Nice to hear from you Martin !

I started some fig trees in my fig tent, usually the tent is enough but this time in middle March was so cold that I had to circle heating cable around each container for the nights, it did help.

Fig trees that kept breba are not at pinching state yet.

I was pinching the fig trees that have no breba at all.

Branch of De La Reina fig tree.

Cheers

Bluemoonlight you fig trees look very very nice thanks for sharing your pictures.

Pictures will be forthcoming of the small plants in near future as right now not much clothes on them except the VdB but they leafing out at least. ; )

Martin

Few clickable thumbnail pics of 2nd season Vdb that had some branch tips pinched off 5 to 6 days back.

Martin

Picture below showing one of the tiny figs emerging.

VdB looks great !

Is this now ? This season ? I didn't think your figs would be this far a head ! That is great for zone 5, but you know that.

Did you do some pruning on VdB ?

All my VdB type have quite a few breba on but there are starting.

It is really nice to see you well enough to shafling your fig trees.

Bluemoonlight yes pic taken June 6 hard to see time stamp in upper left corner.

The tips were pinched after about 6 days the figs started to emerge.

This plant is the furthest along with Hardy Chicago the rest are behind but growing.

Today gave full does of MG to all plants and next week temps will be in 90s.

Its been 2 years this week but.feeling ok next Friday i see the cardiologist.

Thanks a bunch for your kind words.

Martin

Well we are past middle July Martin, how is your Violette de Bordeaux doing ?

Spring was long and cold to it's last day and then it started to warm up, just a few days ago night temperatures climb up above 59 F.

VdB produced lots of breba which are still hanging on tree in stage just before ripping, so hopefully they will do somthing (start ripening or dropping).

I am sure you can see which are breba and which are main crop.

So how is Violette de Bordeaux behaving under your care ?

Hi Bluemoonlight,

vdb should ripen figs this season has a small crack in trunk near soil line but not real bad one should be ok have a rooted airlayer on plant almost ready just in case. Clickable thumbnails to enlarge.

VDB below

.

Black Tuscan has crack in trunk larger than vdb hope it heals itself .

Never tasted this cultivar but may this season as it has some figs.

Here is crack does not seem to have cracked deep just the outer bark at least for now.

I did use finger nail and scratch the interior thats that little whiteish mark dead center.

Each watering i rinse it out to keep it clean as i can.

Noire De Barbentane spare as old adult perished.

Noire De Barbentane will ripen this season

some Barbentane fig flowers coming outside ouch !

Last 2 Hardy Chicago's an all time favorite of mine this plant never fails each season to ripen good tasty figs even had a tasty breba a few years back that surprised the heck out of me as it tasted similar to main crop just not quite as figgy.

Always 1st to ripen with exception when i had Ronde De Bordeaux which 2 died because of badly split trunks and a spare that never came out of dormancy was a decent fig taste wise but just not as good as hoped no more of them will i grow as the other french fig VdB is so much better when i grew it many years back and decided to grow it again.

Have a few other cultivars not pictured

Take Care

Martin

Cut VdB airlayer off plant this morning now under the plant it came from ,was set in a half water bottle easily pushed stem from bottom and it slid out intact.

Going to put in full sun in a day or so and eventually the tip will open no assimilation needed.

Click picture to enlarge.

Martin

Martin, sorry to read about trunks cracking, there was a thread on growing bonsai to use flat head screws with a nut to help tree heal and grow back together, after when tree healed they carefully remove screw, or they leave it and the tree will completely grow over the screw. I never had that happen to my fig tree.

Nice to see some of your tree, and that you still enjoying taking are of them.

Are you saying that Vdb tastes better then RdB ?

My Rdb is just second season old it jus started to show double bump, so I don't think it I'll ripen in time but hopefully next session I might have a few Rdb to taste.

Violette de Bordeaux type fig tree tent to wilt during the day does that happens to your Vdb too?

Very nice airlayer, I need to Google what the "not assimilation needed" mean, I wanted to look it up before I responded to you but I forgot.

I have a problem with this one

I dont know why that is happening to some of my fig 🤔

Anna

Anna at first glance at middle picture i thought it may have been yellow jackets stinging the figs i have seen them on our figs in past and then days later the figs look similar to your middle picture.

But last picture is similar to kalamata fig i grew but in a earlier stage.

I deemed it to be on ours fig necrotic spots on figs basically fmv not just on leaves but also the figs.

Check out this link

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Typical-mosaic-A-and-B-and-necrotic-spots-C-and-D-on-fig-leaves-and-fruits-arrows_fig1_242385993

Here on kalamata we had in 2010 you can see the start of it on the fig dead center picture and what happens as the figs matures those spots get darker and darker and it looks horrible.

Martin

After reading some i saw that sometimes a screw method is used just on our Tuscan in that picture the crack or split is just the outer bark for now so a screw would pierce the inside which i think may do more harm at this point. Thought about sealing it with some pine sap or something but read to keep area clean for debris getting in it and causing problems so i just rinse .

Its not getting any worse as of this morning.

Dug up some old pictures from 2012 one of my favorites .

Martin

Anna about Ronde i liked it less than VdB just that taste is subjective as we all know.

VdB will weep some in high temps in full sun here.

I personally think Ronde is a good tasting fig its earlier than most figs and sets a nice crop of figs very easy to grow along with being a beautiful looking plant.

Here are some pictures from 2013

Click pictures to Enlarge

Ronde Plant

Ronde figs

Martin

Hello Martin,

I am back with s little update.

I hope you are doing well health and otherwise 🌞

Heatwave is here again, it is 3 weeks late and not as hot as last season, so hopefully fig will not suffer as much as last season.

How is your Vdb doing?

Regards

Hi Bluemoonlight feeling pretty good thanks for asking.

The airlayer from Vdb is doing ok its bud opened its been in full sun the day after it was removed as it only had 1 original leave and a bud tip.

The parent plant has about 3 dozen figs on and its my thought most if not all will ripen this season.

Used to take time stamped pictures of all plants when the figs first show so i had idea of about when they may ripen but this year i did not but kinda have idea on some that have been grown in past..

Some have no idea like the Craven or tuscan or preto,

Madeira i'm familar as it takes 110 to 120 days or so give or take here.

Click thumbnails to enlarge picture.

VdB

Black Tuscan

that has its split in trunk seems to be about the same the bark seems to be adhering better.

It has figs that are doing well not sure how long they take to ripen time will tell if any do this season.

Black Tuscan Figs

some tuscan figs on upper portion.

Noire De Barbentane

These figs will ripen this season as in past seasons.

Have some other fig plants that may or may not ripen .

Best

Martin

It's good to know you're improving health wise.

You mentioned that when you get new fig plant you let it grow for 2 seasons the way it want's to, what about VdB will it get spoiled too ? Or will you train it to a tree ?

Craven cravings and Black Tuscan are soatafter varieties, I don't have either of those two.

I required a few new to me variety, Bass's favorite, De La Gloria, Verdino Del Nord, Ponte Tresa, Pasteliere and quite a few more I grafted some and rooted cuttings, some developed figs so will keep one or two just to see what they look like, plants are strong looking so they should hang on to one or two fig.

I wonder when did you get your first Black Madeira and do you still have it ?

Noir de Barbentane and Black Tuscan sure look good producers 😀

One breba VdB ripen but the pulp is kind of light in color, it tasted good sweet very berry with good seed crunch skin was soft very dark bordo

It would be good to let it hang for maybe 2 more days but e are having heatwese and I didnt want it to be cooked on tree, there are 3 more brebas on, I hope they will ripen and not cook, like previous season.

Main crop VdB

Breba VdB

Keep well !

Anna

The large potted Vdb will get trimmed this winter the airlayer had main bud open as pictured but another bud open next to it growing sideways and is being removed to let main grow into tree shape .

My 1st Black Madeira came to me in a trade years ago when i was on figs 4 fun forum.

Scott from Georgia obtained scion from ucdavis back when they would take orders.

He made 3 madeira plants 1 of them i traded for.

Have 2 now from different folks growing.

So anyways it comes to be that tuscan and cravens from what i have read are supposed to be very similar to madeira with cravens supposedly having thinner skin or not as tough as madeira.

One madeira's along with tuscan and cravens have the figs but its a toss up if any ripen.

Do know madeira is about 120 days when they first show here so doubtful those ripen this season as they came on late.

Barbentane plant is doing good this season its a decent cultivar(strong grower) but will split with too much rain or container watering as some have done so this season.

This one is several years old an airlayer from the original that no longer have.

Have a few preto plants and one has some figs that will ripen never tasted thjs fig but always heard its similar or same as madeira a taste that i enjoy most.

Good to hear you had a VdB to taste .I have seen thru-out the years folks posting pictures in hot climates like Arizona and it seems the figs ripen fast to the point where perhaps the flavor and interior meat coloring is affected as opposed to a cooler climate perhaps where fig can ripen and develop taste over a longer time .

Martin

I often pondera about why some fig trees kind of abandon old growth and open a bud that was dormant or not active then from that bud they explode new growth and grow like there was no tomorrow.

Yes I remember your Black Madeira it was a big thing everyone experimented wit it, there as so much excitement in the threads, it still is one of the best tasting fig variety, senior fig forum members don't comment about it that much because some people are money hungry.

I bought one in 2013 for decent price, she is growing strong, I dont sell cutting, I trade or give away if someone wants it.

I do give it early start ripening does take about 90 / 95 days here same for Col de Dame Blanc but this one like to put out very nice breba, if pruned for breba, I remember you thought me how to prune to get breba. Every time I prune you come to my thought 🙂

This season everything is behind but such as life.

And of course you are right very early breba or main crop if ripen to fast don't have correct flavor, texture, sugar content and so on.

I picked one well ripenb reba VdB yesterday this one was super delicious, darker in pulp color too.

Best regards

Anna

Anna that looks really nice thanks for showing them, some cultivars just stand the test of time Vdb in my humble opinion is underrated maybe because one can obtain it easily ?

This morning noticed 1 main crop Vdb fig start the ripening process a happy surprise not expected so soon because they first emerged first week of june .

Here is fig on VdB along with the odd ball on same plant that once in a while growers may see.

Click to enlarge.

Best

Martin

Yes that is early for VdB, looks good too! The twins, are they on VdB?

On Negronne I always get double figs on same node, even triplets but not on VdB, but it's still only third season old tree.

Because of letting breba figs on tree until they ripe, main crop will be ripening sometimes in September, but at least I had a few figs to munch on.

It would be nice to see it on picture when it's ripe, if you feel like to take picture.

Atreano will start swelling main crop as first.

Little something from my garden

Thanks for your time spending with me here, it's greatly appreciated Martin.

Much health to you.

Anna

Anna it is indeed on the VdB plant had one on a mission some years back that did not burst open like this one is doing and eventually ripened Have that picture somewhere on disk.

Noticed another fig different branch on same plant just started ripening as well.

Your yellow fig looks nice for a white fig ; )

Looked at the VdB this morning ripening fig still there as we have a squirrel that pays a daily visit and likes to bury and dig a little in the pots.

This morning it did some scratching on the potting mix in ischia black plant container but did nothing else besides eat a green Preto fig a week or so ago.

Perhaps that gave him a sour stomach !

Best

Martin

Here is 1st ripe VdB in yard .

The taste was just sweet nothing else there.

Camera lens was fogging

Best

Martin

I too had some ripe figs that all I was able to taste was sweetness specially first fig on trees, but they where all breba this season. It does looks like perfect fig though.

I am looking forward to see a few more ripe figs. Thanks for sharing Martin.

Beat regards

Anna

Godfathers fig started to ripen two days ago, it's breba too

😀

Picked several figs today off of what was bought as VdB we all make mistakes oh well.

After eating them i knew what i suspected after the last couple of figs eaten and close inspection of the leaves and figs and their taste profile and compared to past Ronde pictures as i had several of them thru out the years.

Plant is a Ronde De Bordeaux and not a Vdb. Anyways here are a few pictures of Ronde today .

The one next to it split .

Another Ronde

Inside the figs.

Best

Martin

Well, I was looking at your first ripe VdB it looked more round right after its neck. All my VdB type are tear drop shape, I wanted to mention it but I thought, time will tell.

RdB look perfectly ripe.

Thanks for sharing

Martin, very nice!!

Thought I would give you an update.

I never dug that tree up but a few sprouted from the ground around the trunk but our season is so short, it is just trees with leaves and no fruit. Like starting from scratch.

I actually grew more figs in containers than anything in the ground. All three trees in the ground have no fruit starting at all and fall is just a month away. Stinks, but that is the price I pay for living in Zone 5(

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

I did plant one in a protected unheated greenhouse for a try and I will see how that goes.

Martin, all my in ground figs are just starting to fruit! Darn it. Way too late. If my warm season lasted later than October, I think I would get tons of ripened fruit. I hope we get a warmer than usual fall. It's been a dry and hot summer, very unusual.

Martin, I've been reading your thread and watching your progress.

Awhile back I posted about having trimmed-off some branches from my Petit Negro, stuck the 3 smallest in pots for the heck of it, AND they all grew.

I gave two of them away to family, but one I planted in the ground when I redid the front bed this spring. It has taken off and has doubled in size. I had 3 beautiful figs off it earlier and now discovered that it has more just developing. I tried taking it's photo:

I'm glad it is doing sooooo well. I'm hoping one day it will lend some shade to the roses.

Kate

Kate, good luck))

Those are one of my favorites. I love how sweet they can get. I forgot which one of mines is the Nigra. t I can tell you that I love how they ripen early and give a breba crop to me. One of my faves)

I grow my two favorites: Petit Negra and Italian Honey. However, I have some night animal cleaning out any the moment they get ripe AND the peppers. Apparentenly it just goes down the line eating - like a buffet.

Mike a nice long fall season would be most welcome if that is the case may eat some newer to yard not grown in past.Good luck with your plants.

Kate sounds like your having fun except for the critter foraging around.

Have been eating some hardy chicago figs and noticed several days ago a barbentane fig going through ripening process.

Best

Martin

Kate, you should use that very fine black fencing that Lowe's sells. Easy to work with, pliable, and you can wrap it around the tree without blocking any sun. Animals hate the feel of it and stay far from it)

Martin, thanks. I will take a pic of this tree and show how big the figs are. You might laugh.))