23 figs… from my Chicago Hardy this evening.
Lots of figs left on… 150 or so.
TNHunter
10 Likes
Is there any damage on the top of the tree from touching the sun? 
1 Like
@evilpaul … I am bagging and harvesting figs up in the 7-8-9 ft height range now.
I have been using a 4 ft step ladder the past month. May have to switch to my 8 ft step soon.
TNHunter
3 Likes
I have a yellow longneck rooted baby start in a pot that I plant to overwinter in the barn, with a milkhouse heater to keep the tack room above freezing. Curious if you like the flavor and how productive is it?
Thanks
1 Like
A few years back… i used to warch Lou Monty on youtube. It was the first place I saw YLN mentioned.
Lou Monty is a fan. Check out this vid.
It is a large fig… a honey fig… long neck figs are generally more rain resistent… as they ripen they hang straight down which helps.
Caution Lou rambles a lot and I think he really loves all figs.
TNHunter
3 Likes
Encouraging and grown in pots at that. My plan is to plant ours in the ground. Prune back at dormancy and overwinter in 20" plant protectors.
Would appricate feedback if its a good or bad plan?
1 Like
How many Chicago Hardy trees do you have?
@jxz7245 … I have 1 Chicago Hardy fig tree.
In ground on the south side of my home just off a tall brick wall… the ground there slopes to the south.
It is a beast… it pushes 10 shoots 9-12 ft tall.
We get around 400 figs yearly from it.
Late season like this I am using a step ladder to bag and harvest figs.
It probably has 100 figs still on and ripening.
TNHunter
9 Likes
Cool weather continues to slow down ripening, but low humidity also continues.
LSU Strawberry, VdB, LSU Black, Olympian, and a bunch of LSU O’Rourke. Probably the last PAF of the year, and a handful of guavas.
LSU Scot’s Black took the cake today for best tasting. LSU Strawberry always does well, but today’s was a little under ripe because a bit of damage forced me to pick it early.
LSU Purple is gearing up for a big last hurrah for the season, with a second flush just now starting to color up and swell. And most of my other figs still have plenty of fruit to ripen, so I’m hoping we’ll only get frost in late November.
9 Likes
A few figs today were unremarkable, but two of them were very good. An LSU Strawberry split and so was picked early (I seem to have more early picks with this one, but the plant is over loaded for its size so that might be part of it) and an LSU Scott’s Black ripened to perfection.
Scott’s Black was soft, syrupy, and very rich with fairly intense dark berry flavors and some figgy flavor in the skin. Overall it’s like VdB or RdB but bigger, lighter textured with more syrup, and more straight dark berry rather than figgy plus dark berry. LSU Strawberry showing once again that it’s a very good fig even underripe with lighter berry flavors, a bit of melon near the stem, and comparatively sweet skin. And it’s just so gosh darn pretty.
7 Likes
@JesusisLordandChrist … my Chicago Hardy is in ground. I knew nothing about figs when I first got it back around 2018.
First year it grew 3 shoots 6-7 ft tall… we got 25 figs.
I did not know you had to protect them over winter… and I dod not. The next spring it was dead to the ground.
Early May it finally did send some shoots back up from the roots. They grew well but got a later start than they would if I had successfully protected it. We got 75 figs year 2.
I am not sure how well your foam plant protector will work… it shows the foam thickness to be .75".
If your winter low is around 20F… that might do it ??? But if you get on down to 0F or below… i expect you will be hoping it comes back from the roots.
Chicago Hardy is known to do that regular… the only problem with coming back from the roots is your new years growth starts about a month later than if you had successfully protected it. You get first ripe figs later.
I surround my dormant fig stumps with hay bales and fill the center with dry wood chips and cover it all with a tarp. I wrap the base of each stump with chicken wire to discourage rodents.
Per goog… the R value of 3/4 inch foam is 2-3 depending on exact type.
The R value for a 23" thick straw bale is 33.
Good luck to you !
TNHunter
6 Likes
Flavor is very good, production isn’t so great, but it did fruit for me here in 7a/b after surviving the winter in ground (only 3 fruit for the year if that tells you something). Maybe with less stress it performs better…
2 Likes
Thanks i’ll give it a try and see what happens. I wont know unless I try.
1 Like
You really insulated your inground CH to overwinter. It looks good and healthy also. You seem to have found a good solution for your neck of the woods there in 7B
I think I need to plan on something a little differt for zone 7a.
I’ll only have 5x6 hay netted rounds to feed cattle overwinter or I might use bales like you have pictured.
I was reading about some other ideas here Overwintering In-Ground Figs in Colder Climates - Fine Gardening
Are your early varieties in ground or in pots? I think I need to graft some other early varieties onto my Chicago Hardy, as it’s always starting much later than it seems yours are.