Let's talk about Sue's Willow Street Fig.

Sue sent me a handful of cuttings this spring and I put them out in cups.  Some were tip cuttings, and one of the Willow Street figs grew like gangbusters, putting on two figs at the tip even though I never repotted any of them.  I sent the one with figs home  to Houston with my brother this morning, so I never got to taste a fig. 

The figs are about as big around as a half dollar, purple black and with a very tight, virtually closed eye.  The tight eye would make it a great fig for South Texas where it is likely to be wet every morning and raining all too often when figs should ripen.  It it is cold hardy it would be good here.

Does anyone have any experience with this fig?  How does it taste?  Does anyone have an idea what the true name might be?  Sue?  What do you know about this one?
Ox

Ox,

The Willow St fig has an excellent sweet figgy taste. Jon believes it to be a Mission. I thought (hoping) it might be an Abebereria as I found it in the same Portuguese area of Point Loma as the 3 Madeira figs. If you look at the pictures on my site, the shape of the fig is long, like an Abebereria but it fattens up when ripe. Who knows which it is if either? None the less, it is a great tasting fig, a keeper for sure.

I did speak to the kids living there. They were renters and knew nothing about the tree and didn't like figs. They said it was a 'community tree' and to help myself to fruit and cuttings...so I did. ;-)

Willow St:
http://www.susanvanderveen.com/FIGS/WillowStFig/WillowStFig.html

Abebereria:
http://www.susanvanderveen.com/FIGS/Bebereria/Abebereria.html

Sue

Sue
Looking at the leaves and the fruit shapes, the Willow St fig looks like an Abebereria in the pictures.

Sue,

Those are strange nody-looking swellings on that tree on the right in the first pic of the two trees.  Is that from FMV?  The swellings are all over that trunk.  If not FMV, do you know what they are?

Thanks,

noss

We think the nobs are old branches which were pruned off long ago, and have since healed over.

Yes that is correct with the knobs, when not pruned flush after years they enlarge out more and more as trees trunk get bigger.
Here is example of one of the trees i had starting this process.
Look down low and you can see several that i noticed do this over the seasons i had it.

This is just young example.

Noss,
Jon is right, that is the Preto with the knobby trunk due to branch trimming over the years.  Of the 2 trees against the back wall, the Branca is on the right and the left tree is the Abebereria.

http://www.susanvanderveen.com/FIGS/EstelasFigs/EstelasFigs%20001.jpg

Sue

Hey Sue the cuttings of the Willow St. Fig were very impressive the three cuttings I had were great rooters and a couple weeks after being rooted each cutting was showing 5-6 brebas and they just kept growing until this day.




This S.O.B completely destroyed my Willow St. Figs and a few more 8 plants in total this day. Then 3 more the following day

He is looking at camera saying in deep tone

"Hmm next time i want to taste the figs you hear me !"

...and he's still alive??? That's why I have cats. I just lose couches and drapes to clawing but my figs are SAFE!

My brother used to keep a large kennel in the kitchen/dining area for his 2 bulldogs.  You might consider getting one to put the dog in while you are away to minimize his destructiveness:

http://www.petstreetmall.com/dog-crates/default.aspx

Sue

Sue I definately got one after that. If it wasn't that my daughter was born that day he would of been long gone.

Thanks, Jon, Martin and Sue.

I didn't know fig tree branches are supposed to be flush-cut when pruning.  I haven't been doing that.  Will the Celestes get those nodes like that?

When doing a flush-cut, am I supposed to put tree paint over the cut area?

To Nelson's credit--He didn't kill the pup!  He was just being a young boxer.  Acutally any dog can get into incredible mischief when left out alone.  It's like leaving a toddler loose in the house by himself.  Be glad there weren't two of them loose!  :)

noss

Noss,  No cut protection is needed here. Somewhere I saw that many of the products for that purpose had petroleum bases which seemed to inhibit healing of the wound.

I use pruning seal and like Jon mentioned its petroleum based and black gooey stuff kinda like tar. I use it on my yard trees and fig trees .