Hello everyone and Happy New Year!!!

Can anyone share his/her experience with Italian 88?

Thank you very much!

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/italian-88-problem-6338348

I have this variety, 1st year plant. I left one fig on it to try it out, but cold weather caught up to it this year. Maybe next year.

Rooted easily, no fruit yet.

I hope results in other areas are better than with the mother tree at Prusch Park in San Jose.  In September, member posturedoc and myself went to Prusch and this we both thought it was the most "blah" we had ever tasted.  It's puzzling that this fig was so poor since Todd Kennedy must have had some reason to import it.  Hopefully, it will do better in a different climate.  Here is a photo I took of the fruit we tasted (we both spit it out):

 

Well, this thread and the other linked info are enough for me to put this one on the back burner. Granted, it may prove worthy during one of our occasional hot, dry summers. But I have far too many other great cuttings to work with over spending my time & effort on one that may or may not be worth a fart.

Sorry I-88. You'll have to take another number and wait in the lobby - figuratively speaking ;} . 

this is the kind of fig that keeps martin away from light figs. 

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1277977468&postcount=2

Bill, I feel the same way as you. I've got a 1 year old tree that I may keep in a pot for now since my land space is limited. I'd rather save the space for proven winners.

[QUOTE=HarveyC]I hope results in other areas are better than with the mother tree at Prusch Park in San Jose.  In September, member posturedoc and myself went to Prusch and this we both thought it was the most "blah" we had ever tasted.  It's puzzling that this fig was so poor since Todd Kennedy must have had some reason to import it.  Hopefully, it will do better in a different climate.  Here is a photo I took of the fruit we tasted (we both spit it out):
 [/QUOTE]

I've tasted figs a few times a Prusch and to be honest they don't impress. The only tree I thought was excellent there turned out to be a VdB. I've probably only had fruit off a dozen of the trees though.

I wonder if there is something missing in the soil there, or trees aren't being cared for optimally. I doubt the guy who brought the fig from Italia said "Man, this fig is nasty, lemme bring some cuttings to America". Probably tasted good.

I'm curious to see how everyone's cuttings turn out in a few years and get a better picture than having a single tree in Prusch be the only reference. 

I'm curious if it will work out well for others also but both Neil and I did enjoy several figs during our visit at Prusch and this was the only fig that we thought was bad.  It is the most vigorous tree at Prusch.  Some trees were seriously stressed and I expressed concerns to a few folks involved in overseeing the orchard and they later learned that the park had accidentally forgot to turn the water supply back on after making a repair to a broken line.  Some trees didn't have fruit to taste but several had enough for at least one or two good samples.  We both liked Lampiera and Igo quite a bit.

Harvey, any info on whether Igo needs to be pollinated? I've read yes and no.

I don't believe the Igo from Prusch needs to be pollinated/caprified.  There are not any caprifigs there and I didn't notice any near the park.  I know wasps can fly a good distance but in my own personal experience where a wild caprifig was growing about 1,500' from my Marabout c. Smyrna fig I never had fruit set until this year when I placed some of the caprifigs around the tree.  There is another fig out there with different characteristics that also is called Igo and I'm still trying to find out which one is the true Igo fig (my money is on the Prusch tree), but the other one is grown by folks without a wasp so I don't think it needs the wasp either.

I'm getting in on this conversation late. Ditto everything Harvey wrote about IT 88, Pursch Igo and Lampeira; the latter two were excellent, better than VDB that mid-late September day, in my opinion.

For those of you who have IT 88, if you're one of the folks who would like to experiment with grafting great but slow growing varieties like the CdDs etc, IT 88 might serve as an excellent rootstock. It's a huge tree at Prusch.

if it's truly an import from italy.. why would someone bring in something that doesn't really taste all that good? i know CdDs do fine in nc. taste awesome and ripen in late oct for the 2nd yr tree. if other trees are of any indication, it should ripen around mid aug/sept this yr, providing weather gets back it the norm. maybe it was some inside joke. 

[QUOTE=bullet08]if it's truly an import from italy.. why would someone bring in something that doesn't really taste all that good? i know CdDs do fine in nc. taste awesome and ripen in late oct for the 2nd yr tree. if other trees are of any indication, it should ripen around mid aug/sept this yr, providing weather gets back it the norm. maybe it was some inside joke. [/QUOTE]

I don't know Todd Kennedy, though Harvey has had some conversations with him. He owned a nursery for years though I believe he is retired now. Judging from what I've learned 2nd and third hand of Todd, I doubt IT 88 was a joke. It must have been a good fig in Roman environs. It's worth noting that there isn't much of a difference between Rome and San Jose weather wise, at least where average highs and lows are concerned. San Jose is a little warmer through the winter and Rome has daily and nightly average temps that are about 5-6 degrees warmer from June-August. Rome had double the annual precipitation too, and gets a decent amount in late summer/early fall while San Jose is generally dry until late October/November. Too much precipitation during ripening strikes me as a bad thing for IT 88. I really can't see how it would be a far better fig where Todd collected it than it is in San Jose. (Wow, am I spending too much time trying to decipher the motivations behind collecting what is definitely the worst fig variety I've ever tasted!)

Todd collected the Italian numbered figs in Rome in the 1980s but lost the master list of names, so they were given numbers instead. I don't understand the numbering system, however, since, according to this oft linked list, it appears to start with IT 88 and end at IT 395 with only 15 other varieties lumped in between. That list isn't exhaustive, however, because both Prusch Park and Davis have IT 253. I doubt there are 378 other Italian numbered figs out there somewhere. Weird.

Maybe Harvey has more information about the logic behind the Italian numbering system and these figs in general.

Looks like the best "I" Series figs are I-258 and I- 395.

Mark Albert, a friend from NorCal has told me that 376 is his favorite, so I'm growing that also.  His name is referred to on the list Neil linked above.

I believe Todd is still an attorney practicing law in agricultural matters and still seeks out new and interesting fruits and operates a small nursery with Pat Schafer whose name also appears on the list.

I have no idea whatsoever about the numbering scheme.

I did recently communicate with Todd but not about figs.  I also grow some tejecote and was sharing my experiences with him after reading this article: http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Quest-for-tejocotes-in-U-S-bears-fruit-at-last-5091747.php

I wonder if, perhaps, a version of Italian 88 grown on poor soil with little moisture would result in a more intensely-flavored fig.  I don't believe the tree at Prusch had received water anytime recently when we visited in September (some other trees had become defoliated due to some accidentally turning off the water system), but the soils there are deep and possibly held sufficient moisture for this vigorous monster to pump out an abundant crop of bland figs.  Maybe it was just considered potentially valuable for it's vigor and productivity in some breeding project.

[QUOTE=HarveyC]
I wonder if, perhaps, a version of Italian 88 grown on poor soil with little moisture would result in a more intensely-flavored fig.  I don't believe the tree at Prusch had received water anytime recently when we visited in September (some other trees had become defoliated due to some accidentally turning off the water system), but the soils there are deep and possibly held sufficient moisture for this vigorous monster to pump out an abundant crop of bland figs.  Maybe it was just considered potentially valuable for it's vigor and productivity in some breeding project.[/QUOTE]

IT 88 is the last fig in its row before the stone fruit orchard starts. Do you suppose the stone fruits are on a different water system from the figs? If so, 88 could have swiped plenty of water from the stone fruit system. Same for Beall, which is also a very large tree at Prusch and the last in it's row, though IT 358, in the row between those two and also abutting the stone fruits, was super stunted and defoliated when we were there, but it was still alive. Fig mysteries abound!

Bump.

Anyone get to taste there IT 88 figs from cuttings? Curious to a verdict on this one.

Looking at the photo of the cut open fig above it seems far from ripe.  I won't pass judgement until I see pictures of ripe figs and an assessment of their flavor  :)

[QUOTE=rcantor]Looking at the photo of the cut open fig above it seems far from ripe.  I won't pass judgement until I see pictures of ripe figs and an assessment of their flavor  :)[/QUOTE]

They were ripe, just blah