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martino

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
Has anyone been able to confirm varieties that still fruit well in shade or with just little sun? A quick search throws up Osborne prolific as one but anymore?
jenniferarino83

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
JH Adriatic
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shah8

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
Petite Negri does well in part shade in Atlanta.
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Especially desired figs: UCD 187-25, UCD 200-48, UCD 157-17, UCD 309-B1, Princesa, Black Madeira, high quality sugar fig that ripens Sept-Oct.

Probable desired fig: Smith, St Jean, JH Adriatic, CddB, Gulbun, Pastilliere, Sucrette

Rooting:  Smith, CDDB--this pretty much means I have my fun tries (tho' important since they are truly desirable), and only interested for this year: Gulbun, BM, 187-25, or something wildly exotic or precious that nobody has any good reason to send me.
persianmd2orchard

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
Early varieties and small fruiting varieties in theory. Then they'll have a long  time before it gets cold to (hopefully) slowly ripen in that shade. I have one Chicago Hardy in part shade doing ok. You may dwarf the tree a bit, production, and flavor--in general though. How many hours of sun are we talkin?
persianmd2orchard

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
Maybe someone else knows about complete shade. I'd avoid any late variety, any big fruit variety.
martino

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
I am curious to know if any variety would fruit in

1. complete shade. Looks like Adriatic JH can.

2. 2-3 hrs of sun.

I think most can fruit once there is at least 4-5 hrs of sun.
Herman2

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
Martino:If you are in Central California they will ripe in 4 to 5 hours of sun.tho they will be late,If not ,forget about it.
Your location is not disclosed,tho.
shah8

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
Shade does not affect the size of the fruit.

Shade does two things.  

First, the internodal distances are much further apart as the plant tries to reach for what sun there is.  That generally means fewer fruits.

And if there is two much shade, the fig doesn't produce at all.  I bet that if it does produce at all, it will ripen normally at normal speeds.  Big fruit and small fruits make no difference.  
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Especially desired figs: UCD 187-25, UCD 200-48, UCD 157-17, UCD 309-B1, Princesa, Black Madeira, high quality sugar fig that ripens Sept-Oct.

Probable desired fig: Smith, St Jean, JH Adriatic, CddB, Gulbun, Pastilliere, Sucrette

Rooting:  Smith, CDDB--this pretty much means I have my fun tries (tho' important since they are truly desirable), and only interested for this year: Gulbun, BM, 187-25, or something wildly exotic or precious that nobody has any good reason to send me.
OttawanZ5

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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
Shah
I am not sure if it is a valid observation  i.e. " I bet that if it does produce at all, it will ripen normally at normal speeds.  Big fruit and small fruits make no difference.  "

In my view time, sun and heat are factors in ripening. Only 'time' is the same in shade and sun. So  sunny place being normally warm will expedite ripening.
Mass of the fruit should make difference too, varieties with the smaller fruit being relatively early ripening.
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shah8

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
Much of that has to do with your latitude, I think.  
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Especially desired figs: UCD 187-25, UCD 200-48, UCD 157-17, UCD 309-B1, Princesa, Black Madeira, high quality sugar fig that ripens Sept-Oct.

Probable desired fig: Smith, St Jean, JH Adriatic, CddB, Gulbun, Pastilliere, Sucrette

Rooting:  Smith, CDDB--this pretty much means I have my fun tries (tho' important since they are truly desirable), and only interested for this year: Gulbun, BM, 187-25, or something wildly exotic or precious that nobody has any good reason to send me.
leon_edmond

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
Brogiotto Nero (Violette Sollies) is one.
persianmd2orchard

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Posted Reply with quote  #12 
To clarify what I said, shade does not affect the size of fruit (at least dramatically enough to notice).

Figs that are smaller sized varieties naturally (think Celeste/Chicago Hardy vs larger ones like Brunswick or Kadota) in my experience tend to ripen faster. That may be why some of the smaller varieties tend to be earlier varieties on their own as per Ottawan.

Sorry if it sounded like I said shade would give you smaller fruit. I meant if you have shade, go with smaller fruit since those tend to be less sun hungry. I could be wrong but I've only seen success in partial shade with small sized figs.


When growing things in shade I keep these generalizations/basics in mind:

1. A fruit that is smaller sized to start with (a raspberry vs. an orange) will likely need less photons of energy. Also a small bush vs. a large tree. The more mass there is and the more surface area there is, the more sun it may want to eat up for all its own molecules. This applies to figs in that fruit like Kadota if it's going to make a massive fruit it might take weeks from when its full size fruit to now when it changes color and ripens fully. As opposed to my Chicago hardy a smaller fruiting fig, once reached full size fig but green ripens fast in a couple days.

2. Any lay lowing fruiting plant is less sun crazy by heart as it is OK with being underneath the canopy (think dates... although small fruit--tall trees as heck.)

3. The tarter a fruit is (think a tart cherry vs. a fig) the less sun it needs. Anything without an end old goal of being super sweet won't be as affected by less sun. Sun sweetens fruit.

4. An earlier variety is best so even though it's shade and you're getting say 50% of the light you want, well it will certainly slow down the ripening but maybe you have enough time before frost since it's early variety to make up for total sun exposure. Example, I have a chicago hardy in a couple hours of shade, it just ripens a week later than it should which it can afford to and still ripen with plenty of time before frost.

5. Production and flavor will be affected. Ripening at half speed, is not same as ripening at full speed. In terms of productivity--with citrus, not enough sun can limit blossoms from the get go.

6. Can the fruit ripen well off tree indoors picked? If so may be ok with less sun. I.e. persimmons.

Anyway, these are just basic common sense and also just generalizations with many exceptions. But keeping these in mind you can deduce most case by case shade questions across most fruits.

If you got shade, go with raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and pawpaws!
persianmd2orchard

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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
BTW I have a Brunswick-like unknown in partial shade and one in full sun.

The full sun one gave about 20:1 production this year. And the shade one gave its fruit fruit 6 weeks later. 9 hours sun vs. 3-4 hrs sun. Now moving the brunswick unknown, chicago hardy in a similar shaded spot but I think with 5 hrs of sun did well. The unknown will be moved and berries are going there instead which seem to be doing great in that spot.

Anyway, your mileage may vary, especially if you have enough heat maybe shade won't slow down as much as here in VA. But shade certainly slows things down here.
persianmd2orchard

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Posted Reply with quote  #14 
Delicious herbs (basil, regular mint, spearmint, rosemary, cilantro) will also do OK with minimal sun.
apnoist

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 
Morena
Fig de Parfüm
Rewton

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Posted Reply with quote  #16 
I am thinking of putting a San Pedro type of fig (Filacciano Bianco) in a partially shaded area that gets about 5-6 hours of direct sun.  The rationale is that since this variety ripens its figs early in the season (around July here in MD) that even if the shade slows it down it should still easily ripen prior to the Fall.  On the other hand tiny figlets will need to form prior to dormancy to become brebas the next season. F. Bianca is also a medium (to large) sized fig so that would argue against its success in a shady area.  Anyway, I'm curious what experience others have had with San Pedro figs in partial shade.

Steve
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Steve MD zone 7a
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Posted Reply with quote  #17 
my four year old hardy chicago is in morning sun and just a little after noon. shaded by large trees the rest of the time. this past winter i over pruned as you can see by the first pic. the second is it now. and the 3rd shows some figs. there are nearly 100 figs.

I bought this from hirts garden from thier ebay account. as you can see its doing great.

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Dave Zone 6b Illinois

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Rewton

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Posted Reply with quote  #18 
Thanks Dave - I was thinking about putting a Mt. Etna type in that same location as well.  It sounds like it will do well there based on your experience.
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Steve MD zone 7a
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Posted Reply with quote  #19 
Not a problem. You can see the shade in the pics and that guy is loaded with figs.
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