All,

I have this fig tree that I was given as a cutting a few years back - the friend who gave it to me said it came from the former Soviet Union.  I live in the Greater Phoenix Area and a tree beside it has finally grown to give it the late afternoon shade it obviously needs - out summer days reach 115° F and the humidity can be as low as 5%.  I have managed to keep it alive although my climate does not seem to be ideal and it seems to be doing OK this year - finally got some fruit.

Question:  Does anyone know what kind of fig this is?  I have looked through many pictures and my closest guess is that it's a "Barnachotte" but I am unsure.  Any opinion is welcome.





 
     


Thank you in advance,

John Mclemore 

Hi John, and welcome.  We can give you a better guess once you are able to provide pics of the flesh.  Nice looking tree.

Welcome to the forum John. Check out a topic called "Tashkent fig" . Former Soviet Union, the leaves and fruit shape are pretty close. Like Frank said, you have to wait for a ripe fruit for a positive ID but If your figs turn out to be yellow, we re onto something. Good luck.

Welcome to the forum, John.

Very healthy looking tree.  The figs look great!

No guess on what variety it could be.  The leaf in the 3rd pic down looks kinda unique.  I've seen something similar on another unknown.  Is it possible to get a little more information from your friend?  The town it came from?  Any fig from the former Soviet Union sounds interesting.

WELCOME JOHN M ...............GOOD Luck with your Russian fig .. keep us posted

I agree with Chris, I am pretty sure that is a Tashkent fig. They are golden, flat shaped figs. Thick skin with amber pulp. They are quite good fresh, we used to eat them all the time when we lived in Kyrgyzstan.

It only has 3 figs but I'll half one of them and take pictures once one of them turns color (yellow?).

The tree doesn't seem to like the dry heat - I think flood irrigation is what helped it survive.  With flood irrigation deep roots develop so after a couple of difficult years we often have healthy trees that were once just hanging on.  That's what I hope happened with this one - it is in fact doing much better than it did the last couple of years.

Once it gets a little bigger perhaps I can find someone local with whom to swap cuttings.

Thanks all,

John

OK - got pictures of fruit. The figs did in fact turn a nice bright yellow.  The innards however were dry and didn't seem to develop properly - heat stress(?)  Hopefully as the roots are more developed and run deeper the tree will be able to cool itself better and I'll get normal fruit - I flood irrigate so that should help.  Birds really liked them - destroyed 2 of the 3 figs - I'll be ready with netting next year.  Here are the photos of the saddest fig I've ever seen - don't laugh.


 

      

  

Hey John . I ve seen sadder so don't get discouraged. Maybe you should mulch the pit with a few inches of pine bark or straw to help keep the roots cool and give your tree another chance. Most varieties get way better with age.keep up the good work and thanks for sharing.

I agree with the others, it looks like Tashkent to me. My Tashkent has similar leaves. It hasn't fruited yet, but it looks like the Tashkent fig pics I've seen on the forum. 

looks a lot like LSU Gold to me but I'm unfamiliar with Tashkent

Did LSU Gold get to Russia and back again?