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PNW ripening order

Friday the 13th, and I just picked 13-figs!
Sure our figs are slow to ripen in this cool, maritime climate.
But, I was able to pick in 3-stages:
-Desert King in August
-Neveralla starting mid-September, and
-Green Ischia (Strawberry Verte) from early October to NOW!
I just peeled 3 of the latter and turned their appearance into
crunchy red, ripe strawberries! 


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  • ricky
  • · Edited

Wow, beautiful figs, How is its taste like?

I don't have fig luck, I tasted my 1st desert king fig at August, it was amazing, then I put 4 "Desert king" trees in ground, and last couple day, 2 of them was flooding and drop all its leaves, not sure that it will survive of not.
Desert king under water 1.jpg


Desert King can handle the constant rain we'll be getting for the next 10-weeks.
My smaller Longue d'Aout especially will struggle so I keep the ground as dry as possible.
Your trees should be OK; all of my fig trees are dropping their leaves. Even the ones in my mini-greenhouse. Nature's way!

My Green Ischia figs last about a week in the refrigerator. Skin is thick but not tough.
Seeds are very crunchy. The bright red interior is moist, and not drippy wet like a D.K. Great for baking fig deserts because once chopped pieces stay intact. 

I hope that my desert king trees are Ok with recently flooding, they are old enough to bear figs next August.
Desert king seems moisture lover, in some of our area with near 100% more rain yearly, it bears 20% bigger size figs.

I am looking for other fig varieties that will bear great figs in my area.

Do you think that your green ischia are suitable to grow in PNW? 

Green Ischia not suitable in Vancouver/Fraser Valley, B.Columbia. Best varieties in my zone are Latarrula,
Osborne Prolific, Granthams Royal, RdB and Florea.

Thanks for your always on the money input, Paully! My Black Jack in a 10-gal pot died way back each of the last 3-years and I have to start from a stub each spring. Previous owner had it in the ground in a sheltered area and same problem (guess that's why I have it now). Negronne was almost 3' tall when I bought it in Portland 3-yrs ago and has not grown in my 10-gal pot. Irregular pattern of leaf growth, drop and new leaves. I bought a healthy 3' tall Olympian at one of the few places that carry Fig plants here (McLendon's). It's tough to find good cultivars in W. WA. State so I'm happy to have finally found 3-keepers.
-Tahoma Guy2
Lakewood, WA

Quote:
Originally Posted by ricky
Wow, beautiful figs, How is its taste like?

I don't have fig luck, I tasted my 1st desert king fig at August, it was amazing, then I put 4 "Desert king" trees in ground, and last couple day, 2 of them was flooding and drop all its leaves, not sure that it will survive of not.
Desert king under water 1.jpg


Wow! Well, i hope it survives. What a great looking fig.

LSU O'rourke and Improved Celeste works well for me -- pot culture

  • ricky
  • · Edited

Thanks paully22 input on fig vareities for PNW weaker sun area, I will try to find them and try it out.

Thanks for Charles on info on "Green Ischia", What a beautiful figs, also input on poor results on "black jack", local nursery sell them, I was planning to pick one up on spring time.

Although 2 of my " Desert king" was flooded, it is ok, I still have 2 more planted in dry ground plus 3 of them indoor in pot and 7 bady "Desert king" from cutting.

I find that Persimmon grow very well here as well, it looks very pretty now, I am planning to grow them as well, I ate lots of persimmon when I was kid, It is very tasted fruits as well.

desert king bady 1.jpg  persimmon1.jpg


I don't live in the PNW but know several people that grow various (mt. etna type (Hardy Chicago, Ciccio Nero)) black figs on Vancouver Island.  Last few years they have boasted of how many delicious figs they have gotten.  Don't think you can go wrong with them since they are relatively early ripening, tight eye and resist splitting..

Ricky,
Figs are very resilient. 
IMO Occasional flooding I don't think is a huge problem as long as your soil drainage works properly during the growing season and most importantly during the ripening period.

Pino, thanks for your input. My sister lives in Ft. Erie. I'll try to get her to plant
or at least look for fig trees there. She never ate a fresh fig!?! My Neveralla
produced about 70-keepers for me this year. I cut it WAY back since the figs appear on NEW growth. Desert King is just the opposite in that ALL the figs grow on OLD wood
(previous year's branches). This is the most important thing to know about the 2-cultivars.

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  • ricky
  • · Edited

Thanks for your info.

I try to find Neveralla, It seems that Neveralla = Osborne ProlificArchipel,  Are they the same?

I find a super sweet  brown fig tree here and my friend told me that its Italian owner think that it is "Brown turkey" , but it looks like "Osborne Prolific" because figs flesh are amber,  He plants  many of them and some branches grow outside his property, I might "Steal" a small branch from it.

it is not easy to grow fig tree at my location, I build 3 small flower/Ver garden here with poor results, flooding, extremely windy corner, very moisture,  slugs and Ants, squirrels,  it has failed apple tree, pear tree, Maple syrup tree,  I will wait and see what happen to my 7 "Desert king" fig trees next year, if it fail again, I will give up all fig project at this location and plant my fig trees beside river nearby, It is too hard to fight with nature.







Ricky -You may want to consider growing your DK's in raised beds to reduce exposure to
"wet feet" which figs don't like. Then cover the ground with a tarp for added protection
against moisture. The covering will heat-up the soil quicker in the spring for healthier roots.
I see the 3 "Neveralla" names used interchangeably; the differences are so minute that
perhaps the area of the country they are growing makes the difference. There are also
a lot of Brown Turkeys which grow, look and taste differently depending on several factors. Here in the Pac NW they say "make sure you get a VERN'S Brown Turkey. If
Vern's is so different from the rest, why not just call it "Vern's." Hehehe

Ricky
I don't think Osborune and Neveralla are the same.  My Neveralla is a small2 yr plant and has produced excellent brebas and main crop see my other post.  The osbourne leaves look different but haven't seen the figs to compare.

Charles,
its a small world I am only a few miles from Fort Erie just off the QEW. 
I am out of stoage room so I would love to unload some large fig trees that are excellent producers for this area (ciccio Nero, Fico Bianco, Dalmatie...)  Last month I could have shown her the in ground versions of these trees loaded with figs.

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