Register  |   | 
 
Encanto Farms Nursery > Topics > Mystery Fig "Rocco Carabetta"
 
 


Reply
  Author   Comment  
AaronT

Registered:
Posts: 185
Posted Reply with quote  #1 

This is the tree that started it all for me. Family lore has it that my wife's grandfather, Rocco Carabetta, brought this tree with him from Grotteria in Reggio Calabria when he came to this country in 1921. It survived several Pittsburgh winters unprotected after my father-in-law passed away. Now that it is being cared for again we get nice large crops of beautiful golden-green figs with a small eye, amber interior, and a taste like pure honey. It is a vigorous grower and we have to lop several feet off of it every year to get it under the tarps.


The first picture is a fig from last year. The other two were taken yesterday. That is a main crop fig on the branch I think. The brebas should ripen in a few weeks.
__________________
Pittsburgh, Pennsyltucky
Zone 6b give or take
afigfan

Avatar / Picture

Registered:
Posts: 220
Posted Reply with quote  #2 
If you ever need a home for the limbs you lop off every year to get the tarp to fit I'm sure there would be a lot of interest among the forum members. Beautiful looking fig and great history!
__________________
-James
In search of: Gypsy/Zingarella, Cammuna Small Black, and Barada cuttings(even one bud wonders)
AaronT

Registered:
Posts: 185
Posted Reply with quote  #3 
Thanks. I did just send a few out to a forum member in a trade since it needed a little pruning, but I'll definitely be taking requests in the fall.

Aside from this I've got a lattatula and a generic "dwarf" purchased from catalogues and a few more mystery figs I aquired from a neighbor and another local collector. Hopefully they will start bearing in the next year or two so I can see what I have.
__________________
Pittsburgh, Pennsyltucky
Zone 6b give or take
brahms74

Registered:
Posts: 67
Posted Reply with quote  #4 
beautiful tree & beautiful story:-) 
Dieseler

Registered:
Posts: 8,252
Posted Reply with quote  #5 
Wonderful name.  ; )
JoAnn749

Avatar / Picture

Registered:
Posts: 1,184
Posted Reply with quote  #6 
Love it!  Beautiful picture of the fig on the table
__________________
Jo-Ann DFW TX, Zone 7b-8a Wish List: Black Madeira,, Kathleen's Black, Malta Black, Marseille VS Black, White Paradisio, LSU Scott's Black, Conadria, White Trianna, Marttineca Rimada, Excel, Peter's Honey, Bebera Preta (Abebereira), Strawberry Verte
BLB

Avatar / Picture

Registered:
Posts: 2,936
Posted Reply with quote  #7 

Nice looking tree and fruit, one for the light colored figs!
paully22

Registered:
Posts: 2,719
Posted Reply with quote  #8 
AaronT -- are you related to Fortisi ? He has a tree named Rocco after a relative. Nice looking fig.
lukeott

Registered:
Posts: 645
Posted Reply with quote  #9 
Hello Aaron,

Wanted to let you know I got 1 plant started and 3 more trying to start. You have to be patience with rooting this one. I'm thinking 12 to 16 weeks to root. Wish I tried a few in the peat moss to experiment to see if it would root sooner. I kinda went crazy with the bag method and only did a few in the peat. Also need to check with Boris Prejar about this tree, wondering if he has the same tree. I know you can't compare cuttings, but the one unknown one he has resembles yours in a couple ways. They both have the same type thick branch with the green ( not sure if it's leaf or branch ) nubs. Plus it also is very long to root. I'm not sure if his has rooted yet and his are over 16 weeks. Most other cuttings if not rooted by then, I beleive would rot. The one that rooted only has one leaf the last I looked at it. Hope they come along because it sure one I want in my collection.


luke
ejp3

Avatar / Picture

Registered:
Posts: 668
Posted Reply with quote  #10 

You mention that the eye is tight on this fig, otherwise it looks to me like sicilian white-at least the first picture-but all the sic. whites I have seen have a fairy open eye.  The second picture looks like either peters honey or lattarula
__________________
Ed NY zone 7
Wish list  CDD Blanca/Negra
FMD

Avatar / Picture

Registered:
Posts: 1,327
Posted Reply with quote  #11 
Pretty fig, Aaron.
It does look a lot like the white figs I ate in Calabria, over a year ago. Looking forward to rooting this baby.

Frank
__________________
Frank
Tallahassee, FL Zone 8b  
 

North Florida Figs
paully22

Registered:
Posts: 2,719
Posted Reply with quote  #12 
ejp3 -- the 1st pic(ripe fig) looks like my White Fig from Grimo nursery. It is also similar to my Latarrula. The 2nd pic looks like both my Latarrula & White Fig. I am pretty sure my White Fig from Grimo is Latarrula. Bummer. Likely it could have been a mixed up by Grimo or poor labelling as they also sell Latarrula.
AaronT

Registered:
Posts: 185
Posted Reply with quote  #13 
Thanks for the comments everyone.

Paully, I'm not related to fortisi (as far as I know). I guess his family and my wife's just share the same good taste in names! My experience of figs is limited, but it does sound a lot like the descriptions I have read of lattarula. I was having such a hard time rooting it that I actually ordered a lattarula a couple of years back. After a couple of rough winters it finally has some figs on it so I may find out this year.

Luke, thanks for sharing your experience. I think you are right about it taking a long time to root. The one really successful cutting I have this year took about four months months before I was sure it had rooted.

ejp3, I consider the eye to be fairly tight, but my experience is limited. I plan to take a lot more pictures of the fruit this year so I can take advantage of the wide base of knowledge here.

Frank, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this when you get the cuttings. To my wife's family it is enough that the tree is part of the family heritage, but anything we can find out about it is appreciated!

Aaron
__________________
Pittsburgh, Pennsyltucky
Zone 6b give or take
AaronT

Registered:
Posts: 185
Posted Reply with quote  #14 

I have two cuttings from this one that are still alive. One looks very healthy and one is limping along with one leaf. Interestingly I have one other that has been potted for months with no action. It still had nice green buds on the tip, but absolutely no other signs of life. It is a slow rooter, indeed!

The healthy looking cutting seemed to have stagnated though. I had it in a pot of mostly sand mixed with a little potting soil so I theorized it might just need a better home. Last Sunday I pulled it out of the pot and saw a web of very thin, spidery roots. I carefully put it in a larger pot filled with a mix of pine bark fines and compost and so far, so good!

Notice how the earlier leaves are darker and the ones that formed later are lighter. I'm not sure what caused that. The darker leaves are mis-shapen because a cat chewed on them! To ensure domestic tranquility I let the cat live.
__________________
Pittsburgh, Pennsyltucky
Zone 6b give or take
AaronT

Registered:
Posts: 185
Posted Reply with quote  #15 
Just a little update on this fig since harvest time has started. The second cutting from this JUST started opening a bud to make a leaf yesterday. The cutting was taken last November, refrigerated over the winter, and potted up in March. To say it is a slow rooter is an understatement! Luckily it is easily air rooted.

I am still trying to ID this. I have heard Italian/Peter's Honey and Lattarula mentioned. I have a Lattarula myself and while they appear similar, the taste is different to me. Here is the tree in all of it's glory along with some shots of the figs.

As you can see, the figs are a golden to light green color. When fully ripe the eye sometimes opens very slightly, but not always. It also maintains some of the ribbing that is so prominent on the younger figs. The taste is out of this world. It is very honey-sweet and very crunchy.
__________________
Pittsburgh, Pennsyltucky
Zone 6b give or take
dkirtexas

Registered:
Posts: 1,334
Posted Reply with quote  #16 
Beautiful Tree!  Looks very healthy.

Thx
Danny K
Marshall Tx
__________________
Thx, glad to be here

Danny K "EL CAZADOR DE HIGO"
Waskom Tx Zone 7B/8

Wish list: anything anyone wants me to have. LSU RED.  Any LSU fig.
DesertDance

Avatar / Picture

Registered:
Posts: 4,518
Posted Reply with quote  #17 
That is a beautiful tree and a beautiful little girl next to it!

Thanks for sharing!

Suzi
__________________
Zone 9b, Southern California. "First year they sleep, Second year they creep, Third year they leap!"  Wish List:  I wish all of you happy fig collecting!  My wishes have been fulfilled!
lukeott

Registered:
Posts: 645
Posted Reply with quote  #18 
Hello Aaron, That is a beautiful tree. I need to get my son to post pics of my cuttings from you. There doing great. Also like to add, for some reason, I thought you would be a little taller and older.


luke
AaronT

Registered:
Posts: 185
Posted Reply with quote  #19 
Ha ha, glad your cuttings made it. I have had such terrible luck with them over the years I almost felt guilty sending them out! That dashing youg fellow in the last picture is my son Rocco. He breaks my heart by refusing to even try a fig, but since he is only five I am hoping to be able to convert him eventually.
__________________
Pittsburgh, Pennsyltucky
Zone 6b give or take
Gina

Avatar / Picture

Registered:
Posts: 2,260
Posted Reply with quote  #20 

I love it - the tree, the kid, the neighborhood - a slice of America.

Thanks for sharing. :)
__________________


WillsC's new fig forum:   http://www.Ourfigs.com  (and blueberries)
SEGeo

Registered:
Posts: 517
Posted Reply with quote  #21 
Aaron,

This tree puts on some good growth! If you are offering air layers or cutting I would be interested in getting some from you. In my area we can overwinter most figs outdoors with no protection. 


Chris
__________________
Chris Fairchild
Virginia Beach, Va.
USDA Hardiness Zone 8a
Graduate Student - Engineering and GeoScience
***I assume all my figs carry FMV***

Wish List:
snaglpus

Avatar / Picture

Registered:
Posts: 4,072
Posted Reply with quote  #22 
Your fig could very be Byadi.  You can see a picture of Byadi on Bass's website.  I have this tree in my orchard and it grows 10 feet from my Latturula.  My Lattrulla looks exactly like your fig but so does my Byadi.  I know everyone goes to Jon's fig varieties page to look up fig pictures.  Now I love Jon and he is a dear friend but there are so many of his figs that do not look like mine.  I know sometimes pictures get mixed up and if you look at his Marseilles page his Lattarulla and Marseilles fig is red inside.  Mine are not.  My Italian Honey and Marseilles fig are idential but pure white inside.  Jon has the fig wasp at his location so, that wasp does alter the growth, flavor, taste, interior color of a fig.  As a matter of fact, the one thing I noticed at UC Davis last year was every fig I tasted and I tasted them all, every one had large seeds inside.  One year, my Marseilles did not turn yellow when they ripen.  They stayed green and white but extremely sweet.  This year, the figs are yellow when ripe and look identical to Latturula.  I view Jon's pictures just about every day.  Last year the main picture for Adriatic and Marseilles were the same.  I contacted Jon and now the problem has been corrected .  Also Jon has Lemon and Marseilles listed as the same.  I disagree.  I have both trees Lemon and Marseilles.  My lemon trees came from Petal from the Past and are 4 years old.  Both Lemon trees fruited this year.  Neither fig was ribbed like Lattarula.  Every one was smooth and bright yellow.  My Lemon figs are large and shaped like LSU Gold but taste different.  But I do believe your fig is Byadi.

Here are a few pics of my Marseilles figs when they were green.

Attached Images
jpeg Picture_400_1.jpg (994.35 KB, 8 views)
jpeg Picture_401_1.jpg (998.19 KB, 10 views)
jpeg Picture_404_1.jpg (997.91 KB, 17 views)
jpeg Picture_414_1.jpg (997.69 KB, 10 views)
jpeg Picture_418_1.jpg (996.89 KB, 7 views)
jpeg Picture_406_1.jpg (994.57 KB, 116 views)


__________________
Dennis
Charlotte, North Carolina/Zone 8a 
AaronT

Registered:
Posts: 185
Posted Reply with quote  #23 
Well Dennis, if it is Byadi the mystery deepens! This tree was supposedly brought over from Grotteria, in Regio Calabria, around 1921. Now it is certainly possible that Signore Carabetta got the fig after he emigrated here, but the community he was living in was mainly Italian. I'm not sure how he would have gotten a Syrian fig, but it is certainly a possibility.

I should have a ton of cuttings available when we but the tree to bed in November. I have a baby due right around that time though, so I can't make any promises right now, sorry!
__________________
Pittsburgh, Pennsyltucky
Zone 6b give or take
Previous Topic | Next Topic
Print
Reply