Desert King

The exact origin and identity of this tree is not known in the ancient world. Desert King comes from a fig tree found in 1930, near Madera, California.

This is a fast growing tree with long and erected branches that the foliage is unable to completely cover, giving the tree a little “bare” appearance. In Spring, to force the tree to produce new ramifications and to prevent it from rising up too rapidly, the terminal buds of few ramified, but strong, branches must be pinched. The result of this pinching is that two or three new lateral branches will appear and will probably already bear new fruits the following year.

The resistance to cold is quite strong. No cold damages were ever observed, even in 2013, after two weeks of -15° at night and -10° at day. The fruit buds resist to Winter frost, and to sudden temperatures changes in Spring. Desert King has some resistance against the wind and in very cold, rainy and windy Springs, its brebas usually resist while other fig cultivars drop most of their fruits.

This fig tree produces brebas with excellent organoleptic qualities, of large size, melting in the mouth and very sugared. At complete maturity, the skin color changes from light green to pale yellow.

The fruit resists quite well to rain showers, but can split in case of long rain periods. It is earlier than most breba varieties by about two weeks, with a fruiting duration that lasts two to three weeks and usually starts in the middle of summer.

It is important to highlight that Desert King is one of the most productive, if not the most productive, fig tree for brebas, each branch can bear up to 6-8 fruits.

This fig tree also produces a main crop, pyriform and flattened with a dark strawberry pulp. The organoleptic quality of the fruit is exceptional; melting texture, taste reminding of mulberry and strawberry, higher sugar content than the breba fruit with seeds that are felt in the mouth but remaining very pleasant. Finally the fruit possesses a medium skin size and weighs about 47 gr.

If the tree becomes too tall and large, and that trimming is envisaged in Spring, do not trim back all terminal branches because it would mean annihilating the entire breba crop; ideally trim one branch out of two or out of three.

To conclude, this fig tree is highly recommendable for its exceptionnal early crop with numerous brebas fruits, excellent main cromp and incredible cold resistance.
 
General data
Origin United States of America
Synonym(s), local names White King, King
Tree type San Pedro
Crop Biferous
 
Tree morphological characteristics
Shape Erected
Vigor Strong
Ability to produce suckers Weak
Height after 10 years 350 cm
Width after 10 years 350 cm
Minimum width 400 cm
 
Branch morphological characteristics
Branch color Light brown
Caliber Medium
Buds Lemon yellow
 
Leaves morphological characteristics
Leaves Large
Lobs 3-5
Depth Medium sinuses
 
Adaptation outside the Mediterranean area
Cold hardiness Very good
Wind resistant Very good
Pot culture
 
Breba crop
Yield Very Strong
Fruits dropping Partial fruit drop
Alternance None
Sensitivity to splitting Resistant
Crop begin date (day-month) Valleiry:27-07
 
External characteristics
Skin color Yellow
Skin thickness Thin
Shape Pyriform
Stalk Breaks off readily
Stalk shape Short and medium
Neck Medium
Neck color Yellow
Eye Medium, opened
Eye color Light pink
Average weight (grams) 90 g
 
Internal characteristics
Pulp color Light strawberry
Seeds Felt, medium
 
Organoleptic evaluation
Texture Melts in the mouth
Sugar Very sweet
Taste Excellent
Perfume Strong
Organoleptic descriptors Floral, Fruity, Dates
 
Main crop
Yield Weak
Fruits dropping No fruit drop
Alternance Weak
Sensitivity to splitting Very resistant
Crop begin date (day-month) Valleiry:30-09
 
External characteristics
Skin color Yellow
Skin thickness Thin
Shape Pyriform flattened
Stalk Breaks off readily
Stalk shape Short and medium
Neck Short
Neck color Yellow
Eye Very small, closed
Eye color Light pink
Average weight (grams) 47 g
 
Internal characteristics
Pulp color Dark red
Seeds Felt, few
 
Organoleptic evaluation
Texture Melts in the mouth
Sugar Very sweet
Taste Excellent
Perfume Strong
Organoleptic descriptors Fruity, Black Mulberry, Strawberry, Sweet