(EDIT:  I posted pictures of the main crop starting in post #11)

I meant to post this many, many months ago.  This tree is in my friend's backyard, which is a gulley, in a flood plane.  I thought you may enjoy.

I know the tree may not look very large, but .... check out all of the pictures in order to have perspective of the actual size. 

The tree has five trunks coming from one root base.  One of the trunks sagged to the ground and is rooting along a 3' or 4' section which laid on the ground over the years and rooted.

I expect that this tree is at least 30-40 years old, if not older than that.  We have no clue what the hell it is or who planted it here.  I we may find out this year, but the wildlife often gets to the figs before we've been able to the last few years.  Hopefully it's not a Brown Turkey, although the leaves look similar.


Here is a long view of the tree.  Looks small, right?


Here is a closer view - still looks small, right?  Note the trunk laying on the ground off to the left - main group of trunks are on the right.


Here's my buddy standing inside the tree - yes, inside the tree.  He weighs in around 230 on a "light" week and is 6'4" tall, a pretty stocky guy.


Here are four of the five trunks - the one to the left shows the start of the trunk that's spanning across the ground.


Here's my size 11 foot against one of the two largest trunks. Note the branches offshooting from this trunk.

I know this is not a contest but since we are discussing huge trees I thought I'd post this one. It was planted in the 20s or 30s. and produce very sweet figs. No idea what type it is.

yea not very big (the first one.) There are eight trees within 10 minutes of my house that are far far bigger.

Jason, your pictures didn't come through for me. Just X and headings.

Peg

You're right, the pictures are far more impressive as
you scroll.  I especially like the one of your friend in
the tree.  You wouldn't think that tree was so big
without your friend or your foot as reference!  That
is one nice old tree.

Also enjoyed the pictures Jason. Big friend in tree made a difference to show size of tree.
Kinda like a quarter for size when showing a fig but on much larger scale. 
Great idea.

Peg on aol i could not see them as well , i switch to another browser and they appeared no problem.

Jason,

I can view the photos just fine!

I just wanted to share.  This tree apparently has no breba crop, but my buddy decided to finally clear out all of the invasive vines and trees behind his place and noticed that there is a very strong main crop beginning.  He and his fiance snapped a picture, I thought I would share.

Would be nice to get an Id. Possible seedling? Who knows.

I'm looking forward to seeing the fruit.  Once the fruit seems to be about ripe, we're going to cage off one of the branches, then all we have to worry about is insects or ants beating us to it.

He's been doing a great job of eliminating the squirrels in the area, so hopefully they're out of the running to steal this year.  The robins around here are really agressive, they're what attack my figs. 

There's an active stream or creek about 30' away from this tree.  The tree is actually in the flood plain, I think, and may be underwater during heavy rains (it's been overgrown so long it's hard to tell.  Let me find a picture of the location so you can see how "down in there" it is.

Here is a before and after.

There are a lot of idiots in this world that seem to think invasive vines like Boston/English Ivy, Japanese Wisteria and invasives like running bamboo are "good to plant and not control" or "nice", or that when they plant it, the next person owning their home will know what to do with it. 

All of this invasive stuff you see pictured taking over his yard (see the bamboo in the background as well) has done so in less than five years because of one stupid idiot of a neighbor that thinks they "look nice", and now everyone else around them is suffering and losing the ability to use any of their yard.  At this point, the bamboo is literally sending shoots up through the fig tree, which has been undisturbed for decades no doubt.

He had to pay someone to come in and clear out everything, he still needs to clear off the trees, and now he has to use RoundUp or something in a constant treatment to try and kill it off or he will lose his property again.

Here's the before and after - only the mature trees and fig tree were left standing (there's a Tulip Poplar or two in there still standing also):

It's funny how small in the picture it looks.

But I remember your buddy in the tree. Perspective is everything.

Up here some dope found Ivy growing up the walls of Fenway Park and marketed as a different variety. Sheesh! Boston Ivy crap.

Wow Jason! Your friend is doing a great job of clearing that area out. Good for him, I remember having energy like that. It's been a few years though!

Here's a tip for keeping the bamboo off his property. It's a bit labor intensive but is pretty effective once the initial work is done;

He can use sheets of sheet metal normally used in roofing. Dig trenches along the property line where the bamboo is. Insert the sheet metal in the ground on edge, burying it halfway in the ground while leaving half of it above ground. It can be joined together from one piece to the next using pop rivets. PVC pipes can be driven into the ground at the corners to attach it to using galvanized screws. This way a barrier is created below ground that stops the runners from spreading. A foot or so of material above ground will insure that no energetic runners hop over it as well. 

This method will prevent the bamboo from returning to his property once he's killed off all of it on his own property. It's very tough to get rid of it completely. To be 100% certain of being rid it completely, he would have to dig up every inch of rhizome hiding under the ground. Otherwise, using round-up, to keep the above-ground plant at bay, might be his best bet. Also, mowing it regularly will keep the individual culms small and easier to control.

If you know someone with a trencher it will make quick work of of the trenches needed to set the metal in.

Some type of strong brush killer may kill both the plant and the rhizomes but then he runs the risk of killing the old fig tree he's trying to save. Could throw a bucket full of it over the fence though. But that just might start a neighbor war :-}!

Hope this info is helpful.

Saw a fruit off this last week.  He cut it across the middle for this pic, before cutting it looked like it's a Celeste to me (it's ripening main crop at same time as Celeste also).  It's an old one at that! 

I cannot view the pix also, in faCT ABOUT 75% Of the time I cant see them......I tought it was just me & my computer.

Nice photos Jason! I also wanted to comment on the photo that Sterling posted.... Now that's a big tree! That tree looks more like my tree. They're really fun to climb when they're big like that. Does anyone know what the oldest fig tree would be??

Well Hell, now I can view the with chrome........ STRANGE

Since we're talking about big trees...I thought you guys might enjoy these.

@FOTP, that's a beaut ;)

@Cecil, it's a conspiracy ;)

Jason,

It works when I use Mozilla....Must be something in Chrome that blocks it (but only sometimes)

I heard a similar complaint before. I didn't like Chrome, I used it for about a week before giving up on it. I respect the effort Google is making and understand the reason they are launching it, it just doesn't suit my needs and preferences nearly enough.

Well I am in Windoz 8 right now, it is fine here too....