Most figs have the kind of leaves you mention when they are young. It could be a Negronne. The leaves just may not show it until next season.

I would not buy from a local nursery that does not have a return policy.

Thanks for this reassurance. I'm much relieved. I have two other questions which you or someone else may be able to answer. 1) The research I've done so far talks about two crops a year, but I haven't found anything specific as to which months of the year. There is a small green fig on the tree now and a couple of places that might indicate a fig is on the way (I'm too new at this to even know what I'm looking at.) When do you think I might see ripe fruit? 2) This plant is currently in a 15 gallon container. What would be the next size to go to and what season of the year is best for transplanting? Thanks. Claire

Hi Claire, Many of my mature fig trees produce two to three crops a year.

There are two basic type of fig crops.

The Breba crop which is the first crop which is grown on last seasons wood and ripens in the Spring.

The Main Crop which is grown on current years wood and ripens in the Summer here and in the Fall in cooler climates.

My Violet de Bordeaux figs are on their third crop as are most of my unknown varieties. A young fig may not produce many or even any ripe fruit the 1st year.

This is how it was with some of my figs.

The first year I lost the crop do to it getting to cold before they could ripen.

The second year they produced a small breba crop and the main crop failed do to weather.

The third year they produced a nice breba crop and a I harvested most of the main crop. Weather destroyed part of the main crop though.

The fourth year they produced a large breba crop and a large main crop.

The fifth year they start producing two to three crops. Sometimes I lose part of the third crop if we get an early winter.

Pinning down exactly when your figs will be ripe is hard to say. Different varieties mature at slightly different times. As a fig tree matures the harvests get earlier and earlier until they are fully mature. In different climates a tree will ripen fruit at different times. For that matter they will even produce fruit at different times in the same yard based upon how many hours of sun they receive.

Like most on the forum I inspect fruit for ripeness every day as they mature. Figs are not like a plum that ripens all of its fruit at once. At least thats not the way it works for me. This year I have been picking one to twenty fruit per day almost every day since late Feb though there were a few breaks in production lasting 1-5 days. My last figs harvested will likely be in early November.

In some northern climates production is different and much of the main crop is lost to the early winter weather the majority of the time.

I hope that answered your question.

Oh, that's all so helpful! Much more info then I ever seem to get from Google. I'm so glad I found this forum. :)

Thanks,

Claire

Ditto to what Thisisme said.

Thisisme, how old is your tree? An about how tall is it? Is it in a containter or in the ground? Where are you located in Zone 9? I'm in 7b, western piedmont of North Carolina. I have several VdB and a couple of Negronne and Petit Negras. The fruit from these trees is awesome! Check on Martin's post showing the pictures of his tree and fruit. cheers, Dennis

Hi snaglpus, my oldest VdB is five years old and in a 15 gallon pot. I live in the east valley here in Arizona. The tree is about 5' tall and grown in a bush form. About three months ago I put the pot in a 6" hole so 2/3rds of the pot is still above ground. So far it seams to like it.

When describing the amount of my harvest that is a total from all of my trees not just one tree. With so many young trees I find that year after year my harvests have been increasing dramatically both in numbers of figs and in the duration and consistency of harvest. In other words it just keeps getting better and better. I am really looking forward to next year.

Thisisme, I'd bet your tree is just beautiful! I order 2 trees months back and they produced 2 figs that were just awesome! I ordered 8 more trees about a month a go!!! Do you roll your tree indoors for winter? My Negronne is tall. I need to post some pictures of my VdB and Negronne trees. Thanks, Dennis

snaglpus there is no need to bring them inside. January is our coldest month of the year with average daytime temps of 67 deg F.

Here is a link that might be useful: AccuWeather January temps Mesa AZ

Just realized -- I still need info on transplanting. Is there a best season to move the tree from the container it came in to a larger pot? And is there some rule of thumb to judge the right size container to move to?

Claire