Hi,

I am new to this forum and I am excited to be part of this community.

I would like to experiment with growing fig trees from cuttings this spring. Would someone recommend a variety to grow in SF Bay Area (coastal pacific northwest weather)?

And would someone has any cuttings (dessert king?) to spare? Please let me know.

Thanks!

Hello,

Do you know of anyone in your area currently growing any figs in your area? 

Hi. Unfortunately, no. 

Hopefully I can find someone from this forum! Thanks

DK is a good choice for the SF area. See if you can get some local scions. Lattarula would be another
possibility. Stick them in a pot of soil, cover with a plastic bag  (but first spray the inside with a mist of water for humidity). Keep them on a warm, sunny window sill and watch them come to life.

Thanks for the tips! I will try to get some!

I stayed in a little French hotel  [petit alberge]on bush st, and next to it  back yard of a building with rental units, there is an amazing fig tree, I meant to ask the manager for a cutting or a sucker, but did not have enough time.  I keep thinking about that tree and would like to find out what it is.. if you are in the city (downtown) I am coming down this Th  and could bring you a few. if grows here, it is likely that will grow there.

figicious...welcome to the Forum...lots of luck with your SF fig choices.

What city do you live in or near, figicious? The Bay Area has a wide variation of climates. Just San Francisco itself has several climate variances depending on where you live proximal to the Pacific Ocean - generally, the closer you are, the more difficult it is to get ripe figs, Desert King included. If you live down the Peninsula toward San Jose or inland north and/or east of Oakland, your ability to grow a much wider selection of figs and ripen them increases dramatically.

Welcome to this forum, I am a Bay area resident, I you wish to connect send me an email. I have an few fig trees still young, you have quite a few choices of figs to grow, some will do better depending on your location/micro climate....Panachee was doing very well last year in Napa but not in south San Francisco.
Joe

Hi,

Thanks for all the information. I live in the Berkeley area. Will Desert King be a good choice? 

Desert King would be fine, but you have a lot more choices than that living in Berkeley. I'd take Joe (ficus) up on his offer and email him. I lived in Hayward for three years while attending school and found a few trees growing in the area. I wasn't growing figs at the time, so I didn't collect anything, though I did ultimately collect scions from some large trees in Garin Regional Park in the Hayward Hills. Do yourself a favor and check that park out as the summer progresses and you can sample the figs those trees deliver and maybe take cuttings of your own. The trees are located just across bridge over the creek from the parking lot - can't miss them as they are huge.

Good luck.

Thanks for your info, Neil. 

I'm glad I joined this forum, as people on here are so resourceful and helpful.

I'll definitely check out the Garin Regional Park! Fig-picking seems fun!

I have decided to buy a tree from a local nursery rather than growing one from cuttings myself.

After doing some research, I have nailed down a few varieties that seem to grow well in coastal regions:

Black Mission
Brown Turkey
Osborne Prolific
White Genoa

Does anyone have experience growing these figs in Northern California, with mild summer at around 65-80F most of the time?

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum Figicious!  I'm one of your South Bay neighbors, in Hollister.  I'm new to the forum as well, so I am learning as I go.  This is a great place to be, lots of very knowledgeable folks here.  I planted a Blue Giant and a Panachee this spring, both doing pretty well so far.

Great! I am glad to find a Bay Area neighbor that has started growing figs as well. Let's keep each other posted! I also agree that there are lot of knowledgeable and helpful folks on this forum. What a great community!

I was interested in Panachee, but I've heard that it might not do well in my area. 

I have purchased a Violet de Bordeaux and I am excited about it.

I am considering buying another fig, maybe a Osborne Prolific or Lattarula!

Hi figicious,

I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Zone 15 according to the Sunset Western Garden book (which is quite similar to your zone - Zone 16, I think), and have 2 Panache fig trees in the ground that are doing great.  I have a Black Mission that is growing quite well without much care (it's about 20 years old) and I also have a couple of Black Missions that are growing "wild" near the bottom of my property (the result of some discarded branches years ago) and they're doing well completely unattended.  I also have a few neighbors in the area with some Brown Turkeys that are happy in this climate.  

I'm experimenting with a number of other varieties and would be happy to let you know which ones do well as time goes by.  My two cents is that you start with the Black Mission, simply because it's a hardy tree that will thrive in your area.  

Best of luck to you!

I'm reviving an old discussion. Hope folks don't mind.

I'm also in the SF Bay Area, in the East Oakland flats. I've got a small grove of baby fig trees, growing in the ground. I'm wondering if folks could suggest one or two "must have" varieties to round out my little collection. (My house sits on a *tiny* plot, and I'm trying to grow a lot of things.) We have mike weather, chilly evening breezes, and a bit of frost in the winters. I want to keep the plants bush-sized.

Currently, I'm growing:

Black Mission (we just ate the first fruits, and anticipate the second crop)
Grosse Monstrueuse
Desert King
A Craigslist Mystery (what was I thinking?)
And an "old Italian" fig from a garden in Occidental

If you could curate my collection, what would you add?

I'm a member of CRFG. That's how I picked some of those trees.

I should be clear that I'm not looking for cuttings (I should probably have started a new discussion).

I'm just looking for ideas.