I am brand new to the forum and I am hoping that I might be able to draw on your collective expertise. I grew up with a couple fig trees (no idea of the variety) and I would like to plant a fig tree for my family to enjoy. Truth be told I would like to plant several varieties to try, but I am a little limited on space until a redo my backyard. After researching for a few days, I am a little overwhelmed.  I never realized there were so many types available.  I am looking for suggestions for a variety that will meet the following requirements:

-Grows well in San Diego (San Carlos/Lake Murray Area)
-Grows well in a large pot or clay soil 
-Produces two crops a year 

Ideally I would prefer a variety that is a little less common (no mission fig).  Aside from that I am open to any size, color, etc as long is it tastes good and produces well.

Any help would be sincerely appreciated.  If it matters...I would be willing to give growing from a cutting a shot, but a potted plant might be a little easier.  Also, if you know of a source for the variety you are recommending that would be appreciated as well.

Thanks
Shawn

Shawn, you are lucky to live were you do, there is practically no limit to the figs you can grow there. We have a great number of members that live near you plus you are close to Encanto farms nursery, the owner and host of this forum.

http://encantofarms.com/Visiting.html

Additionally, welcome to the forum. 

Scott

Hi Shawn, and welcome to another Californian. I would suggest either Violette de Bordeaux or Ronde de Bordeaux. VdB is widely available from nurseries like Dave Wilson, and or Encanto Farms. Many members grow RdB, including myself. I believe I have a 1 gallon plant, should you decide to start with it. Other SoCal members will surely give you more suggestions. Again, welcome!

Scott,

Thanks you for the suggestion. It sounds like I will definitely need to check out Encanto Farms.  

Gary, 

I looked at both of these varieties and they look quite nice.  Thank you for the help. 

Shawn  

First, Shawn doesn't really know what he wants, and I think VdB/RdB is probably not appropriate.  He's trying to maximize his space, and common figs like those would be easily accessible.

What I suggest is that Shawn come to the next Wolfskill tasting and get an idea of the range of flavors--which isn't that wide!  It amounts to honey and melons, supersweet or not/berry, supersweet or not/molasses, supersweet or not/sort of sugary-peachy.  Intense flavor or mild?  Then how juicy, and how crunchy.  

Next pretty much comes vigorous tree?  Productive tree?  Ripens well in a marine climate not as hot as interior California?

I would suggest that Shawn be okay with one crop figs as well.  Essentially VdB and its cousins are the only commonly available varieties with both an excellent breba and main crop.

I suggest, in absence of your tastes, Shawn, that you get two figs.  The usual Black Madeira, which I'm pretty sure does SD well, since it was in the retail trade of SD nurseries for a long while.  The other should be, Gulbun, 278-128, Atreano, a nice supersweet honey type that's relatively early...  Idea is intense, super sweet berry tree with  amild berry or honey, maybe supersweet, plus earlier than Black Madeira tree. 

Hi Shawn,

Welcome to the forum.It would be a real shame,as close as you are,if you
didn't check out Jon's offerings.My personal opinion is that you should contact
him and see what he has available.If he has a Figo Preto or Strawberry Verte
hidden away back there you can't go wrong with either.I'd start with a rooted plant
either way,this "rooting" business can teeter on the edge of one's patience level.

Cheers,

Paul

Welcome!  I agree that you'll do better with a visit to Jon (Encanto) than you could any other way.

Shawn, are you also posting on Garden Web (GW)?  It is okay just asking.  A lot of us are on multiple forums.

No I havent posted to GardenWeb.  I think I read a couple articles/forum posts there in my quest for info, but that was about it.

Sounds like Encanto is a must see. I will try to get my schedule to line up with Jon's.

I also just signed up for CRFG a few days ago as I was looking for more info on some other fruit as well. Thanks for the warm welcome and all the help.

Shawn 

Welcome! You live in fig heaven. You should get a dark and a light fig, both bearing a double crop. The VdB is an excellent choice for the dark fig, and RdB could be your backup. Preto is a great choice but it bears but one crop. For the light fig, you should just go for a grand slam, and in my mind that means Adriatic JH. It bears two crops I think. Battaglia is an excellent, if similar green fig. Atreano is a good choice, but its a backup. There is no need to buy only local, although that is the easier choice. Many nurseries can ship you a good fig, as well as members here and also ebay. However, California does have hairy interstate rules.

You can't go wrong with VdB, easy to get...tastes excellent. Since that one is a berry flavored fig, maybe go for a honey type for your 2nd...

Shawn, you are getting some excellent advise from some very knowledgeable, generous, and helpful folks.  Good luck with your new quest!

Hi there,
I've lived in the north county since 1990. Two years ago I moved from Rancho Penasquitos to western Vista. You'll find an excellent selection of figs at Green Thumb Nursery in San Marcos and Walter Andersen Nursery in Poway. I'm growing Janice-Kadota Seedless, Panache, and Violette De Bordeaux.

Since you're close by, come join us at the North County CRFG meetings at Mira Costa College.

Hi Shawn,
Welcome to the forum.
I would plant the trees closer to start and after 3 or 4 years keep the better ones and remove the others. One thing we can't buy is time, and waiting 3 years to finally
decide to replace the fig tree would mean that you lost 3 years.
For the very same reason, I would start with 2 trees and root some cuttings for fun and playing with .
For varieties, I would try Pastiliere (small tree ), "Ronde de Bordeaux" ( big tree) , Dalmatie (small tree) and Panache for the beauty of it .
And if you have the space, try other strains at your own place as your taste buds ... are yours :)
For cuttings, you could try looking around your place for productive trees .
For fig trees, water well and fertilize well.
Good luck !

Thank you all for the warm welcome and great suggestions.  I appreciate being pointed in the right direction.  All the figs varieties suggested sound great.  I wish I had room for them all!

Thanks again,

Shawn 

Shawn, there is another option for having limited space.  And I apologize if it has already been mentioned, I don't recall seeing it.  What some people have done is put in a quality tree of a favorable cultivar then graft additional cultivars to that tree as to grows. Depending on how you prune and shape the tree, you could add 3, 4.... 6 maybe more to it.  So just two trees could have 8 or more cultivars.

Just a thought. 

Scott

Thanks for the suggestion Scott.  When you say a favorable cultivar what varieties would that include?

Thanks

I am far to new to keeping figs and live in a far different climate to make any recommendation. I have only had one ripe fig from own trees so far and that was a Sweet George, which was amazing by the way.   I am in the collect any fig that has a change to ripen fruit in my short growing season mode. I'm sure I will end up keeping them all as long as I get fruit, I'm not as concerned with taste so far. 

I could regurgitate a bunch of names that I've heard repeatedly but I could not recommend first hand other than the Sweet George. 

There are many people that live near you that are better equipped for recommendations. 

If I were you, I would schedule a time to visit John at  Encanto Farms. There is a good chance he will have ripe fruit to try, can answer any questions you have and most likely have trees you can takes home that day. 

Scott

Welcome to the forum Shawn. What's you beef with the poor mission fig? HA!

I suggest that you consider training a tree in a structure which is frequently referred to as a step over style and graft at least four varieties onto it.  Essentially, you'd train two branches laterally onto some support structure and then allow branches to grow up from those each year and prune those branches back to the last one or two new buds each winter, though you could leave some of the branches until you've harvested the breba crop in June/July and then prune those back.  I think it's a great method for maximizing space.

Also, all figs can do well in clay soils.

In the past, I remember Jon saying he felt VdB was not as good in his climate as others around the US felt it was. Maybe it was the rare exception to caprification making figs better. He thinks Vista is better[Vista Mission is a genetic near twin to VdB] for your climate/area. I'm pretty sure he will have Vista treelings available at Encanto.

Shawn,

Hi.  Welcome to the forum!  I am jealous of your zone.

The best fig tree to start with would be the one you grew up with.  Any possibility that it's still around?  
Get some cuttings and try to grow them out.  You could send a few to forum members to try and grow for you.  
I'd be glad to help you out.  :)

In addition to that, visit Encanto and buy a fig tree (or 10) that are already established.  You won't go wrong.

Good luck!