How was your 2015 season?

[AscPete]

This was a relatively good year for growing fig trees in the NE.
I'm in the process of replacing cultivars after severe winter losses of stored fig trees over the past 2 winters so the good weather was welcomed. Spring started off warmer than usual, lots of rain in late spring and early summer with a mostly dry warm mid to late summer. My potted fig trees were very productive when given proper irrigation with the in-ground buried pots and SIPs (Sub Irrigated Planters) outperforming the standard containers. All the trees are ripening good figs although the overnight temperatures are currently dipping down into the 40's. The cultivars that ripen good tasting figs in cooler weather, Champagne, Hardy Chicago and Violette de Bordeaux are now ripening bumper crops.

[Kelby]

In the words of the late Yogi Berra: It ain't over til it's over.

[AscPete]

Its definitely not over, there are more cultivars ripening now than at anytime earlier in the season.

[Kelby]

Well, high of 58 for Thursday. I think it's about over. Full recap to come!

[Rafaelissimmo]

Hi Pete

I had a pretty good season, my rooted cuttings all grew into healthy young trees and most of my veteran trees did nicely. The heat wave in the second week of September caused a lot of fruit to ripen at the same time, and I couldn't really keep up. Bugs became more prevalent and some fruit soured and/or dropped off the trees. But overall a very very good season. One tree that curiously did not produce hardly any main crop after giving some nice breba was Atreano. Don't know why, maybe it was in too much shade. I also learned a lot about greenhouse tweaks and issues in my first season giving some varieties an early start. Here is what I have noticed: Panachee gave me fruit in early august (mimicking zone 9 in the Northeast) but the Col de Dames have been curiously slow to ripen, they have sat on the trees for over 100 days and are ripening one by one, not in large groups. To me this means that I will start them even earlier next year, before Panachee, I'm talkin' Feb. 21 give or take a few days. I have also had to reduce my collection when possible because it has become too much to manage.

[AscPete]

Glad to hear you are having a good season...
I had a similar problem during the same warm dry spell which also created a fruit fly infestation which is subsiding now with the cooler weather. My Atreano was too small (young) to produce breba but is just now starting to ripen main crop figs.
Thanks for sharing your info.

[exoticplants1]

Rafaelissimmo, my col de dames are the same.they still aren't ripe.

[jmaler]

This year was my first to buy cuttings and fig plants off ebay. I purchased from more than a few ebay sellers and am happy to say all transactions went smoothly. Except for Hunt and LSU Tiger, I got plants from all the different varieties of cuttings I purchased. The "rooting cuttings" adventure was fun but it didn't take long for me to realize buying plants and delv'd for $50 - $100 and sometimes a little more was the way to go for me.

The cuttings I rooted and up potted to larger than one gal pots have grown to 3-4 feet tall trees, where as the ones that are still in one gal pots are just 8-15 inches tall. What I learned here is that rooted cuttings need to be up potted from cups to one gal to 3 or 5 gal pretty quickly. Once they hit the one gal pots they were fertilized weekly. The trees that have done the best in terms of growth are the ones that went from one gal to the #6900 nursery pots.

The plants I purchased, most in one gal pots, have been up potted to 3 or 5 gal pots or #6900 nursery pots. I have an RDB in a #10,000 nursery pot, a Tiger and a Brown Turkey in half 33 gal barrels. All are doing really well, many with figs althought probably too small to ripen this season.

A couple weeks back we had 4 or 5 mornings with heavy dew. Soon after a wave of rust passed through my mini fig orchard causing many leaves to rust and fall. Now with a little cooler weather (we finally broke 70 degrees in the mornings) new growth is popping out all over the place.

Figs I ate this year were few in number from Alma, Brown Turkey, Celeste, Tiger and White Texas Everbearing. Next year my hopes are running high with over 50 varieties in the garden, assuming we get through the winter.

Next year the plan is to hold the number of varieties at or near the current level and focus on planting the trees in ground. Each in ground tree outside the garden will have its own fence to keep out deer and there will be mulch to help keep the roots moist and cool.

It has been a fun year form me collecting fig, doing the research, and making new friends on our forum. Next year the real work begins.

[AscPete]

Congrats...
In my first year (2012) I purchased several small plants and cuttings from the internet and had similar experiences, went from 2 cuttings received as a gift to 48 different cultivars by the end of the season.

[don_sanders]

Things didn't go so bad for me considering I had a late start.

I was able to taste a few figs from an unknown. It has some more figs ripening now along with a couple other trees. One of which I thought I new but it was supposed to be a white fig and is starting to color up now that it's ripening.

A couple of young figs that are confused about the seasons are popping out some little figs that don't have a prayer off ripening.

I've lost more cuttings than I care to admit. Hopefully, I'll do much better next time.

Next year should be a lot better for me mostly due to the generosity of forum members assuming that I can successfully winter my figs in the attached garage.

I've learned a lot with much more to learn and enjoyed seeing the trees grow.

Thank you everyone for the help and guidance.

[AscPete]

Congrats.
My major losses have been during winter storage. Keeping the potted trees at or just above freezing (32*F) and keeping the mix slightly moist resulted in breba figs and minimal losses this past spring.

[don_sanders]

I'm pretty sure my garage stays above 32. I'll use a little space heater if I need to. Slightly moist could be my problem. I generally have a heavy hand watering which my figs seem to love when they are actively growing.

[DBJohnson]

Well, I didn't get into figs until the last couple of days of June with the purchase of a couple of unknowns from Ocracoke island. That piqued my interest and lead me here where the generosity of the members of these forums resulted in gifts of an RdB and Carini and a whole bunch of cuttings to play with--my first venture into propagating any plant via cuttings. My first venture into rooting cuttings resulted in 13 of 17 surviving to be up potted. A couple of those didn't survive the transition, but my collection went from zero to 17 (14 cultivars).

No figs were produced this year, but I ate quite a few purchased from grocery stores and produce markets. I'm looking forward to having a few from my own trees next season.

[AscPete]

Congrats.
Hopefully you will be harvesting homegrown figs next season.

[cjmach1973]

This year went pretty well when it comes to growing the trees. I didn't get many figs because most of my trees are to young. But my wife is expecting a lot of figs next year due to all the new ones I picked up during this summer. The only sad thing is this year seems to be done. Even though the weatherman gave a frost warning for northern Vermont and New Hampshire, it decided to come down 150 miles to visit us. Now, I'm just waiting for the day to warm up so I can see how much damage we took. Hopefully just a few leaves here and there.

[AscPete]

Good Luck.
My first frost is usually mid October, but I've been able to harvest a few figs from VdB in early November if the trees are protected from frost and the daytime temperatures are at least in the 60's.

[fitzski]

Overall, I have had a pretty good year. My heirloom (we think it's Hardy Chicago) had a great year and many of my 2nd year trees fruited for the first time so I was able to enjoy the various flavors of Italian Honey, Tena, Condaria, and Paradiso/Genoa.

Next year hopefully I'll be able to sample from the following 1st year trees: JH Adriatic, Nero 600m, O'Rourke, RDB, Scott's Black, MBVS, Marseilles White, LSU Purple, Atreano, and a few others I know I've forgotten about.

Thanks to all who contribute information to this site.

[AscPete]

Congrats...
Seems you've sampled most of the Fig Flavor Groups and you have the missing flavor in your lineup for next season.

[fitzski]

thanks, Pete. I liked most of the new figs I tried this year and part of the problem i had was knowing when to pick them. I tried a few not quite ripe Italian honey and was underwhelmed. It wasn't until I tried a dead ripe one (that was not very pretty) did i realize that I wasn't letting them ripen fully. I only had one Condaria but it was much better than the few Tena I had. The 2 or 3 Paradiso/Genoa were very good as well.

I'm looking forward to more of the dark figs (RDB, MBVS, Nero 600m and Scott's Black) next year and I think this winter I'm only going to add 1 or 2 more varieties (but I'll probably end up with another 10 or so ).

[AscPete]

Its trial and error and subjective for knowing the best time to pick some cultivars. IMO, many figs develop their most sugars (sweetest) well before they develop their complex flavors.

[FMD]

2015 may be the year that figs have jumped the shark for me.

[Chrisk]

Whaaat?
Hey doc, I do not wanna hear you talk like that again. Keep your chin up and continue to grow those beautiful figs . There's nothing third grade about your figs, the darn pests tremble when they hear your name and you live in Fl!!!! Think about our brothers up in NY or even farther north! They eat their figs proud and fight snow and wind and sub Z temps just so that they can taste those figs for a couple of weeks.
So came on Frank, pull out your dagger , cut the belly of the beast and jump out! Your figs are waiting for someone to take care of them!!! Well not to mention THE DUCKS!!!!
PS
And who knows?
Those Europeans probably envy us
for having all the varieties in the world!!

[Toejamken]

Since I live fairly close, maybe I won't be so disappointed. I hope to find varieties most suitable to our climate. We have one grape my wife selected, but I also have a hankerin to grow muscadines.

[SarinaP]

Frank--PM me your address and I can mail you some cuttings of my Monticello Marseilles if you'd like. I knew NOTHING about figs and it's doing really well in-ground in Virginia. I have a feeling it would do well in Tally (I went to FSU) even without covering in winter, etc. It's spent the first 3 years of its life like that!

[Harborseal]

Well I had the biggest crop ever and got to taste a lot of new varieties. Most of my plants are 3-5 years old. A lot of the figs were insipid and the usual great figs like HC, Preto and Salem Dark were not as good as usual. Longue d'Aout was a standout with a great strawberry syrup flavor. Since most of the figs I ate were first time producers I'm hoping for better in the future. Desert King breba were good but 1 tree produced a main crop for me and it was amazing. It tasted just like caramel. A 4-5 yr old LSU Purple along with a few others have yet to produce a single fig.

[AscPete]

Congrats.
I've also been able to taste several cultivars for the first time this year, but most of my plants are replacements and are only in their 2nd year.

[lilfiggy]

I enjoyed reading everyone's success on the forum and lived vicariously thru your fig tastings. I have perservered and all I have to say is next year better be kinder to me as I can only stand just so many flops. The nearest I have come to a ripe fig is the produce isle at the supermarket. Ergo I have no idea what a home ripened fig tastes like. Sigh

[AscPete]

Good Luck next season...
The taste difference is worth the effort and the wait.

[Charlie]

This year was a lot of continued learning experience. Keeping what I ended up with surviving from the single node experiment alive was a big deal for me. Got to eat several figs and share some with wife this year and so learned she also really likes figs too and I'm happy about that. Soon I will transfer all gallon sizes which have anchored roots in the wood chip pile into five gallon pails and get the garage ready to house them for winter.

[AscPete]

Congrats.
Good luck with the winter storage.

[71GTO]

I've complained in bits and pieces, but this season has not been to good for me. My trees started out better then ever surviving our move with flying colors. Unfortunately, we didn't not move into our new house until the middle of July. I didn't get to do the normal fertilizer routine and I barely had time to water them. Now that we have been in the house a few months I can see shade is my biggest issue. we cut down 11 trees and all my neighbors have huge trees all over. I'm going to try to remove what's left in my yard and hope that helps. I also had a run over watering since I was to busy to with the house and I tried to spread out waterings by soaking them. That lead to fruit spoiling and bringing in flys. On top of thy lay our property is sandy soil and I've never had so many ants attack my trees. Plus the standard birds and squirrels.
On a sort of positive note, I did get to try a few figs I've been waiting to try. I've also been able to cull out some unknowns and some trees that didn't do well.

[AscPete]

Congrats on the new place and tasting the new figs.
Sorry to hear about the obstacles and delays, there's always next year.

[71GTO]

Thanks! I'll figure it out one way or another...

[AscPete]

You're welcome. Good luck.

[AmericanFigLover]

My season never started. Maybe next year hopefully. My Nero600m just started to produce figs about two weeks ago. This guy is late to the party haha. My Galicia Negra made a complete turn around and actually looks like a tree now. I doubt I could get it to grow enough for next year unless I continue the growth indoors.

[AscPete]

Hopefully next season will be more productive, good luck.

[Sarahkt]

Considering this is only my second year growing figs, 2015 has been excellent. I went from one tree that was just a 2' whip, to (probably too) many plants. For someone who doesn't have much patience, it's very gratifying that figs grow so fast. Most of my figs fruited in their first year, and many of those ripened some pretty delicious figs (Panache, VdB, Strawberry Verte, the original Panache-not that started off the collection). Others (White Genoa) ripened but were lackluster, but still beyond my expectations in that they existed at all.

So, all in all, I'm grateful to have grown the collection over such a short period, and have it produce!

[AscPete]

Congrats...
I've also been impressed with the early productivity of fig trees, compared to the usual fruit trees in my zone.

[greenfig]

It has been a good but weird season as far as growing goes. Because of our hot and very dry summer, the figs were a little smaller but more flavorful. The biggest downside was fighting with birds, squirrels, rats, raccoons, and possums. Because of the same drought, every fruit with a drop of juice or above, was attacked from all the sides during the day and night. I probably ate about 20% of the ripe figs and very not happy about this. Any protection that is not made from metal doesn’t stand a chance.
In general, I am happy but could be much happier

[AscPete]

Congrats...
Due to our dry summer I followed the advise posted by a forum member and placed containers with water around the garden for the birds and insects, Its resulted in almost no fruit damage from birds, bees or wasps. I did lose dozens of figs due to rot caused by speedy ripening in a dry warm spell.

[Q*]

This year has been awesome! This is my first season collecting and growing figs from cuttings. I think i got really lucky this winter because out of the 25 varieties i was able to get...24 made it! The only one i lost was Violette De Bordeaux. Out of the 24 that made it...as of today i was able to taste 4 so far...and if the weather stays nice...i'm going to be able to try 8 more varieties! I think is amazing that you can go from a stick...to a plant...to actually tasting fruit in 8+ months. Being a rookie i dont really post much (not enough experience to have an opinion) .....but reading posts from others i've been able to learn a lot and that transitions to a great growing season. I just wanted to say thanks to everybody on here!

[Chrisk]

Well done Q. Congrats on your success and I hope you get to taste all 8 of the remaining ones. Getting a twig to produce fruit on the second season is awesome. ..On the first one is nothing short of a miracle!! Thanks for sharing.

[Q*]

Thanks ChrisK. I was able to experiment a lot on my plants......i started them off in big pots(min 5 gallon so i didnt have to up pot)....started them directly outside( no acclimation needed).....i pinched most of the plants twice...fertilized once every week or so.....experimented with miracle grow, chicken poop, fish guts, aquarium water, grass clippings....been a really fun growing season.

[AscPete]

Congrats...
My rookie year was also spent reading archived posts on the fig forums and experimenting with cuttings, but I also purchased several 1 gallon trees which almost guaranteed a harvest.

[Chrisk]

Well, this was my first season as a forum member( any forum) and that alone made it a great one. I got to attend the LSU field day , Dennis' SE fig fest and visit Phils' ( Strudledog ) orchard ,not to mention that I got to meet "Frankenfig" and his creator in person!!! I had the pleasure to meet a bunch of really nice people, fig buddies and gain a ton of great memories. Some of my figs did well and others not but in the end I'm well in better shape than I was this time last year with varieties that I never thought I'd be able to get and like I said before ,countless new friends who do not take me for a "nut" for collecting figs lol.
So yes!!! The perfect season especially when you come home to this... ( see pics below)
And like a good friend says, " it's all about them figs"

[AscPete]

Congrats...
Yes, the fellowship of our fig forum community is priceless.
Thanks for sharing the photos.

[eboone]

' ...who do not take me for a nut for collecting figs lol '
Sorry Chris, you are a nut. A fig nut like the rest of us

[Chrisk]

Ha, soooo true Ed. In a company of nuts a nut's the norm lol

[m5allen]

My 2015 season was awful. Spring started out very hot and dry, which is good. But then, with this strong El Nino, this summer was a complete washout. This will end up being one of the rainiest years on record for Tampa Bay (possibly in the top 3).

The constant rains brought bad rust, then defoliation and a dormant state for my figs (and also killed a few of my blueberry plants). The few figs I ate were pretty washed out.

The good news is, a few of my plants have figs forming and our season is nowhere near over. Looks like this weekend will kick of the start of what is supposed to be our dry season, so I am still holding out hope. However, the weatherman is predicting a wet winter with this year's strong El Nino. But it should hopefully be nothing like we experienced this summer.

[AscPete]

Better Luck next season...
Hopefully we'll all have an Indian summer, I've still got lots of figs that are just now starting to ripen.

[brettjm]

2015 had both good and bad. The good was very good, the bad was very bad, but in very different ways.

The bad...lets get it out of the way
-overwatering. I lost several cuttings early in the year due to this, including Hollier, Stella, 143-36, and a couple rather rare varieties (if I recall, the distributor didn't want it advertised that he had them, so they shall go nameless).
-overwatering again. I have 2 medium sized potted figs, LSU purple and hardy chicago. They got so drenched that they dropped all their leaves and figs (probably a couple hundred between the two). They did bounce back and are alive, fortunately. Needless to say, I think I've learned my lesson.

The good
-Met ChrisK, who has been awesome to trade with. I might have to come to one of the fig gatherings next year and meet more of you guys. I've shipped off a couple small duplicate plants to other members as well, which I've found that its oddly satisfying to start giving back to the community.
-I did have some cuttings survive from way back in November that I'm quite excited about: Nero600m, Marseilles Black VS, Adriatic JH, and RDB, to name a few, plus the ones I've acquired since then. The 3 former ones tried to make figs this year, but I pulled them off. Hopefully they'll try again next year, and I'll get to sample some.
-Permission to plant some trees in ground! I'm still in the "renting" phase of my life until we can save some money to put a down payment on a house. My landlord is quite excited about the prospect of "a hedge of figs" that I proposed (she loves figs, as it turns out. who knew?!). We'll live here probably for 3-4 more years, at least, so I should get some return on that investment.

TL;DR: no figs, lots of new plants, you guys are cool.

[AscPete]

Congrats...
And to paraphrase my grandmother, 'you can learn more from failure than success', you'll know what not to do next time

[Chrisk]

Same here Brett and so sorry for not mentioning your name on my previous posting. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have, Adriatic JH, Brooclyn white, Alma (uc Davis), panache and excel!! Who's the awesome trader now bud?? Thanks again and we'll talk soon.

[eboone]

Certainly I would have to say that this season has been my best so far. Of couse it is only my second for growing figs, and I got only a couple figs last season, so that would explain why it was best. But I would also say it was a great season. During my first season I was able to acquire about ten young plants, mainly given by other fig growers, and root another 20 some varieties, then trade duplicates for more. This season, I have rooted about 15 more varieties and am in the process of trading extras again for more.

However, in my mind what made this a great season was getting to taste so many figs and so many (to me) varities of figs. I feel like I was truely blessed. So far I have had figs from 30 varieties, and have a few more that I am still waiting on, hoping to beat the fall weather. I think I might have had as many as 15 figs or so on a few varieties, a number had less than 5. Most of my home grown figs have been very good, some great. A few were not really ripe yet, I am learning. Almost all of mine are in 4-5g SIPs, but am making plans to try some in ground next year as well.

Another thing that has made it a great season so far is everything that I am learning. I have made some mistakes, but am gaining experience and knowledge to help me in the future. This forum is a big part of what has helped me along the way. I have gotten to meet a few of my fellow forummers, an enjoyable experience. Hopefully the number of you I personally know will grow.

I am also glad to be able to try to share with others, as I have been shared with. Some rookies are going to get free cuttings - several transfers already have been arranged. I hope to see this spirit of sharing continue! I have been able to give a number of plants to friends and family who are excited to start a new hobby or at least to try growimg figs.

Finally, I am extremely happy that my wife is now supportive of this hobby. I have always enjoyed gardening and have had a small orchard for over 20 years. But when I started rooting fig cuttings in the basement two winters ago, she now tells me that she thought I was becoming OCD or something. Then she says she was embarrasssed by the large number of fig plants in SIPs collecting in the driveway extension where my kids used to play basketball. But now she looks forward to sampling the evening harvest with me, a fun routine we have had the past 6 weeks, and she even wants to know the variety names. Recently she asked why I was getting rid of fig plants when I was giving some away

So I have had a great season, thanks for asking!

( Sorry for being so wordy )

[AscPete]

Congrats...
Thanks for sharing. I'm always interested in how members are growing their trees and the produce. IMO, the harvests will only increase with the knowledge that is shared and gained.

[Chrisk]

That's awesome doc! 30 varieties? Well I hope all the rest (15)ripen for you also this fall. Congrats and thanks for sharing!

[exoticplants1]

First of all.I want to thank everyone for their advise. for this is my second year of growing figs.I used to grow olive trees.I want to thank Bass,Rafaelissimmo ,Coop, harvey, rafed, chris from figrific, willisC and everyone who was at Bass's place for the northeast fig gathing. I'm over all happy with this year with the fig trees.I have over 20 varieties. Since I pinched some trees they grew some figs.some of the most figs that are growing great are I-258, sweetjoy, col de dame gris ,bordissot negra, martinenca rimada, galicia negra and the Maroc noir has some of the largest figs.

[AscPete]

Congrats...
I can't say enough good things about the NE Fig Gatherings... I missed the last one but am currently setting aside fig trees for the Raffle next year.

[exoticplants1]

I also want to thank nycfigs!

[Yeehova]

My season is ongoing, but it started slow. Many cuttings I have survived long enough for me to plant several and give several more away. My in ground trees all died back severely, some even to the ground level so they were slower to produce for me. I had a few trees produce for me including Hardy Chicago, Celeste, Black Mission(doubt it is a real Black Mission), Olympian, JH Adriatic, and Lemon. The best and most reliable for me have been the Hardy Chicago which is a winner for me. The others are still young so I am reserving judgement. I have successfully airlayered and given away a few trees as well. I have made a few mistakes too, such as attempting to plant several well rooted trees way too early which resulted in the decline and death of several young trees. Overall I think this year has been successful and I think I will need to join the legion of fig growers who crowd ebay since I am planning to maintain most of my figs in tree form. I could have listened better to the good advice offered here. Some of you told me not to plant so early.....

[AscPete]

Thanks for sharing your info. Good Luck and continued success.

[don_sanders]

How was the Olympian? I haven't seen much info on that one.

[Yeehova]

The Olympian is productive, sweet, and dense, but since I planted it from a TC plant last year and it died to the ground last winter, I don't feel like they are mature enough to judge. The taste has not been complex on most of them.

[Ripple]

Most of my trees are one year old and did not produce fruit early enough to ripen. However I do have several Hardy Chicago that about 3 years old and they started producing at the end of August, continuing steadily through September. HC is a great tasting and reliable fig.

[AscPete]

Congrats...
Hardy Chicago and similar Mount Etna Types are the 'workhorses' of fig growers. Good luck with those young trees in winter storage and next growing season.