Cold hardy figs

I have been getting one CH a day until today, I had several that either dropped or were very close to dropping, ate them all in five minutes, lol. I think they were a little sweeter, no rain for the last week

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In the ground brown turkey fig was the biggest fig we have ever got! Apparently using the wood chips last winter helped! My lovely lady is holding the monster fig!

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Big Fig!

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That looks incredible. How did the plant do this year? Now Iā€™m tempted to try this, after seeing how well it grew for you and how much you like it. I got the wife to agree to let me take the hedges that surround the house out of the ground on three sides. Might as well fill in with things like this!

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I afraid it was damaged and I lost all top growth. I decided to remove it. I put Florea there now. So in a bad year it did poorly. It looked great at first but it didnā€™t last. Figs are tough. Iā€™m going to try some others. Also other methods of protection.

Maybe Iā€™ll just get a Chicago Hardy to see how to get them started, though some of the posts I was reading said that there are actually a lot of figs that are even hardier. Itā€™s interesting.

I should probably delay the figs a year, anyways. I have 7 trees on order between Cummins and Adams, Iā€™m planning to try the mulberry that @Botanical_Bryce grows, and Iā€™m planning on adding Caraā€™s Choice and Hannahā€™s Choice blueberry to what I already have once Burpee shows stock.

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Difficult to go wrong with a Chicago Hardy. For me and a few others on here (@thecityman) we have little success with Figs other than Chicago Hardys. Those CHs can freeze all the way to the ground and come back as good as ever. Mine is in just its 2nd year and Iā€™ve had over a 100 very tasty fruits from it this year.

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@mamuang has a post way up above that shows she had success with Chicago Hardy, and that her kids enjoyed it. Looks like hers must fruit in September in central Mass. Iā€™m in southern Connecticut so maybe itā€™d be slightly sooner than that for me.

100 figs sounds pretty good for a new tree!

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zaz, that;s amazing,
it took 4 years for my HC to yield 100 figs,
is yours potted?
how did you do it?

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Joe,
Before you or anyone in zone 6 or lower get too excited about growing cold hardy figs in ground, I want to put in my two cents.

Although Iā€™ve just grown figs for 4 years, the first two in pots and put one CH in 2016, I have read threads and posts about figs for several years. There was one ā€œstoryā€ about a fig tree in Chicago that survived unprotected. No one confirmed the story and no pic.

For potted figs in colder zones, it is important to grow short season figs so you can harvest the fruit instead of growing them for decorative leaves.

In ground figs unprotected for zone 6 and colder. No go. Anyone tell you otherwise, they are lying, even people in zone 7 still have to protect them.

In ground figs with protection. Can be done. Est is to dig a trench and lean a tree down and bury it, other protection, as long as it is well covered, thick layers, it should work.

My problem was I removed the protection too early. I unwrapped my in ground CH on 4/11 when the temp was 45F which should be fine. Butā€¦the temp after that went below average for 16 out of 19 days. It went as low as 27F. So, the tree died to the ground.

It took a while before it sprouted from the root and grow. It set a few fruit in late July. It got going producing figlets everywhere in late Aug. I removed the Aug figlet. I donā€™t even know the late July ones would ripen in time.

I say, curb your enthusiasm.

Did you get any this year? Itā€™s been an unusually hot summer (for us).

I read a little more than half of this thread. I saw the lengths @clarkinks went to in order to extend his growing season, and the layers of mulch. Also, my wife told me that our dentist told her the other day he has figs in the ground and that he gets fruit. Iā€™m sure itā€™s not as easy as blueberries or pawpaw, but Iā€™m OK with that.

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In ground? Not this year. It set fruit very late.

When people in cloder zone told you they can get figs, ask him/her if
Potted or in ground
In ground protected or not

If they said in ground zone 6 unprotected, ask to see the tree.

Iā€™ll talk to the dentist when I go back for a filling in a couple of weeks. My neighbor and his friend each grow the same fig, in a pot.

You not getting fruit this year of all years does actually dampen my enthusiasm for the fruit. Unless you arenā€™t giving it enough sun, and Iā€™m sure you are, that means that the Chicago Hardy just needs a longer growing season than even a good year can provide it here.

I think I did not make it clear. The timing of my uncovering my inground CH was off. Too early, too cold. Green stems turned dark after temp were below 30 for many days. All above ground stems died to the ground.

If I uncovered the tree later like in late April or early may, those stems may have survived and the tree could have developed faster and set fruit earlier.

I know it is possible because it was what happened in 2017. I had plenty of tree-ripened figs from my inground CH.

In short, not only you have to protect your tree well, the timing to uncover it is also important.

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Oh, I just scrolled up. You did make it clear that you made an error uncovering the tree up above. I read that comment quickly and replied right before going back to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.

I really do need to take it a little bit easy, though. Everything Iā€™ve got in the ground or on order thus far is way more than any normal person would consider putting in. Maybe before figs I should plant some things that are easier and that I know Iā€™m going to like first like black, yellow, and red raspberries. Iā€™ve been reluctant to do that. SWD kind of dampened my enthusiasm there. Canā€™t grow any of the good fall raspberries anymore!

I was really surprised how well multiple layers of thin row cover works. It can even help extend the season past frost a little.

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Brent,
Any brand you would recommend?

Hereā€™s my inground CH. The pic was taken an hour ago. It is only 2.5ā€™ from the house and facing southwest so it is a lot of heat from the house and from the sun.

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Iā€™ve only tried the cheapest type of agribon, it is the old stuff that is not good enough for tomatoes anymore because it has too many holes, it still insulates though because air gets trapped in between the layers. I think you want at least 15 ft wide, this stuff is 30 and I fold it.

You need to bend the trees over a little before you put in on for frost so the tips donā€™t poke through, and then do something to keep the branches from touching the fabric and freezing/ripping through after the leaves have fallen. I have had luck so far with bending the trees over more and tying them down,then throwing half full and flattened out bags of leaves on the high spots where the fabric will touch the branches. The lower and wider you can make it the better.

Thanks. Iā€™ll see how much I could do.