Figs in California? Who does this and where?

Does anyone grow figs in Cali?
In the mediterranean climates?
Any input on this?

I notice there is not a lot of this in the data about this on daves garden yet.
There are many species though...
The mission fig or common fig seems to work well in climates in cali in certain regions..

http://davesgarden.com/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=mission+fig&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search&searcher[common]=Common%20Fig


I was just in the south of france and ended up sleeping under a white fig tree... instead of the old musty chateau...

I think I need to grow some...
Any one have any suggestions?

Northern California, Lafayette Region near San Fran is my habitat..

Ideas?

We had figs in Contra Costa...have 1 fig now in Fallbrook (San Diego County) Have to grow in whiskey barrel here though......gophers adore fig trees. That limits me, other wise I would grow lots of varieties. Growing White Adriatic here. Figs love growing in California! We didn't have any gopher problems in Pleasant Hill, if I were you and you have no gophers, I'd plant a lot!
Sherry

amisun. . . .Figs have been grown for decades in the Central Valley, Calimyna and Mission being the two most often grown here, commercially and in backyard orchards. This link might help you in deciding the varieties to grow in your area, or try your cooperative extension for Contra Costa County:

Contra Costa County
75 Santa Barbara Road
2nd Floor
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523-4215
phone: (925) 646-6540

The CC county MG "Help Desk" is open Monday through Friday from 9 AM to noon to answer your questions on home gardening and pest control @ (925) 646-6586. They should be able to give you exact varieties for your area.


http://homeorchard.ucdavis.edu/plant_Fig.pdf

Hope you are successful and relive your 'south of France' memories every time you bite into one. I just picked fresh figs today and they are luscious. 8-) Janet

I have an Osborne Prolific here in Orange County, USDA 9b/10a and Sunset 23.

I just found out they do not do well here -- s'posed to not like heat -- ha ha, no one told my tree! It didn't get pruned last winter/spring, and was being so prolific that it FELL OVER about a month ago. It was so heavy, we had to cut like 80% of the mass of the branches off to stand it back up (and really thought it was a goner anyway!) but it is doing fine and we are still eating 6-8 figs every other day!

It should do even better for you! Remember to prune the long branches, and also to water to the dripline and not just around the trunk -- which is what I did that immediately proceeded it falling over...

I forget where I copied this from, but info is:
Osborn's Prolific (Arachipel, Neveralla)
Medium to large, skin is dark reddish brown, flesh amber, often tinged pink. Very sweet, best fresh. Light breba crop. Tree upright, bare, will grow in shade. Ripens late. Only for north coast, Pacific Northwest. Poor in warm climates. (sic!)

I copied that and the info on Brown Turkey (s'posed to be better for Southern Cal), when I still figured we'd be replacing the Osborne...

("Breba crop" is early figs on last year's or "old" wood.)

~'spin!~
p.s. for the curious, info on the other is:
Brown Turkey (Aubique Noire, Negro Largo, San Piero)
Origin Provence. Medium, skin is purplish brown, flesh pinkish amber. Good flavor. Best when fresh. Light breba crop. Small, hardy, vigorous tree. Prune severely for heaviest main crop. Does best in southern California.

I used to live in the San Fernando Valley..... there was a fig tree in the backyard that took up a 20' by 25' space. It was 50 yrs old, planted when the house was built. It produced a LOT of figs, made a big mess, and drew a lot of June bugs.

I grow brown turkey here in orange county in a large clay pot and the nursery where i work sells them. They lose their leaves in the late summer to fall.

Here is a link to California Rare Fruit Growers: http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/fig.html which outlines the different cultivars and which does best where. We grow Desert King, Brown Turkey and Italian Honey (in the order of preference). The Brown Turkey doesn't lose leaves in our coolish summers and has no issue with winter. We've had more of an issue with excessive number of hornets this year that love the fruit. I propagate cuttings in winter on heated prop table with #1 powder and heavy perlite mix in deep/large plug trays.

Thanks, growin! That's where I got my two quotes -- I had forgotten to note it myself so I couldn't 'cite' it above!

Ha Ha CRFG is in my profile as one of three favorite sites -- Think I might have remembered researching there?!!

~'spin!~

Yes, CRFG is a great resource especially their fact sheets.

Hey the black Mission figs do great in zone 11, hot and cold and clay so it should be safe anywhere in california I think. I lost one last year to either gopher s or june bugs so dust them or something to keep bugs from killing them. I love them because they look so tropical and the knarled trunks are picturesque, great with a back light on a wall or something.

I am in Union City , I have to prunce mine every year or it takes over .
-- Mission Black
- It is 25 years old , 2 crops a year - 1st is small [ # of figs ] 2 nd is medium to large . Attracts birds , racoons and shunks . Only bugs it attracts are ants .
It is in between a golden Deli Apple and a Bacon Avacado . Apple attracts every bug in yard .

My next-door neighbors have a large fig tree in their backyard. I don't know what kind it is, and I'm sure they don't either. The figs are green. He does absolutely nothing with it, and I still get lots of figs dropping on my property every year.

I hate figs but the trees are sure pretty.

Figs are easy to grow in Napa, CA. Great shade tree. I don't care for the figs much, but thats OK, because the squirrels eat most of them while they are green! Considered a delicacy, and too fragile to sell at market. No problem with pests. Can be messy if they drop fruit on patios. The big leaves are perfect (wash first) for lining a platter to put food on! I keep mine (and prune it somewhat heavily as it is not planted in the best place in our yard) just for the leaves!

Black Mission figs grow great it our poor drainage ,caleche soil in 8b, So thats where my tree went last year, to my underground devils

Figs grow great in zone 9B. I had two but they were too big for the landscape eventually. One was white and one black but they came with the house so I don't know which ones. I'd say buy them from a local knowledgeable nursery and you are most apt to get a tree that will bring you success.

We've got 2 Osborne Prolific, that we got while still in a certain microclimate in San Francisco's mission district in the lee of Twin Peaks, that are quite happy in large pots still now that we're in Redwood City's mediterranean climate.
The California rare fruit growers are great for info and support as linked above; and one of the best growers of figs in CA are Trees of Antiquity, who used to be up in Sonoma and are now down by Paso Robles. They know their stuff and are careful to ship at appropriate times of the year.
GWD link: http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/952/

I don't have a fig in my yard, but my mom's had one for years in hers (Zone 11 -- Lakewood/Long Beach area). She prunes it back every year and gets bushels of fruit from it. Not sure what kind it is, probably black Mission (they start a very pretty light green and darken in stripes to black as they ripen).

I grew up in Sacramento CA, and I remember loads of fig trees here. It was my mom's fav fruit. We have a HUGE tree in the back that looks healthy and is loaded with figs, but my neighbor has been in here since 1962 and she says the tree always produces, but they never ripen. But, figs are very common in CA. Many parts of CA have very mediterranean climates.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=12146

Im not in California any more but thought Id check by and see what was happening in the California gardening forum. I did order some fig cuttings from U.C. Davis (see link) from the National Clonal Germplasm repository.

I still have fond memories of the Morton Bay fig tree in Santa Barbara, where I went to school at U.C. Santa Barbara.