Thanks Katy!
1 Like
and here’s some mumbo-jumbo-gumbo
people say sweets are unhealthy, but that is because they haven’t tried freshly-picked okra…
and jujubes 
8 Likes
Two months later and I’ve got a lot of figs coming in:
There was also a peach tree in the front yard. I’ve been watching them all year, expecting them to ripen sometime in August. Instead, they have just started to ripen now. Based on the timing and the fruit (whitish/green, very dense, and a somewhat tropical flavor) it looks like I got a Heath Cling peach tree. I already have one at home, but this one is producing a lot more and prettier (a few have spots, but many are pristine) fruit than mine. All with a single insecticide spray (from a hand-held bottle, which probably didn’t get great coverage), while I had 3 sprays at home, plus a later fungicide spray for brown rot. I think this one gets good sun exposure, isn’t too cramped (though there is a small pear to the North of it) and doesn’t have a ton of other peaches around to spread brown rot.
12 Likes
connecticut figs-- grown outdoors-- sounds impossible but those pictures paint a thousand words
3 Likes
I have one of your figs inground, it set figs too late to ripen this year but I plan to protect it and get figs this time next year
3 Likes
Yeah, I’ve been a bit surprised both by how much vegetative growth it has shown and by how much fruit it has set. What I picked so far was probably less than 1/10th the fruit. I’m also surprised that animals (and tenants) haven’t taken more yet.
But as surprised as I am about the fig, the peach is almost shocking. It is producing more quality and quantity than the tree (of the same variety) that I have been babying…
I bet that you would get them even earlier, as I’d guess that Missouri would be ahead of Connecticut.
There is more about it in the thread where I sent out cuttings last year. You’ve obviously seen it (since you got the cuttings 
), but if anyone else is interested in cuttings, let me know. It is a big bush, so there are plenty of cuttings to be had. From Brent’s analysis, it looks like this is in the Etna family of figs.
2 Likes
it really is intriguing, does it have any die back during winter?
Yes, I tried protecting it, but didn’t do a good enough job. Most, but not all of the above ground growth (which I cut back to about 4’ high) died back. So what you see is almost all new growth (8+’ tall).
2 Likes
Bob,
When you let the Reservior figs ripen fully, do they taste as sweet as, say, Hardy Chicago?
1 Like
as long as it’s gaining in units length and girth each year, you’ll be ok. The thicker the limbs are, the more tolerant of subfreezing
I haven’t had that many Hardy Chicago. But, the fully ripe Reservoir is better than any of the HC that I’ve had. That isn’t that high of a bar though, as I wasn’t all that fond of HC. I vaguely recall Bryant Park being very good.
I think it may be slightly bigger now, than it was last year. But, according to one of the grandsons, in some past years it was huge, reaching close to the top of the garage.
Maybe, though it may just be cold enough here that I just need to let it re-grow from the roots in most years. I’ll give it one more try to protect it, but if it doesn’t work, I may just dump some mulch around it in future years.
1 Like
height attained with new growth(after recent dieback) is influenced greatly by nitrogen availability and previous year’s food supply stored within roots and main trunk. As long as girth of main trunk increases every year, its ability to survive a wicked arctic spell should increase.
perhaps am just trying to be optimistic about its survival chances, haha
2 Likes
I’m definitely interested.
My HC is really good ( I pick them when they shriveled and droopy, ugly but tasty).
Glad to hear Reservior tasted better than HC to you. Give me hope. I have two cutting that are growing very well.
@jujubemulberry, in theory, you statement about a tree withstanding freezing cold weather sounds reasonable. I don’t think it applies to fig in zone 6a without protection. At least not in my case and another gentleman in my town who grows figs many years before me.
I am waiting to see the result of @SMC_zone6’s experiment with figs in ground.
am not sure about your winter lows and if you have several years of relatively mild winters before being subjected to an extreme deep freeze
where am at, we probably got blast-frozen once or twice the past 10 yrs. So when growing borderline fragile species such as lemons, and even certain figs, you just hope that in their youth wouldn’t be subjected to an arctic spell for several years, giving them time to fatten up.
@BobVance ‘s fig evidently isn’t just endowed with cold-resistant genes, considering that it is decades’ old, but the fact that it is alive all these years make me think it had considerable growth in girth above-ground or, if not, at least below-ground close to the surface of the soil , at least the main trunk. And if it should die back to the ground, am pretty sure the below-ground trunk/roots have fattened up over the years which protect it from an intense sub-zero. Girth thickness is by itself protection from cold weather. If a tree dies back, it is only the thinner stems that die, which is a good thing for figs since it is capable of bearing fruits on same year’s growth(main crop). The below ground trunk gets thicker with time, and the above-ground hopefully will follow suit, so the owner will have some clue as to whether or not the specimen is still alive.
1 Like
I was thinking along the same lines, that the riit system got strong over many years in the ground. With that in mind maybe it’d be worthwhile to try one in ground but to keep another in a pot and overwintered in the garage just in case.
2 Likes
It looks like there will be a ton of figs which won’t ripen. Maybe I need to thin the shoots next year. Even so, I got plenty of fruit, though it has really slowed down in the last 2-3 weeks.
I didn’t even eat one of these- my wife and youngest daughter both like figs a lot more than I do, so I don’t try to compete with them when there aren’t an excess…
8 Likes
watery and immature figs are no bueno. Perhaps desiccate to increase sweetness. But still, you got them to fruit where you’re at, and that’s promising enough. Maybe an early spring and delayed winter next year would help fruits mature and ripen to its full potential.
Maybe he’s looking for Wilbur.bb
2 Likes