Cold hardy figs

If I had another couple of months of growing season I might get another dozen or two figs. It has been a wonderful year for figs! First time in my life I’m getting tired of figs!

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This was really intense, not as sweet as usual but the tree has had it rough, Barnisotte.

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Had another fig yesterday! Not sure why I’ve had so many this year.

!

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Have about 10 gallons of dried figs in the freezer so far, should be enough to make it until next season :slight_smile: Anyone know how dry they have to be for shelf stability in mason jars, without any preservatives? I’m almost out of freezer space.

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Gone thru only one winter and look at the size of this Marseilles Black VS. pl. spring 2016. This is my friend’s plant. Photos 10/4/17

Dax

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I thought i lost my Negronne fig but just looked at the planter pot and it has sprouted a big new branch after looking completely kaput all summer. Yay!!! I left the dead part in place to act as a “trellis” for my bitter melon plants but now I’ll prune the dead trunk and branches off and let the Negronne grow fuller in that space.

Anthony

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Dax,

Where does your friend live? It’s amazing.

I am thankful that the weather has warmed up again for these past few days, my Chicago Hardy continues to ripen a fig or two everyday. So great to have figs this late.

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Hi Mam,

He lives in Monmouth, IL. which is directly across the state from Chicago but 80 miles south. We both live very close to the Mississippi River.

The weather has been great. The first frost here is reliably the 15th of Oct. +/- a day, however this may be a later frost year.

Dax

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It appears we may have first frost on Oct 16 this year. My area can be zone 5 b occasionally.

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Ripening conditions have been pretty good, here’s a sample.

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So I spent $90 at the lumber yard for some 6 mil plastic and lumber and we will see how things go when I make an enclosure. There are around 100 green figs on my bush right now. Any suggestions besides Christmas lights to heat it? I would love to cheat nature a bit with a little zone stretching and start my season early or end it late or better yet both!

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Be sure to post pics of your hoop house. Does your design include a vent?

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Yes it will if it’s not to drafty already. I’m mostly followomg @Barkslip plans with the 2x2’s. I’d love to get a few more figs!

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Bob,
How are your figs doing? Hope they have ripened for you.

Thanks to warmer than usual weather in Sept and early Oct, my CH has ripened a couple of figs daily. It rained yesrterday. This afternoon, I went out to find about 10 ripened ones. Most had ants on them. I got rid of those ants. The figs looked beated (some ant holes) and a bit soggy.

Surprisingly, they were so sweet. It amazed me as I thought with the rain, the sweetness would be diluted. I ate the last three that I picked as I typed. Still several more on the tree. Many of these figs formed in July or early August. It seemed they took a long time to ripen. CH is worth growing.

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Nothing from my in-ground figs. Unless you count 1-2 from a potted one which I planted (I think it was Takoma Violet).

Among the potted ones, Fico Bianco and Bryant Park have been pretty good and prolific. But I’ve still only gotten a few in total. It happened very late in the year, but a number of in-ground plants eventually started developing fruit. I don’t think any of it will ripen though. I am trying to root several of the in-ground plants- maybe I can transplant an already fruiting branch into a pot…

Those figs look perfect! Good job!
I had to pick my Panache early as I was leaving town for 4 days and I didn’t want to lose it. Most will not ripen, only 4 did, and far from completely ripe. The good news is I heard the skin is tough, mine was not at all, and to me it tasted more like a honey fig even with the red pulp. It was very good! I look forward to more next year and hopefully conditions will be better.

The pulp should be blood red, but conditions here were not ideal.

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Do you think if you starved them for water they would have ripened faster? I forgot to water my Chicago hardy in late August and the bigger figs ripened very fast

My in ground CH was late in producing fruit, 2-3 weeks after the potted one.

Most of my 6-7 potted figs had 1-3 fruit per plants that ripened in late summer. Then, by Sept, most of them produced figlets again, a lot of them, too. I pinched them all off to save the plants’ energy. I don’t think they could amount to anything this late in the game.

@Drew51. Thanks. Their look was far from perfect but they tasted really sweet. That’s what I care about :slight_smile:

You will get more on the potted plants in the future, if given room. Some do better than others.

VDB

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I’m happy to see figs on my potted plants. I just need to remember to move them inside before we get a frost which damages them. Considering that I was able to grow a few figs completely indoors last year, I don’t see why I can’t take partially ripe figs across the finish line.

As they ripen, I’ve had fruit flies/rot damage a few. I’ve also lost some to yellow Jackets. Here’s one where they’ve eaten 3/4 of a pretty large fig. I count over 10 YJ in the picture. Posting this reminds me- I should go out and pick the fig next to it, now that it is dark.

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