Inground Fig Set Observations and Discussion (Pic Heavy)

[hoosierbanana]

That is very interesting about IC, mine originates from Vasile, who I believe bought it as a mislabeled O’Rourke but I’m not sure of his original source. Anyway, he reports the same productivity as you so there might be something to your idea about growing environment, and although he is relatively close by he’s been getting Nero 600 m. brebas on his container plant while mine show no signs of ripening. The IC I showed above is planted in the old potato patch which has very high organic matter in the soil, and the rest are in compost socks, but none of them are particularly vigorous, the soil and compost both test off the charts for calcium and potassium… or maybe mine had undergone some change also, epigenetics or something like that, I had trouble rooting them so all the plants I have now originated from a single stick.

[hambone]

Report on Takoma Violet in ground 7B: It’s a Fig Factory!! Highly Recommend.

Puts my Battaglia Green and Ronde de Bordeaux to shame on production.

[JeremiahT]

Two of my in-ground tissue culture trees that set a few figs late last year but didn’t get to ripen any, LSU Purple and Beer’s Black, have started pushing out a few figlets over the past week. Hope they have time to ripen a couple!

TC Celeste is also showing double bumps for the first time.

[hoosierbanana]

There has been one flowering gene isolated in figs which corresponds to light, it is activated by both short and long day periods but I’m guessing there could be long day genes as well. Because it seems like fruit set on some varieties is much more reliable in summer. There must be other genetic factors, because fruit set is clearly not equal across varieties.

(PDF) Expression of FcFT1, a FLOWERING LOCUS T-like gene, is regulated by light...

[DCinFLX]

This is Atreano. I only included it to make me look good. It had filled out a 15 gal pot before tbe start of the season, was uppotted, and had a head start in the greenhouse before being planted inground. The rest of the pics tell the story true.

These are 5 of the 6 trees I planted last year and protected with my low tunnel system. They took more damage than I hoped for over the winter and are clearly imbalanced. Big root system+not enough buds=excessive green growth. I’m doubtful that the figs that are setting now will ripen in time but I’ll probably keep them on simply to slow growth. The varieties are somewhat irrelevant to me (until I can get them growing in a balanced way) but in picture order they are Chicago Hardy, Chicago Hardy, Mary Lane (seemingly very appetizing to Potato Leafhoppers), Mark Nelson’s (Celeste variant?), and Conadria.

[JesseS]

Nice report Brent and all contributing to the discussion! I have around 20 fig plants planted inground here in z4b, Maine. I have been impressed with their ability to survive out winters, most get bent to the ground and covered with mulch. Up to now, the most productive varieties have been Mt Etna types- Hardy Chicago, Marsailles Black VS, Malta Black, and my overall winner for hardiness and early ripening, Danny’s Delight. Florea is coming on quite strong this year, it has set a buch of maincrop and even retained a couple breba. Others I hoped would do well because of early ripening trait have not performed-IC, RdB

[JeremiahT]

4b! A testament to the adaptability F. carica—and to your own dedication as a fig grower!

So Danny’s Delight is an Etna-ish fig? I’ve heard it described as such. But to add to the confusion, there’s a light-colored fig (possibly a San Pedro—and maybe the same thing that Edible Lanscaping is selling as “Lattarulla”) circulating under the same name.

Speaking of hardier/earlier figs, has anyone here trialed Ali Pasha? It’s in the Michurinska-10/Florea family—though there seem to be reports that it’s a different strain with superior fruit quality and maybe better rain resistance. Of course, there are reports of nearly everything; and some sites treat it as just another synonym for M-10. Not sure where one would get a reliable specimen, anyway.

[hoosierbanana]

First Floreas are getting ripe. One inground tree out of 5 that had a good amount of wood survive is first, a couple days ahead of a container tree.

[hoosierbanana]

Picked a Negretta today, it was tiny… sorry no pic. MBVS had one swelling, expecting them to start coming in strong by the end of next week.

[JeremiahT]

@hoosierbanana Our in-ground Mt. Etnas are apparently coming in around the same time. I’ve had a couple isolated ones ripen over the past few days----one Hardy Chicago and one Nyack Purple—but a few more are swelling now. Seems like Malta Black is a touch earlier—should have a few ready today or tomorrow; seems like it also wants to ripen more at once—at least this young one does at this point in this particular season. My other Improved Celeste, which is planted more out in the open and started setting figs a couple weeks after the one I have planted against concrete, is swelling a couple right now; so it’s apparently on schedule. Also seeing some swelling on “English” Brown Turkey EL, which started setting around the same time as IC #2; apparently a pretty early fig.

Getting a lot of figlets on in-ground TC Celeste and TC LSU Purple right now. It’s a pity they dragged their heels . . . but maybe next year! At least they set more figs earlier this year. I figure they’ll eventually get with the program.

[hoosierbanana]

That is probably Southern Brown Turkey then… Looks a lot like Celeste, but the eye turns red when it swells and the interior is darker, less sweet, tasted sort of like cranberry to me.

Regular Celeste did the same thing for me in ground, just grew and grew and set hardly any figs until it was too late.

[JeremiahT]

Yep, it’s an SBT-type. Think it might be the same thing as Hanc’s BT, since Hanc Mathies apparently supplied cuttings of the “English” BT he discovered at Miller’s to Edible Landscaping. I got it from Blake Cothron of Peaceful Heritage Nursery in Stanford, Kentucky, who got it from EL and also sells it as EBT. Anyway, he spoke highly of it, said it always produces and that his mother tree in Louisville had been in ground for over a decade and had outgrown the need for protection. Of course, it’s in an urban microclimate there, growing very close to a brick house . . . Anyhow, look forward to tasting it in a couple of days!

That’s a bummer about Celeste. Ah well, if she won’t shape up, another fig’s always waiting in the wings.

[hoosierbanana]

If you can control growth on the Celeste you’ve got a shot, I did find one in Wilmington years ago that was dwarfed (6 ft.) which was productive. Not sure exactly why it was so small… probably a dry site with good protection (plus being in 7b) so it didn’t die back and developed branch ramification early on. But mine always died back by at least half and regrew to 10 ft. every year, dropped lots of figs also.

[hambone]

Today got my first good taste of my in ground Ronde de Bordeaux and Takoma Violet.

Both good figs, keepers, but RdB wins the taste test. I describe RdB as a tenor with complexity and TV is an alto, lower pitched, mellow and rich.

My TV for two years in a row has had main branches snap off at the base. Last year I suspected a deer trampled it, now I wonder if it’s genetic weakness and wind breaks them out. Or raccoons? No other of my figs have this problem and all are bearing.

[PharmerDrewee]

Lots of Hardy Chicago are ripening in Pennsylvania. This tree lost most new growth during the winter but retained thicker branches. I’ll still end up with probably 300 fruit from this one.

[Susu]

Those look big. Mine are still marble size. Also CH. but winter killed everything except bottom 6 inches. It was its first winter.
Did you winter protect yours? How much from the ground up did you have left after winter? How old is the tree?

[PharmerDrewee]

Yes @Susu I protected it by tying the branches together and covering with 2 tarps. I had growth up to 5 feet tall survive. The tree has been in the ground for 8-9 years. I imagine it helps that I planted it right next to the side of my house.

[PharmerDrewee]

Here is what I picked today from Hardy Chicago with many more starting to ripen. This is a very productive tree.

[mamuang]

I like HC at a shriveled stage. Sweet and jammy.

Mine is in a similar condition as @Courtney. It does not set fruit soon enough. I have only a handful of ripened HC each year. This in ground tree would set fruit on every node but 90% of them would not ripen in time.

My tree is 2’ front the house foundation that face southwest, plenty of heat. I winter protect it very year but our winter can be very cold for fig trees.

[PharmerDrewee]

Make sure to pluck off growing tips around the end of July to arrest growth and prevent further figs from developing. I’ve found that this helps the remaining figs ripen faster. Prior to doing this, I had the same issue where many figs were still unripe when frost arrived, but now practically all of them ripen for me. Alternatively, you can plant a variety that ripens slightly earlier like Florea or Malta Black.