My first year Bursa Siyahi from RR had around six to eight figs on it which didn’t ripen. I pulled off all but one, and am finally getting some color on it. Even the ones I pulled off and left at the base of the tree for the critters are turning dark. Harvey posted pictures of his BS figs which were ripe but green when he harvested them in September. My fig still feels firm, even though there is a drop of sap from the end. Do these figs ever soften up? 

 

Thank you Roamingwidgeteer, Dennis, Sas and Brianm.

Roamingwidgeteer, that’s a good point. I think I could keep the branches trimmed from growing directly over the house.

Dennis, I have a Zidi ready to plant that would be perfect for that location. Thanks again.

Sas, if that tree is a Celeste, do you think the Celeste Improved would get that big? I have one CI to plant, one CI Maybe, but they want to grow out with several side branches, not up, which is what I prefer for most plantings.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I wish there were more info on the final size of fig trees other than just saying they grow 8’-30’ tall. That’s a pretty wide range.

Sas, I've heard that you never plant banana trees next to the house -because they attract monkeys. That seems sensible. My neighbor has banana trees next to his house but I shouldn't comment on the behavior of his children. Whatever problems they have, you can't blame the banana trees. :)   

Dan, that is a large tree with large, flavorful fruit. What a find! 

Black Mission sounds like it gets pretty big. It’s not one of the thirty trees I need to find spaces for in the ground, but I wouldn’t mind getting another tree.
Pitangadiego says:”not all Black Missions are created equal, either. I would not trade mine for the one in the USDA collection, for instance.” http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1875043/black-jack-vs-black-mission

With all the mix ups, are there any nurseries that are reliable sources for Black Mission trees with good fruit? 

I don’t know if my CdDG is going to ripen or not. Should I give up on it? The last leaf fell off as I moved it to take the picture below. It’s from Harvey who got his cuttings from Herman2. We’re having day temps in the upper seventies, lower eighties, with night temps in the fifties. I wasn’t impressed with CdDG’s first fruit from the first year tree this summer, but hope for better next year. Thanks for the suggestion on planting, Herman2. I know exactly where to plant it now.

However, my CdDN (3 yr. old tree) gave me a very good fig yesterday, sweet and jammy with a touch of acid.
Strawberry Verte this morning was even sweeter.
The I-258 from a few days ago had an almost mandarin citrus quality, like a good Satsuma. Neither were as sweet as their summer fruit, but were sweeter than several other varieties at their peak in the summer.
An LSU Purple yesterday was disappointing, -bland with little sweetness.
Finally my grafted Black Madeira produced it first ripe fruit for me earlier this week, sweet, jammy with a complex hint of something like a grape flavor –perhaps Concord?

December is turning out to be a good month so far for my figs. Hopefully next year will be even better.

  My December CdDG. 

One problem you might have there is not having enough winter chill to fruit fig trees. The Dave Wilson website says that many fig trees need around 100 hours of winter chill to fruit. Winter chill hours count the number of hours each winter that the temperature is below 45 F degrees but above 32 degrees. It’s a big problem for what I can grow and fruit in my garden here in SoCal. Wikipedia says the winter temps in the Philippines only get down in the 70 degree range in January.

The Dave Wilson website doesn’t list a chill requirement for Excell, Latarulla, Pete’s Honey, Texas Blue Giant, and VdB. http://www.davewilson.com/product-information/product/figs

Perhaps other people here will know of some varieties that will fruit without winter chill? 

CdDN began to show wrinkling signs around the stem and was soft. Bourjassotte Grise was soft. So I finally picked them.
Both had a sweet berry taste but the BG's flavor was more watered down and juicy. BG is a first year tree so it's probably not really fair to compare it to the three year old CdDN. The CdDN was more concentrated, dryer and significantly sweeter than the BG. I had been eating some Adriatic JH figs right before them and could taste the slight “Bordeaux berry” under taste to the CdDN that hinted of a Bordeaux wine. It was different from the “Adriatic berry” taste of the Adriatic JH and BG which were berry tasting but didn’t have that added flavor. I usually don’t taste a lot of difference in figs but CdDN and Adriatic JH (half the size of BG) were outstanding in their flavor class. All were delicious!

 

 

I don’t have a lot of taste discrimination skills either and am new to fig tasting, but wonder if there is some exaggeration, even mythologizing, with some of these descriptions.
From all the figs I’ve tasted this first year, there were different levels of sweetness, with one LSU Purple and several RdB having a strong sugar taste. Pete’s Honey had the strongest “honey” sweetness, but nowhere near the level of “a spoonful of honey”.
I’ve tasted a number of figs with varying sour levels of acid which give them all a berry taste, but so far only Strawberry Verte distinguished itself with a faint but distinct strawberry fragrance which gives it its name. I think it was Marseilles Black VS that had a slight mulberry under-taste that added to the berry flavor. 
Next year, as the trees become older, than may change. Or even this year with perhaps a month still to go here in the SW.
That said, most of the figs were in the good, very good, and excellent taste category. I'm very thankful for these figs, the fig forums and the wonderful fig enthusiasts who have opened the door for me for this taste adventure.  

An interesting article on what the human tongue tastes: http://www.livescience.com/17684-sixth-basic-taste.html

There are several houses on the East side of Gould Ave. in La Canada Flintridge just north of the freeway that have a heavy planting of fig trees. They seem to have started with one house that has several large fig trees next to the street and in their yard. Several neighbors also have fig trees. One of the trees still had fruit on it around two weeks ago. I shop at the strip mall there on Foothill and drive by the fig house around once a month. One of these days I’ll find the courage to do a door knock and find out more about them. 

The pictures of yellow figs looks interesting, both here and on eBay. I googled around and found this description of fig trees in Tashkent, Uzbekistan:

“Trellises of grapevines twisted above rows where mint, basil and marjoram grew. In the corners, heavy golden figs weighed down the branches of the trees and rose bushes climbed up the walls of the house.” http://shezaf.net/english/Books/The-Silk-Road/FULL-MOON-IN-TASHKENT.html

These yellow figs varieties seem to be different:

Tashkent: Described as a green fig on the Raintree website but if you look at the Google Images it shows large, flat                   yellow figs for sale in the Tashkent market. Are these the "heavy golden figs"?

Seri Zeybek: Is this the same as Tashkent or different? It’s mentioned in several posts here.

Aydin Sari Lob: for sale on eBay. But the F4F Varietal lists Sari Lob as the same name for both Smyrna and      
       Calimyrna, also yellow figs. Is “Aydin” a special place of origin or a kind of Sari Lob/Smyrna/Calimyrna?

And how different are these figs from LSU Gold, which also seems to be a large yellow fig?

For me it would be the best from each taste category, with a first and second place, because each group is special and very different from each other, almost like a different fruit, apples and oranges. Most of my figs are from first year cuttings, so the ones that stood out were usually from the older trees from nurseries or gifts from generous members.

Sugar fig: LSU Purple first, with a Celeste Improved (PftP sold as O’Rourke) second.

Honey Fig: Pete’s Honey first with the abundant Latarulla EL second

Adriatic Berry: Strawberry Verte first (finally one that didn't split!) with Bourjasotte Gris (1^st year) a close second.

Bordeaux Berry: VdB first with RdB second, although it was more sweet with less berry flavor.

Dark Berry: Marseilles Black VS (1^st year) but some figs in this class are still ripening, so this could still change. 

Any ideas you could share on the ID of this fig variety would be appreciated. 

Harvey posted a picture on his Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/Figaholics ) of a fig from a tree that was purchased from Rolling River Nursery as Bursa Siyahi (Black Bursa). But Harvey’s ripe fig is green, not black. I have a tree of the same variety, same source, but none of my figs are ripe yet.

Ercan from Turkey thinks the green fig might be Bursa Beyazi (Fig White). According to this link, Bursa Beyazi is a breed of silkworm. Perhaps it lives on the Bursa Beyazi tree? http://www.nobel.gen.tr/Makaleler/JABS-Issue%202-3-2011.pdf

Could someone help with the translation of this video? It has as a description: “İncir” (fig) “Yetiştiriciliği” (Growing); “Sofralık İncir Türleri” (Fig Table Types) “Bursa Siyahı, Bursa Beyazı” At around 11:37 the narrator pulls three figs off the trees and talks a lot. Two figs are purple and one is green. Is the green one Bursa Beyazi, is the tree infected with the Bursa Beyazi silkworm, or is he just talking about another white fig he’s growing without giving the specific name? 

Google and Google Translate raise more questions than answers. 

There are four listings on eBay selling Yellow Long Neck fig trees, but only two have a picture of a fig with a “long neck” that looks like the one in the picture here. The others are yellow but look more round. Does this fig always have a long neck or is it sometimes round?

I would second the Adriatic JH suggestion if you want a sweet, berry tasting fig. People here have posted how Adriatic JH tolerates rain, heat, humidity and wide temperature swings, ripens better in colder climates and still develops a great berry flavor before it’s at the “dead ripe” stage so you can enjoy the fruit over a longer period of time. It even has a “story” behind it.