I am still very new at raising figs, but I have been caught by the "Fig Monster" and can't help myself.. The question I have is why do a lot of people not like BT? I noticed on some of the post "Please tell me this is not a BT!! I really don't get it, being from the South they are everywhere down here. Is it degrading to own a BT? My friend has one and gave me a lot of fruit from his Tree and that's what got me interested in Figs. My Grandmother on my Daddy's side had a Fig Tree when I was very small. We would eat those Figs until our stomachs hurt, I bet that Fig was probably a BT??

Was just wondering, why some members here feel disgraced by owning a BT Fig tree..Oh well, Just Curious.....I really enjoy this Forum and thanks to everyone who post, so someone like me can get educated on my new (old)  best liked Fruit.........

Frank, I think it's after you try other varieties out there that you realize there are a lot better out there. As your preference keep stacking, BT usually ends up in the bottom. To say it's horrible is an over statement .Lets just say it's not the best tasting one out there. I like brown turkey.

Frank,

Everyone's tastes are different.  If you like Brown Turkey there's no shame in that.  I don't have a Brown Turkey but lots of people who have grown it think that there are much better figs out there.  Try some different figs and decide for yourself.

Good question Frankallen. I am from Texas (zone 8a) and cant understand that Fig dislike.
I think all figs are the most awesome tasting fruit on Earth PERIOD.

There are bad strains of Brown Turkey floating around, first of all.  Second, Brown Turkeys are best in hot and dry climates, because they have a kind of mild, soft complexity with some sweetness.  In cooler and humid climates, they are rather bland, watery, and slightly sweet.

Almost anything else has more flavor and more sweetness.

I second shah8 testimony!
I would add that commercial nurseries,sold it in all markets,far and wide where the cultivar do not have the right climatic conditions to ripe properly.
So therefor ,the plant do not ripe fruits properly in cold climates,and the people in those climates will tell the true that the fruit
 was bland in their garden.
But their true is only partial,true because the same cultivar makes wonderfully tasting fruits in Fresno Ca,or Austin Texas.
Yet there is a cultivar for almost any climate,if one look hard enough!.

Frank,

I have tasted some well ripened "Brown Turkey" figs and they were very good....not great, but perfectly fine.  That being said, you can get more bang for the buck by growing varieties that will give you more complex flavors for the same amount of work, watering, fertilizing, etc.  For example, "Hardy Chicago" will do well in your area and produce a fig with a superior flavor.

However, grow what you think you might like, especially if it's a fig variety that you remember from your childhood.  The forum is a nice place to visit, and to read the latest fig-growing information, but it's also a very subjective exchange of ideas.  You know what they say about opinions.....

Search for a good strain of "Brown Turkey" that will give you consistently good results in your area and climate, then learn how to grow it to perfection, and, enjoy it.  Pay particular attention to culture as figs reach the ripening stage, and restrict water getting to the roots just before the figs go dead ripe, and you will have some good figs to nosh on.

Good luck.


Frank

Bought a BT Last year and it produced 2 figs and they were sweet and had a caramel taste.....this year they were terrible....Maybe did not get enough sun, or too much water.......My friend has a BT and he said his tree more water on one side than the other....and he said half of the tree was great and the other bad.....so they need a lot of sun and the right amount of water.......

One reason that Brown Turkey gets a bad rap is because the ones sold in stores are not ripe. I bought some at Walmart and their taste was very bland. You could tell that they were picked way too early. If the figs were left on the tree to ripen properly I would think the flavor would be good. Since shelf life is a concern for retailers they're picked early so they'll last longer sacrificing taste.

I just had my brown turkey figs for breakfast. they are great if well ripened and realy reach their brown color.

they are not very juicy like the fine figs shown in this forum but still they have some figginess to them that makes me pleased. its the fig that got me into the hobby so....

Don't disregard BT without tasting it.  As mentioned, there are a lot of BT strains.  I was given a bag full of supposed Brown Turkeys this summer from a local grower and they were large and very sweet and tasted just as good as any other common fig.  I wouldn't kick it out of my collection.  But again, if you can try the fruit before investing the time in caring for it, you won't care if it was named Doo Doo Brown Turkey!

There are many varieties mistakenly labeled as Brown Turkey that taste really good. I visited a fig grower who has a large tree that he said bought it as a Brown Turkey, was actually more like a Hardy Chicago type.
Bill from NJ has a Brown Turkey that he liked, but the figs that it had was not the actual brown Turkey, no wonder he liked them.

That was my experience. Someone had a "BT" that was awesome, sent me cuttings to prove that it was awesome. Ended up being a Celeste, so found out why this person liked BT - it wasn't.

Why are they disliked so much?  Three reasons why....
1.  There are several strains of Brown Turkeys out there.  Some just got a bad strain.
2.  A lack of knowledge about the brown turkey fig.  
3.  Very easy to propagate.
BT figs are easy to propagate and every body's grandma or grandpa grew them when they were younger.  And today, there are still a lot of people who believe that Brown Turkey is the only fig in the world.  Trust me!  LIke others have said, there are many different varieties of Brown Turkey figs out there.  Some are excellent and some taste like my flip-flop!  Those at UCD are out of this world amazing!!!!!  And the same is true for the Ca Brown Turkey.  Very rich, very sweet and they make you want more.  The Monrovia Brown Turkey is tasteless...IF grown without pollenation.  If grown with pollination, the figs take on a different everything, taste, size, richness, shape, color. 

The true Southeastern Brown Turkey is excellent in my book.  I don't care what others might think.  I love them!  I bought 4 from Petal from the Past 2 years ago and these do not have the hollow cavity like your normal brown turkey.  ANd they have a  red center unlike some of my other BT figs.

And like Jon said, there are so many other excellent tasting figs that have unique flavors, juicy, super sweet and very rich.  LIke...Excel, Black Maderia, Ronde de Bordeaux, Toni's Brown Italian, Black Greek, LSU Black, Sicilian Black, Votata, Adriatic JH, Emerald Strawberry, Smith, Kadota, Peter's Honey, Italian 258, Violete de Bordeaux, Marseilles White, Marseilles Black, Gino's Pananas Purple, Celeste, LSU Purple, LSU Gold, De la Senyora, White Triana, LSU Champagne, Encanto, Pasteriele, Grise Olivette, Noire de Caromb, Strawberry, Black Celeste, Mission, Cartegenta Negra, Hardy Chicago, Alma, Florea, White Greek, Sal's, Banana, White Texas Everbearing, Zemblas Black, Purple Magnolia, and the list goes on and on!

Dennis types in part "LIke others have said, there are many different varieties of Brown Turkey figs out there.  Some are excellent and some taste like my flip-flop"! 



Was your flip flop dead ripe when consumed ?    ; )

The Brown Turkey I tasted at UCD was awful; watery and no flavor, very little sweetness. A large fig but not worth the time and trouble to grow it. Too many excellent figs out there to put up with this one.
Sue

Frank,
I'm with you - wondered why the dislike for Brown Turkeys. They are the ones that got me & my kiddos hooked! Just a little basket at the farmer's market and we cannot get enough! But, as Jon said, the more fresh varieties we try, the BT tends to stay toward the bottom of the list. Which I think is actually a good thing, because if you like a plump, ripe BT. . . and BT is just where the fun starts. . . then the sky is the limit on taste to come OH BOY! :)
Note:The ones we tried pre-packed yet "fresh" from 'Fresh & Easy' were NOT so good
- Dave & Fam
*** Newbie here at F4F :) ***

Here's our little Brown Turkey in the backyard:



And here's a larger Brown Turkey we recently "rescued" from an uninterested owner:

Ok, Jon, fess up and tell the truth about those brown turkey figs we ate last year at UCD. Even the Ca Brown Turkey was amazing. Sue, Jon gave me the figs to try. He did tell me not to tell anyone about how good they were. But, I just laughed. Then I went to the trees myself and picked some. OMG they were excellent!

Fess up Jon!

This is a great thread because I've just had my first ever fig tree produce a little figlet and I'm so proud!!! The only thing is that it's a Brown Turkey, which I've heard such bad things about.Really and truly I've never had a BT fig before but couldn't help but be worried about the quality of fig I would get, especially seeing all the other lovely varieties out there.But I really couldn't be picky down here on my island.Fig trees are very hard to find here and the vendors can barely tell the varieties apart.But I'm still really proud of it even though it's a BT and can't wait to try it!..............No idea what kind of BT but I hope it's one of the good ones!:-)



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Nandita
Trinidad and Tobago

Dang all this makes me question the 10 BT's I planted.

My BT's are about 5' tall now. I had a ton of figs this year that I though were pretty good. Hmmm