What would be a good estimate for how many figs/year would be produced by 5yr old in-ground trees maintained in 8'x8' plots in a pampered greenhouse environment?  I know it would vary quite a bit depending on the cultivar, but would it be reasonable to think that I could get 500+ figs/year (total between brebas and 1 or 2 main crops) of some good-tasting varieties?

Here are some examples of the approximate size I'm thinking of:

 

Nice.

James:

I think your estimate is in the right ballpark. 8x8 is 64 sq ft x 10 per sq ft = 640. Ten per sq ft doesn't sound like too many. Usually it easy to under estimate.

Look for some yields in long season areas like CA. If you know tonnage per acre and average fruit size then it's easy to convert to fruit per sq ft. 43,560 sq ft per acre.

There are people with potted trees getting over 100 figs/tree/year.

See this thread.  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/how-many-ripe-figs-make-a-productive-potted-fig-tree-679816

Any in ground tree should out produce any potted tree.  And your trees will be much larger than the biggest potted tree.

James I think 500+ Figs is a very reasonable amount.
The sky, or should I say, the roof is the limit :)

Thanks for the replies, that's what I was hoping to hear.  And good idea, fignutty, on using some production numbers from long-season operations to calculate their fruit per sqft rate.

The reason I'm asking is that I'd like to put up a larger greenhouse (30'x100' x 12' tall) and set up 36 planting plots that are each 8'x8'.  I was trying to estimate the production potential of fig trees in plots of that size in order to get an idea of the total production potential of such a fig house.

36 plots each producing ~500 figs/yr = ~18,000 figs/yr.  If production were slightly higher at about 550 figs per tree per year, the yield would be about 20k figs/yr total, which is a nice round number to remember and work with as an estimate.  20k figs/yr should be enough to satisfy my fig cravings :)

A forum member near me has an in ground Sal's GS that produced 80 lbs last year. Not sure what that translates to in individual fruit. I'd guess it was about the size of the one pictured, maybe taller. I only saw it after this past winter knocked it back.

That is so funny James! You need to post it at the fig addict forum lols brother and awesome math!
The two fig trees on the pics look awesome but how about those monsters in the background of pic #2? The neibours would kick us out of subdivision lol.

James
With that size of a pampered greenhouse you should reach you fig production goal easily.
How will you manage picking all those figs?  Will you have different varieties and time their ripening?

Yeah, I'm thinking 36 different varieties in those 36 plots. 

As for harvesting the fruit, my preliminary plan is to wander through there several times a day and stuff myself :)   I work from home as a fish breeder/farmer, so it'd be easy for me to just do a walk-through whenever I'm hungry.

It'll be fun choosing the 36 varieties.  Hard, too.

I often think to myself that it would be nice to build 3 such fig houses so that I could grow 108 varieties, each in their own 8'x8' plot.  I think I could be satisfied with 108 varieties...

Sounds ideal happy figging!

Which 36 varieties should be included?  I'd want more darks than lights, maybe broken up into 4 groups of 9.  And it'll be really humid, so preference would go to figs with small/tight/closed/sealed eyes.  Here's a partial list of some possibilities:

Dark1:  VdB, Vista, Black Mission NL, Nero 600m, Pastiliere, RdB, Black Greek, CdDN, Kathleen's Black
Dark2:  Hardy Chicago, Black Madeira, Figo Preto, Malta Black, Abebereira, Ischia Black, Dr. Monticello's, Takoma Violet, Petite Negri
Light:  JHA, CdDB, LSU Gold, Desert King, Strawberry Verte, Italian Honey
Medium/Other:  Celeste, Salce, Panache, Alma, Smith, LSU Tiger, Nordland

Nice list James,maybe add Vasilika Melissi and brunswick or Paradiso on the med-other list!

Wow, that is awesome.  I don't think you will be able to eat all the figs once the trees are grown up!

James you might see if it's possible to introduce the fig wasp for some trees like Pastiliere. If do you'll have seedlings popping up everywhere. That could prove to be a good thing. New varieties started in Kansas!

James,

If I wanted that production level at 5 years I would start the scaffolding at 1 foot or less above ground,pinching at the 5th-7th node of the scaffolding and once again at the 5th-7th in the secondary
scaffolding.Not much fruiting going on below the scaffolds.

Given an 8'x8'x8' box.Basically sacrificing some of the first 2 years of fruit production to structure.You'd
wind up with something like photo # 2,except it would be in the ground just below the node swelling
which is just below the first scaffolding.

I have 3 figs in the ground that are just finishing 4th leaf,Preto,Vista and MBVS.The Preto,being slow growing,I was content to leave in peace and just pinched.The Vista and MBVS were much more aggressive growths which I allowed to run until winter,pruning each year.The Preto this year hugely
out produced both the Vista and MBVS combined.I attribute that discrepancy to the severity of my winter pruning.If I had pinched the Vista and MBVS and created better structure early I doubt I'd be seeing the fruiting disparity now.

Paul

James if you like dark you should look at some of the dark greeks

skoura vavatsika
 
mavra vasilika sika 
 
i like some none dark as well (peloponnisiaka aspra)