Thermalito 2021 How is it outside of wasp land?

[Evdurtschi]

When caprified, this is one of my best figs. So far, Thermalito is the best “Adriatic type” fig this year. It just has something more to it and it is thicker and more battery / syrupy sticky… yes, that’s the official terminology. 😂

I haven’t heard a whole lot from the community without caprification. Let us know your results! :-)

[Fruitgrower]

Yes, this fig is very special, has been contending for a #2 spot here with BNR. And this fig has really gotten better with age, as almost all do. I really love this fig and was going to do my own post about how awesome this fig is, but got beat to it. Here is one I ate after lunch today, just to side by side my 2 favorite tasting figs. Both were awesome, but to my taste, BB was slightly more intense and complex flavored today. That being said, Thermalito is larger. Thermalito should be considered the King of the seedling figs, as it has been around for many years, and started the fig hunting craze. What an awesome fig this is! One of the very best!

[Netstars]

Jon, your Thermalito is caprified correct?
I know Evan gave it a perfect 10 as well. He also has the wasp in the LA area.
I am also interested in hearing more about Thermalito ripening without caprification.
It looks like an incredible fig when caprified.

[Fruitgrower]

Yes, caprified. It is a perfect 10! Just truly awesome!

[acerpictum]

Evdurtschi Thanks. Dream from dreams!

[Achilles]

Eric, better than WM #1?

[Achilles]

How old is your thermo? Did it grow slow the first year or so?

[Fruitgrower]

I agree, better than WM#1

[cvarcher]

my Battaglia is better than my White Madeira.

[Ilocafig]

I think Thermalito is only good when caprified. My tree is about 3 years old now in pot. This year is just normal sweetness with no berry flavor noted.

[Ilocafig]

This is my honest taste test 3 days ago without tampering the fruit for picture taking. It was sweet about same as Black Madiera #1, no berry flavor noted and moderate seed crunch. I believed this fruit is not caprified. I have few more ripening. I hope it will taste better than my first taste test.

[Fruitgrower]

Let this fig hang 1or 2 days and you would really be surprised. I can see that this fig is not properly ripened, you will be surprised with what a few days can do to a fig. A properly ripened Thermalito is really hard to beat!

[venturabananas]

Sod -- it is earlier than some and later than others. It is midseason for me.

[Sod]

Thanks venturabananas

[Fishninja]

My unknown might be an Adriatic then. What do you think?

[venturabananas]

Well, it's certainly an "Adriatic type" since we use that as the description of pretty much any red fleshed, green skinned fig. But that doesn't help narrow it down the variety much.

[Fishninja]

That's good to know. I doubt I'll ever discover the actual variety of it, but it is delicious and I'm glad the previous owners of my house planted it.

[bkkchris]

This has been my most frustrating variety this season. Granted it's my first year getting fruit, but its been so unpredictable. About 70% dropped around the stage an uncaprified smyrna would, the remaining 30% almost all ripened very inconsistently. I probably got one or two that were pretty good and def showed their potential, but nothing like what I hear/see from others growing in wasp land.

[arcadiafigs]

Can I ask what you mean by "ripened very inconsistently"? Did they spoil before getting fully ripe? Or within a single fruit, was one region ripe and another region not?

[bkkchris]

arcadiafigs Yeah mostly just some areas would be ripe while others not. I am pretty sure its probably down to inconsistent watering. I have been having a lot of issue this season with inconsistent watering in general, still trying to get a good drip system working the way I want! But whatever it has been Thermalito has been sensitive to it the most out of all mine.

[arcadiafigs]

Thanks for clarifying! Hopefully as the tree matures, it will be less sensitive.

[Netstars]

This is a great topic Eric.
I have been wondering why we don’t hear more positive information about Thermalito ripened without the wasp.
It has been out there for quite some time now and I would assume many have ripened it without the wasp.
My tree was attacked by a rat and had to grow back from the base this year.
Maybe next year for me as it is coming back strong?

[don_sanders]

Were Fruitnut’s caprified? He was playing some with the wasps in his greenhouse. I’m looking forward to trying mine this year but they haven’t ripened yet.

[Evdurtschi]

don_sanders The post was from 2018 and I think that’s before he started toying with wasps but I could be wrong. He didn’t mention anything about it in his post

[don_sanders]

👍🏽
.

[Ilocafig]

• 1 comment
  • 
    #5.1
    Sod commented
    Today, 09:35 AM
    Is it earlier than any other pseudo-adriatic types for you?
    • Flag
• Sod It is the last one to ripen than most of my adriatic type. EricD might have different result because he grows it in Santa Barbara.

[Evdurtschi]

It is one of the earlier ones here

[Simongrow]

One of my friends reported that his few Thermalito fruit on his first year tree dropped. I have a few small fruit on my first year tree so hopefully some will ripen.

I don’t have the wasp in my area or not that I’ve noticed. I’ll report back on the taste of uncaprified Thermalitos if any ripen.

Simon

[Evdurtschi]

I haven’t ever had any drop so it doesn’t seem to be very sensitive, like some others. I wonder what happened. Temp fluctuations, irregular watering and pots drying out is usually what causes it for me.
Good luck! I hope yours ripen!

[Fruitgrower]

Yes, I have never had one drop here either. But many smyrna's drop here before ripening. My Thermalito is grafted, 4 years old, so it may need 3 years to ripen properly on own roots.

[Bob D]

Here's some photos of my Thermolito fig that I harvested several days ago. Jon, it was from your 1-inch remnant scion wood that I grafted onto my Igo fig tree about 2 years ago. Definetely a top tier fig that compares favorably with Angelito, Boysenberry Blush and Bordissot Negra Rimada. Again, that initial tangy burst of flavor, complex honey-berry profile and perfect acid balance ratio.

Sorry, just had to share even though I'm located in wasp-land!

[Evdurtschi]

Thank you! Looks so good

[Fruitgrower]

Very nice Bob, so the other 2 grafts I did with your other 8 inches of Thermalito did not take? Dang those potted trees! At least most took.

[Bob D]

Jon...unfortunately the main Thermolito graft you did on my potted black mission fig did not take.  As I recall, there was a big difference in size between the scion and the stock which made it a very difficult graft.  Sometimes even the most gifted grafters fail!  But your Craven's Craven graft did exceedingly well (now almost 5 feet tall).  I was very fortunate to get the 1-inch remnant you gave me to take.  Sometimes luck is better than skill!  Lol!

[don_sanders]

Here’s mine. Assuming it’s true to type, it isn’t an Adriatic fig when not pollinated. More of a tasty honey fig with some fruity notes…no berry flavor. Been splitting quite a bit in this rain and humidity here. Quite late so far ripening after Black Madeira, AJH, Lampeira Prusch, Flanders, I-258, etc. No fruit dropping that I know of. I’ve started taping a couple eyes to keep bugs out of the open eye and to try to reduce the splitting. 1st fruit off a 2nd year tree so I’m curious to see how it develops.

[It Could use another day]

Do you have white Madeira #1? Does it split for you?

[don_sanders]

I do but it is tiny and hasn't ripened figs yet. In this weather that I've been having, there are very few varieties that wouldn't split...I've been throwing away about 10 lbs of figs a day.

[MASS FIGS]

WM#1 has been very rain resistant for me. Really an incredible fig, I have 2 that are in 15 gallons pots and might make more despite overall downsizing the collection overall. However, I do have a high tunnel so timing is not as much of a problem for me as others growing in northern climates which someone in OH would need to consider

[It Could use another day]

If anyone wants to trade DSJG or white Madeira for this let me know. Air layers or rooted cuttings.

[SubmarinePete]

It seems like there are a lot of different thoughts here on Thermalito. I'll go ahead and add mine:
-I agree it is not an "adriatic" when uncaprified, but it does have a berry flavor for me. To me, it tastes most similar to LSU Tiger, with a really sweet light berry flavor.
-It seems to be a rather late fig, ripening at about the same time as Bourjassotte Noire, Cardenillo, Ischia Black, and a few others. Probably not good for short seasons, but my ripening dates are affected by my use of a greenhouse, so take that with a grain of salt.
-It does have some issues with splitting, but it has been manageable for me so far. Having said that, I have a fairly small set of data on Thermalito.
-Splitting issues aside, it seems to ripen easily and I'm not having trouble with dropping, spoilage, bugs, birds, etc.
-I think it has a great taste

Video review: https://youtu.be/b_S00zL-xl4

[venturabananas]

Even caprified, I wouldn't call Thermalito an "Adriatic type". For me, caprified or uncaprified, it does not have the intensely red pulp -- it's somewhat orangish -- nor the strong berry flavor of what I think of as classic Adriatic. It is definitely fruity, but not in the strawberry, raspberry, or blackberry range.

That's all based on how they were for me last year. None have ripened yet for me this year. I'm interested to see if they're any different this year.

[Sod]

Interesting. I thought the claim to fame on this one was the intensity of the flavor. Thanks for the info Mark.