'texas blue giant' ..... hero, or ....zero ??

12 years ago

... So, I thought that I'd try growing a nice, big, fat, juicy "black" fig up here in zone-7. I bought a nice size 3-1/2 foot treelet from a nursery in Florida. It's doing quite nicely, (no rust, no mosaic), and has already formed some figlets. I'll probably nip these off and let the tree devote its energy into producing wood this season.

I have read that this is really a variety that does better in the south, or where summers are long and hot. Am I going to be lucky to ripen figs up here in the Bronx? I bought the tree on impulse, then read up on it AFTER buying it. Not a great plan. Anyway ......

If any members are familiar with this variety, especially how it should be grown, please feel free to chime in with your two cents worth.

Next year if I pinch out all breba, and pinch back new growth to 4-6 leaves, will I push the ripening time ahead by a few weeks?

Again, please throw me some suggestions.

Thanks for any help.

Frank

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Comments (5)

bonsaist
12 years ago
I obtained one from San Antonio, TX where this variety originated. I sampled it at a farmer's market after I bought the tree, and it tasted very flat. I grew it in Pa for several years but it resembled the flavor of Brown Turkey, it lacked the sweetness and flavor the other varieties have.
I'm not trying to discourage you, but I would leave one fig on just to see if it's something you want to keep.

bass
igo4fish
12 years ago
On 14 Jun I bought a cpl fig plants from Fanick's Nursery (the originator of the Blue Giant). One was a Texas/Fanick's Blue Giant. While there, I talked with one of the nurserymen their who took me to the original parent tree. He told me that they outsource the propagation of the Blue Giant to different nursery. The parent tree was producing ripe breba. Although they were not fully ripe, he picked one and let me picked a few more for sampling. The flavor was pretty good. I pointed out to him how different the leaves on the parent tree were from the plants they were selling to which he replied that they will change when the tree ages. The tree I bought had one breba on it and I left it on to see what it did. Check out the pics.

Breba from the tree I bought:
bronxfigs: New York City/7b
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I really appreciate your opinions and for some background info. regarding this fig.

I checked out some older postings on this forum, and as I suspected, different growers have different experiences with this fig. Some good, some bad.

I'm going to keep it for a few seasons just to see if it's worth growing, and especially to see what the figs taste like. I think I read in a past posting that these figs are being sold in a Farmer's Market down in Texas, so, if grown correctly, the figs must be at least worth eating. I've grown "GOLDEN ATREANO" since 2007 and the figs - when properly ripened - are "slap-your-Mama" delicious, and if the "BLUE GIANT" comes close, I keep it, .... if it stinks, it gets tossed !

Thanks for the input and photos. Much appreciated.

Happy growing,

Frank
herman2_gw
12 years ago
I have no doubt all what this fig is,is very similar to California Brown Turkey.
My wife bought a box containing 24 fresh figs 2 weeks ago,from Costco,and when we tried to eat them,they were ,nothing to write home about,so,we left them on table ,and in second day there, all fruits were blue with mold and fermenting inside.
It became compost now in the compost pile.
evladi7654
2 years ago
You can not compare the fruit from the grocery store to anything in the Garden.