I found this fig tree not far from the house (8a/b). The owner said they got the tree at Home Depot, but do not remember what variety. Any ideas?

The owner said the figs get "brown", but she also said she had never seen a black fig before. So, they can't get too dark. They did say the figs were usually ripe by late July (in Houston).

The good news, if it is something worth having, is that I can have as many cutting as I want. She said that I could come back an pick all the figs too, if I could get to them before the birds. She also said that her husband hates the tree, and that I could dig up the whole thing if I wanted. Not possible as it is at least 15 ft tall.

Sorry for the few pics. Most turned out blurry.

CliffH

I was going out to the car late last night. The previous night and early morning before we had lost a bunch of figs to some critter. So for the heck of it, I took a flashlight and shined it on our large fig tree while I was outside. Sure enough, I saw a pair of eyes shining back at me. On closer inspection there were two young possums helping themselves to all our figs!

I am happy to report that they are both now permanently visiting their possum ancestors. A possum, due to health reasons and others, is one animal that we will always kill on sight if found in our yard. Being in our fig tree just made the decision that much easier.

Hopefully now we can get the rest of our figs, sharing only a few with the birds....

I was at a nursery on the far north side of Houston this morning. They had a large yellow fig tree that the said was a Banana fig. It was covered in large yellowing figs. Pics attached. The pulp is actually a dark amber, and not really the pale red.

I asked if they had this fig in stock. They said no. But said that we could take a bunch of figs home. We loaded a plastic grocery bag mostly full. And as we were about to leave a worker there said that I could take a couple of small cuttings if I wanted. They are in the moss to root.

CliffH.

Still trying to ID the tree in my original post. The tree in our yard. I have looked at many fig trees at local nurseries. None of the them looks like our tree. Not when you compare the leaves and young fruit.

But please look at the new attached pics. This tree is in our neighborhood, and I was told that I can take as many cutting as I want. This time I do really think it is a Celeste. But, being a fig newbie, I wanted to ask here. I plan to use the cuttings from this tree to practice my propagation, since I can get many free cuttings.

Thanks to everyone here, for all the great information!

CliffH.



Edited (7/3): Removed pics of Celeste tree in the neighborhood to prevent any confusion.

rcantor - I sympathize on your data lose. A while back our main network storage hard drive died, with about 15 years worth of data and pictures on it. I freaked out. I worked for weeks getting the data back. I still loss a little of it.

-chh

Thanks everyone for the input and ideas! I have added several more data fields to the database that I started with. Fields that I had not thought of, and I am not sure I will use. But other people might (container info, etc).

Hi Gene - I am "shamelessly ripping off a few of your ideas, and some of your data, if not the whole spreadsheet. Hope you don't mind. I would return the favor, by e-mailing your the Access database when I am finished. But it has been a long time since I did any DB work, and I am not having much time right now. So it may take a few weeks.

Jerry - I would also be interest in your Evernote document. I use that app too. BTW, love your part of Texas. We have camped at the lake there frequently in the past, and plan to come back this summer.

Mara - I had the thought about adding basic variety/cultivar data to the database itself couple of days ago, as well. I started working on collecting that data today.

Cliff H.

Hi All,

Okay, this is a follow up to my intro post. It was suggested that I post pictures of the tree that was in the yard when we bought our new home, so that someone could help with the ID. Here are several pics.

With me living in Houston, I am fairly sure that the tree is a Celeste or possible a Texas Everbearing. I have not seen the ripe fruit yet (just moved in a couple of months ago). There was a small breba crop, but they all dropped while pretty young. Not sure how old the tree is either, but house is 8 yrs old.

And before someone comments on there being too much shade, there really isn't anything I can do about that. Well, short of cutting down some other 30 - 40 ft tall trees that is.

- Cliff

I am new to growing figs. But, I have to confess that I am a long time computer geek (professionally). I'm looking for the best way to track a collection of fig trees. Including dates, source, and source type (nursery tree, cuttings, etc). Those type of things. Along with some logging on the tree's growth.

What does everyone use? Really looking for something (software) on the computer. I started creating a database myself. But I thought that I would ask before going to that trouble.

PS  -  I still plan to post some pics of the unknown tree we got with the new house. But, been busy dealing with lots of rain, and a little flooding. So, no pics yet.


Cliff H.

I just wanted to introduce myself. I just found this forum, and have spent hours and hours reading. I have always wanted a fig tree. One of my earliest memories is of climbing a large fig tree in my grandmothers backyard, and eating figs right off the tree.

The family just moved to the far north Houston, Texas, area. We now have enough space for a few fruit trees! The previous owners even left a good sized fig tree (variety unknown so far).

I can already see that my wish for a fig tree is soon going to become an obsession and another collection addiction. At least it seems that I will be in good company.....  :-)

I have already purchased a handful of trees from a good local nursery, and I am working on collecting some cuttings. Looking at local Texas and Louisiana varieties to get started.

PS - I also went a little crazy with planting citrus trees too, since we are in Houston.

I look forward to being able to contribute to the great forum.

Cliff