Fig Second Crop? Largest Zone 6 Fig?

If that’s true, there must be plenty of such wasps in Kentucky…I know 3 yards in 3 different towns with fig bushes (clump like) that were simply loaded. I got to sample one overlooking Lake Cumberland…yummy.

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I have an mystery heirloom fig like that, given to me as a gift. I call it paisano purple. Small, luscious dark skinned figs.

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Alan- You still have figs ripening now? I have plenty of figs on the trees, but they just one by one turn rock hard and drop. Second crop does not look like it will happen ever.

My favorite is the under appreciated Celeste. I do peel some of the thicker skin ones.

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The Bronx Italian is loaded with ripe figs- more than my wife and I can eat. In the last week some have been dropping to the ground before we harvest them. We only like them fresh. About 10 a day is enough for me. Not sure how many my wife is eating but probably about the same.

I have a tree Bob gave me a cutting of this spring that grew like a bat OOH and has formed big figs all along the new growth, but I doubt any will ripen. Now I will have to wait another year to see if it is capable of ripening fruit here.

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Good to hear yours are still ripening. Means mine may just need more time in the ground (hopefully).

10 Figs? I have seen many people eat 10 figs and receive an emergency trip to the bath room. They have that effect on a lot of people. Not me though.

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Nothing in my diet has that effect on me besides salmonella. Only happens when I eat other people’s food, but rarely.

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I’m surprised that your Hardy Chicago does not ripen in time for you.

I am about a zone colder than you, 6a (some year 5b) in central MA. My in-ground HC ripened the last two weeks of Sept here. Granted, it was planted next to the house foundation and gets a lot of sun.

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Chicago and olympian are only on year two. Still small. Celeste and brown turkey are my oldest ones. 4 years and 6 feet tall.

I had some first crop still ripening a week ago, but all the new growth second crop is dark green, hard and falling. I use the if you can’t survive on your own you have to go theory and they have held up well with that.

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Celeste is notorious for dropping figs.

Olympian appears to be the same as English Brown Turkey, which ripens main crop fairly late. In England and the PNW they are grown for the first crop only.

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The typical fig grown in the States are common figs, no wasp needed. The wasp will not survive freezing temperatures, so it has been a naturalized in very few places, mostly California.

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Its kind of an old thread but i hope it helps Cold hardy figs. There is a lot of good information in that thread. In zone 6a i have a tendency to focus on 2 figs which are brown turkey and Chicago hardy but there are many others.

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clarkinks-Are you getting a second crop in 6a or just the first? The chart ampersand put on your link is nice. I like to hear real opinions instead of marketing hype. I bought one of those Pai Li that you recomended. I am in 6b-7a, but when did it ripen for you? You can treat them like a euro pear and soften? Not much on the hard bland taste of the asians.

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@tonyOmahaz5 may be of more help on the pears i just recently grafted them myself. They are reportedly good pears. There is lots of reliable information ive posted from the USDA. Ive got more than one crop off chicago hardy figs but only when i over wintered them inside.

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Sorry about that. Your right it was him. Somehow got the two of you confused.
Just curious. Do you ever sell any of the items you graft? Always looking to buy new and exciting trees.

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@Robert
I do not sell any trees. If you are looking for pears recently Dax posted a current sale on pear trees https://growingfruit.org/t/selling-trees-on-ebay-fall-2019-spring-2020-dax-barkslip/24301. Several other members sell pear trees also. Many of the members of the forum have came out to my farm and taken scion cuttings several times.

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As others have suggested, a lot of it may have to do with growing degree days in your particular Zone 6 region; in other words, you may have a considerably cooler growing season than some other areas designated zone 6 on the basis of average winter lows.

This is my second year with in-ground figs here in 6b Kentucky, and the Hardy Chicago/Mt. Etna family figs started ripening the first half of August, with Malta Black being just a smidge ahead of the others, placing it neck-and-neck with Improved Celeste (my current favorite) here. I think your HC will probably catch up with a little more time and maturity. Olympian should catch up, too. My in-ground Olympian started ripening main crop on 9/13. No brebas here; but, of course, all my figs were cut back to 2’-3’ stubs for overwintering.

Another thing I noticed this year: those located in microclimates—e.g., against concrete or near small bodies of water or other objects that collect and release thermal energy—started ripening a little earlier than those that aren’t. (Not surprisingly, figs in microclimates also had better survival of wood over winter.) If yours are not in such a location—and moving them is not an option—maybe you can create a similar effect by stacking rocks or concrete blocks or even placing black-painted drums of water near them. I’ve also heard reports that warming the soil with black groundcloth or plastic in the spring can hasten the season in marginal zones. It’s something I hope to experiment with next season.

I find it curious, on the other hand, that your green main crop figs are not merely failing to ripen, but are actually aborting. This would not be surprising with old-fashioned Celeste, but I wouldn’t think HC and the others would so readily drop unless the trees are in some manner stressed. Now, I have had some unripe figs drop in the last week or so—but that is almost certainly attributable to water stress: we’re now in drought conditions and everything is bone-dry. Hand watering and mulching my figs has helped somewhat (unfortunately, my figs are located in areas that make regular irrigation by hose difficult) but the surrounding soil—and air—is so hot and arid, that they’re still awfully stressed, and as a result they’ve dropped a lot of stagnant figs; Olympian is especially hard hit—and probably more so because it’s in especially poor/dry soil, and I’ve been under the weather for the past couple of weeks and have had a hard time keeping up with watering. Are your figs getting steady moisture during late summer/early fall? Also, is there some nutrient that could be lacking? Calcium deficiencies, for example, can increase green fruit drop in some trees.

As far as big-fruited figs that will make it, you could look into Longue d’Aout (which may be the same as Nordland). My in-ground came through the winter fine (with protection) but I culled it before it could crop and am replacing it with healthier (i.e, FMD symptom-free) specimens. There are reports of it growing and producing well in ground in 6/7. Others report Yellow Long Neck as fairly cold hardy, but I’ve not heard of anyone actually cropping it in ground in 6/7. My YLN, a tissue culture, came through the winter with very little damage (protected on a south-facing sunny slope, just above a little partially filled in pond/swampy area); so it definitely has potential survival-wise. In terms of figs, though, it produced nada this season—not even a double-bump. (Maybe it’s one of those uncooperative TCs? I’ve just propagated another from a cutting to see if I can get it to fruit next year.)

Anyway, just a few thoughts based on my very limited experience. Good luck!

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clarkinks- Thanks, but have already got a few from Dax and others. Just like to ask to make sure.

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Jeremiah- Thanks for the info and you are similar in zone area. I have about 4-5 of each of those varieties, but only the celeste is really cropping being the oldest. Other members had said the same thing about celeste dropping crop. Maybe to early to get scared and should wait to see how the other varieties act.

Where did you find those varieties? Quick search showed the LDA as long as a $20 and YLN was next to a tennis ball. Exactly what I want.

LdA and YLN are fairly common. My YLN (syn: Long Yellow, possibly Robert’s Golden Rainbow[!]) was a small tissue cultured plant purchased from Wellspring Gardens. It hasn’t fruited it—and some TC trees are said to be slow to go into production; propagating by cutting or layer from such a tree is said by some to produce a normal-fruiting daughter. That’s what I’m trying with my YLN. You’re welcome to a couple sticks from it this fall—but, again, it’s a TC that’s not fruited, though leaf morphology looks correct. You can pick up healthy tissue cultured ones like this one for about $7.

I don’t think LdA/Nordland is commercially available in North America. I believe I purchased my LdA cuttings from Wills, who runs the ourfigs forum. Healthy and vigorous—until fig bud mites (acquired via other cuttings—and they’re something to always be on the lookout for!) infested them and infected them with fig mosaic-related viruses carried by some other trees I had then. I’ve been able to salvage my LdA by propagating from fast-growing non-symptomatic growth from the infected mother (which I’ve since disposed of), giving me several vigorous, symptom-free daughters. But it’s set me back to square one, so won’t have any LdA cuttings this year—probably will next year, though.

Anyway, lots of members here undoubtedly have these—so shouldn’t be too hard to source some sticks from healthy mothers. And if you don’t have LdA by next year----and still want it----drop me a line.

I appreciate the offer, but my brown thumb would only kill a cutting. Just now learning the hard way how to take care of potted plants. Although, I will try to find those in well rooted pots. Thanks for the suggestion. They definitely look nice.

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