as a practical matter, do you only get a breba crop off a dessert king? i know it's a san pedro, but it seems unlikely that this would have become a fig sold by so many vendors if you only got a breba crop without pollination.

any illumination here is greatly appreciated.

By definition, a San Pedro fig is a 'breba-only' crop fig,
(aka, fruit on last-year-wood). Second crop needs caprification,
else it just drops off.
I hear that DK breba does perform very well in the PNW
region as a fablous (G/R) fig. Not to much luck for me here in NJ.

I seems to perform very well for me here in Toronto too...  I managed to get 16 large breba from my 3' tree (as of spring).  It's over 6' tall now...  Best part is that they ripened for me in mid-August even with the cool and rainy summer that we've had this year.  My Celeste has it's first main crop fig just starting to ripen.  Our first frost is approaching fast (usually beginning of October) so trying to get main crop figs here seems to be a bit iffy at times...  It's always nice to have at least one fig that will produce figs for you every year.

The following two links may be useful:

http://www.nafex.org/figs.htm

http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/fig.html

My Desert King produces a large main crop (at the end of August)
as the crfg.org states.  Of course, you need a long cool summer.
Its figs are excellent.

The only thing I don't like is that it grows more than 6 feet every year
in my small backyard. So I have to cut it back every year and
thus reduce the breba crop (at the beginning of July).

well, i did get a dessert king from willisorchard. should be pretty obvious if they sent me the right tree. i also got a king from james robin. if nothing else, these will be a curiosity here for me in gainesville.

Has anyone had any experience on pruning a DK.  I want to prune my DK next year after the breba crop.  If I do this will it hurt the following year's breba crop?

Vern

I have 3 DK's ---  2 in the ground where I  alternate pruning them from one year to the next. The one in the pot I am not sure about its productivity because its in a pot. But mother tree(different source) is highly productive. Would probably give this to a friend here. Desert King is THE fig here in BC, Canada. Its productive, delicious and reliable. Usually ripens in early Aug, sometimes in late July.

I dont have the desert king because its a san pedro type and in my climate breba figs always fall.
So i placed an order with ucdavis last year and mistakenly placed one for a santa cruz dark what is it i come to find out is SAN PEDRO TYPE oops.
So i will see what it actually does here next spring i have 2 of them decent size with a lot of main cro figs that are dropping now. Next season i will report what happens with its breba, has anyone tried this type in the PNW or?

Martin, DK brebas don't come as early like others. Brebas for my other variants would drop almost 100%. If you want to try DK cuttings, let me know.

Paully,
thanks but i cannot at this time.
I give the SCD a few seasons to see what it does for me.

I prune my desert kings IMMEDIATELY after I pick the fruit.  I usually get the crop in early July but this year was the latest in a while, first week of August.
East Coast N.Y.

ejp3 -- do you grow it in-ground and any winterisation ? DK here are almost 100% in-ground & no winter protection.The young tips do die back but yet it will deliver in terms of productivity.

Oh sorry.  All my desert kings are grown in pots.  I was thinking about putting one in the ground as an experiment, but I have no more room.  I think desert king is a must, at least for me because it ripens so much earlier than anything else, and its a very good fig.

ejp3 --  Thanks for the feedback. I have one growing in pot & would like to see how productive it gets. DK is my anchor fig.

I live in the desert, but it sound like the 'desert king' might not be right for me. Any thoughts?

Me too always pondered why the 'Desert' term in the DK;
I think it may be somewhat misleading...

Another name for it is just plain 'King'.

I am rooting DK cuttings for outside trees here in a desert climate.   Why don't you guys think it will do well here in the desert?

From the link provided by tagtail above:

I'm rooting a cutting for trial here in the Houston area.  I'm sure others have tried this variety in hot and humid areas, but I need to try it for my own data point.

Does this mean that it needs the fig wasp?

D. King, being described as a 'San Pedro' type fig:
Breba crop (fruit on last year wood) does not need any caprification (aka, fig wasp).
However, the 2nd (Main crop - fruit on the current-season wood) does need caprification - else it just falls off!

From what I hear/read, this fig, IS a King.fig for the PNW (a very good performer there).

I doubt you have any fig wasps in Arizona. So Desert King is a breba only crop in most areas except where the wasp is present as George says.

Do the brebas come on only the previous year's wood?  Will they also appear on two and three year old wood?   Knowing would help with pruning...

Yes, the breba crop is borne on last year's wood and main crop on current year's wood, so  any pruning will reduce the dk crop. That's why some of the wise members here have suggested "pinching" the buds to increase branching, reduce tree size and put more energy into fruit. Searching under pinching will bring up the info by contributors more experienced than me...