Pretty bummed - grew a mislabeled tree for 3 years

[PacNorWreck]

Well, it’s time to admit I’ve been growing a Negronne-NOT since 2019 (acquired) from One Green World and sold as Negronne. It’s been a shy bearer, the colors were off but I figured it was just the cool 2019 / 2020 summers, and flavors were bland.

I gave its one breba a squeeze this morning and it fell right off. It seemed ripe, but the pulp, outside colors, flavors, everything were just lackluster. I’ve seen the less exciting sugar figs described on here as tasting like sweet lettuce, that’s pretty much what this tasted like. Even my dog, who loves fruit, wasn’t sure she wanted a second bite.

Sigh. It’s bad enough to waste years on a tree, worse when you know you won’t have a similarly mature and productive replacement for another few years.

[aaron]

I hear you. 3 years in my “CdDB” produced this fig. So I call it CdD BS



It later made figs like this, which are actually quite good. It’s the only fig I’ve had that I think has a caramel flavor. I’m actually pretty excited for this years harvest of BS

[rajneeshdelhi]

That sucks. Hopefully you can use it as a rootstock for some better varieties since it is already acclimatized to Seattle weather.

[blaze]

Brunswick
leaves similar to the vdb varieties like negronne. Probably source of mix up.

[Realtorbyday]

Brunswick was the variety people thought my unknown Pottsmore BM NOT was actually going to end up being. I'm still waiting for fruit to find out for sure what it is.

[PacNorWreck]

I agree, from what I’ve seen so far at least

[RosyPosy]

Man, that stinks! Sorry for the wasted time and hope you get a great replacement!

[acerpictum]

Similar in Brunswick, good grade for dry climates.

[Citicodays]

Whip and tongue some VdB scions to your branches and you’ll be eating the right figs next year.

[Realtorbyday]

That's stinks. Sorry that happened to you. I have a feeling of impending doom after seeing your picture. I have 2 unknowns- 1 is the classic Pottsmore fake- BM NOT and 1 was thought to be an I-258 but is not. They both look pretty similar to your picture but we haven't had the fruit yet. I hope these turn out to be something good and I hope yours starts to make better fruit as it matures. Maybe the main crop will be good.

[Red_Sun]

This happens to a lot of people, just to be honest. I personally trial quite some unknown fig varieties. With some, even the original owner has no idea what kind of fig it produces.

[PacNorWreck]

Totally, I just finally won (lost?) the lottery. Still, it was my very first container fig tree so it smarts a bit.

[davej]

Dealing with unknowns and mislabeled trees seems to be part of the game. I guess after enough years you finally get used to it and develop a system.

[Halligan-]

Yeah, that sucks!
i found 2 miss labels and 3 duplicates under different names, lol

[arachyd]

If you have room to keep it you should give it another year or two. Some trees put out really mediocre fruit until they mature. One of my favorites put out figs that tasted like styrofoam for a few years then suddenly they were delicious.

[LadyGT]

If you have the receipt, complain to the company with a photo attached. I did that with a Panche and the Hirts nursery. Got a refund no questions asked.

[PacNorWreck]

I did reach out, we’ll see what they say!

[Sod]

Eric it could also be Stella. I know the feeling on the “that’s not what I bought” story though. I’ve been waiting for 3 years for my DK to ripen its Brebas and it turns out it’s probably something called Norman’s yellow by the looks of it. At least it tastes the same but it’s a big established in ground tree. It’s frustrating.

Hit me up in a pm. We’ll talk more

[Rickyv101]

your fig tree look like Stella, LDA, Dalmatie, Brunswick, It might not be a bad tree than Negronne, I have Negronne in ground for 6 years and tree is getting big, It is shy bearer with few breba. much less breba than Desert king, Olympia/EBT. Lattarula. Etc.

[Citicodays]

Did these on all four main scaffolds of a tree this spring. Place them close to the main trunk. They began pushing figlets pretty quickly.

[Red_Sun]

Did you do by hand with knife, or with graft tool?

[Citicodays]

Just a whip and tongue with a grafting knife.

[TNJed]

Eric I’ve got a baby Negronne AL if you still want one. ‘‘Twas a gift to me, would be a gift to you. Fruited in year 2.

[Bry]

It's all a part of the fun of growing figs, better to get used to it.

That's a Brunswick for sure..breba aren't very special but the main crop can be decent once the tree matures. It's one of the old standbys for the PNW, all over town here.

I've also have several extra Negronnes from cuttings off my big tree. Let me know if you want one.

[PacNorWreck]

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and especially the super kind offers of cuttings and plants!

Just to document the resolution, One Green World offered me my choice of replacement trees free of charges. They’re out of Negronne, so I took them up on a Juda / Negretta.

Figwasp - because he is an all around awesome guy, has kindly offered to give me a spare rooted VdB, Petite Aubique, or Negronne.

All’s well that ends well! I’ll let the Brunswick live until the season is over, maybe it’ll ripen some of the 20-odd main crop it’s carrying. Next season it’s a goner - it’s in one of my best / biggest SIPs and I would rather have my RdB in there.

[BC BYRON]

Could have been like 15 or so varieties like me