I am near Seattle and a few years ago I planted 8 figs along a fence in full sun with the idea of training each as an espalier to maximize fruit in a minimum of space. My property faces southwest and is much warmer than your average Seattle garden (I harvested 400lbs of tomatoes on my suburban lot in 2014). The figs starts came from a plant that was known to do well here so I assumed they were Desert King. It appears they are not. Two weeks ago I was gifted some beautiful green figs with sweet strawberry colored interiors that must have been DK. They were all ripe in this area and done in July, while my breba crop was still green, hard and small. Now my figs are becoming plump, soft, and turning brown/purple. I have tried a few and the interiors are barely blushing pink. Some are better than others but none are good. Just not as sweet as a fig should be and far inferior to the DKs I was gifted.

1). Do you think I have some type of brown turkey cultivar? I am sorry I tried to post a picture but this website won't let me due to file size. They are not fully purple but maybe I am picking them too early?

2). I have the figs on drip irrigation with a timer, they have been getting 1-2 gallons of water each per day. Do you think I am overwatering and washing the flavor out? It gets dry here in the summer and they are only in their second year in this location so I thought they should be watered.

3) I am picking when very plump, soft, and color changes from green to mostly brown/purple. Should I wait until fully purple? Am I picking too early?

I am wondering if I should get cuttings from the green figs I was gifted and replant with a better variety. I hate to tear these out and waste years of effort, but I was so looking forward to delicious figs and these are not.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Start some DK cuttings and grow in pots for a couple years, while you continue to assess the existing trees. The you can replace the "bad" trees with more mature trees. Sounds like you you have BT trees, or one of the other "purple" varieties that are common in the Seattle area, such as Vashon Violet. I think you will end up replacing your trees.

Regarding ripeness, if there is white latex on the fig stem after you pick it, I would consider it to be under ripe.

In my yard figs are at there best when they are beginning to sag on the stem and exibit some shrivelling and when there is no latex on the the stem when picked.

Figs are like your tomatoes in that too much water tends to rob the fruits of flavor.

Thank you both so much, very helpful guidance! I googled images of Vashon Violet and mine resemble it closely. I did not know about latex will look for that. And I suspect I am overwatering. I will get some DK cuttings ASAP. If there are any other varieties you recommend for the Pacific NW please let me know. Again, thank you!

Harpmama,

Welcome to the Forum.

I just sent you an e-mail.  If you can stop by my place in NE Seattle today or early this week, I'll be happy to have you taste-test the Figs that are ripe and give you plants of Desert King and other suitable varieties.

Happy Growing,   kiwibob, Seattle

I am in PNW too, Fig trees are heat lover, In PNW area, mild winter, cool summer,  many fig trees are not reliable here, Dk is reliable and very productive, I heard that "Gramthans royol" is better than DK but it needs other people to confirm this, it is hard to find this here but in your area, you can find them.

I heard that "Olympia" is good in your area, I have a small one planted recently, It has very strong root system and smaller tree, however, It is 2 crops tree, I don't think that it can ripen all its main crop, I am worry about that it is just like other 2 crops fig trees, at late fall, they drop all main crop and leaves together.

I have few fig trees planted early this year, Recently, weather is very dry and hot, I do water them once a while, and I could see that figs got big right-away after water, I water them less than once a week, I want to train its root to go deeply to find water, so I do not need to water them next year.

You should pick fig when it is very soft, figs only ripen on tree only. otherwise, it taste bland.

Yes, the world needs more people like Kiwi Bob! I am bowled over by his kindness. I was able to pop over to his place this evening and had a wonderful time tasting figs and learning about the myriad cultivars he has assembled there. I now have a much better understanding of how to judge when figs are truly ripe. And I will always treasure the starts he gave me, which I am extremely grateful for!

Thank you Kiwi Bob, and I look forward to visiting you again to discuss hardy kiwi, and will come bearing gifts from my modest homestead here in Shoreline.

Chryssa

Chryssa, from what you learned from Bob would you say you were picking your figs too early?

Oh and WAY TO GO BOB!

Chryssa,

Thanks for stopping by yesterday, having a great Fig Tasting, and enduring my "Fig education class".  On your next visit, we will do the "Kiwi education class" and taste any Figs remaining then.

This is a Breba Fig/Leaf photo of Chryssa's Unknown for anyone on the Forum to try to identify:
 

It isn't Vashon Violet (Brunswick) as Jon thought it might possibly be, completely different leaf shape and interior color.

Photos from the Fig Tasting can be found on my Today's Picks post.

Enjoy,   kiwibob, Seattle

pretty sure it is a Brown Turkey-type fig

I purchased two fig trees this year, about two years old, when I planted them in June they grew great and tons of figs started growing figs,now it stopped growing and the figs are not getting big, Can anyone help?

Welcome to the Forum, Harpmama!  I'd love to hear any recordings you have.  KiwiBob is awesome as usual  and you aren't going to get better help than that.

Acient3, welcome!  Start a new thread, tell us where you are, what the weather's been like and show us pictures of the plants and the soil and we'll be able to give you more accurate advice.

Hi Kiwibob,
Your Chryssa's Unknown is the Brown Turkey - the one known as such in Europe - not the other one known as such in the US.
The leaf and fruit are both a match for my BT.
This BT is sold as the most cold hardy fig tree here, but to be honest Longue d'aout is just as cold hardy, and much better in my books.
Let me know if your maincrops do ripen properly at your location.
BT here is sold for her breba crop. I manage to get most of the maincrops but they all ripen in odd manners, but funnily, still taste good. You could just not use them maincrops in a restaurant because of their odd and inconsistent look.

I'm trialing a second BT strain. My first one has a strong vine taste and meat is solid and compact. On the second, the flesh looks more like the other figs - not as compact. My second tree is young. Maybe next year she'll be as the first ...

Thank you all for your additional posts, I am sorry I went silent I was vacationing and my cell phone died.  Just catching up now. 

I learned from Kiwibob that I WAS picking my figs too early, and that although the figs resemble Vashon Violet at first blush they are not. 

We came to the conclusion that mine must be some type of Brown Turkey.  I appreciate hearing that others think that too, and that jdsfrance recognizes mine as a European BT cultivar.  The trees are still ripening brebas and I picked more this evening.  They are good but not as sweet as the Desert Kings grown nearby that I was given.  I have a fantastic microclimate for growing figs on this property, and am really excited to do so for years to come.  Still trying to figure out where I should locate the new starts Kiwibob so generously gifted me, and whether or not I should put them where my current figs are (espaliered on a warm fence facing SW in prime location).  These BT figs are doing really well in this location, but they have a mild taste and I believe all of the starts he gave me will have superior flavor and will perform well here. 

Kiwibob is a double bonanza for me as I also recently became interested in growing kiwi berries and he is the ultimate guide for growing those as well!

Best,
Harpmama

Cryssa, i can only imagine your.disappointment. Glad you got some good help from Kiwibob.

Very nice of you, Kiwibob! OT: Also, i will send you a PM to ask a question about yellow kiwis that I am growing :-)

Chryssa's Unknown Definately looks like a Brown Turkey,I have seen several slight variations on the leaf shape/length of he neck with BT's here(it's pretty much all I can find most of the time) but that one looks like an English BT