This year the weather is playing tricks over here. Very mild winter (not enough chill hours for most of my fruit trees and now in June not enough heat to mature my Brebas delaying their crop).

It seems my first one will come from a very young tree that has a single Breba Italian fig ripening. It's a very small tree and it's is first Breba but it shows promise.
 

 

The variety is Fioroni Petrelli (Breba Petrelli) and according to what i have read the Brebas common weight is around 115 g (roughly 4 ounces).

This single fig is probably approaching the 100 g mark.

 

It's expected to be ripe in the first 2 weeks of June. It's a bit late but is a young plant, so it can be that or the lack of warm weather we are having this year.

When i searched information on the net i found several photos of these Brebas but they all seemed much more greener than my fig. (google translation of the Italian site)

 

Then i found this photo from Italy and these are much more similar in color to mine although they seem smaller.

 

Thank you for showing us this variety. Does this fig need pollination, or could it be a San Pedro type?

No, it doesn't need pollination for the first crop. It's probably a San Pedro (but it could be a Common - the information i have is not very clear). I will found out in August if the second crop matures.

Petrelli is mentioned in some Italian fig websites as a good Breba (one of the earliest that they have).

It was a fig that was imported to Portugal (codenamed CN250 for some reason) and used in comercial explorations to compare with Lampeira and Dauphine in terms of Bebra productivity.
In a professional nursery where i was buying some apple trees i saw 2 small fig tree plants and i asked what they were. The owner didn't had any information about them (they had come in a shipment with other trees and the tag had only "CN250".
They where 6 euros each and i bought them anyway in an impulse buy. Later i found some documents from a fig symposium stating the comparative Breba study and that CN250 was, in fact, Petrelli, an early Breba, that reached 1115 g of medium weight. Quite nice.

It's the first year they give me a fig and i am looking forward to taste it (if the birds don't beat me to it)

Some more information i found regarding Petrelli. One of the Italian websites didn't allow for a translation (last photo). It says it's a green skin variety with 2 crops.
The first crop is quite heavy and very early (first 2 weeks of June) and the second crop smaller and maturing in the first 2 weeks of August. They resist well to manipulation.

One of the website links with more interest information on other cultivars (it accepts google translation:
http://www.masseriaficazzana.it/varieta_fichi.asp
http://www.masseriaficazzana.it/varieta_fichi_2.asp

    

gorgeous fig

I think that figs that produce a good crop of early ripening brebas are quite often San Pedro types, but maybe I’m wrong.

Based on your document from the fig symposium, could you tell how this fig performs compared to Lampeira in terms of productivity, ripening time and taste?

Although I’m in zone 8b, there aren’t many figs that perform well in my climate when planted in ground. San Pedro types are interesting because of their early breba crop. I rooted some Lampeira cuttings this spring and hopefully they will grow well here. I’m also growing an unknown San Pedro type that performs well in my climate. The breba crop on the mother tree will start to ripen in July. Our springs and summers are not as warm and sunny as yours obviously.

Nice quality fig and ripens in mid June!   Where can I get one..lol

Timo,

Their performance is quite similar in all those areas. They don't mention taste, in the study. Brix values i saw in another study where also similar, between 18-20% to Lampa Preta and 21-23% for Petrelli.

http://www.cothn.pt/files/18_Actas%20Portuguesas%20de%20Horticultura-23-3SN_5490547c65473.pdf

(here's one study. Search for "fig tree" for an abstract in English - the rest of the article is in Portuguese)


Regarding my single Petrelli Breba i decided to harvest it before some creature beat me to it.



   

The taste surprised me very favorably, being a Breba and a first fig. Very juicy and sweet, but with a complex figgy flavor that lingered in the mouth. My wife agrees with me. A definitive keeper.

A few more photos...

        

Pino,

I don't know if this variety has crossed the pond, but i never saw it mentioned over there. Before even considering to give away any scions i'm going to make a few copies, to be on the safe side. It is worth it.

That looks like a great fig! I love the nice yellow greenish color of the skin. Must be a good start for the new fig season!

Beautiful fig. Thank you for sharing your photos and information. Leon

Jaime,

Thank you for sharing this wonderful set of pictures ,  Congratulations!

This is a great fruit and ideal for our south. Lost a pair of the scions tried this spring. A rabbit managed to sneak into the area and had a foreign breakfast .
Francesco Minonne on his book 'Fichi di Puglia' describes its crops very clearly and does not say it's a San Pedro.
As we say here,  its a 'Cachopeiro' .

Francisco
Portugal

Thank you all, for your nice comments.

Timo,

Yes, it was a good surprise to start the fig season. I was expecting my Lampa Preta to be ripen by now but this one beat them to maturity. I think it will became my earliest Breba.


Francisco,
Thanks for clearing this up - i thought it may be a Common (Cachopeiro) or a San Pedro, but that was not clear. I never saw a clear statement about that. As you say they never mention is a San Pedro so we assume it's not. But i have read what appeared conflicting arguments regarding the second crop needing caprification or not.
To add to this doubt, in several Italian websites, where they mention this variety (they usually give it the name of the Italian region where it's produced like Fasano or Torre Canne ), they say that is a Bifera, but add caprifiable?. I think they mean that these figs (second crop) can be pollinated as it may improve the figs, but doesn't need to?

I have a couple of second crop figs on the tree. I hope to post a few photos in a month or two.

Some Italian website information and screen snapshots:
https://www.google.pt/?ion=1&espv=2#q=Fiorone+di+Fasano+caprificabile

    
 
Google translation (not very good)

 


>> Lost a pair of the scions tried this spring. A rabbit managed to sneak into the area and had a foreign breakfast .

I will try to do a couple of air layers. If i succeed, one is going your way.