Michael,

Count me in.  I'd make the trip.

Malcolm

Getting ready to pick this one before any critters decide they want it first!

Scrumptious! Weighed in at 56 grams.

Looks like the ants are marching one by one to my Brown Turkey breba, you think it's time to pick?

My taste says no. But I would bag it or put a bit of tape over the eye to try keep the ants out.

Took the plunge and sampled this one. The ants were already having a smorgasbord on this one but I was able to rescue, wash the thieves from the inside, and gobbled this one down. Nice large fig, a bit light in flavor, but some sweetness there. I'll watch the main crop a bit closer, try to keep the ants away.

Greetings all. Finally, after a long frozen Winter, my main crop figs are here. First out of the pack include a small Vista, a few Celeste and Conandria. My fig hedge includes both potted and in-ground plants.

Beautiful collage!  I'm still a few weeks away from a sizable harvest.  Enjoy them, Mark!

Good haul Mark.

Did you get any Longue d'Aout breba, Mark?  My LdA has 3-4 main crop figs - not as many as I'd like.  It has been one of my weakest growers.  It sounds like yours is doing better even though they came from the same mother tree.

Mark, some tasty looking figs you have been sampling. I'm just now starting to get a few main crop figs, just a bit south of you. I think this is mostly because these were root bound plants in pots that I just put in the ground this spring. There was a bit of a delay from the transplant shock before they resumed normal growth. I have also lost some of my first green baby figs to chickens, and larger ones to deer or maybe raccoons, and have had some wilting due to voles or moles tunneling under a couple. I too feel lucky to get to try anything. No brebas for me this year, hopefully they have saved thier energy for good establishment and a few good tastes.

Mike in Hanover, VA

Thanks guys. Given the Winter, coupled with that wood beetle, deer and racoons we face a lot of hurdles. So, it's nice to harvest a few savory samples! Steve, I'll take some pix of the Longue d' Aout. It's looking very nice, has nicely shaped long figs. None ripe enough yet to sample, but getting there. I think you will be surprized at the size of both the tree as well as the fruit.

Happy figging.

Mark,

Great photos and thanks so much for the updates.  It is much appreciated.

I've got a couple questions for you:
1. Can let us know what you're fertilization and watering schedule is like for your potted figs
2. How old/caliper size is your potted figs
3. What container size are they presently in
4. How much sun per day do they tend to get?


BTW, you're making us Maryland peeps look good as fig growers!

Frank, I have sourced a more healthy LdA from a generous forum member.  Yours sounds like it is doing great if you are going to get a dozen figs after it froze to the ground.

Malcolm, I'll answer all your questions later tonight. In the meantime here's a nice picture that my wife captured this morning of our figs flanked by our tuberoses. Really nice setting, the scent of tuberose coupled with the view of our ripening figs!

Ok, Malcolm, here we go:

Answers keyed to your questions as follows

1. Can you let us know what you're fertilization and watering schedule is like for your potted figs
- fertilization: i used Miracle Grow on all potted plants for about a month, every few weeks or so
i gave them all a good drink wth a normal ratio;
- water: early on in Spring i was watering every few days, but once it warmed up i installed my
drip irrigation system to each one and it comes on daily for 30 minutes, 2.5 gal/hour for the
smaller ones. I have a few sprayers that spray 360 and mists the root layers.

2. How old/caliper size is your potted figs
- Most of these trees are second year trees. There are a few Celeste that we picked up at
Home Depot for a steal at the end of the year, and these are probably 2-3 year olds.

3. What container size are they presently in
- Most of these are in three gallon pots, a few of the larger are in maybe 5-8 gallon pots.

4. How much sun per day do they tend to get?
- most of these trees are in pretty much full sun from sunrise to just about 2 in the afternoon.

You didnt ask about my soil mixture, but it is a mixture of perlite, various types of good potting soil
And a healthy mix of humus that i dig up from the wooded lot in our back garden. I have a large
Area where i shred all our hardwood leaves ( oak, maple, mix) and this is really rich in organic matter.

Hope this helps! I think thw key is the drip irrigation system. The trees get a daily dose of water and it
Keeps them from drying out, rootball stays moist, they seem happy.

Here's some photos from today. Nice to catch that Yellow Swallowtail taking a break on our trees right after they were watered. Celeste tasting pretty nice!

Just savored my first Hardy Chicago of the year and it was luscious, deep red interior coupled with pure raspberry jam flavor. Love it! The ants had also discovered this one so no pix. I picked it, washed it, and ate it! :-)

Fig on!

Ok, this just HAS to be one of the best tasting figs out there, well at least in my fig yard. We just picked this an hour ago, sliced in half and I'll use my wife's words, the non-fig fanatic. OK...this is so tastey, honey-like and very smooth, sweet and creamy" - i wish ALL our figs were this good! I describe it as very sweet, with a very melony luscious wet honey-dew like flavour.

I'm glad Conadria doing really well for you Mark.  This is one I'm not growing but if it continues to be a primo fig for you then perhaps I should reconsider.

Mark: Tasty figs, thanks for sharing.

Best,
Tam

They look very nice, deep red meat, I had doubts about my Conadria but now I feel it's a keeper, thanks for sharing.

Wayne - it's a keeper. Id be interested to hear your results. Tennis ball size figs that are scrumptios are hard to beat.

Mark,

I live very nearby to you, my trees are in larger pots (mostly 5 to 10 gallon) and are mostly 3rd year trees, and I haven't yet had one ripen a main crop fruit this year.  Had a decent amount of brebas on certain trees last month.  I have a whole bunch on the trees that should ripen soon, but for now I'm still waiting.  Perhaps it's the varieties you are growing.  Or maybe it's something special in your soil mix.  I also installed a drip irrigation system but I didn't do that great of a job, so I still water by hand too.  I do agree with you that for trees in pots it is a challenge to keep up with watering.  I am using 1/2 gallon per hour drippers though, figure it's better to do it more often or for longer than to possibly have too much coming out at once and have a lot of runoff.  Haven't yet calculated how much water a tree needs per day to figure how much drip time they need though.