I trimmed it back hard last January. This is what it looked like in February 2012. If I don't trim it back hard again it will be huge by this time next year.

An extremely nice VdB fig bush.
My congrats.

Last January I trimmed it down to about 1' tall so I got almost no breba figs. This coming January I plan on cutting it back to 3' tall so I can have some more breba figs early in the season. What might seam strange to people in other zones is that a healthy fig tree here goes through several flushes of growth during the growing season. As such there are both breba and main crop figs produced throughout the season.

Today my son picked roughly twenty five quarts of peppers and I'm still eating ripe cherry tomatoes off the vine. I posted some pictures I took of my garden on Dec 21st in the Arizona Forum. I will probably post the pepper harvest pics tomorrow.

For those who are looking for cuttings. Last year I did not sell any. This year I plan on offering them up for bid on eBay. My eBay user name is the same as my forum user name. The best time to take cuttings though is when the tree is dormant and that won't be until Mid-January. I suspect there will be 10-15 lots with three 12" cuttings each. With that many lots I suspect the prices will be very reasonable.

I also have three large rooted cuttings. Small trees really. The part below ground is 18" long and they are all 3'+ tall above ground. I plan on cutting the above ground part off at 12"-18". That way they will fit in three foot long boxes and be easier to ship.

If you click on the link you will see that temps just started dropping below 70 degrees a couple weeks ago. Dec 28th averages a temp of 62 degrees. From there we start warming up again. Our winter such as it is just got here and very soon it will be gone.

Here is the VDB you gave me last February. The fence to the right is 4' high.

Looks really healthy Centurion. Not torture tested by the salty water and salty and alkaline soil we have here in the valley. How recent is that picture? Just asking because I know it gets cold up in the mountains. I thought your trees would be dormant by now.

(First frost was a little before Thanksgiving...and we got three nights in a row, We've had 10-15 nights below freezing since then, so it is very very dormant right now).

Happy New Year to all.

Joe

Where your trees are planted I would think that some would be in full sun this time of year. If so it must be colder on the northern end of Mesa than it is here near it's southern border.

looking at the forecast it's supposed to get down to 29-30 with rain and possibly a little snow seven to ten days from now. If it really gets that cold several days in a row I bet the rest will be dormant soon.

Are you still getting any other kind of fruit this time of year? We had the last of the pomegranates today. They weren't bad.

Could you please describe the taste of the fruits of
your beautiful fig tree? Does it have a
wonderful fragrance?
Members always claim this is 1 fig to get!

Anyway, to me they taste moderately sweet with a mixed/complex mild berry flavor. I would not say they are particularly aromatic. I mean when you cut open a Fully Ripe Desert King you smell it long before it gets up to your nose. The same is not true of VDB. At least not with my nose. There are other very tasty figs to be sure but this is a very good one. Not saying it's the best tasting of all figs but it is very good.

Only read below this line if you are a Newbie.
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To me there are some other important factors like...

How many seasons a tree takes to get into reasonable fruit production?
Does the fruit have a closed eye to prevent spoilage?
Is the variety a heavy producer?
Does the variety produce both a tasty breba crop and main crop?
Does it produce over a long season?
If the fruit are not green does it produce more than the birds can eat?
Do the fruit dry out before they are ripe?
Does the tree require caprification/pollination for its breba or main crop or for both crops?
Do the fruit have a tendency to spoil do to splitting?
For others a resistance to root knot nematodes because they have them in their soil.
Do the trees you are buying come from an area or a person who is known for selling trees infected with root knot nematodes?
Is the seller either a forum member with a good reputation or a retailer with a good reputation as figs are often mislabeled or misrepresented.

To me fig taste means very little if the fruit are spoiled. With a closed eye spoilage is not a problem with this variety.

For me here in Arizona with our long season this is the best tree I have tried so far. Until last year which was this trees third season the birds were getting more than I was. Last year however it produced more than the birds could eat so I had a steady supply to snack on. Though no large amounts at any one picking. Certainly not enough to make batches of jams and preserves the way I make Hot Sauce or Pickled Peppers. This year I expect much better.

If my Conadria ever produces like the VDB I would be in fig heaven as the fruit are very tasty and much larger. It however is not known to produce large amounts of fruit. My LSU Gold produces lots of fruit and the fruit is very tasty. That is if it's not spoiled but most of it is spoiled do to it's large open eye. There are so many factors and variable that I don't think there is such a thing as a perfect fig tree or even a best fig tree. Some however are better than others in some climates and lousy in others. A for instance. I Really Really like the taste of Desert King figs. They produced very well for me and the fruit are large. They have large soft shelled seeds that produce a very favorable crunch that is hard to describe. The fruit is custardy and creamy when fully ripe and the seeds produce just the right contrast in texture that gives them a real WOW Factor. However one of the crops require caprification/pollination if you do not live near the coast/damp climate. That meant that I had a tree in my yard that produced large numbers of large figs that refused to ripen producing a BIG MESS. It was a hard decision but I pulled the Desert King just like I will be pulling the LSU Gold.

However from what I've heard from other members. VDB tends to do well in hot and cold and dry or damp climates so it's highly adaptable. If you don't have one and have room for one I would recommend it. Not because its the best fig for everyone everywhere. I admit to wishing I could grow massive amounts of extra large and tasty Desert Kings like I have seen grown by some West Coast Coastal growers. I recommend it but because it tends to meet most of the desirable criteria for most people in most climates. It is not even my favorite tasting fig. In fact out of the roughly thirty varieties I have tried it's ranked fifth on my list for taste. But so far I have pulled three of the varieties that taste better and will pull another before the next season starts. In fact if Conadria does not produce a lot better within the next two years it may go too. So to me with all that goes into choosing a fig and yes taste in definitely included in that. VDB is a safe recommendation to make because it has become widely planted and it seems to be almost universally liked. As Forest Gump once said. "That's all I have to say about that."

Three 12" cuttings per lot with a .99 cent starting price.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/thisisme/m.html?item=330868772338&ViewItem=&rt =nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

The soil here is clay and very alkaline and salty. The water is alkaline and salty too which makes the leaves subject to salt burn.

In early Spring (Mid-Feb here) I sprinkle a few tablespoons of slow release Arizona's Best Citrus Fertilizer under the canopy. This fertilizer contains slow release sulfur to help acidify the soil. I then cover that with a few shovels full of de-smelled manure. I then water it in really well. After that I mulch and put the drip system over the top of the mulch.

Growing productive healthy fruit trees in a container is a lot harder than growing in the ground. There are a number of Gardenweb Fig Forum members who do an amazing job of it though. If I were growing in containers I would want to talk to dieseler and ask him about his soil mix and fertilizer and watering regimen. That guy and a few others are real masters at growing in containers.

Just a thought, this is what I would do if I had your scenario.
You could always try digging(or hire someone to do this) out a fairly large hole(maybe 3ft wide by 3ft deep) and placing a wire cage/fencing in it, then plant your tree inside the caged area. If the holes are smaller than the head of the gophers, then they are limited to what is outside of the cage and at the depth they tunnel.
You can also then lay some wire screen flat on the top of the ground on the inside of the cage perimeter to stop them from digging down from above; place some mulch over it and no-one will ever know. Lastly, wrap the bottom 6 inches or so of trunk with some 1/4-1/2 inch screen to prevent them from girdling the main trunk, be sure this extends a couple inches below the surface of the soil and the screen you laid flat on the surface.