2026 Fig Season Begins...

Figgin' A

Figgin' A

Well-known member
Ok, these aren't what I would call my best-tasting figs, but they are decent... a platter-full... I'll take that at this time of the year...
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I picked some of these a bit early, but I am not taking any risks with the upcoming rains... almost an inch of rain on the forecast for tomorrow...

VDB breba... very nice, refreshing.... not even close to the quality of main crop though... but huge!
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WM#1... just started to ripen... hasn't come into stride, but it's getting there... very, very good still...

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I-258... suffered a major shock this spring.... seems to be struggling... small figs... hope it gets better...
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NDB... WOW! WOW! WOW!... Second year fig... Last year I got to try a few figs, but they ripened in cool, rainy weather and tasted a bit watered-down. I wasn't impressed... but this year, it's an entirely different story. Loved it! A complex berry flavor bomb.... Just two figs ripened so far... I felt like they hadn't reached their full potential yet and could have been even better, so I am looking forward to more figs from this tree... granted, this tree is very productive.

haskaps-50.jpg

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Figgin' A said:
Ok, these aren't what I would call my best-tasting figs, but they are decent... a platter-full... I'll take that at this time of the year...
haskaps-49.jpg


I picked some of these a bit early, but I am not taking any risks with the upcoming rains... almost an inch of rain on the forecast for tomorrow...

VDB breba... very nice, refreshing.... not even close to the quality of main crop though... but huge!
haskaps-44.jpg

haskaps-45.jpg


WM#1... just started to ripen... hasn't come into stride, but it's getting there... very, very good still...

haskaps-48.jpg


I-258... suffered a major shock this spring.... seems to be struggling... small figs... hope it gets better...
haskaps-47.jpg


NDB... WOW! WOW! WOW!... Second year fig... Last year I got to try a few figs, but they ripened in cool, rainy weather and tasted a bit watered-down. I wasn't impressed... but this year, it's an entirely different story. Loved it! A complex berry flavor bomb.... Just two figs ripened so far... I felt like they hadn't reached their full potential yet and could have been even better, so I am looking forward to more figs from this tree... granted, this tree is very productive.

haskaps-50.jpg

haskaps-51.jpg

ndb.jpg
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Here we go again !! I am located not too far from you and not even close to ripening my VDB brebas . I think you have a heat dome over your area 😜 Now seriously you have a very efficient protocol to get your fig trees going and that shows 👏👏👏
 
CCFigster said:
Here we go again !! I am located not too far from you and not even close to ripening my VDB brebas . I think you have a heat dome over your area 😜 Now seriously you have a very efficient protocol to get your fig trees going and that shows 👏👏👏
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If that helps, I put my VDB in the garage grow tent on March 1. The temps were about 23-24C in March and increased to 28-32C in April-May with the lights on, and 14C - 18C with the lights off but the dehumidifier on. Bud break 3/21 - 3/23, which was about a week later than last year, likely because of a big breba crop set, none last year. Pea-sized fruit around 4/23. Permanently outside since May 20 after some acclimation.

There was a noticeable lower leaf drop, similar to what @Armo posted about here recently, which started around May 8-10. I am going to monitor when the harvest finishes this season and, if there is room, I will start it on March 15th next year. It will make the headstart process easier for me, lower electric bill, and I will avoid the leaf drop. If anything, I can remove breba next year too and bring the ripening forward by a week that way.
 
RedSkip said:
What size grow tent do you recommend for a beginner?
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Well, beginner or not, it will depend on how many trees you want to headstart in there, how old/big the trees are, and how long you want to keep them there. Based on my experience, for what I use them for, for my climate, anything less than 5x5 is a waste of money. Ideally, 5x10 and larger.

You are in Texas 9b. May I ask why you are considering a grow tent? You shouldn't need it.
 
Figgin' A said:
If that helps, I put my VDB in the garage grow tent on March 1. The temps were about 23-24C in March and increased to 28-32C in April-May with the lights on, and 14C - 18C with the lights off but the dehumidifier on. Bud break 3/21 - 3/23, which was about a week later than last year, likely because of a big breba crop set, none last year. Pea-sized fruit around 4/23. Permanently outside since May 20 after some acclimation.

There was a noticeable lower leaf drop, similar to what @Armo posted about here recently, which started around May 8-10. I am going to monitor when the harvest finishes this season and, if there is room, I will start it on March 15th next year. It will make the headstart process easier for me, lower electric bill, and I will avoid the leaf drop. If anything, I can remove breba next year too and bring the ripening forward by a week that way.
Click to expand...
Main crop is just starting on the VDB , it’s loaded with brebas this year ( only one last). I was tempted earlier to this year to remove most but change my mind as last year lonely breba was outstanding . It was like eating a candied fig .
 
Figgin' A said:
Well, beginner or not, it will depend on how many trees you want to headstart in there, how old/big the trees are, and how long you want to keep them there. Based on my experience, for what I use them for, for my climate, anything less than 5x5 is a waste of money. Ideally, 5x10 and larger.

You are in Texas 9b. May I ask why you are considering a grow tent? You shouldn't need it.
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Just curious really, I could see a benefit for getting them going in January/February.
 
RedSkip said:
Just curious really, I could see a benefit for getting them going in January/February.
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If you want to give them a one-month head start, that would be the easiest. Basically, you can put as many in there as you can fit, and you can even stack some in between. Say, your tent is 5x5 and your containers are 14" wide, you can fit 16 containers on the floor, and add some extra on top in between the trees. If the branches are wide, that may limit you, but you can tie them; that's what I do. Figs take about 2 weeks to wake up, and there won't be too much foliage by the month's end... You can get away with cheap shop lights.

If you want to keep them longer, it will be a forest there by 45 days, at which time you will have figs forming. By the end of two months, it will be a thick jungle.... again, depending on how big/wide the trees are. You will have to reduce the number of figs by half to 3/4 for them to be comfortable there, and they will benefit from really strong, quality lights at that time. This is my biggest challenge, so I have different protocols to deal with that depending on various factors.
 
Figgin' A said:
Well, beginner or not, it will depend on how many trees you want to headstart in there, how old/big the trees are, and how long you want to keep them there. Based on my experience, for what I use them for, for my climate, anything less than 5x5 is a waste of money. Ideally, 5x10 and larger.
Click to expand...

I’d like to insulate then chrome the entire interior of my garage so I could just throw in some lights and heating 🙂
 
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