Hi everyone.  This is my first attempt at using a digital camera and attaching any photo, but if it works, I wanted to show you that our Excel had two ripe figs on one node.  And overall this new fig tree was loaded with excellent figs.

The flavor is very good (not CH good; but very good), very sweet, and very productive.  A major plus also is that the birds did not bother these figs at all because they are yellow/green and not red/purple.

Best wishes to all.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

Hi Tom.  It does turn yellow.  And when it's really ripe (with the best and sweetest flavor) it also has little tiny brown spots.  The interior is amber and very juicy.  And the eye is sealed with a tiny drop of resin.

This fig is an Excel from Raintree Nursury.  And while the flavor is pretty good, the greatest feature is the productivity.  For a new fig, it really produced a lot, a fig on every node and sometimes two as in the photo.  And while some people have been known to use a chemical to induce this type of productivity, this fig has been inground and totally organic for two years, so no chemicals, and no fertilizer other than a little kelp and fish meal in the Spring. 

On the pictures, the first problem I had was that the files were too big to post here.  Keep in mind my tech skills are basically Amish, but I finally figured out how to crop it down to size and that decreased the file size enough to post.

It's going to be a process of trial and error, but at least now I can start sharing some pictures with everyone.

I would suggest checking with Herman on the fig you are trying to I.D.  If anyone knows it will be Herman.

Hope you are having a great summer Tom.

Best wishes to all.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

John,

Recently I visited a fig friend from the North, Way North.
He gave me some Excel cuttings and one had a fig on it still.

The Excel fig is one of the most beautiful figs out there.
The color is so bright.
Though it still need another week or so I just couldn't see the fig go to waste. So I ate it! LOL
Given the fact, It still tasted good.

I think this fig will gain popularity in the future and will be one of the most sought after.

Hope my cuttings will take root.

Good luck with yours.

Excell Is a Hybrid of Kadota and Kadota is known to produce a lots of double,figs.
So he Really has an Excell fig,no matter where he got it.

Thank you Herman.

I have learned, through experience (the hard way too many times), that when you buy a fig tree from a nursery you are gambling, and sometimes you win, sometimes not.

This time it does look like the fig was labeled correctly and this is definately an Excel.  Raintree seems to do a pretty good job with this, at least so far all of their trees were true to type for us.

This isn't our best flavored fig, but I would say it is above average and the high productivity makes it a very good fig.

Probably a good addition to most collections.

Best wishes to all.

John

Hi Tom.  I also got a VDB and a Texas Giant from Raintree, and both look good so far.  The VDB should have it's first ripe fig in a week or so.

The Excel has grown slower than many other figs, but for someone with a small space that could be a plus, and per square foot the Execl probably out produces most other varieties by far.

Hope you are having a great summer up there in Boston.

My brother back in Bangor is starting a fig collection also.  That will be a challenge in Maine, but I'm always very impressed with what Northern growers can achieve with figs.

Best wishes to all.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

I too had the luxury of eating some ripe Excel figs this year at Adriano's they are big in size the pulp is a nice bright yellow and taste is excellent.

More observations on the Excel:

No fig is perfect I guess, and here's a downside to Excel: It seems more prone to splitting than some of our other figs, some of which have never split.  The Excel does though.  After several dry weeks we got a heavy rain last night, and some of the figs were split this morning.  Also, it seems to be more effected by FMV than some of the other figs.

I'm still very happy to have this fig in our collection, and would recommend it to others, because of the sweet flavor, exceptionally high productivity, growing fine in ground unprotected (Zone 7b; despite an exceptionally cold winter last year with signficant snow) and birds don't seem to bother it (because of the green/yellow color), but it's a good, solid fig, not our best overall all things considered.

I don't want to discourage anyone from trying an Excel, as it is a good fig, and if ours died I would start another, but just wanted you to know everything good and less than good in selecting your collection.

Best wishes to all.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b