Been growing fig trees for about 20 years, I got a Chicago hardy and it freezes down to the ground where I live, I have to cover it, or bury it, which i have done and it lives, I have a 5 year old tree which is supposed to be from Switzerland, and that is going into the ground this year, but I got a new one last fall, which the person who gave it to me is from the Republic of Macedonia, and he says it's as cold here in CT. as it is back in his town. The trees grow for 3-4 years in pots until they're big, and thick enough, to be put in the ground, he says only the outer branches die off. My gut feelings say this one is the best cold hardy one out there, they speak the same language as Bulgaria, and he also says there is two types. One that has large figs, which mine is, and one that has small figs, I got fruit the first year, but I ran out of summer, hope this year it will produce good fruit Gary

This probably sort of started long before it hit the fan. It has been awhile now, I forget which exact variety started the arguments. It believe it was one of the Portuguese figs. Someone started a post wanting to share some extra cuttings(for free) which I think came from a source that others doubted the authenticity of. People jumped on the subject because if you are going to call something a name, it better be what it is being represented as or it will just cause further confusion and problems down the line as it is being passed around. Others felt that they didn't really care what it was called as long as it was a good fig. But that will just pollute fig nomenclature further...and this went on and on. The subject of newbies was sort of somehow partially thrown in the mix. Tempers got hot, people tried to change the subject and lighten the mood, but it kept coming up. Not to mention a few trouble makers, who were newbies, it seemed were around just to keep stirring the pot because those user names aren't seen anymore either. In the end the entire thread was deleted. But the subject wouldn't die, it kept popping up in other threads..the same people carrying the same argument(s). Before you knew it some people left and started their own forum. Which is I guess good and bad. Good in the sense that if they are happy now then God bless'em. Bad in the sense that they really add a ton of great knowledge and experience. Not to mention pictures, everybody loves pictures. There have been some returns though, I hope they stick around.

Chills, Climate, fertilizer, soil, and general growing conditions do have an affect. Some awesome figs might not do well in short season areas, of humid conditions, etc. For a blown mind, consider Igo, Falls Gold, Black Madeira, Peter's Strawberry (what my Peter's Honey has turned out to be), Stella, White Greek, Galbun, Jurupa, NSA No1 Green, etc. I had my first Diredo this week, and that was a really nice strong flavored fig. One of my Celeste's was exceptional, with a sort of cherry flavor. effdeevee, http://encantofarms.com The Super Giants, Blue Giants, etc that I have grown/tasted, are just large Brown Turkeys in my opinion, and I don't do Brown Turkey. They do have impressive size, some probably getting close to 6-8 oz. I don't have experience in short season sewttings, but you can get some ideas from my post on ripening order, at least as far as what is ripening earliest. In general, in my opinion, the smaller figs are nicer than the larger figs (there are exceptions, your results may vary, details in store, etc.) Jurupa and Galbun are two of the nicer, larger figs. But they are outweighed in quantity by Vista, Negronne, Celeste, Igo, Peter's Strawberry, Sals, Violette de Bordeaux, Dark Sutane, Excel, Dark Portugese, Yellow Neches, LSU Purple, etc.

One think I noticed that once one gets into the fig 'variety' screen (which is my main interest - and very happy it exits - thanks!), there is no DIRECT way to go back to the main Encanto site, which has also other interesting stuff... George (NJ).