Me and Jon visited UC Davis fig orchard last week. Jon did a great job with taking photos of every single variety in the orchard including trees. I also took some photos and took some notes on their taste. Me and Jon both agreed on what a good fig should taste like. 

A great resource--thanks! If you have any info on their fig with accession # DIFC0164-1, I would appreciate knowing more about it.

Thanks for link Bass.
Quick question
How healthy looking was there Black Ischia tree and did they have more than one of them ?

Bass just wanted to thank you for taking the time to put that up. I'm sure it is well appreciated from all members

Thank you for posting this info.  The photos and comments are very helpful.

Tuscon,

DFIC0164.1 to DFIC0164.9 are seedlings from Albania. See USDA / UC Accession Data You will see that the form received was "seeds" and not cuttings.

From what I have seen, #8 and #9 were edible this season, at a fairly early point in the season. See Pix for more info.

Ken, the DIFC0164-1 I didn't get any information about it, It probably wasn't bearing or It wasn't worth it. I'm sure Jon has info on it. 

I had an opportunity to talk to a commercial grower who was visiting. He grows Kadota, Mission and Calimyrna. They normally do 1st pick of Kadota the first week of the season, and 2nd pick of Kadota and 1st pick of Mission in the second week, and third pick of Kadota, 2nd pick of Mission and 1st pick of Calimyrna in the third week, followed by 3rd Mission and second Calimyrna, and then final Calimyrna. Like me, they have had a very cool summer, probably 15F, and maybe 20F cooler than normal all summer (we just had the coolest Aug 29 in history yesterday). For them, the Calimyrna ripened first in the order this season. I have noticed the same inversion or disruption of the order as well. Vernino which is always my last to ripen was in the early-middle of the season this year. Panache is ripening far earlier than normal (good thing). However, Atreano OR was at the beginning of the season, which is normal. So, apparently there is more to ripening time/order that we believed. It may be that some figs need a given amount of time and others are more influenced by the collective heat exposure and less by time. Might provide some possibilities for pushing some varieties in a greenhouse.

Where most of the figs you ate fully ripened? Where there weather conditions that could have watered down some of them?

I'm still hoping you guys are wrong about Zidi needing the wasp. Richard Watts said it didn't...

Zidi needs a pollinator.

Yes, sampled fruit was fully ripe, though not all trees had ripe fruit at this point in the season. Also interesting was the number of fruit that were spoiled, even when under-ripe, far above 2007 and 2008 season when I was there. I had to cut a dozen Zidis, for instance, to get one good one. Adriatic was close to as bad. Apparently the same situation was observed in the 2009 season as well. I would have attributed it to the cool season - but 2009 was not a particularly cool season.

The cool season may have contributed to weak flavor in some varieties.

Mike, your if the weather conditions have watered them down. I don't think It rained there the entire summer. All their trees are on irrigation system. 

Two other observations this season:
1) Some varieties exhibited a very wide variety of shapes, some quite unexpected or only seen previously in other varieties. This is Adriatic, as an example:



2) an extraordinary amount of figs were already poiled, even when not fully ripe. In some cases, cutting a dozen figs yielded only one that was edible. Reportedly this was also the case last season, as well. It was certainly not in accord with what I had observed on two previous trips, in 2007 and 2008. This year was very cool at Davis, much like my weather in SD, and it seems to me that cooler weather causes slower ripening (longer time) which leaves the fruit in a vulnerable condition longer, but their season last year was not cool life this year - so something different must have been at work last season, or maybe both seasons.

Jon, I'm still trying to find out what is the name of that little beetle we saw inside the figs, Howard agrees that this is what causing the spoilage. I'm also wondering if the fig wasp is spoiling the figs as well.  

The wasp has always been an issue, as I understand it - introducing fungi and disease, etc. That has been part of the drive to find a common fig that can replace the Calimyrna - to eliminate the contamination issues associated with the wasp. But that doesn't really explain the difference the last couple of seasons. The wasp has been an issue for 100 years.

Bass,
Is the beetle you are referring to small, black, with a yellow horizontal stripe?
There was one in the figs I brought back from Davis last Sunday. We were there for the CRFG fig/grape tour. I did think that there was much more spoilage last year when we were at Davis.
I also had the beetle in my own figs last year - I'm in San Jose - my Brown Turkey figs were soured and I ended up throwing out all of the figs from that tree. There was also at least one tree at Prusch (In San Jose ) that soured. I don't think we have the fig wasp here, so other than the ants I'm not sure what else to blame.
I tried to ID that beetle last year with no success, so if you figure it out please pass on the info

Gloria

Yes this beetle is very small, and dark brown, I'm not sure about the yellow stripes, maybe my close up vision is not as good as yours. I bet Malli will know what it is, I'll have to email him when he comes back from his trip. They had some baits at the orchard to collect all types of insects. 

One thing im kinda curious about.
Have any of you gentlmen asked about there fertilize program?

we did me and Jon, they use a fertilizer called urea which contains 46% Nitrogen fertilize with Nitrogen once every 3 years. I don't have my notes handy for full details of the amount they apply. I've been using a fertilizer with high nitrogen and it has shown great results as well. 

Oh thank you Bass.
Now if and when i can get some i will experiment on something in particular.

Fertilizing at Davis is sometimes a matter of budget priorities.

They last fertilized 3 years ago. They do use Urea, which is 46% Nitrogen. They are really only concerned with producing vegetative growth (leaves and branches) for propagation purposes, so do not need to worry about P and K which generally are more oriented toward flowers and fruit.

I am not sure about the amount applied - it was, I think, one "unit" per acre, where a "unit" is 100# of actual nitrogen, which means that you you need to apply 217-1/2 pounds of Urea (at 46% nitrogen) to get 100# of nitrogen.

It might have been 2 units - but that is what they use and how it is figured.

Obviously you would want to use a more balanced fertilizer, since you have an interest in fruit, and not just leaves and twigs.

Here are the pic of Black Ischia trees at USDA/UC Davis:

No actually my only interest in useing the urea for my ischia is vegatative growth. Thats always been my goal .
This season with full doses of Miracle grow and superthrive, upm soil and up against brick wall in a black pot for extra heat  i saw no improvement.

Next season i give full doses of nitrogen only along and possibly trying a graft.
Its never seen anything more than 24-8-18
46n    i never heard off this high number unless i double the Mg but then it gets to high of the other stuff with it i feel.

After seeing both UcDavis ischia trees i understand why they dont send me scion when i order.

I always try to get another in case i overdose the one i have.
Its fun for me not frustrating , i get frustrated when i have a healthy plant and it drops figs thats frustrating to me but not a sick plant i try to get better thats fun and a challenge and keeps me trying different things.
I know its a sick fun.   ; )

Gloria & Bass, it may be the dried fruit beetle, which is the one that spoils my Brown Turkey figs. Despite the name, they love to get inside the fresh figs. You might do a google image search to see more detailed photos for a positive ID.