How many years would you wait for flavor maturity?

[Gina]

I've often read that it can take a number of years for a variety to achieve full flavor. For example, LSU Purple can start out slowly, and then after a few years, really improve. But how long are you willing to wait for a fig tree to achieve taste maturity?

It seems that there are so many figs that are good from the beginning. And if a tree starts at a 3 or 4 rating in flavor, in time, will it ever get to even a 7? or even a 9? Maybe. But with all the figs in the world to try, is achieving a possible '7' worth the time, space, money and effort it would take to get there?

I say 'no thanks'. If a fig is not good tasting rather quickly, out it goes. I've got more than enough trees that have been 'love at first bite'.

How about you? How many years will you wait?

[newnandawg]

Gina, I totally agree with you. My space is to valuable and there are to many great tasting figs that require a lots less time to reach permanent occupancy.

[andreas-patras]

for me if its not a 9 on first bite i send it on its way.
fig trees in greece are in ground and you normally dont judge the taste until it can make it through
the summer with no watering.
i never wait that long...
2 seasons max.

[Gina]

for me if its not a 9 on first bite i send it on its way.
fig trees in greece are in ground and you normally dont judge the taste until it can make it through
the summer with no watering.
i never wait that long...
2 seasons max.

This is where I've arrived. I might make a few mistakes and get rid of a few good ones. but I bet not that often. And it's not as if I don't have enough figs - and there will always be more new ones to try. I don't intend to keep every fig I start.

I like the concept of making it 'through the summer with no watering' here in S. California.

Tough love on both counts.


edit: I'd also rather keep more than one tree of a superb, favorite variety than an equal total of all different but including 'lesser' figs.

[drphil69]

Patience brings the best. You do not know what you are missing by dumping a tree early. Perhaps its better that way, I don't know.

[cis4elk]

3 years and my patience is out. If I had extensive storage and room for growing I might go 5-6 years of fruit bearing. But as is I'll give them 3.

[twovkay]

I might give a tree 3-4 years, but some like Kathleen black and LSU purple will take a little longer to get the best flavor. I don't know if I'll give LSU purple that long when like most here there are better figs right off the bat or at least within a year or two.

[greenfig]

1 year for me for the most I have. The only exception was Kathleen's Black, I gave it one more season. Mind that the SoCal season is from Dec to Dec! It never ends

[mgginva]

5 years and then I re-evaluate.

Kathleen's Black is a good example. Those of you who claim such utter lack of patience would not have this fig in your collection.
And Paradiso "Gene" as well. These 2 varieties were considered the best of all figs Gene Hosey had ever tried. But are they great in 1 or 2 years?

I don't understand why anyone would acquire a variety - seemingly because they've heard great things about the figs - and then not allow themselves the great pleasure of getting to taste those figs once they've developed and come into their own.

I have a number of figs I bought in '07 that are much much better at 9 years old then they were at 1 or 2 years.

It's like refusing to drink wine unless it's just been pressed or never having aged Bourbon or Scotch because it took to long to create.

Why? \Why be so closed? Why be so wasteful? If you throw away a 2 year old tree and replace it with another how do you know that the tree you threw away won't be much much better in 2 more years then the new tree?

I suppose a shotgun approach where a large number of varieties are bought and then the effort is made to get the plants to say 2 years before deciding to toss or keep them might result in a collection of nice figs but it's a lot of effort to essentially collect only figs that develop a taste profile almost immediately. It's kind of sad really as those without patience will miss out on some of my favorites. And certainly some if not many of the best.

What do you do if you taste a true number "10" in someone else's collection but it's a variety that takes 5 years to develop? Do you concede your system isn't working or just do without?
I'm willing to bet that the best figs do not develop in just a few years as I've always heard figs get better with age, and in my experience it's true.

I had the great pleasure of sitting underneath the original Kathleen's Black when it was loaded with ripe figs and eating those amazing figs to my heart's content. None of the 4 KB trees that I own have produced a great fig after 4 years and I can't even concieve of throwing them away.

I bet I could list at least a dozen of my trees that now produce great figs but had they been judged at 2 or 3 years old I would not have kept them.

Why be so prejudice against figs? Do you judge your other fruit trees so harshly? Why have you decided that fig trees need to mature so quickly. Do you refuse to eat aged cheese?

Anyway . . . If I buy a variety that is considered excellent I understand that I may have to wait until the tree is fully mature before I'm rewarded with excellent figs so I have no time limit whatsoever.

I'm not going to kill a tree just because immediate gratification isn't fast enough. Not a fig nor an apple or peach, etc. Good things come to those who wait.

[newnandawg]

I believe you could consider it well said if you had the luxury of unlimited space to allow all the trees to your hearts content to sit around for an
unlimited amount of time. However, if your orchard, garden, lawn, driveway or walkway is very limited, at some point you have to say time is up.
Then you move on and replace it with something that may produce awesome figs within a short period of time.

[cis4elk]

Well said Michael. As I mentioned above, if I had the room, my patience would double. I have only removed one fig so far for lack of taste, and it was more than just lack of taste. It also had a large open eye and big cavity, allowing the fungus gnats and whatever else crawl up inside and spoil any figs I tried to allow to ripen as long as they needed. That was a California Brown Turkey. All other figs I have removed so far have been because they just didn't grow well and ripen enough fruit to justify their space, however I do have to say that none of these figs have been destroyed. I found a new home for all of them, as I will for all future figs that didn't make keepers list.

Another good point you made is those that are known to take some time to come into their own and be excellent. If you get one of those varieties knowingly and give up on it early, well that is just silliness.

I can certainly understand anyone who wants to have a plate full of excellent figs as fast as possible though.

[fitzski]

For me here in Eastern MA, I think it's going to be in the 3-5 year range at least. There are too many factors for me in the short season I have never mind the over wintering aspect. Was the summer cool and rainy, hot and dry or hot and humid. I've experience these 3 types of summers in each of the last 3 summers and only in one of them did I have a great fig ripening season. Also when does the first frost come? Is it early or late?

Also, I plan on sharing my duplicates with my brother-in-law in Rhode Island which is at least one zone warmer and it will be interesting to see how his trees do compared to mine in the coming years.

I plan on having patience especially with the ones known to require it like Kathleen's Black and LSU Purple and also known good varieties for my climate.

[kubota1]

Gina, I'm with you and Mike. They don't last long in my yard if they aren't up to my standards within a couple years. I'd rather have multiple of my favorites then wait on an average fig. That being said, I do have the room but don't have the patience.

[F. Bennett]

Like a lot of you, with space limitations, I give it one season. There are too many 10s 'right out the box' varieties which make it not worth the wait on the 7s or below. I simply give them away to friends that have the patience to wait it out.

[Gina]

There are (I think) only two varieties that I have out-right destroyed instead of giving away. I personally don't believe that sub-standard figs should be propagated and distributed - there are so many other good ones. Both of the ones I destroyed were obtained (as a total newbie) in an end of season buy on ebay that included about 6-7 varieties from Encanto. Why flavorless fig varieties are even sold to the unsuspecting public is a mystery to me. But I had them, grew them up, tasted them and tossed them. Norman's Yellow and a vigorous unknown from Portland. It was another learning experience.

With respect to Kathleen's Black (a good example) it fruited in its second year, and it was good right from the start. Not great, but good enough to keep longer. That, plus it's reputation for later improvement, and she's still out there having been graduated into a 15 gallon pot.

Health of the plant is another criterion for how long to keep a fig. If it's taste is not outstanding (unlike the 'slow' Black Ischia or CdDB) out it goes. It's not as if I don't have enough fig trees.

If one has the time, space, water, and patience... go for it. But I don't. And as I said, I'm willing to make a few mistakes. I don't have to have every great fig in the world. I know I won't.

There are as many ways to grow good figs as there are good fig growers.

[F. Bennett]

If one has the time, space, water, and patience... go for it. But I don't. And as I said, I'm willing to make a few mistakes. I don't have to have every great fig in the world. I know I won't.

I feel the same. Give me an additional acre and I can play around more.

[Gina]

I feel the same. Give me an additional acre and I can play around more.

I think I'd also like to have a full-time worker.

All credit given to those with the patience and inclination to stay with a fig for years and watch its improvement.

[Otmani007]

5 years and then I re-evaluate.

Kathleen's Black is a good example. Those of you who claim such utter lack of patience would not have this fig in your collection.
And Paradiso "Gene" as well. These 2 varieties were considered the best of all figs Gene Hosey had ever tried. But are they great in 1 or 2 years?

I don't understand why anyone would acquire a variety - seemingly because they've heard great things about the figs - and then not allow themselves the great pleasure of getting to taste those figs once they've developed and come into their own.

I have a number of figs I bought in '07 that are much much better at 9 years old then they were at 1 or 2 years.

It's like refusing to drink wine unless it's just been pressed or never having aged Bourbon or Scotch because it took to long to create.

Why? \Why be so closed? Why be so wasteful? If you throw away a 2 year old tree and replace it with another how do you know that the tree you threw away won't be much much better in 2 more years then the new tree?

I suppose a shotgun approach where a large number of varieties are bought and then the effort is made to get the plants to say 2 years before deciding to toss or keep them might result in a collection of nice figs but it's a lot of effort to essentially collect only figs that develop a taste profile almost immediately. It's kind of sad really as those without patience will miss out on some of my favorites. And certainly some if not many of the best.

What do you do if you taste a true number "10" in someone else's collection but it's a variety that takes 5 years to develop? Do you concede your system isn't working or just do without?
I'm willing to bet that the best figs do not develop in just a few years as I've always heard figs get better with age, and in my experience it's true.

I had the great pleasure of sitting underneath the original Kathleen's Black when it was loaded with ripe figs and eating those amazing figs to my heart's content. None of the 4 KB trees that I own have produced a great fig after 4 years and I can't even concieve of throwing them away.

I bet I could list at least a dozen of my trees that now produce great figs but had they been judged at 2 or 3 years old I would not have kept them.

Why be so prejudice against figs? Do you judge your other fruit trees so harshly? Why have you decided that fig trees need to mature so quickly. Do you refuse to eat aged cheese?

Anyway . . . If I buy a variety that is considered excellent I understand that I may have to wait until the tree is fully mature before I'm rewarded with excellent figs so I have no time limit whatsoever.

I'm not going to kill a tree just because immediate gratification isn't fast enough. Not a fig nor an apple or peach, etc. Good things come to those who wait.

Well said, Michael.

[AscPete]

IMO, You'll probably know if its a keeper by the 2nd year...

[PasturedFigs]

Luke 13.6 through 13.9 gives some historic insight from the bible. It may not read into the time allowed to produce "good" figs but it definitely pinpoints an expectation for how soon figs should be produced off a tree from way back in the sands of time.

Luke 13.6-9

Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, 'See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?' He replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"

After 3 years, the vineyard owner is ready to dig it up - the gardener pleads for a 4th year and says he'll dung it and care for it. If after this last chance it bears no fruit, the gardener agrees to destroy it.

Seems the allegory for "God" in the parable was expecting fruit by year 3 and was quite displeased, although patient, with the amount of time it was taking.

The expectations were high for early figs! But it seems 4 years is the line...

Or was it more a story of patience, care, and the intercession of a steward's hand that can possibly redeem?

I think we all have times where we wish to be hard like the vineyard owner who expects yield and productivity. But just as often the connection and love of nurturing life to success, like the gardener, will stay our hand.

Hey - there's always craigslist

[COGardener]

I apologize, I did not read everyone's posts, I'm just wondering if you thought about putting the tree inground for a year or two and see if that makes a difference.

[meatburner]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think the attitude of "I want it, and I want it Now" is what growing fig trees is reasonable or even appropriate. It surprises me that some people think that is an acceptable expectation. JMO