Here is someone reported about his fig plants in Southeast TN. He is in zone 7B/8.
## The SE TN fig ranch 2023 status
In a nutshell the weather, Ambrosia beetles and travel all conspired to wiped my figs out this year. I have had mixed results on figs as previous big producers are not getting it done this year but previous non producing figs have revived after the freeze backs. I will have for the first time Improved Celeste O’Rourke Not (ICON) figs along with LSU Tiger and Hunt figs. My Hunt is the big producer this year for me and a new fig to taste single and a few doubles on almost every node. My VDB was a monster last year with about 100 figs, this year it is currently showing about a dozen. My Tena is again this year barren. My Green Ischia (T/C) will not have figs again this year and my Emerald Strawberry has a single fig although cuttings I gave away last year are producing a few fig, LOL! My LSU Gold was in the doldrums until freeze back and has many figs this year but the Scoots Black will probably not ripen the few figs on it. My Panache is also fruitless after 5 years in the ground. I had hoped the Dalmatie was a goner but the damn thing came back, in 5 years I have picked 2 so-so figs and growth has been super slow. On the chopping block this year. Grow back has been great for most of my figs. Alma grew back with a vengeance but no fruit again this year. Tena is also on the chopping block having a fantastic years harvest 2 years ago but after a sever pruning it has produced zero, zip, zilch for the past 2 years. So all in all it was a bummer fig year here on the “ranch”.
So basically, they had winter freeze that they normally did not have. That weakened fig trees. Then the Ambrosia beetles came in to finish it off with all the old wood. So a lot of the in-ground fig trees got wiped out. Often they do not protect them over winter because they were in zone 7B or zone 8.
Deep in the South, there was cold weather in Texas too. Weather has been all over the place. USDA cold hardiness zone does not really hold in some places.
And BFF has been a huge problem in California. It seems that is its own native problem.
That’s awesome man! I’m really impressed. Have you considered doing this with citrus too. I bet you could grow some satsuma, and definitely the yuzu or yuzu hybrid sudachi.
What’s the heat source?
What happens to them if you don’t protect them? Die back to the roots?
I have a Sudachi hybrid, I’m actually looking to sell/ get rid of it. I grow that in a pot and bring in for the winter, I just don’t have the time space to devote to it anymore.
There is no heat source for the figs overwinter.
They come out of dormancy a week or two earlier with my method in this area.
If I didn’t cover them it depends on the winter/ cultivar. From just mild tip die back/ delayed fruiting to complete loss to the ground.
My in ground chicago hardy got some cold damage (3F low) this past winter… despite being protected. Making it later than usual and a bit less fruitful. Most of those shoots came up from the roots this year.
It is hard to say. The difference gets more blurry.
Typically, California BT has red skin and does not have that huge a cavity inside. For a BT that does not fit all the descriptions, we just say it is a BT. Generically speaking.
Here is a California BT that is hugely popular in Asia.
