage' method. Maybe that's why they started bearing (or maybe it was just time).

I've got lots of brebas on my older fig (probably Brown Turkey) and main crop figs starting on both. The brebas are about the size of a small hen's egg now, and I've tipped every breba-bearing branch I can reach, even if it's not up to the 6" mark (of new growth). I'll report on whether that seems to reduce the drop rate on brebas. (Already lost a dozen or more at the marble size or below, but I figure that's just routine thinning, given how many there were.)

Can anyone recommend a good site for me to learn about fig pruning? My trees are both getting out of hand, literally (after years of sulking, in the case of the older plant).

Robin

So Far My Brown Turkeys(2)Dropped all Breba.
I have an English BRN.Trk.I got in trade that still got the only one breba fig it had.
The Marseilles still carry 2 figs out of two it started with.
The Osborn Prollific still carry 7 fig out of seven it started with and they grew up to about 40 grams but still green.
The Gentille dropped 2 out of four and are still green.
I had other cultivars or unknowns that had a few Brebas but they all droped it.
If the Osborn is a good tasting fig i think it will be my keeper for breba figs.
I will report when Ripe.Regards

A lot has been written on the negative effect on the main crop by leaving breba on the fig tree. I am not questioning that. My question is about a fig bush plant with multiple branches growing from the same root system (but not from the same trunk).
Will leaving breba on a dedicated branch from the ground (or in pot) effect the performance of the main crop on other branches coming out separately from the the same root system where breba have been removed?
Please let us know the botanical reasons if you know or you can guess why. Thanks.