Anytime during the growing season when new growth is pushing. I started pinching as soon as new shoots emerged in Spring and continue to do this every few weeks.
That sounds like they aborted. You can pick them off or they will drop on their own. Happens to me all the time with brebas; if you are in a warmer climate, the fig tree favors putting energy into main versus breba.
Update--the few brebas I got this year have for the most part stopped growing and dropped in the high heat (100+) this month. I now firmly believe brebas are for cooler climates/not AZ. Main crop is thriving!
Thanks for the information. I have four figs, Kadota, Panache, Brown Turkey, and Mission and have been clueless as to whether they are producing breba or main crop. I am in Bakersfield, CA area, which is 9B but a little cooler in summer and winter than Phoenix area.
I should start pinching the new shoots on my fig trees to promote more branches and fruits. I have never done it before, it would be good to try one or two pinching to see how it goes.
All fruit doesn't do the "same" thing "all" of the time...keeps us wondering. This year in Vegas, Conadria and Kadota are putting off enormous Breba crops...not a sign of a fig on VDB and Black Mission is very thin. Last year was different. Also brings back the question we've discussed before of how long does "old" wood produce a Breba crop until it's just a branch of a tree? Can't seem to come up with a solid answer for that yet either. Since some folks are asking for update on certain fruit, I'd like to know how your Muscadine's (pronounce with a long "I") are doing. I got mine in the mail a couple of day ago and would love to hear how yours have fared. Always enjoy seeing your place!
Agreed. Fruit production in general is going to vary year to year based on age of the plant, food, watering, weather, etc. I did this video mainly to show that new growth is key to getting more fruit set with figs. One person was horrified that I pruned my trees in the Winter but that's necessary to get a healthy productive fig tree. As for fruiting old wood, it looks like it can be two years as those Panache brebas are sitting on the two year old main trunk. I don't have any fig trees older than 2 years so I won't be able to know if they can fruit on wood older than two years until next Spring. The Nesbitt (self fertile variety) muscadine woke up recently and is leafed out. It fruited marginally last year but the wind got them before they matured. Hoping now that it's been in the ground for a year and well rooted that it will fruit to maturity. If I get to harvest time, I will most definitely do a tasting.
The brebas are very limited in my climate because it is so warm. For the few brebas I have, I leave. In fact, I leave all fig fruit (whether on new or old growth or even young grafts) as the trees are robust and it won't harm growth. While some varieties like Panache and Brown Turkey have dropped the brebas in favor of putting energy into main crop, other varieties are holding their brebas like LSU TIger. I leave the fruit because I will gladly eat it if it ripens. If it doesn't then the tree will drop it on its own. The main takeaway for me about brebas this year in Phoenix is we don't need to worry about preserving old wood for brebas and can hard prune in Winter so the tree can put on lots of new fruit bearing branches within picking height. It's quite the opposite in cooler climates where it makes sense to preserve more of the old wood to get more brebas because they have such a short fig season and often can't get a long main crop season before they face frost.
Sorry I missed this comment earlier. You may want to reach out to the ourfigs.com forum to fellow Californians. You are in a great climate for figs and can grow amazing varieties. Since you are in a warm climate main crop will be more productive for you but Black Mission is a variety known to produce a nice breba in CA. Violette de Bordeaux and LSU Tiger are also very productive in warm climates and produce a breba crop.
Vrinda -- can you share your usda garden zone? is your panache in the ground or in a container? age? If you are less than zone 9, panache fruiting is not guaranteed. It's one of those varieties that needs a lot of heat for an extended time to ripen it's fruit. Even in AZ, I only got one crop this year. If you are after a strawberry jam taste and are in a colder climate, you may want to try bourjasotte grise or smith.
zone 9 , in the ground its a massive tree with 1000's of fruit every year. I've been watching several ideas on UA-cam about pinching early to give them time to ripen because we get hotter weather in Sep oct
Thanks for the details. Pinching promotes more fruiting and branching but if you have 1000s of fruit then that is not your issue. I'd recommend pruning back heavily in winter to reduce the size of the tree, increase water and fertilizer in spring, and slash maybe 5% of your figs after about 90 days from fruit setting.This will cause ethylene gas which triggers the ripening process. I've seen it work first hand. All of these things should help support ripening fruit faster. Even in 9B this year we only got one crop this year from the panache in July. It was too cold in December to ripen the second main crop.
@@mykvass YW! Wear gloves so the sap does not irritate your skin. Carefully cut into the side of the fig with a sharp knife like 1/4" and leave it on the tree. Here is a paper on the topic if you are interested: www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Hort_306/reading/Reading%2010-2.pdf
They are doing fantastic--some are even fruiting. In case you have not seen this, here is the update I did recently on the grafts--ua-cam.com/video/zU3dfxLrzgg/v-deo.html
When you say paw paw, do you mean Asimina triloba or Carica papaya. The experimental Asimina triloba I tried in 2016 withered and died unfortunately. It's not viable here in Phoenix outside a greenhouse. They grow along rivers--we simply lack the humidity here. If you mean papaya, yes I can. Let me know.
Enlightenment Garden not papaya its the other one. Just wanted to see if it made it through the summer. Thx for the vids I'm here in phx as well and its nice to see what we can grow here.
Great video. You gave lots of new information here. Thanks.
Excellent Video thank you for the clear explanation
Very informative thanks
How do you know when to pinch your figs?
Anytime during the growing season when new growth is pushing. I started pinching as soon as new shoots emerged in Spring and continue to do this every few weeks.
Very informative. Thanks.
Great video! Thanks for all the detail.
I have tiny brebas already darkened...what to do with them?
That sounds like they aborted. You can pick them off or they will drop on their own. Happens to me all the time with brebas; if you are in a warmer climate, the fig tree favors putting energy into main versus breba.
Update--the few brebas I got this year have for the most part stopped growing and dropped in the high heat (100+) this month. I now firmly believe brebas are for cooler climates/not AZ. Main crop is thriving!
I agree. Your climate is so warm that main crop will form very early.
Thanks for the information. I have four figs, Kadota, Panache, Brown Turkey, and Mission and have been clueless as to whether they are producing breba or main crop. I am in Bakersfield, CA area, which is 9B but a little cooler in summer and winter than Phoenix area.
I should start pinching the new shoots on my fig trees to promote more branches and fruits. I have never done it before, it would be good to try one or two pinching to see how it goes.
All fruit doesn't do the "same" thing "all" of the time...keeps us wondering. This year in Vegas, Conadria and Kadota are putting off enormous Breba crops...not a sign of a fig on VDB and Black Mission is very thin. Last year was different. Also brings back the question we've discussed before of how long does "old" wood produce a Breba crop until it's just a branch of a tree? Can't seem to come up with a solid answer for that yet either. Since some folks are asking for update on certain fruit, I'd like to know how your Muscadine's (pronounce with a long "I") are doing. I got mine in the mail a couple of day ago and would love to hear how yours have fared. Always enjoy seeing your place!
Agreed. Fruit production in general is going to vary year to year based on age of the plant, food, watering, weather, etc. I did this video mainly to show that new growth is key to getting more fruit set with figs. One person was horrified that I pruned my trees in the Winter but that's necessary to get a healthy productive fig tree. As for fruiting old wood, it looks like it can be two years as those Panache brebas are sitting on the two year old main trunk. I don't have any fig trees older than 2 years so I won't be able to know if they can fruit on wood older than two years until next Spring. The Nesbitt (self fertile variety) muscadine woke up recently and is leafed out. It fruited marginally last year but the wind got them before they matured. Hoping now that it's been in the ground for a year and well rooted that it will fruit to maturity. If I get to harvest time, I will most definitely do a tasting.
So what do you do with breba? Leave them on old growth? or remove them off the old growth?
The brebas are very limited in my climate because it is so warm. For the few brebas I have, I leave. In fact, I leave all fig fruit (whether on new or old growth or even young grafts) as the trees are robust and it won't harm growth. While some varieties like Panache and Brown Turkey have dropped the brebas in favor of putting energy into main crop, other varieties are holding their brebas like LSU TIger. I leave the fruit because I will gladly eat it if it ripens. If it doesn't then the tree will drop it on its own. The main takeaway for me about brebas this year in Phoenix is we don't need to worry about preserving old wood for brebas and can hard prune in Winter so the tree can put on lots of new fruit bearing branches within picking height. It's quite the opposite in cooler climates where it makes sense to preserve more of the old wood to get more brebas because they have such a short fig season and often can't get a long main crop season before they face frost.
which are the best breba varities ? I'm in zone 9 N CA and Panache never ripens for me
Sorry I missed this comment earlier. You may want to reach out to the ourfigs.com forum to fellow Californians. You are in a great climate for figs and can grow amazing varieties. Since you are in a warm climate main crop will be more productive for you but Black Mission is a variety known to produce a nice breba in CA. Violette de Bordeaux and LSU Tiger are also very productive in warm climates and produce a breba crop.
I have a Panache fig thats very prolific in producing fruit but they never ripen...any ideas
Vrinda -- can you share your usda garden zone? is your panache in the ground or in a container? age? If you are less than zone 9, panache fruiting is not guaranteed. It's one of those varieties that needs a lot of heat for an extended time to ripen it's fruit. Even in AZ, I only got one crop this year. If you are after a strawberry jam taste and are in a colder climate, you may want to try bourjasotte grise or smith.
zone 9 , in the ground its a massive tree with 1000's of fruit every year.
I've been watching several ideas on UA-cam about pinching early to give them time to ripen because we get hotter weather in Sep oct
Thanks for the details. Pinching promotes more fruiting and branching but if you have 1000s of fruit then that is not your issue. I'd recommend pruning back heavily in winter to reduce the size of the tree, increase water and fertilizer in spring, and slash maybe 5% of your figs after about 90 days from fruit setting.This will cause ethylene gas which triggers the ripening process. I've seen it work first hand. All of these things should help support ripening fruit faster. Even in 9B this year we only got one crop this year from the panache in July. It was too cold in December to ripen the second main crop.
@@EnlightenmentGarden WOW I'll do that thanks SO much. How and where do I slash
@@mykvass YW! Wear gloves so the sap does not irritate your skin. Carefully cut into the side of the fig with a sharp knife like 1/4" and leave it on the tree. Here is a paper on the topic if you are interested: www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Hort_306/reading/Reading%2010-2.pdf
when would be a good time to pinch at least for the breba crop
Pinching is best done in spring but only stimulates new growth for main crop not breba (old wood)
I like your voice 😀
thank you for explaining "breba(old wood), new crob(new growth). just didn,t understand from watching other bloggers.
thank you, again. knowledge, with humbleness, is power. much love and god,s peace be with you
How are your fig grafts doing?
They are doing fantastic--some are even fruiting. In case you have not seen this, here is the update I did recently on the grafts--ua-cam.com/video/zU3dfxLrzgg/v-deo.html
How´s doing the Flamboyan
No flowers but it is growing nicely and is starting to green up with new shoots emerging. Our winter was mild so it did not suffer any damage at all.
Here in the caribbean they are just about to bloom, most of them dont have eany leaf but thats normal in the dry season
Can you do an update on your pawpaw trees?
When you say paw paw, do you mean Asimina triloba or Carica papaya. The experimental Asimina triloba I tried in 2016 withered and died unfortunately. It's not viable here in Phoenix outside a greenhouse. They grow along rivers--we simply lack the humidity here. If you mean papaya, yes I can. Let me know.
Enlightenment Garden not papaya its the other one. Just wanted to see if it made it through the summer. Thx for the vids I'm here in phx as well and its nice to see what we can grow here.
Yea I was disappointed those failed around September but in reality mangos taste better than pawpaw and those we can grow here.
paw paw wont produce crop in hot desert climate and they need over 400 chill hours. Pawpaw grows in temperate climate
I would grow custard or sugar apple instead or even rollinia in phx climate
Love your videos.