Picked my fist Beall figs of the year first time posting pics so I hope it works

Jim,
Good job on posting pictures!
That's a nice looking fig and even better knowing that you grew it local. I have a few questions: Taste? Breba/main? Age? Potted? Florikan CRF? Size of the breba/main crop?

i started out with 3. it's gonna be about 8 in coming spring. every time i see picture like that, i want more. that's a good looking fig there.

pete

Its main crop the flavor was pretty flat it was not quite ripe and the plant is in grow mode lots of fertilizer this spring.
Its  2 years old in a 7 gal pot I will put it in the ground next spring and change my fertilizer to get less growth and better tasting figs.

Jim, what was the taste like?  I have one or two Bealls rooted lsat year from UCD.  One of them had fruit but it had a little rot at the end of one fig, it fell off and the other disappeared.

@JD, do you have a Beall?  Hit me up if you're interested.  If we can manage to hook up w/John this Friday, I'll bring one with the other trees.  (I show I had two in october, I assume I still have one xtra)

Hi Jason
Not much flavor yet but I really gave it the fertilizer this sping to get plenty of growth I expect it will have much better flavor next year.

does fertilizer dilute flavor?

pete

Youth and immaturity in a tree does ;)

I believe I read that alot of nitrogen also affects flavor.
But I may be wrong set me strait guys :)

No liquid I just fertilized with alot of Nutricoat when I put it in the 7gal pot I used 9 month slow release but in this heat only lasts 6 months so it should wear out in September just in time to harden off.
At least thats the plan

but i have also read people using liquid fertilizer with no issue. lot of what i'm reading is that some figs get better with age.

although, i have read not to use fertilizer when fig start to swell.

pete

Jim:You are in Florida.
This fig will be excellent for your climate,but watch the nitrogen,because this fig is only Marginally hardy,so next Spring will die down to soil line at the first Spring frost.
As for the taste,the first fruit is always like that,mediocre,but the future fruits will be very good tasting I fruited it over the years,but my plant has a hard time staying alive trough the winter here in NJ.

It is good to hear that first fruit is mediocre. I have tasted my first VdB from my young tree yeasterday. It was really pretty good. So, I have something to look forward if it gets better with age.

Karla

Thanks Herman
I will watch the nitrogen I am looking foward to tasting it next year.

Feeding a fig tree too much nitrogen WILL DELAY (not might) the ripening time of its figs.  LSU fig research has pointed this out........Baud has too and he cautions not to use too much nitrogen.  IMO, this may make a big difference for growing figs in a northern climate. And using a high nitrogen ratio fertilizer MAY NOT be the best choice. Some people get mad at me for pointing out this fact.

I agree with Alan. I have not seen any reports about how fertilizer affects actual flavor. However, immaturity of tree, wet conditions, solar heat unit delivery (think incident angle of the sun),  and cooler average daytime/nighttime temperatures........... all of these variables can affect the overall flavor of a fig in a negative way.

FYI.....the farther south you grow a fig the better the "incident angle" of the sun becomes for heat unit delivery. I am not talking about average air "temperature" here......although average air temperature most definitely affects flavor too.  There is a difference between the two variables and IMO both can affect flavor.  Some varieties just need more heat units (better incident angle of the sun) for them to develop the BEST flavor possible.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Thanks for the information Dan
I am always looking to get all the information I can.

My plan with the figs has been to use a higher N ratio the first year or so to get a bigger healthier plant and then change to a balanced fertilizer for fig production.
You said this would not be good for a northern climate I am in North Florida would it still be a bad idea?
Thanks

Fig trees do not need much fertilizer. To maximize in ground tree growth....you need to focus on the development of a good root system. You do that by keeping the ground ALWAYS moist for at least the first year of a fig tree's life after it has been planted in the ground. I cannot over emphasize just how important that is.... I've written about this many times before in other threads on this forum and on the GW fig forum.

When I have more pictures and documentation, I will be expressing my thoughts on the fertilization of in-ground fig trees as a function of their fig flush cycle. That in turn is connected to the ideal time to take summer cuttings in our area. I have seen no discussion of fig flush cycles on either fig forums.......and I will share with this community what I have discovered in my research.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus 

These are in pots.
The ones in ground are planted with lots of organic matter, mulched with a 6" layer of partially composted leaves to hold moisture and are on  drip irrigation and never allowed to dry out

Your plan sounds sound for what you are trying to achieve. Using that water soluble (i.e.liquid) fertilzer later in the season is a better choice for type of fertilizer to use.  If you were to use slow release and/or granular fertilizer......it will still be releasing months after you apply it. This can cause undesirable new growth late into the growing season where it will not have enough time to lignify properly. Tender green growth late in the season is easily damaged by cold winter temperatures.......so you could lose all that new growth if you apply fertilizer too late. Liquid fertilizer gives you better control of when your plant actually sees those added nutrients.

Thanks
I don't fertilize but once I use 9 month nutricote when I pot them up.
With the heat here it will only last 6 months so I should not get to much late season growth

I'm in zone 9 and grow all of my figs in the ground......with the exception of my new starts and my back up trees. I know first hand how to get some real good size on figs trees that are planted in the ground. Insufficient moisture is the NUMBER ONE cause of slow fig tree growth........ for all of  those who try to grow figs in my area. So many people have heard that fig trees grow and produce in dry conditions and they believe that they do not need much water. WRONG WRONG WRONG. 

While it is true they do not need much water when mature......they do, however, benefit GREATLY from having an always moist soil during their formative years.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

That is correct Allen.....

The incident angle is one of the reasons some figs (not all of them) will taste MUCH better in my zone 9 yard than say a zone 7 yard. You can micro climate a "temperature" change for your the conditions under which your fig tree grows.  However,  you CANNOT change the "incident angle" of the sun..........that simply is affected by your particular latitude. IMO, that is why I live in fig Paradise #2. One forum member in the northeast got mad at me for actually saying that all my figs taste real good......but, most of them do when they have the proper heat units delivered to them. It is BOTH an "average" temperature and a sun incident angle thingy........

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Now that might be a bit naive, but could you change the angle? I gues mirors would be a bit dengerous because of fire. Is it possible that greenhouse does change an angle your plants get sun?

Karla

So, would only latitude impact the angle or does Longitude play some role as well. I compared some latitudes and it looks like Charlotte, nc is almost same latitude ass Malta. Bordeaux, France is same latitude as Bangor, Maine. Now, I know there are other factors like proximity to the ocean, the fact that Europe seems warmer and so on, but how important is the angle of the sun in your opinion?

Karla

It has to do with the amount of atmosphere that the sunlight needs to pass through, right? Similar to morning and afternoon sun?

Karla, you have the right idea about other factors causing different climates at the same latitude, altitude, ocean currents, mountains, all can create very different climate conditions. Also, North America and Europe are connected to the arctic which is why we get freezing weather for periods that is unheard of in places like Tierra Del Fuego and New Zealand.

That is correct Brent......

It has to do with part of the light spectrum that is removed by the atmosphere and with its angled approach which can reflect some of it back into space. The closer to a 90 degree approach, the stonger the light that hits the ground. The maco climatic conditons as well as the micro climate conditons which we can manipulate to our advantage where the sunlight hits the ground is what affects the those "average" temperatures that our fig tree receives. The USDA zones are caclulated based on AVERAGE atmosheric temperataure ranges and not on total sunlight that is actually received.
They are related but just not the same parameter.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Alan,

It is not the "longitude" itself  that is making those clmatic changes.....it is the actual geography of the local landscape at that particular longitude in which the fig tree grows. Things llike these macro climate changers: like gulf stream currents, mountain ranges, flat plains, nearby streams nearby lakes, nearby oceans, deserts, total rainfall, etc., etc., etc.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

I am sure that there is a more scientific way of taking actual measurements. However, I like the way H2 uses the terms "needs more heat units" when he describes some of his figs. That works for me. And it is one important reason WHY some of my figs will taste better than those grown in other more northern areas.

Also, soil type defintely plays into this "flavor" changing element too. As soil "type" can definitely affect the sugar to acid ratio in many fruits. It is a little known fact that Louisiana produces some of the best "tasting" citrus in the US.......and that has to do with a very good sugar to acid ratio.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Hi Allan,
Altitute makes a difference for about the same reasons that lattitude does.
The higher up you are the less atmosphere there is to filter the sun's rays.
Grant
Z5b

I was compelled to check out Malta's climate on Wikipedia, I have been a long time user and more recently a supporter. i cannot imagine a world without Wikipedia. Malta's climate is very interesting:
[quote]Malta has a Subtropical-Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa)^[2][3], with mild winters and warm to hot summers. Rain occurs mainly in winter, with summer being generally dry. There is no real thermal dormant season for plants, although plant growth can be checked briefly by abnormal cold in winter (patches of ground frost may occur in inland locales), and summer heat and aridity may cause vegetation to wilt. Effectively there are only two seasons, which makes the islands attractive for tourists, especially during the drier months. However, strong winds can make Malta feel cold during the springtime. Large fluctuations in temperature are rare.

Average annual temperature of the sea is 20 °C (68 °F) (the highest in the continent of Europe), from 16 °C (61 °F) in January to 26 °C (79 °F) in August. In the entire 6 months – from June to November – the average sea temperature exceeds 21 °C (70 °F) ^[70]

Sunshine hours total around 3,000 per year (one of the highest results in Europe), from an average above five hours of sunshine per day in December to an average above 12 hours in July.^[70] This is about double that of cities in the northern half of Europe, for comparison: London – 1,461,^[71] however in winter up to some times more sunshine, for comparison: London has 37 hours^[71] while Malta has 155 or 164 (depending on the sources) hours of sunshine in December.[/quote]

Srry I should have used quotes, that is all direct from the wiki page. All of those links pasted straight from the page, nice huh?

Malta sounds cool, or hot rather, I bet the figs are extra sweet.

You could have wrapped the text in a QUOTE tag.

More info on BBCODE and how to use it for anyone interested in doing all kinds of custom crap (ever wonder how others do it?) can be found HERE

Thanks Jason, I learn something new everyday.