Figgin' A
Well-known member
Wrong! I hear this all the time, and this is one of the biggest fallacies I've encountered as a fig grower. Treat your tree well, up-pot in a timely fashion, water and fertilize well, give it plenty of sun, and it WILL produce good, even great-tasting figs in the first year.
Sure, I've had a fig or two, especially the very first one or two forming at the very bottom of the trunk not tasting good. But those are more of an exception than the rule. Some were weirdly shaped and looked different. More like breba. Oddly, first-year trees can produce breba as their first figs. I have encountered this phenomenon many times and confirmed it with other growers. But the rest of the figs typically have been very good, some even excellent.
Today's Bourgisotte Grise is a prime example. I rooted this variety last season, and the very first, and all subsequent figs were exceptional. Jammy, very sweet, with great flavor. Outstanding figs. Today I picked another first fig from a newly rooted BG tree, a daughter of my other BG tree. Again, it was fantastic. This one tasted better than most of the other varieties that I have ever tasted.
This variety is truly special. Large. Tight eye. Jammy. Sweet. Great flavor. Very productive. Hard not to love it. By the way, some growers, including well-known and reputable ones, argued that BG looks and tastes similar, if not identical, to IBG. I don't know, I've never tasted IBG. However, if people have to argue that BG and IBG are the same or very close, I don't see a point in growing IBG if you have BG.
Oh, one more thing - opossums loved this variety last year and seemed to attack it the most.
Today's BG from my new tree:
Sure, I've had a fig or two, especially the very first one or two forming at the very bottom of the trunk not tasting good. But those are more of an exception than the rule. Some were weirdly shaped and looked different. More like breba. Oddly, first-year trees can produce breba as their first figs. I have encountered this phenomenon many times and confirmed it with other growers. But the rest of the figs typically have been very good, some even excellent.
Today's Bourgisotte Grise is a prime example. I rooted this variety last season, and the very first, and all subsequent figs were exceptional. Jammy, very sweet, with great flavor. Outstanding figs. Today I picked another first fig from a newly rooted BG tree, a daughter of my other BG tree. Again, it was fantastic. This one tasted better than most of the other varieties that I have ever tasted.
This variety is truly special. Large. Tight eye. Jammy. Sweet. Great flavor. Very productive. Hard not to love it. By the way, some growers, including well-known and reputable ones, argued that BG looks and tastes similar, if not identical, to IBG. I don't know, I've never tasted IBG. However, if people have to argue that BG and IBG are the same or very close, I don't see a point in growing IBG if you have BG.
Oh, one more thing - opossums loved this variety last year and seemed to attack it the most.
Today's BG from my new tree: