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GeneDaniels

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
Well, here in Central Arkansas (z7b) we had a very mild winter. It is almost 70F today and we have only touched freezing a couple nights since early Feb. My in ground figs have swelling buds and the potted ones are of of the shed and are already breaking bud.

I can tell several of my trees will have brebas this year, or at least they are going to start them. Here are the ones I can see the breba buds on.

In ground:
4 yr old local unknown (TX everbearing?)
3 yr old Hardy Chicago
2 yr old local unknown (English BT?)

In pots:
3 yr old Strawberry verte
3 yr old Negronne
2 yr old CdD

So, I am trying to decide if I should remove them to save energy for main crop, or keep some of them to see if they ripen. I've read where Herman says the VdB makes a nice breba, and some have said that TX everbearing does too.

Any advice would be most appreciated.
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Zone 7b (Central Arkansas) Seven trees in the ground: Hardy Chicago, Celeste(?), LSU gold, Italian Black, Southern Brown Turkey(?), Strawberry Verte, and Unk yellow.  Trees in pots: VdB, CdD, and Sicilian?
GeneDaniels

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
No one is weighing in on this one. Did I ask a taboo question or something?
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Zone 7b (Central Arkansas) Seven trees in the ground: Hardy Chicago, Celeste(?), LSU gold, Italian Black, Southern Brown Turkey(?), Strawberry Verte, and Unk yellow.  Trees in pots: VdB, CdD, and Sicilian?
pitangadiego

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
Yes, very taboo. ;-))

Many trees will have brebas, including VdB. The question generally is how many and if they are worth the bother. For me, VdB will have about 1% breba or less, compared to the main crop, s it is insignificant, and they usually ripen during cool months (June) so aren't that tasty or sweet, so I ignore them. I don't pull them off, though most do not form because of pruning. If you have a shorter growing season, they may misdirect energy and delay ripening of you main crop, but suspect that may be more true for varieties that have a heavy breba crop. Don't really know.
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pino

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
I concur with Jon.

Also depends on your location and reason you are growing figs.  

Some figs are amazing breba producers (sicilian black jr, desert king, dauphine...) for these I prune accordingly and let them focus on producing the 1st crop.  The main crop will be delayed but who cares for desert king and dauphine since they are san pedro type anyway and won't ripen any main crop without the wasp.  no fig wasp in my area.

For other figs it depends on the quality of the breba they produce. 
Many figs produce a few excellent quality breba so I let them ripen and enjoy eating some nice early figs.  
The ones I know produce mediocre breba I would drop them except who has time and if there are only a couple of breba it won't make any difference to the plant.
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Pino, zone 6, Niagara,  JCJ Acres
Wish; Peace on earth and more figs Italian 258, Galicia Negra, Luv, trade suggestions welcome.
figgary

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
Gene, I don't have experience with some on your list, but Col de Dames do not set a breba crop. So far for me, high quality brebas have been produced by RdB, Rob's GN, DK, and Lampeira. My Blackjack makes brebas also, and they are good, not great. I did not get a breba crop from Strawberry Verte or Negronne last year, but I see some on them now. I'll update if they persist.
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Likeo

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
How long does it take for a fig cutting to produce fruit?
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GeneDaniels

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
Thanks everyone for the advice. I am still undecided, in particular because we had such a mild winter that I am looking at a longer growing season. My figs are starting to bud now, whereas last year (a very hard winter) it was mid-April before they looked like this. Therefore, I am leaning toward seeing what happens with the brebas. Of course, chances are they will just drop off anyhow, but it sure would be nice to have a few figs in early June.
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Zone 7b (Central Arkansas) Seven trees in the ground: Hardy Chicago, Celeste(?), LSU gold, Italian Black, Southern Brown Turkey(?), Strawberry Verte, and Unk yellow.  Trees in pots: VdB, CdD, and Sicilian?
GeneDaniels

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Likeo
How long does it take for a fig cutting to produce fruit?


For me it has been the second year, that is the year after you start the cutting. Although some on here report seeing figs the first year. But if that happened to me, I would remove the figs off a first year cutting so the plant could focus all its energy on development.
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Zone 7b (Central Arkansas) Seven trees in the ground: Hardy Chicago, Celeste(?), LSU gold, Italian Black, Southern Brown Turkey(?), Strawberry Verte, and Unk yellow.  Trees in pots: VdB, CdD, and Sicilian?
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