My nephew's girlfriend is Portuguese and she told me about her father having a fig that is his reminder of home. He has it in a large pot. Last week she showed up with an unripe fig and a couple cuttings that her mother "sneaked" from the plant as her dad is very protective of it lol. She said it would have to sit for a few days on the counter to ripen (which I didn't think figs would do). It was the size of a ping pong ball.. sorry I forgot the quarter again for reference. The day she gave it to me it was very hard but within 3 days it had turned quite soft.

I asked if she new the variety name and she said the translation would something like drop of honey or honey drop. What was different about the fig from my other green ones I had this year was that it had a shiny skin whereas all others I had were a dull green skin.

I found a link to one called honey drop at a nursery in England and they say also known as Gota de Mel.

Anyone have Gota de Mel to compare this one to? Are there other varieties that have a shiny skin? Sorry the cuttings were small so the leaves were not that large. The taste was very good considering it was rock hard just a few days before. I think it could have waited a day or 2 longer on the counter though. Again I didn't think a fig would ripen when picked hard but this one did. I'm sure it would be better had it been left on the tree though.

Tyler

Very nice and congratulations, thanks for sharing.

Best,
Tam

Looks good Tyler. I have a unknown yellow fig that has shiny skin. This is my first year for RDB and it had shiny skin too. I know I picked them a bit too soon but I think if they start to shrivel they'll take on a duller look.

Tyler the fig does look like pingo de Mel.

nice find Tyler!

thanks for the replies guys. :)

Nelson: Can you please give me more information about Pingo de Mel. Do they have open eyes? Please compare the taste between Peter's Honey and Pingo de Mel. Thanks for sharing.

Best,
Tam

Tam very good questioned you asked. Personally I have to say of all the pingo de Mel figs I grow they are very similar to peters honey/ kadota possibly the same or atleast related.

I have grown 3 kadotas from different sources some had mostly single and 3 lobed leaves the others 5 lobed also pulp varied in color from amber to carmin( rosey ). Size also differed for example kadota from grimonut produces lots of brebas compared to kadota from Monrovia wich rarely produces brebas.

I have a pingo de Mel from Madeira





Pingo de Mel from jardicentro online






I have two other ones that are young and have not fruited yet from the north in Porto and south algarve.

It would be funny if all 4 are different.

Oh tam here is peters honey from Monrovia





Hope that helps

Nelson that first PdM fig you posted looks identical to mine from the outside at least. The red interior looks much different though.

That last Peter's Honey does all the fruit have that odd neck shape?

   

Reviving this thread from last year...... I got a call last week from my nephew asking if I wanted a mature fig tree. Of course I say YES!...  This is the same tree the fig above came from. The problem is they used regular dirt in the 20 or so gallon pot so it weighs a tonne! I'm not sure what I can do about that right now. Anyways it was a nice surprise to get a tree that will produce many more figs than any of my current ones will! Looks like it could use some pruning though to get into a more productive form.

Congratulations Tyler, nice score.

The above fig is known in the US as Kadota.
The fruit,that is red inside was caprified.
Kadota needs a long hot Summer to ripe.

Hi Tylerj,
Funny that the maincrop figlets are not already hanging on the tree ...
As for the potting mix, if the tree is happy ... I wouldn't change it .

Hi jdsfrance...

Actually I counted about 70 figlets on the tree but they have just started I would say over the last week or so. I pinched the tips so hopefully many will ripen.

Herman2 thanks for the kadota reference.. I do have that one too from Brugsmansia and it has some figs started so I will be able to compare them.

Here are some figlets starting...