Quote:
Figs don't reach their peak best taste until about five years old. Don't cast any out to soon.
I've read that quite often, and while it's most likely true, I would not expect a fig that hits the taste scale at 2 or 3 now to get much better than a 6 or 7 even 5 years down the road. And if it does, my loss. :)
With few exceptions, I really only want to have (8) 9s and 10s. I've tasted figs that even in their first year are already a 7 or 8 or better - those already are keepers to me and are likely to get better. JHAdriatic, Black Greek from Chios, VdB, unk Past, zidi and others were keepers from the get-go. Norman's Yellow however is a most insipid, tasteless, unspecial fig. I'd rather not waste my time, water and fertilizer on it. I do not see a taste miracle in its future.
To be honest, I really don't see much benefit in trying to extract flavor from something without much hope of improving very much. I also don't base my decisions on taste alone. I like to read as much as I can about varieties. If I read good reports, I'm more likely to keep a fig on 'taste probation' longer.
I also would rather have 5 plants of the same variety of a really good fig, than 10 mediocre but different ones.
It's a matter of taste - and in the end, the collecting, tasting and culling (if necessary) is all fun. :)