Zone 6 figs

My Celestial (Celeste) and Hardy Chicago both died back, reprouted, and produced one figlet each. But they did not ripen. Eventually, they mysteriously disappeared (birds? Spontaneous abortions? I dunno). 2nd leaf in ground post-transplant on a slope near south-facing boulder in z6b. I pinched the buds in early summer but they still each grew 6 feet tall.

Thanks, that makes me think best just to keep in pots, unless you want the tree for ornamental reasons. They do look cool in the landscape. If i could keep them alive long enough to grow big they might survive. Seems Florea is worth trying except the figs kinda suck, we just can’t win with this fruit here. I’m 6a too, so that much harder. And we had 5a temps last winter to just make it that much more difficult.

My hardy Chicago, Celestial all produce some ripe figs (about 20%) with die back last year. Next year, I will take them in house at April to wake them up earlier as this year they sprouted at end of May and don’t have time to ripe many figs.

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My Sal’s GS, Bari, and Ronde de Bordeaux died back to 6-8" stubs under a pile of mulch. All ripened fruit, with Sal’s ripening the most. Next year I’ll have a much better answer as I now have 12 varieties in the ground.

I’m in zone 6b, low last winter of -1F.

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Good to hear more encouraging news about Sal’s Gene EL fig doing well in our marginal zone. I planted one in-ground this year. I hope it fruits for me next year!

Kelby- How many years has your Sal’s G been in the ground?

I planted it last summer. The guy I got it from (also in PA) has a huge one in his backyard that’s been there for probably a decade. A few years ago he had over 100 pounds of fruit on it!

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That’s amazing, and look forward to a piece of it!

I am relatively new to fig. I have 6 varieties all in pots.
Chicago Hardy, 2013
Paradiso, San Pietro and White Genoa, 2014
Violette de Bordeaux, Brunswick, 2015.

I have made mistakes along the way.
I have learned not overwinter fig trees in the house. Too high of a temp to keep them completely dormant.

These days, I move them to my unfinished basement about now after all leaves are gone. Water them if soil is very dry.

This past spring I brought them out a bit late (mid April). I will do it sooner next year. More sun light. This spring I relocated them from my deck with 4-5 hrs of sun to the front of the house. They got sun from 11am to sunset. They are also closed to the house and the front steps for extra heat.

I pinched 5-6 leaves. It worked. All but Brunswick and VdB produced figs.
CH - small dark fruit, tasted good
Paradiso large, green fig, tasted good , later crop did not ripe in time
San Pietro Small, dark figs, did not ripe in time
White Genoa, Medium figs, did not rpie in time but the almost ripe ones tasted really good.

Although I have limited experience eating figs, Taste wise, I like White Genoa, Paradiso and CH in that order.

Need to figure out how to get all varieties to ripe in time. I will bring the pots out earlier and will pinch leaves sooner.

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What about the Violette de Bordeaux? That is the only fig I want to buy this spring. :kissing_heart:

Mrs. G.,
VdB was a small plant so no fruit. It does not grow much, either. It tend to spread out instead of growing up.

I got it from Logee’s in CT, 45 mins from my house. A bit pricy but I could pick which trees I wanted and did not pay shipping.

I got Chicago Hardy and two paw paw from there, too.

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A good one for containers, being small. 20% off all figs at Edible Landscaping. My email says Mention the code HAPPY THANKSGIVING in the comments field at checkout to receive
these discounts. We will email you the discounted total:
Pomegranates too are 20% off, nothing else, figs and pomes.

I have VDB from fruitnut last year. Thanks Steve!

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A friend just bought a Violette de Bordeaux fig and asks:

  1. Plant in ground or pot here in zone 7 eastern shore, Md?
  2. if pot, what size?

Thanks.

Well if you want to plant in the ground you can. Most keep it in a pot a couple years first, then plant out. In zone 7 it will die to the ground if not protected. It still may die to the ground, so up to what the person expects and wants. As far as pot size you can go small to large, I’m from the school of the bigger the better. I start out though in smaller pots, like maybe a 3-5 gallon, then 10 gallon. I don’t have any in bigger pots, but may go larger when the time comes.

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Ham,

Keep it in a pot.

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