2 best figs for SoCal

[cjccmc]

Since I only have room for two medium sized trees, I'd like to get suggestions on what varieties would be best choices. My location is inland Orange County (not costal) and August temps are routinely above 95F for daytime high. Factors for me are:

flavor
productivity
heartiness/consistency
closed eye / non splitting (ants and fruit flies live here rent free)
two trees that ripen at different times so the fun lasts longer
brebas not required unless good and plentiful
prefer dark figs but one dark, one green also works

I think I have the wasp here so trees needing pollination are possible. I'm looking to acquire at least 2yr old or 3-5 gallon size trees. Please feel free to suggest way more than two since I don't know how available they will be.

Thanks in advance.

[andreas-patras]

if you are in cali and have the wasp, the best thing would be for you to visit harvey correia. he is having a fig gathering this month (August 20th 10am-2pm) and will have many types to see up close and might get to taste. he also is one of the most respectable fig growers and sellers, and many other fig collectors will probably attend so it would help to go and see, and probably learn from the best. i hope this helps you. have a good one. andreas from patras greece

here is a link on this forum for more info

https://www.ourfigs.com/forum/figs-home/97320-fyi-figaholics-gathering-august-20th-10am-2pm-limited-attendance

[cjccmc]

I can't make that this year but would love to one day. It goes on my bucket list for sure.

[greenfig]

Conrad ,

If you have room for one tree, plant an Unk. Pastilliere, if you have room for 2 trees, plant two Unk. Pastillieres!
My the best trees in the ground , if we are talking seriously though, are MBVS and UP. They produce continuously and taste great . Both are the berry figs though.
What flavors do you prefer?

[Brian M]

Unk. Pastiliere and Malta Black. Malta Black has a closed eye, delicious and big producer.

[cjccmc]

Thanks for the recommendations! If two experienced figgies both say Unk. Pastiliere that's got to be one of my selections. What time of year does it ripen in SoCal?

As far as flavors, I really like them all, fig (which to me means fig newton), berry, sweet and honey. If the UP makes berry flavored my second choice would be fig flavored and it would be good to have it ripen at a different time than UP. What varieties would fit that?

[greenfig]

The season for UP starts in mid July and runs for about 2 months assuming your tree is in the ground (the potted trees have a totally different timing). They taste like Bing cherry , not honey for sure. For honey flavoured you can try Kadota/Peter's Honey. The MBVS taste like strawberry jam. Malta Black is similar to MBVS, both are excellent figs. Strawberry Verte is also super and slightly earlier fig than any mentioned above.

[Brian M]

For a honey sugary flavor this year trojano was really good.

[mountainfigs]

Could do worse than Alma and Mission in southern California, I imagine, good flavor, good size, high yields. Not very unique, I suppose, but well trialed.

[cjccmc]

I'm kind of surprised that Mission is not as good as I thought it would be. At least of the ones I've been able to sample. Lots of people have them but ones I've tasted were light on flavor, not as good as my Celeste. (But most I've had seemed a bit under ripe to me.)

[cjccmc]

Greenfig / Brian: What sources are available for the correct UP? I looked at Encanto's list of available plants and it's not there. Is this a good time of year to get a tree or would it be better to wait until spring?

[greenfig]

My UP is quite large. Please PM me

[cjccmc]

Thanks greenfig, PM sent

[loudandlow]

I think you'll get a whole lot of different answers as many people have their own favorite fig and it might not be the next guy's favorite.

[Q*]

You have to ask yourself what you'd prefer.....quality or quantity or a mix of both. Some varieties are super productive and some aren't. Some are fast to ripen and some seem to take forever. Some are big and some are small. I have 12 varieties in ground in OC and all of them taste very good in their own way(the lowest was a 7 on the scale out of 10). Flavor wise its going to be hard to beat the flavor of a Black Madeira but they take forever to ripen and the plants grow a little slower than the rest. Vista puts on tons of fruit and ripens pretty early and has really good flavor, same with JH adriatic. Mt. Etna types have good berry flavor but the fruits are on the small side...and depending on the variety they range in productivity. The light figs all taste great,(trojano, atreano, lsu gold, white marseilles,etc..) but lack the complexity of flavors the dark figs have. So if you want pure flavor i'd say Black Madeira, I258, Preto, or any of the CDD's (i've never had Unk Past. but have to consider it now)..... productivity and taste i'd say Vista & JH Adriatic. The sky's the limit on what you can grow in SoCal......and you cant go wrong no matter what you pick. Good luck!

[cjccmc]

Thanks Quy, good points. How do you like Vista compared to Celeste or Mission overall? Jon from Encanto seems to rank Vista as one of the best but I don't see much spoken about it here.

[Q*]

Celeste to me is like a Medjool date reincarnated into a fig tree. A black mission has its own distinct fig flavor...when ripened right...they have a very sweet rich flavor. Vista to me is a larger version of a Violette De Bordeaux...so it has a slight berry like flavor to it. Figs are like wine....they differ in many ways and nobody's tastes are the same. What one person likes...the other might not.....thats the fun of it. I say grow a bunch of different ones in pots and pick the best two to put into the ground

[Altadena Mara]

I think you'll get a whole lot of different answers as many people have their own favorite fig and it might not be the next guy's favorite.

This is just my second year growing figs here, so my experience is limited. If you try growing everyone's favorite fig, you'll wind up with 60 different varieties. Voice of experience.

My favorite so far is also Unk. Pastiliere. It starts producing a week after my very early, very tasty Ronde de Bordeaux. UP is larger, sweeter, and is still producing after RdB exhausts itself. Black Madiera/Figo Preto is also a great black, berry flavored fig that is so heavily productive it stops growing. It ripens later in the season after UP, into the fall and winter and has a top flavor, so it worth growing to extend the season.

It's hard to beat Strawberry Verte for a green, red centered berry flavored fig that's very productive. Bourjassotte Grise and I-258 may be bigger with similar wonderful flavors but aren't as productive for me so far. They all are still young trees.

LSU Gold is the biggest, sweetest yellow/green honey fig I've tried so far this year. My Pete's Honey was smaller but good last year and productive. It struggles in full sun this year. Shiblawi is supposed to be very good and is on my wish list. Next year my answer might be different with several of the new honey figs I'm growing.

[cjccmc]

Thanks Mara. I hear a lot of good reports on Strawberry Verte and hope to get one. Just hope I end of with one of the good versions of it :-)