Howdy to all. I've been a lurker for a while and thought it was probably appropriate to make introductions.

I'm a part time resident of Tucson, AZ (USDA 9a), who works out of state.  I have enjoyed a little bit of landscaping & gardening here for the last 8 years. I've dabbled with citrus, pomegranates, stone fruits, persimmons and chili peppers. About 18 months ago I moved across the valley to my current house in NW Tucson and the move gave me a fresh start with a small un-landscaped backyard. I've put in varieties I'd had good success with previously, a few citrus trees, a few pomegranates, but space concerns limited starting again with any stone fruits. I was planning a couple persimmons to finish filling the allotted area, but as luck would have it, I was given a sack of figs (probably black mission?) by a neighbor. I'd never had fresh figs before and it was an impressive introduction. After hours of online surfing for fig info, much of it on the forum here, I decided to turn the backyard space I'd allotted to persimmon trees over to figs instead. Hopefully my lack of space and my long term addiction to citrus, poms and especially hot peppers will keep me from catching more than minor case of fig fever. Any expansion of "fig area" will necessarily cut into other things.

Back in early October, the local Home Depot was having their end of the gardening season sale. They had a couple varieties I had read about and was interested in. I did a little research and I *think* I got what I paid for. I bought a VdB and a Panache, both in 5 gallons, for half off ($19.95 each). Both of them had fruit on them, which made me a bit more secure about the identity. I planted both in-ground right after purchase. Both of them ripened a few of those figs for me in mid November, which was a treat, although I realize that fruit isn't the best example the trees will be capable of. Here are some pictures of the nursery labels and the fruit on the trees after planting in Oct. Hopefully I correctly verified the variety when I purchased? I thought it was interesting that the VdB had labels from both Four Winds and Dave Wilson, both trusted nurseries I have purchased other trees from. I'm assuming that Dave Wilson propagated the tree under contract to Four Winds, who wholesaled it. In any case, the first figs were very good. If they get better in the future, I'll be a happy camper. The trees have now gone dormant. Last week we had a couple nights of light frost which finished off the leaves on my poms and the figs, and is coloring up the citrus nicely.

Labels:


Do these look true to type ?
VdB:


Panache:


I could squeeze in another one or two in-ground fig trees if I keep them small, or I could let the two I have just take over the whole 10'x10' space allotted. There seems like so many interesting varieties, but I am space limited. Any recommendations on something that is a no brainer for the AZ desert would always be welcome.

Nice to officially "meet" the forum.

Phil

Hi Phil!!  Nice intro!  Man, I NEVER find good figs in my area!!  They look great, and from what I've heard next season should be much better.

I am so jealous of others I hear about. lol  The figs I've seen here are labeled, Celest, Blue Celeste, Texas Giant Everbearing, and Brown Turkey.  When I bought my tree last winter it was labeled Celeste - Turned out to be a LSU Purple,  FABULOUS!! 

You might end up squeezing more then you think lol.  I have some LSU cuttings if you like!

Welcome. What you have seems legit. (Age, as most fruiting trees) does play a huge roll in terms of yield, production, and taste. Your plants are still very young so the taste in both variants will improve. Congratulations. Hope to see more updates. This forum is truly great.

Welcome sir! I always trust the wholesaler tags, and not the tags the big box stores put on. I've seen home depot put a blackberry tag on a plant, and it still has the wholesaler raspberry tag on it! 

Yeah, Four Winds found a little business buying and reselling DWN figs and multi-budded stone fruit trees from what I've seen. Your figs are legit sir! Enjoy them!

Hard to go wrong with these 2 kinds! Luck you!
Welcome to the forum!

Welcome, Phil.  Bother are good choices.  You can also observe some variegation on the young branches of your Panache (note the yellowish area of the stem in your photo).  If you have room for only two, you might to eventually give your hand a grafting and try having multiple varieties on one tree.  You can also greatly control the size of your trees with pruning, thus making room for more (maybe). :)

Welcome to the forum, Phil! Lots of great people here. What a golden find you got. I wish my local Lowes/Home Depot carried figs!
Congrats!

Hello Phil...

You bought two of the best varieties, and with some age, you'll wish you had more.

Welcome to the forum.  Everything you ever wanted to know about figs and growing figs will be found here, and information will constantly be updated.  The forum is a "living" textbook, and is constantly being amended with facts.  Forum members will always help you through difficulties.  Trust me...you will be growing MORE figs!

Try planting two trees in the same hole, and also, try containerizing some fig trees.  You will be surprised at how many fig trees you will grow in a small space.  Home Depot sells 18 gallon rectangular, storage containers, for less than $10.00.  Melt/drill some drainage holes into the bottom sides, and fill it with a good mix, then plant a tree.  The straight sides allow the containers to be placed next to each other without wasting room with round rims.  If desperate, you can also stack the containers like you would stack bricks.  I roll my containerized trees around on a dolly.  I detest hernias.

With some training and pruning, you can easily grow many, many, more fig trees in your "small" area, especially if you containerize some trees.

Good luck, and check in often.  (Let us know your climate zone, and, actual, minimum temperatures).


Frank

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Phil...

Look at the "Belleclare Figs" thread.  If you haven't done so already, watch the Martha Stewart video.  It will show containerized figs and the growing potential using this system.

Phil,
    Looks like your off to a good start. Best of luck with your fig growing efforts, and welcome to the Forum. Happy New Year.

Welcome to the forum from me too!  Container gardening is definitely a way to squeeze in more varieties!  We have other members from Tucson, so maybe you can meet up with them and talk Figs in Tucson!

Good luck to you!

Suzi

You can't fake a Panache, so you are good there. From what I can see, the VdB leaves look like the real thing, as well.

DW is a great source. Here at Encanto Farms Nursery we propagate all of our own trees from our own cuttings, but are bringing in some DW product this season mostly for our local customers looking for larger plants. They are also obsessive about propagating their own plants and shipping stuff that is accurately labeled, which is why we are making this one exception. You should be good to go.

Welcome to the fourm, hope you enjoy the time you spend here. Wise choice to go with figs over persimmons, at least in my mind. Persimmons are very good though and several of our members grow them, but figs oh man! 

Welcome to the forum Bada Bing .

Welcome!  Panache is a great tasting fig and VdB is very good.  Good luck keeping it to a mild case of fig fever.  :)