I'm looking to supplement my in-ground plantings with some good breba varieties to grow in pots here in my Pennsylvania 6b. In this scenario breba production is of greater interest than the main crop. I don't intend to rely on getting brebas from in ground plants since winter protection will be minimal once plants have reached 3 years old. We usually get a few nights of single digit temperatures, which should kill any exposed breba buds.

So...what are your best/favorite brebas?

I'm favoring San Pedro varieties over common figs as I'm under the impression they will have better flavor/production.

San Pedro
- Desert King/Ghosh
- Filicciano Bianco
- Grantham's Royal

However, I have heard good things about the brebas on these common figs. Does any know if they produce enough fruit without impacting the main crop to merit growing in pots versus in ground?
- Lattarula
- Longue d'Aout (special note due to fruit size)
- Adriatic JH
- Atreano

Edit: Additions based on discussion below
- English Brown Turkey variants (LaRadeks, Sweet George, etc)
- Brooklyn White

thanks for starting this thread, as I am very interested in this topic as well.

I like Brooklyn White. Took ours about five years before it stopped producing tuff skins. Has produced honey sweet brebas here, even when we could only register 565 cooling degree days. It also puts out a good main crop, even after being hit with frost.
We got our start of Brooklyn White from Bass, at Trees of Joy. Bass found this one growing in Brooklyn, NY., winter uncovered. Made my self sick last fall for eating them all day for a week. 

Next would be LaRadek's English Brown Turkey. Big crop of brebas. It has produced big breba crops with out being covered, even with winter lows of 10 to 15 below Fahrenheit. Sweet but does not have as much flavor as Brooklyn White. But it makes up for that with volume. Although, I tried to get new customers to try Desert King,  LaRadeks EBT is the one most asked for.

Third, for me, would be Desert King. Not as cold hardy as the two above. But, it's being grown as far north as Michigan in a zone 5b, covered. It's also being grown out side in Canada. Simply can't be beat for those who like honey tasting figs. In a pot inside, It gives us big great tasting figs as early as July. Well worth the effort of covering for the winter. If you plant them at a 45 degree angle, you should be able to bend them to the ground come fall. We then cover with about 10 40 lb. bags of potting soil. Which can be had in the fall for pennies on the dollar, or free. Should only take 30 minutes to an hour to cover each year.

We are testing the above here in Connecticut, zone 5b/6a, along with others. But, have not been testing them long enough to recommend.

 Valliery is starting to look very promising, for a heavy producing breba. But, have not been able to tell much how cold it's breba can take.

Sodus Black, is producing breba without being covered in up state New York. Has been very hard to propagate.

I can provide a list of both main crop and breba crop figs we have been testing here in Connecticut for the last ten years or so.
Can send to any one who wants it.

Send a direct email request to: <robertcharper@gmail.com>

Bob

 





 

Thanks Bob, I didn't realize how hardy the breba was on LaRadek's EBT, that's impressive!

Hi Kelby I know I probably said this to you before, but Negronne seems to be a reliable breba producer, and of course, it is a very good fig overall.

That's right, almost forgot Rafael. Does it produce a lot of brebas?

I have an unknown called Frank's Fig Unknown, which is very probably a strain of English Brown Turkey.  (How similar/dissimilar this may be to LaRadek's English Brown Turkey, I don't know, since I don't have one known to be LaRadek's).  This one I can trace with certainty back to 1966 when my father acquired it, and I have anecdotal descriptions from the grandson of the man who gave it to my father, believing his grandfather or his great grandmother brought it from Sicily).  It was ID'd here a few years ago as likely a strain of English Brown Turkey, by Herman.  Anyway, Frank's Fig Unk produces lots of brebas, and they have (imo) great flavor.  The breba crop on this one is far superior in taste to the main crop.  And it's a rare year to get any of the main crop to ripen in my climate, but that's OK because it makes lots of breba and they taste great.

I grow it in pots, and we still have a few in-ground at my dad's house.  (Prefer contact through email rather than PM).

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a    

Kelby, I am not sure I could say it produces a lot of breba but it produces more than any other in my collection and I suspect an in ground or mature container plant would produce plenty. But obviously it will produce many more main crop.

I'll second Bob's recommendation for Brooklyn White.  (Mine was part of last year's winter kill).  Every year for 4 years it would start pushing out brebas before I could get it out of winter storage.  Although it was pretty young, the fruit was large and tasty.  If anyone has Brooklyn White cuttings for sale, please PM me.

C.J.

I've done research on Breba cultivars and concluded that the 6-reliable producers in the cool, coastal PNW from Vancouver to San Francisco are:
DESERT KING
WHITE NAPLES
GRANTHAM'S ROYAL
LONGUE d'AOUT
LATTARULA
OLYMPIAN

This is good info, but Kelby, but these lists of yours are making me want 'just one more' variety.   I didn't know about Brooklyn White's breba potential, and had ruled it out earlier as I heard it was prone to splitting.    For us in short season areas, having a few varieties selected and cultivated for breba production makes good sense.

I am in Maryland and I keep my figs in my garage over the winter.  I have White King, which is listed as a synonym for Desert King.  I can say that I had a very large breba crop last year.  I also have Lattarula.  Both are 3 or 4 years old.  So far I don't think I've had any brebas from the Lattarula.  Even though my Lattarula was a heavy bearer of main crop figs this year.  Could just be how it was pruned,  but that was my experience.  There is a specific way to prune a tree to encourage breba production.  There is a youtube video of it and a link to it somewhere on this forum but I don't remember where.  I would say that pruning it correctly is just as important as choosing the right variety.  Basic principal is you always want to have a good amount of 2nd year wood.  That's where brebas will form. 

Good info Rob, thanks!

I was reading through some old threads and see comments that MBvs has a good quality breba crop. Can anyone comment on how large it is?

Rob I agree with you about pruning.  This may be the pruning video you were thinking of:

Kelby, I have been testing MB vs for at least 6 or 7 years, and I have never seen more then a couple breba on it.

It may of course depend on where it is being grown. But, here I need more then a couple dozen breba, for it to be useful.

Bob

My MBvs had no breba last year, a few buds dropped off I believe. I did expect some, but no dice. I am testing a couple of unknowns, one of which produced a gigantic 110 gram breba last year (it was quite tasty too, but we do need more than one!)

Sounds interesting Rafael, let us know if it becomes more productive for you! Is it an NYC find?

If anyone is curious I found this old thread discussing brebas in brief: http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Focus-on-Breba-Crop-Cultivars-2782474, the chart is neat.

Sweet George is increasingly interesting: http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=5146586 and http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/sweet-george-6692977. I have a small one that is going to get a lot more love next year!

Here in NJ,Outside desert king,other figs with significant Breba in the Spring,were Tacoma Violet and Atreano.
Desert King will only have Breba if ,grown in a pot and taken in,during Winter.
The 2 mentioned had Breba while in ground,during Winter 2013,but not in 2014.
Also the 2 mentioned had a substantial main crop,outside the about 30 Breba they managed to ripe ,at about July6.

I noticed quite a few breba trying to develop on my Atreano cuttings, I pinched them of course.

I recall pinching a breba off my Atreano cutting as well now that you mention it Jesse.

Herman2, was you Takoma Violet protected winter 2013 when you had the brebas? If I recall, you protect your Atreano?

That's good news about Takoma Violet and Atreano!

By the way, Herman2 have you had decent breba production from Kathleen's Black?

Both Plants were Winter protected in 2013,Winter.
Kathleen Black does not produces Breba crop,in my climate,however it had,like a couple of Breba in some years.
I am sure the Breba figlets die from frost during Winter,because fig is in ground.

Thanks for the info, Herman2, much appreciated.