It's not the heat. It's the humidity. Figs love heat, but can get rust and some can taste sour if it's too humid. LSU figs are bred to withstand humidity. LSU Gold, LSU Scotts Black, etc. I can't help you on variety, but many figs will grow into a bush shape easily. They can be pruned to any shape you want. Many people don't have space for a lot of figs, so they do keep them in a hedge row. Most of my figs are in bush form. Figs love to send out new branches low from the main trunk. Multi trunked trees are the norm. Whatever varieties are sold in your local nurseries probably do well where you live. Isn't GA hot and humid? Your little tree will probably do well in your climate.

AJ what your recommendation for fig variety?

Hey Suzi! What your favorite fig variety? Also is black mission or tiger fig good?

Panachee AKA tiger is delicious! Black Mission is also big and delicious! Violette de Bordeaux is a cool weather fig and it's doubtful it will thrive in South Fl. I have it here, and it does give me figs, but it gets wilty in the hot summers. It's flavor is berry and it is a dark fig with thick skin. It's growth pattern is dwarf. It is not a big tree.

I am a huge fan of Bourjasotte Gris which is one I just picked and devoured this morning. The tree is ultra prolific here in my Mediterranean climate. It is so thick, it's really hard to find the figs hidden under it's leaves. Like yesterday I found the one I just ate ripening, but decided to give it one more day to ripen. Did I mention I fear critters? They have stolen my figs before I can get to them many times!! I could have given the one I ate today another day, but didn't want to risk it. I could prune it to be more open, but why let the birds and rats see what they currently can not? This is a very rich, berry type fig. Very juicy!

Another of my favorites is Verte. The figs are medium to small, but again, sweet, and delicious. These figs stay green outside, and are pinkish red inside. Let's talk prolific. Each branch has at least 30 figs on it and there are many branches.Mary Lane Seedless is a honey fig with that drip of sweet honey from the eye! Can not be beat!There are so many others I love! The favorite is the one we are eating right now! Nice they all get ripe at different times!

Once you've eaten a fresh fig, you won't go back to dried again.

Wow those figs look awesome! I have figs that grew from seed a squirrel planted and they are terrible... time to chop them down. Those Verte look awesome Suzi! I guess I will need to buy a fig and plant it :)

Join me in the garden! ➜ https://goo.gl/GHO5MN

All the recommend varieties are in the links I posted. BT and celeste are the two most common in SE and take humidity nicely.

To me a fresh fig is a fresh fig. I can't taste enough of a difference to chase weird varieties but that's just me. I care about production. You could pick cultivators based around extending the harvest longer.

@Daniel Martinez, AJ seems to know SE figs!! Brown Turkey has a bad rap here in California. Most say it's flavor is insipid, but I have heard there are varieties that are delicious! I do have a Celeste. This is it's second year, and I can tell by it's growth that it's roots have grown out of their pot and into the ground. Last year I tasted one of it's figs and they were amazing! I think you should definitely get a Celeste! My tree is still small and I look forward to tasting ripe figs soon! It's leaf cover isn't lush so birds will definitely spot those figs!

@California Garden Guy, I'm sure I'll have some Verte cuttings this winter. Just send me a message to remind me. Here is my tree now. It's in ground so it has potential to grow a lot bigger.

I will have to look into Celeste! Hey AJ what is BT? And the main thing for me is taste, next is production.

Daniel, my pet peeve is people who abbreviate to newbies. BT is Brown Turkey. He should have spelled that out. Not so hard.

How sweet! Thanks Suzi, bookmarked :)

Hey Suzi that's an impressive fig bush you got! How long did it take to make it to that size?

Have you guys tried black mission?

Daniel, my Verte was in a container for a couple years. It went in ground 4 years ago where it really started to grow. We had benchmarks for it and almost daily it reached them. Last year some rats discovered it. We noticed bitten limbs and leaves on the ground. We didn't know who the culprit was for a long time, but the poor tree was getting decimated. In another forum, I was told to put snap type rat traps (hubby put peanut butter in them) on the trunks. We caught about 15 rats last year. This year, we got them early. Two rats. Now the tree has started growing again! That was a pretty big setback last year! It should actually be bigger! I have a black mission tree, and it's a big plump juicy dark fig. Not as sweet as some, but very good.

awesome story!! I will have to be careful eventually with all the animals down here! I think I'll skip on the black mission. at the end of the day, I just want an awesome tasting fig with high production for my wife. I still haven't had the chance to try figs :(. so hopefully soon (fingers crossed)

Stick to the UFL recommended cultivators then. BT or brown turkey seems to have a bad rap out west. Figs seem to adapt to the local climate and soil. I only grow celeste. I find that there really isn't anything "lacking" from a celeste/honey/sugar fig. That and all my celeste cuttings push out figs at 12" for me which is pretty ridiculous.

Thanks AJ I'm going to have to look for that cultivar! That's exciting g at 12"! Care to share? Do you do anything special to your figs?

AJ I would pay for shipping it you have any cuttings

Celeste is in no way hard to find anywhere in the SE. Big box retailers like HD, lowes, walmart, etc should all carry it. Nurseries will have celeste as well. It will also be the cheapest variety because of how common it is. My tree is in no way special and likely reacting to the local soil/climate I have.

Hard to find in the West. Odd. But Big Box stores have a handle on which varieties grow best in their zones. They don't want you bringing back trees, so they carry the ones that adapt to your climate. I have a Celeste, and it seems to love it here, even in the West, but you would NEVER find it cheap at any Nursery or Big Box Store. Black Mission, yes.

thank you guys then I will have to go take a look this weekend!

Big box stores buy plants from local nurseries. They can and will stock items that have zero shot at growing in your area. Individual stores will get different items as they are stocked by different nurseries.

It's summer so finding figs at big box stores will be difficult. Most have been picked over.

http://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=fig+tree

$21.98:

http://www.lowes.com/pd/3-25-Gallon-Celeste-Fig-Tree-L1330/3608824

$7.98 - 1 gal "unknown until you go there are see what it is tagged" variety:

http://www.lowes.com/pd/1-Gallon-Fig-Small-Plant-L5982/3627808

You can also type in "Fig trees" on Craigslist or any classified publication in your area. We have a wholesale nursery about an hour away who sells all 5 gallon fruit trees for $10 bucks. I got my Kadota there, and it is one of my favorites!

thats a good idea... what is a katoda?

oh my, what is that nursery Suzi? :D

Hey Suzi I spoke to my nursery friend and he has some figs with fruit for sale 10 bucks! He told me celeste is good but he strongly recommended LSU Purple and Panache or "tiger stripe." Have you tried these varieties?

Panache is very tasty! Has a strong berry flavor! I have LSU Gold, but not purple. For that price you could get all three!

@California Garden Guy. It's in Moreno Valley off the 60 Fry. Go to the Inland Valley Section of Craigslist. They only publish a phone no. They will give you directions when you call. I forget which exit. Here is the link to them.

@Daniel. I missed your question. Kadota is a fig grown in California for the dried fig industry. It is very sweet and dries well. I LOVE it fresh! I doubt it would do well in humid conditions. It likes it dry and hot!

Hey guys new update I went to my guy and ended up with two trees, I got a lsu purple and a celeste. Both with a few fruits and they were 10 each woohoo! He only had panache in way larger containers so I'll wait and see if I really like them enough to get more. At the end of the day my wife is happy and drooling waiting! Haha I'll post photos later today! Will the fruits drop of I transfer to a larger pot?

The first one is the celeste with two fruits and the second one is the LSU purple with one fruit

This one is the one that was in the ground and found out its a brown turkey. No fruit yet but I'll be patient :)

Hello i am new to growing figs and I would like to know if anyone is willing to donate me some fig cuttings from some of their figs when you trim them. Also I live in Nebraska so I don't have a lot of variety to buy the only fig trees they sell here are brown turkey but I already own one. I am just wanting to get different varieties currently I Also have a violet de Bordeaux, a desert king, a celeste, lattarula, and an Olympian but I would like to get more to add to my collection. Thankyou.