First off, I am new to this forum and new to figs. I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains and am a chestnut grower here ( http://www.skylinechestnuts.com ) so I do have experience growing fruit/nut trees, grafting, growing from seed, etc., and I also grow Christmas trees.

I am looking into growing a container tree for my mother who just moved to Santa Cruz just a about 200 yards from Pleasure Point and the Monterey Bay. The tree would be growing on a second floor deck with southern full sun exposure.

Her favorite variety (or at least the one she is most familiar with) is Mission, so she would like a fruit that is similar to that.

I have read over Bill Muzychko's tips on container growing and that looks pretty straightforward, I will be finding a suitable container that is appealing to look at which I will plant in- most likely a ceramic pot (this will be on the small deck that Mom likes to sit out on and look out onto the bay so I want it to look nice). 

 What I need advice on is what variety should I choose for this location given Mom's preference for Mission, the fact it will be container grown and kept dwarfed and that it has direct coastal exposure (though the southern exposure to the bay means that the wind is not as strong as it is on the West side of Santa Cruz)?

 Thanks all for your help!

You should talk to Axel, who runs the cloudforest forum. He grows tons of fruiting trees in Santa Cruz, including many figs...

http://www.cloudforest.com/cafe/gardening/

Was going to say the same thing as ohjustaguy.

Thanks guys, I signed up over there and posted my inquiry there too.

Any other advice?

Hey, there's room for another chestnut grower here.  Welcome, Hahns! :)

I think you should get Figo Preto.  Jon is selling some on eBay right now and they're still at a good price.

I have a lot more figs growing at my place than the last time you visited but most are brand new since I've added about 60 varieties in the past few months.

Hey Harvey! Good to hear from you! I am a bit cautious about selection due to how close she is to the coast. They have an apple there that is not doing too well, though I have not been able to ID what is causing its illness. They have only lived there a few months and I haven't has a lot of time to research it. It may be the salt air, or perhaps salt in the soil. Not sure at this point. At any rate I am working on it. With the fig I will be starting from scratch in a container so I have a lot of control over what gets used.

 How many varieties of fig are you growing now? And are you still growing pomegranates?

 I have probably 100 chestnut seedlings I am getting ready to graft this spring using scion from the trees in the orchard.

Good to hear from you!

Oh, do you have a link to Jon's ebay listing? I am only looking for one tree. 

Yes, still have pomegranates, about 70 varieties.  I'm guessing I just have a little more than that in fig varieties now, if they all root (good success thus far).

May be a bit of a challenge that close to the shoreline but maybe with a good wind shelter and close to a wall reflecting sun, your mom can get some ripe figs.  There's folks here with more experience than me in cooler climates.  Axel mentioned above is up higher and has a fairly warm yard and I don't recall seeing any figs there when I visited.  He's got something like 800 apple varieties, though.

The sun exposure is excellent on the deck where I will be putting it. I think it will be enough. Worst comes to worst and I can build a poly shelter for it if need be, but I don't think that will be necessary. Absolute worst case scenario I can bring it to my house and drive the figs over to mom.

70 Pomegranate varieties... nice! I have only about 6 myself lol.

Narragansett 5334 would be an excellent choice.

what is your favourite  Pomegranate and why. I already have wonderful. thx

You may want to check out the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum.  They have volunteer docents that give tours and can probably get you some additional info.  They have a website, too.