Gabe’s Gold Fig Tree
After many years of collecting wild figs around California we finally found one that is common, as in parthenocarpic, so it does not require the fig wasp to produce edible figs! There’s been many a collection we’ve had high hopes for only for them to drop all their figs and end up in the compost heap, but this one is actually common! Found in a drainage up in the San Gabriel Mountains north of Azusa in Southern California, this has the somewhat common characteristic we’ve seen on wild figs throughout California of having yellow skin, light red flesh and producing small but very flavorful figs. Our best guess is that because Adriatic figs have been so widely planted on a commercial scale there you end up with a lot of seedlings of Adriatic that have a similar coloring, but that is purely a wild guess. We’re just happy to have one that fruits for us here after so many years of searching! Ripens mid-September typically, and we’ve not yet seen a breba crop on it.
One of the easiest fruits to grow, and a true gourmet delight, you should not live your life without feasting on this sweet, delectable fruit. To fully enjoy fresh Figs you must grow your own. When fully ripe and at their tender, shipping them long distances is virtually impossible. Another plus for Figs – deer don’t like them (most of the time)!
Click here to read our Fig Growing Guide.
Latin Name: Ficus carica (cv. SG1)
Site and Soil: Figs do well in a variety of soils, but require at least 8 hours of sunlight during the growing season.
Pollination Requirements: Self-figful.
Hardiness: Hardy to between 0° & 5° F.
Bearing Age: 1-2 years after planting.
Size at Maturity: 10-20 ft in height, smaller with pruning.
Taste: super sweet light berry flavor
Fruit Skin: yellow
Fruit Flesh: red
Bloom Time: Flowers are not noticeable as they are inside the fig.
Ripening Time: September-October, but possible it has a breba in the summer
Yield: 10-15 lbs. or more per plant
Pests & Diseases: Figs are not bothered by pests or diseases in our region. Cover plants with netting if birds are a problem. Fig Mosaic Virus is a benign virus that exists in all cultivated fig trees. Yellow spotting of the leaves is a cosmetic symptom that shows more in container culture, but is quickly outgrown once trees are planted in the ground. The presence of FMV in all cultivated figs has become widely accepted, as even the national germplasm repository for figs maintained by the USDA has Fig Mosaic Virus. If the presence of FMV is a concern, then purchasing fig trees may not be the best option for you.
USDA Zone: 7b
Sunset Western Zone: 4-9, 12-24
Sunset Northeast Zone: 31, 32