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Desert King Breba Crop Starting to Ripen

I got this Desert King in 2009 from Burnt Ridge.  Last year it took off and put on over 4 feet of growth, but no breba crop.  It ripened a lot of banana yellow main crop figs of average (at best) quality.  This year it has lots of breba figs and is forming a large main crop again.  Not sure if it will keep the main crop this year.  I like this variety because it gets the harvest season going a month or so before any main crop figs come in.  This will be my first breba from this tree.  Hopefully the breba quality is better than the main crop.  This fig should be ready in a day or two.  It is quite large.
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Wow, that is early. My DK ripens either in late July or early August.
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I guess that's one of the nice things about living in a sub-tropical desert.  But I'm not sure if it makes up for months of temps over 100.
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My Dk got hit with an early freeze so I gave it a good haircut and then thought I just lost all my breba for next year.. Well she fooled me and I have two breba that are good size and will be the first two of this season..Cant wait...
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Looks great, Joe--I'll be interested to hear how both the breba and main crop taste this year.
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Me too.  Please keep us posted.
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Will do.
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I ate the fig this morning.  It probably could have used a day or two more, but I was getting nervous about the birds.  Here is what it looked like:



It was of medium sweetness and had a mild richness to it.  It was not bad.  I preferred it to the main crop figs from this tree, although I've had main crop figs from other varieties that were definitely better.

It's hard to tell how the whole crop will turn out based on just one fig.  There are more brebas coming (I counted 39 total on this tree), so I will get a better idea over the next few weeks.
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Good luck with your plant . Its always nice to find a particular fig type thats great and does well in ones climate and if this one plant is that after sampling a bunch then good for you.  ; )
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Thanks Martin.  I already have some good main crop varieties that I like.  Hopefully DK will be a winner for the brebas.
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More brebas keep ripening on this tree.  It looks like several will ripen in the next day or two, so I will try to post photos of the fruit and its interior.  I would say the sweetness of this fig is good.  Its flavor is mild but pleasant.  The texture is soft and juicy.  The fruit size is large.  I think it is very nice for a light fig and for being a breba.   I am surprised by how yellow it is.  The more I grow figs the more I see that a fig variety can have quite a bit of diversity in leaf shape and fruit characteristics based on the soil and climate it is grown in.



  
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Joe, I think dk is a must for my area due to the early crop and the fact that the figs are pretty good. It's good to have figs early here (2 years ago they started 7/3).
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Ed,


I also like how early DK ripens its crop.  I'm thinking of airlayering a new tree so I can have 2 going every spring.  It's a fast grower here.
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You type
The more I grow figs the more I see that a fig variety can have quite a bit of diversity in leaf shape and fruit characteristics based on the soil and climate it is grown in.


Yes in some cases very true.
Jon the mod here once posted in a thread how he saw a tree in same state that was same as his but different as well.
Its fun to compare same cultivar in different area's.
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Martin,


For example here is how my Hardy Chicago looked when I lived in Massachusetts.


Before I moved to Arizona in 2010 I dug up a sucker from that Hardy Chicago tree.  Here is the sucker growing in my yard in Arizona.

You see how the leaf shape changed because of the climate and soil.  Fig trees are very adaptable and will grow and perform differently under different conditions.

As you know, Hardy Chicago is a great tasting fig.  I wish I could find a tasty dark variety that puts out lots of brebas like Desert King.
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Very pretty looking leaves Joe .
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Here are some of those figs.  Unfortunately the birds have started to notice them.
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