Ronde de Bordeaux Fig | Comprehensive Variety Review

Many people may not realize that thousands of fig varieties exist. Over the years, I have grown and trialed hundreds of these myself, investing significant time, effort, and money to better understand them—all for the benefit of fig enthusiasts like you.

I’ve created a series of blog posts featuring what I consider 'standard' fig varieties. While there are thousands of varieties in existence, classics like Smith are inexpensive, easy to find, and varieties you ought to know like the back of your hand. You can find my deep dives on other essential varieties in the directory here:

Growing Characteristics:

• Origin: France

• Categorization: Unifera

• Taste grouping: Bordeaux Berry

• Texture: Meaty ripening towards jammy

• Size: Medium - Small

• Ripening period: Very early

• Rain resistance: High

• Spoilage resistance: High

• Shape: Round

• Hang time: Average

• Split resistance: Low

• Climate preference: Well-adapted

• Hardiness: Above average

• Growth habit: Spreading

• Commercial potential? Yes

• Light requirements: Slightly below average

• Productivity: Slightly above average

• Taste rating: 4.7/5

History & Origin

Ronde de Bordeaux (RdB) is widely considered a top-tier variety by serious collectors. While its common availability sometimes causes casual growers to overlook it, its reliability and exceptional flavor profile make it an essential addition to any orchard.

History & Origin

As the name suggests, this variety originates from France, translating literally to "Round of Bordeaux." It has been a staple in the Bordeaux region and across France for many years, benefiting from a culture that deeply prizes fruit quality. Due to its recent surge in popularity, RdB is now cultivated globally—from hobbyist backyards in North America to commercial orchards in Africa.

Varietal Traits & Flavor

RdB is prized for possessing nearly all the desirable qualities of a premium fig:

1. Taste: While it tastes wonderful when picked early (scoring a 3.5/5), its true value is revealed when left to shrivel on the tree. Thanks to superior spoilage resistance, it can reach a semi-dried state that intensifies the sweetness and creates a thick, jammy texture. At this stage, it tastes like plum-flavored candy, earning a 4.7/5 on my scale.

2. Humid Climate Performance: Because it tastes great even when picked slightly early, growers in humid areas can harvest before heavy rains ruin the fruit. However, the fruit is prone to splitting due to its round shape.

3. Ease of Fruiting: No matter what you do to Ronde de Bordeaux, it'll still find a way to fruit. Even after total dieback, it'll fruit on nearly every node, making it one of the most reliable and productive varieties for consistently high-quality yields.

4. Exceptionally Early: While Ronde de Bordeaux is unifera and won't produce a breba crop, its main crop ripens as early as possible. Even better, the main crop at that time is in full force, producing a lot of figs at a time when few are trickling in. It can fill a harvest window gap that many other varieties miss.

Manipulating RdB with Pruning

Every fig variety possesses unique traits; once you master them, you can manipulate how they perform in your landscape. Ronde de Bordeaux is particularly special because its exceptional eagerness to fruit allows you to use specific pruning techniques to create a massive harvest window. Here is how to do it:

Step 1: Hard Pruning

In the world of fig pruning, heading cuts—the practice of shortening a branch by cutting back to a specific bud—serve as a powerful tool to reset a tree's hormonal balance. By removing the terminal bud, you eliminate apical dominance and trigger a surge of growth hormones toward the remaining nodes. This results in vigorous, bushy regrowth during the following season, making heading cuts an unexpected cheat code for increasing growth.

Step 2: River’s Pruning (Pinching)

This summer pruning technique involves removing the apical buds (the growing tips) in June or July.

Here's what happens:

Removing the tip breaks "apical dominance," signaling the tree to stop growing upward and start branching. This typically results in 3–4 new branches per pinched bud. These new branches will produce a secondary flush of the main crop roughly 45 days later.

Tip: Select branches with the largest leaves for this technique, as they indicate the best sunlight exposure and energy reserves.

2. Creating an "Everbearing" Effect

By combining winter heading cuts with summer River's pruning, you can manipulate the tree’s hormonal balance to produce fruit continuously. At my Philadelphia area location, this method can extend the harvest to cover four out of the six frost-free months.

3. The Importance of Maturity

The older and more established the structural base (the "bones") of your RdB, the more aggressively you can prune without accidentally shifting the tree into a purely vegetative, fruitless state. This balance is most clearly observed in successful espaliered or pollarded fig trees.