Peter's Honey....will I miss it?

[brettjm]

Peter's Honey was on my wish list when I started collecting last fall. I was graciously gifted a couple cuttings as extras with an order, and both rooted and leafed nicely. Of course this was in my trial and error stage of caring for cuttings, and I promptly overwatered them and killed them. Still, PH was one of the varieties I really wanted, so I asked if anyone would send cuttings for shipping (on the F4F forum, I think), and I got a prompt yes.

Of the 3 cuttings, only 1 rooted after a couple months of waiting (the others leafed out great, but never sent out any roots). This one PH that I've been babying really only ever had one good root that circled the cup 2x and branched a lot...but it just never leafed out. Eventually, that one big root started to turn brown and quit growing, despite never watering and keeping in a humidity bin. After 2 weeks of no new growth, I uprooted it today. No rot, but no fresh roots either, and the stick was super light and flimsy and desiccating on both ends. Guess it wasn't meant to be.

So I officially give up on Peter's Honey. If I do acquire it, I'll just buy a plant. But should I? I've got a few honey/sugar varieties already going. I've got Brooklyn White figlets doing moderately well and in full sun already. I've got 3-4 Excel cuttings with fantastic root systems (far and away the most prolific rooters I've handled), and I'm confident I'll get at least 1 to survive to maturity. Similarly, I've got some Alma and celeste cuttings rooting nicely. So will I miss Peter's Honey, or do I have my bases covered?

[Sas]

I purchased PH a couple of years ago from One Green World. They sent it to me dormant and it never woke up in the spring. I guess it may not be as hardy as my other varieties. I did not get a replacement from them nor did I bother to get it again.

[figgary]

Hey Brett, sorry you've had bad luck with the PH. Mine did not ripen any last year, though it grew like crazy. It is loaded with a breba crop right now, so I'll be able to give you my impression before too long.

[MichaelTucson]

Hi Brett. Not sure what you can expect there in GA, but up here in central NY state, it is one of the best varieties I've got. Produces lots of breba and lots of main crop, very sweet and excellent taste. On a 3 year old tree in a 12 - 15 gallon pot, I got about 90 figs from it (a couple of years ago). I've written about it over on F4F a good bit, and I posted some pictures and info in the Ourfigs varieties database, here:
http://www.ourfigs.com/forum/variety...=1431483957825

It's among the favorites here. Sorry to hear you've had difficulty getting a tree to thrive. In my opinion, this variety is worth the effort though.

Mike

[mountainfigs]

Mike, what are your other best breba producers there in NY?

[MichaelTucson]

Frank's Fig Unknown (possibly a strain of English Brown Turkey, or closely related anyway) is a good breba producer here. Also Conadria has been reliable with both breba and main crop. This year there are LOTS of varieties producing lots of breba. (I wrote about it somewhere in another thread... not sure which forum, but the title was something like Year of the Breba). But most years, those three are reliable breba producers (with other varieties producing SOME breba, but not always as many). This year Atreano, Triano Calabrese, and a few others are also loaded with breba, and maybe 10 or 15 other varieties have a moderate number of breba as well.

[mountainfigs]

Good to know. Have to say that I haven't been impressed with the taste of Conadria to this point. Seems watery compared to other figs but maybe that will change.

[brettjm]

Mike

Ugh. Yeah I've read plenty about it....there's a reason it was on my wishlist, for sure. I'm thinking I might just try to buy one once I get settled in at my new home. I'd really like to know how my other sugar/honey varieties stack up against it, because space is becoming an issue (how did this happen...I had 2 fig plants, and now I have like...12-15 varieties?). I know Bass and at least one other F4F member have discussed how underrated brooklyn white is, and I know at least one member (Snaglepus maybe?) has raved about Excel. This is where my inexperience really shows...I've only been growing for a few years, and I've only made a hobby out of it for the past year.

It certainly is a bonus that PH has a good breba though. I hate waiting until August for figs.

[brettjm]

Gary

Yeah PH was a bummer. I really appreciate the opportunity to try to root them again (I believe you were the gracious donor for round 2). No idea why I have such bad luck with it. I got some UCD cuttings in last month, and I'm probably at a 75% success rate and counting for rooting, and all are doing very well. I also got some brooklyn white cuttings in the mail the day before those PH cuttings got here. 2 of those cuttings have matured to the point where they are now outside in full sun, so I'd like to think that I'm not the problem, and that PH really just hates me.

[ako1974]

Brett - Peter's Honey may very well hate you. But rest assured, if it does, there are currently 2 or 3 varieties that hate me (none of which are Peter's Honey). I killed a nice PH a couple years ago (it never woke up after winter) after it fruited for me that summer, but I bought more cuttings and now I have three 2 year old trees that I hope growing well.

[COGardener]

Trees of Antiquity has them for $36.95 plus shipping for a 4-5' tall tree. Sounds like it may be worth the investment.

I've been thinking about one myself, only if I remember correctly, this variety did not do well for Calvin in Denver.

[cis4elk]

It's a good variety if they will ripen properly for you, then again..aren't they all?
For me most of the the crop just didn't make it for timing. They either ripened during heavy rains resulting in splitting and flavorless fruits without the wonderful viscous syrup or after the cooler fall temps had arrived which again yeilded flavorless figs except they then had tougher skins and were mostly inedible. I have many other figs which still put out good fruit under the above conditions, so PH went away to make room for something new and different.

[COGardener]

Darn our short growing season!!!

[Bijan]

I can't believe I still have dormant trees. Next summer I'll take the Colorado folks on a road trip to Texas. We'll stuff ourselves with figs

[COGardener]

Sounds like a great time.

[MichaelTucson]

Mike

Ugh. Yeah I've read plenty about it....there's a reason it was on my wishlist, for sure. I'm thinking I might just try to buy one once I get settled in at my new home. I'd really like to know how my other sugar/honey varieties stack up against it, because space is becoming an issue (how did this happen...I had 2 fig plants, and now I have like...12-15 varieties?). I know Bass and at least one other F4F member have discussed how underrated brooklyn white is, and I know at least one member (Snaglepus maybe?) has raved about Excel. This is where my inexperience really shows...I've only been growing for a few years, and I've only made a hobby out of it for the past year.

It certainly is a bonus that PH has a good breba though. I hate waiting until August for figs.

I guess I can't really compare for you about those other honey varieties (I'm not growing those others). But I recommend Peter's Honey as a great fig. That $37 price that Scott mentioned sounds like a reasonable price for a good sized tree, if it's true to type. Good luck.

Mike

[Chrisk]

Hey folks. I got mine last year from Bay Flora and it fruited on year one! Produced 23 or so figs and ripened half of them . Looks great this year with 6 Breba figs and numerous main crop popping up. I recommend it hands down!