Thanks to a generous fellow fig grower I received a pretty good sized Violette de Bordeaux last fall.  It is growing some nice looking brebas.  I'm looking forward to tasting them when they ripen.  I have other figs with bumps on them that look like they might turn into brebas, but none of the other plants have brebas like this.

your fig tree/soil looks like mine, rocky dirt with false geranium type weeds around. only difference is i still have a stick with nothing coming out of it yet (san jose, 8b). these are my first fig trees (a peters honey and violette de bordeaux). are you supposed to leave those figs on that pop right out of the whip or pinch them off like strawberries to encourage root/plant growth. thanks to anyone who answers this noob question.....

Some people think that it is good to remove fruit from small fig trees because it might help them put more energy into growing. I've found on some small plants that the presence of fruit does seem to slow down growth and on other small plants it doesn't seem to slow them down at all. Picking off the brebas will not do anything to help the tree break dormancy. If you want it to turn green and start growing try misting with water pretty regularly and give the soil a generous watering every few days. I'm in a hotter climate than you (I think). It's been in the 80's here for most of March. As it warms up the fig trees will start to grow.

Thanks Joe.....you are in a hotter climate, haven't had 80s here in a while. although I finally see some green buds pushing out of the whip. So it's happening live, I'll pull those figs if they come.

I have a Negronne tree, which was also called a VdB, but it's one trunk and is tall.  It doesn't exhibit dwarf growth at all.  It's only a year old.  Must have been a tip cutting because it's tall and straight--Very nice-looking little tree, but no branches, which is all right with me for now.  I just expected it to be lower and branchy.  I can't see any brebas coming out on it so far.

noss