What is Breba Crop in Fig Trees?
One of the biggest pleasures of gardening is to grow figs near your home eat fresh fruits off the fig branches. From their honey-sweet taste to the appealing growth habit, Figs trees are a cool option to grow in your space. Fig trees can produce 2 crops per year depending on the variety. The second crop is called a breba crop. Learn about breba crop in fig trees.
Breba Crop Explained
Unripe figs You would have probably noticed a second fruit production which usually happens in the year following the main crop production. The second fig crop is known as Breba (or Breva in Spanish). A Breba crop develops on the old wood of common fig trees during spring after the fig leaves emerge. The branches which bear the Breba crop are from the previous year’s main fig crop production which develops in fall or later summer.Breba crops of different fig varieties have different flavors that are not always as sweet as the main crop’s fruits. When it comes to the selection of a fig variety, be mindful of the fig cultivar as some of the fig cultivars do not develop Breba crop at all. Some cultivars that produce high-quality and good-tasting Breba crops include Marseillas, Desert King, Bordeaux, Ventura, Black Mission, Croisic, Grantham’s Royal and Kadota. You can get rich fruits from the Breba crop of Palermo Red cultivar. Some fig varieties like Celeste are known for premature fruit drop in Breba crop and you must steer clear from this variety.
Perfect Plants is proud to offer five varieties of fig trees that may or may not produce the breba crop.
Best Selling Fig Varieties
San Pedro Group of Breba Figs
Black Mission Figs You can face quite a lot of confusion in the selection of a fig cultivar which produces large Breba Crops. The San Pedro group of Fig cultivars comprise upon all those trees which give impressive Breba production. San Pedro Fig’s main crop is pollinated with the help of a specific wasp, after which a fruit set is made. Desert King belongs to this group of Fig trees. Desert King grows well in cool regions that do not receive excessive sunlight in summer. In regions like the Pacific Northwest of the USA, only the Breba crop of figs grows because the main crop of the figs in this region does not receive enough heat and light in summer.
Suppressing Breba Figs
Breba figs don’t always have desired fruit color, shape and flavor. Due to these reasons, the growers of figs tend to suppress the breba crop production to conserve the energy and nutrients which would otherwise be consumed by the off tasting fruits. Suppressing Breba figs helps in conserving plant vigor and nutrients which would in turn help in getting better and tastier main fig crop. You can suppress the undesirable Breba fig crop by following these recommendations:- Remove Breba figs present on the branches which have a terminal bud
- It will induce dormancy in good breba branches, enabling them to flourish and bear fruit during the main crop growing season
- It is also recommended to remove main crop fruits which develop on the same branches
- Do not prune or disbud the main crop trees if you want to obtain a single main crop every year as well as maintain plant growth
Growing Breba Crops
If you want to get a considerable breba crop growth and enjoy fresh figs during the off-season, you must choose a good-quality breba fig cultivar and follow some suitable growing practices.- You can grow the young trees in bark mulch which is mixed with small amounts of compost or peat moss.
- Add recommended amounts of garden lime and fertilizer in fig pots
- Store the fig containers in your cold garage, away from sunlight during winter.
The Bottom Line
Figs are one of the easiest to grow and low maintenance trees you can grow in your space to enjoy fresh fruits from two crops viz a main crop and a Breba Crop. These bushels of sweet, juicy figs are self-pollinating and can increase the value of your property, improve the landscape and make up for an interesting gardening hobby.
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