Background
A family member wanted to grow a fig tree, and I figured I’d help. Since they wanted to plant in a shadier area, I started researching on the best variety for a shady location in Southern California, that also tasted amazing.
I went down a deep rabbit-hole researching about figs, I should have probably just bought one at the local nursery, but I ended up buying 6 fig cuttings of varieties that were highly recommended, and that I couldn’t find at the local store.
It’ll be a lot more work, and will take 2 or 3 years to get any fruit, but the planted tree should be there for the next few decades, so I figured I’d put in the time to research everything and do it right.
Varieties I Will Grow
Note: All of these varieties were chosen for taste, over everything. Trying to grow the best tasting figs I can find. The only exception is some were chosen with the fact they will be grown in a semi-shady location. Although here in Southern California (Zone 10a), even in locations that only get a few hours of sun a day, the sun is still very strong, and most varieties should do quite well either way.
Boysenberry Blush
- Supposed to taste amazing (as all of these varieties listed are), plus this one is said to grow well in shadier areas, which is where my in-ground fig will be planted.
Unknown Pastiliere
- Requires the fig wasp, which is supposedly nearby my city in California. If the wasps don’t show up, I’ll have to figure out a way to get ’em here.
- Particularly productive (every node) in shady areas (both the real and fake Pastiliere).
- Note: Difficult to reach maturity.
Black Madeira KK
- Many people say this is the best tasting fig they’ve had. All around winner.
Bourjassotte Grise
- Another good producer in shadier locations. Some say this is the best fig they’ve tasted.
Hative d’Argenteuiel
- Recommended by FigBoss (Ross Raddi) as one of the best varieties to grow in Southern California.
- It’s supposed to have flavors of cherry, and be tart, which sounds pretty interesting to me.
- Note: Difficult to establish, weak root system.
Planning
I will be growing these figs both in the ground and in various pot sizes.
For the fig cutting that goes into the ground, I will only mix up to 5% organic material into the native clay-like soil that we have here in Southern California. (By organic material I mean compost, worm castings, and peat moss).
This is because if you mix in too much nutritious soil, the roots won’t want to go past that nutrient zone, and into the local soil. And given that fig tree roots grow down and outward for a long distance (much bigger than a 1-3 foot hole!), you don’t want your roots to get rootbound within a small area.
Calculating the soil volume I’ll need:
- Boysenberry Blush: 64 gallon in-ground hole x 5% organic material = 3 gallons
- Unk. Pastiliere (2): 20 gallon pot, the other in a 1 gallon pot
- Black Madeira KK: 30 gallon no-till pot (new)
- Bourjassotte Grise: 5 gallon pot
- Hative d’Argentuiel: 30 gallon no-till pot (existing)
Other plants I’ll be growing this season are tomatoes, tobacco (nicotiana), and arabica coffee (coffea arabica)
Coffee
- Coffea Arabica (COFF-1) – 3 gallon pot
Tobacco
- Nicotiana Sylvestris (NICO-33) – existing no-till 30 gallon pot
- Nicotiana Trigonophylla (NICO-44B) – existing no-till 30 gallon pot
- Nicotioana Tabacum Havana 142 (NICO-36H1) – existing no-till 30 gallon pot
Tomatoes
- Tomato Black From Tula (VTOM-BT) – existing no-till 30 gallon pot
- Tomato Black Krim (VTOM-BK) – existing no-till 30 gallon pot
- Tomato Brandywine (VTOM-BY) – existing no-till 30 gallon pot
- Tomato Matt’s Wild Cherry (VTOM-MWC) – existing no-till 30 gallon pot
- Tomato Ukrainian Purple (VTOM-UK) – existing no-till 30 gallon pot
Since one of the 30 gallon pots already has soil in it (no-till setup), this means in total I need 62 gallons of soil. I’ll round up to 65 gallons just in case I need any extra.
With the 40/40/20 mix I’m planning to use, for 65 gallons of soil mix, this means I’ll need:
- Pumice: 3.48 cuF
- Peat Moss: 3.48 cuF
- Compost: 1.74 cuF
Soil Mix
For my 1-gallon to 30-gallon pots I will be using the following soil mix:
- 40% Pumice
- 40% Sphagnum Peat Moss
- 20% Bu’s Blend Biodynamic Compost
- Variety of organic amendments blended in to 40/40/20 mix above
I was going to mix in my organic earth worm castings (EWC), if I have enough I might. I want to avoid it just to keep it simple, and just use those castings to make a compost extract to inoculate the new soil with. Then top dress with fresh EWC, to provide a nice slow-release of nutrients, just like in a good fertile top-soil in nature.
Update March 21 2023
Some pics of the cuttings. Looks like they might be ready to transplant outside. One of the cuttings was gifted away.
