Hi,

I'm still spending most of my time working on my greenhouse.  That job thing keeps slowing me down.  Anyway I went to my friend greenhouse (where my Raspberry latte and many of my other figs are).
The Latte is huge (over 5') but almost no figs (2).  Everything else is going gang buster.  Even my Mary Lane seedless has 20-30 figs.  Anyone else noticing this tree is not very productive?

Yes, I've noticed this. My RL was one o the fastest growing trees in my yard but the least productive. My tree is in its 3 rd season and about 8-10' maybe but only has 2 breba figs hanging on and 0 main crop.

Same. Mine put on 6ft of growth in 6 months from cuttings. But no figs forming yet. Most other tree's rooted at the same time have 40-60 figs each, some with ripe fruit already.

Hopefully it's just slow to fruit and gets productive in the 2nd year. It looks like it will easily top 10ft tall it's first year.

A odd thing about it as well, it has 5 lobed leaves and spade shaped leaves on the same branch.

Seems to be the trend with this variety. Mine is around 6ft. with only 2 main crop Figs ripening.

Good feedback that may help many in decision making about keeping it or not keeping it. Thanks to all.
I have a few more varieties like this that are unproductive in my zone 5a area even though they had been highly touted in other places. Time for me to reconsider about these.
 

My 3yo potted (5g SIP) Rasp Latte is also not producing.  It is the only one of my approx. 75 2 and 3 year old plants without figs.  Last year it made a couple of late figs that were removed as they never could have ripened.

Has anyone outside of wasp land ever had ripe figs from this variety?

Sounds a lot like Kathleen's Black.

Some varieties require large spaces in order to do well and might not be as suitable for container as others. I don't grow this variety, and perhaps I have it under a different name.
I had Sicilian variety that did nothing for over four years. Then suddenly it is loaded with fruit.
Here's what I believe happened. Some varieties take longer to produce than others, but the key is a strong root system. Without it, I'm getting mediocre results from many trees. A few figs here and there of varying quality.
My conclusion is that the size of container does matter a lot. The deeper the container the better. This goes hand in hand with the quality of soil and soil contents.
So the five gallon containers do work, but they just keep the plants going, but observation tells me that in order to get much better results, the height of container should be at least two to three times the height of the five gallon pot.
I'm no expert, but the results that I'm getting confirm this. Even when a tree goes in ground a period of adjustment could last several years before it finally takes off.
I have several varieties that are behaving like your Rasberry Latte, among them are Noir de Caromb, Hative d'Argenteuil, Etc...
Unless I can provide the right medium for my figs, at this point I'd rather have fewer trees in the right size pots that make them more productive rather than a hundred that are what I call idle in the wrong size pot.

I believe kk may have. He shows pictures on his listings.

I have one that is five-year old and about six feet tall,still no figs.
If anyone wants it, come pick it up, I live in Saratoga NY. I will not put it in the garage in the fall.
It will go to fig haven.
Vito

It does give figs but so far not many.

@Sas 

Interesting theory. I wonder if others feel the same.

Are there any other slow to produce varieties?

KK are you out there? Whats your secret?   http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/raspberry-latte-7117469?highlight=raspberry+latte&pid=1284626418

I got 2 of these identical twins no figs yet probably going to let one go because space is at a premium here especially winter storage 

 

Dave why don't you try pinching some of those branches? Might set some figs.

Hi Ross,

I could name many varieties in pots that I currently grow that after three or four years still have to produce. What is delaying growth IMO is perhaps the way I'm handling them due to space restriction.
On average I don't expect anything in less than the third or fourth leaf.
I initially thought that feeding was the key, but now I'm convinced that the root system is much more important than one might think.
When growing figs in containers there were too many instances, when the roots went through the bottom of container and spread into ground. When I discovered this, I also found out that those trees were also among the healthiest ones I had and had the best fruit quality for that season. Once those roots were pulled and moved back into container, the tree reverted back to its vegetative state. My theory is that certain varieties need a massive root system before they can deliver and that's why they fail to produce or do well in containers especially when they become root bound. I must admit that I don't normally pinch my trees and this is the first year that I'm trying it on a couple of trees.
Just tried it on my Panache and after four years no figs yet.
Col de a Dame Gris in ground in its fourth year has a couple of dozen figs for the first time.
Last year, it produced three figs.
Col de a Dame Noir in ground produced a couple of figs the first year then nothing last and this year. It's just a matter of time.
Delayed production could happen with any variety.

Dan (Post #14)

I like the way your tree looks.  How tall did you let the main stem get before you headed it back, or did it just divide like that naturally?

Thanks

My tree is in a very large pot and very large.  It is over 3 years old and the biggest fig in the collect but only 3-4 figs.  I'm a zone 7 but it is in a cravo house which makes it a zone 8 at least.  If I can dig a big enough hole I'm going to stick it in the ground and see what it does.

Thanks, Dave, not Dan ;-)

Greetings all

I have Raspberry Latte in ground in SE Georgia.  It's also growing fast, but it's more like 4 feet which is plenty for this point in its first season in-ground.  So far no fruit.  However, I just pinched back all the budding tips.  I know Snaglepus whom I don't think I've seen on the site this year had that variety in-ground in central South Carolina.  In a thread last year, it kept fruiting he said that it kept fruiting too late to ripen for him until last year.  I think he said he got production that year.  I don't remember if it was much.  My best fig tree never produced fruit until the very end of its second year.  It was the fastest grower of them all.  So maybe Raspberry Latte' will turn out to be a really good one for us yet.  God bless.

Marcus

 

Above is how my Raspberry Latte' Looked a few weeks ago.

My raspberry latte tree in a 20 gal pot.  About 6 months old in this pic.  

 

I just noted first figlets on mine yesterday-I pinched a few branches recently but the figlets are on pinched and non pinched ones. That should give time for ripening unless they take 120 days or extreme heat to ripen

Jon-It would be nice if you could give us input on Raspberry Latte.