San Diego, CA

This variety is grown for the breba crop in the cooler PNW region. The pix are of breba crops figs. It is a San Pedro type.I have main crop figs for the first time this year and will add pix later. Pix speaks for itself.

It will be interesting to hear about the results of main crop DK's from someone who has wasps. Will the quality be better than the breba and will they all hold on the tree?

This fig has so far been a real dud in SE North Carolina. I've had mine for two years with zero fruit and little growth. It is a stunted, little stick with a tuft of foliage. Meanwhile, other figs rooted at the same time are producing and dwarf Desert King. Heck, some rooted a year after DK are larger and producing. Can't win them all.

John

I agree with you . I have 4 of these trees that I rooted about 3 years ago . They all have weak growth with thin branches . For the first time I see 1 or 2 figs forming , but are main crop and have no chance of developing . But the last half of the summer they have started to put on some thicker more aggressive growth . It may just take a while for this variety to get going.
The cuttings were from my Uncles inground tree in Michigan and it's a monster .
Desert king is one of the best varieties in a short summer climate like mine . It is also a fantastic tasting fig , one of the best I've had , top 5 for sure . So don't give up on it yet .

John

This is great... not only do I get neat info on a different variety, I also know what day it is! Woot! :D Gotta love retirement!

Looks so delicious. What say ya Jon ?

I rooted a cutting last winter and it was my most aggressive grower of all the varieties I rooted. It even has a large marble sized fig growing on the new growth so I assume it would be a main crop fig?

Fantastic looking fig in that picture!

I posted my experience with Desert King in Denver CO here. It has been a relatively slow grower except for the sucker that came up this year, the sucker grew 4' even with pinching.
Interestingly my DK that I got from raintree has a different dominate leaf pattern and lighter pulp color than what Jon posted, though it does have pretty heavy FMV.
 

I just went out to check on mine.  I have seven I rooted this spring and they seem to be growing at least as well as everything else and maybe better than some.  They do show some signs of FMV on part of them  some don't show it.  So far I am happy.  I live about 40 mi. North of Atlanta Ga.

goss

um, does a name like that mean they can tolerate extremes   of heat and cold? or is that a marketing name?

hi everybody, I am Aaron and I just started my collection of fig trees last year. in very near future i will list and name all the varieties that i have , also the ones I wish to have.
Re: John, your post on 8/19.
I have found a way of giving my stunted new growing figs a big boost  by repotting them into a 3-5 gallon black nursery pots with rich Miracle Grow potting soil. Leave them there for up to 6 months, the results will amaze you, then you can put entire content of the nursery pot with your fig starter in the ground.
good luck ;)

Aaron B. III

OK, i want to share this. :)
The way I propagate any figs from cutting is such. ( and I am sure this is not news to any of you out there)
After I cut both ends of the Zion I deep both ends into melted Paraffin, this prevents the cuttings from dehydrating. 
Then I zip lock them with labeled bag and throw them in refrigerator for about 20 days.
After 20 days i open the zip lock and rap the cuttings in wet news paper and put them back in the zip lock but this time I place the bag in a dark warm place (in my case it's the pantry behind the kitchen).
In about 2 week but sometimes as fast as 1 week you will notice roots touching the zip lock bag. 
After you seen roots that are about 2 inches long you can plant them in small black nursery plastic pots with Miracle Grow.
Simple? 
100% success, I promise.

Sounds to easy...????   If you are really Aaron.....LOL     Don't get why putting them in the refrigerator is helpful...???  are they dormant...???   I could of missed something.

what do you mean by "If you are really Aaron"?

The Fig brunches don't have to be dormant, i did mines in summer when there were still fruit on them, just cut everything ...leaves and fruit then do it as I instructed.
Good luck ;)

Just a messin Aaron.....   Have Emelita200 and tamara on the Mind...LOL     A lot of Spamming and Hacking going on throughout the internet. People taking over peoples accounts......       

John and John,
I am also confused here by both the leaf of DK and colour of inside of the fruit?
I have purchased cuttings of DK and have rooted it, leves are different; one lobed and 3 lobed dominantly.
Also I received a 1 yr old plant from local old timer grower what I believe to be DK.
Mother plant bears one crop fruit only early in July to the end of July, fruit is not red inside but rather tan, and size and outside appearance matches that from your picture.
Are there different strains of DK out there?

Damir

Is Desert king a San Pedro type fig?

Yes

The King is a San Pedro type. It was developed and adapted to the NW low temps and short summer and it need caprification. It is not clear that the wasp will tolerate the cold climate.  Growing King in warmer zones with more light hours need rethinking. It is possible to experiment with it by tipping all new growth  and observe if Brebas are induced to form on the old wood early and late in spring. Another experiment is doing the opposit - taking off all tiny Brevas, fertigate heavily for the main crop season provided that caprification is possible in the warmer site.