Topics

Col De Dame Grise,a couple of ripe fruits today pix.

This cultivar totally deserves to be expensive,and people that paid a lot of money,for trees I sold on Ebay will never regret once they get ripe fruits out of this one.
I had all three colors fthis cultivar and ,the results are:
This one get ripe in more difficult climatic conditions compared to white and black Col de Dame.
It did ripe slowly ,one by one in this terrible cold September and October,but ,never did they sour or become mediocre in taste and flavor.
Today I only had one ripe and one to be ripe soon,so I left it on.
It is very very special tasting.
Of course The Black and White version,can be just as good,in a little bit warmer climate and in a position with full sun exposure,conditions that I do not have period.
here is the pix

    Attached Images

  • Click image for larger version - Name: Colddgri2frts_interior2013.JPG, Views: 521, Size: 95265
  • Click image for larger version - Name: Col_ddgrisefrts2013_2_interior.JPG, Views: 469, Size: 87035

Wow!  That looks absolutely fantastic, Herman! 

Go figure...I just got the last fig on my wish list yesterday, and now I see it's already time to get a new wish list!

Nice job!

WoW, I can't wait until next year. Thanks Herman.

Wow!  Looks great!  Even late!

Well Figaro,your wish list missed the best cultivar for your specific climate ,Florida.
This cultivar will be the last one to split and sour in your hot humid rainy climate.
It was raining yesterday and today here and ,look at the eye,and the interior.
The fruit is totally isolated from the exterior rain.

  • Avatar / Picture
  • Tam

Very nice and tasty fig, thanks for sharing.

Best,
Tam

Quote:
Originally Posted by Herman2
Well Figaro,your wish list missed the best cultivar for your specific climate ,Florida.
This cultivar will be the last one to split and sour in your hot humid rainy climate.
It was raining yesterday and today here and ,look at the eye,and the interior.
The fruit is totally isolated from the exterior rain.


 
I'm sold!  After I saw yours, I saw Mike's CdD pics and knew I had to add it! :D

I am really going to need to get some more space, since I have too figs many as-is for the size of my lot.  I do suspect I'm not the only member here trying to figure out how to squeeze another fig in somewhere, though! ;)

Looks great Herman, especially with inconsistent cold weather we have been having.  I am glad I have this one and made a layer to make sure that I have a couple, the Noir and Blanc I will take cuttings from but it will set a bench mark for me anyways to see how it does several hundred miles west of you.  Is this one in ground for you and have you noticed any difference in vigour compared to the black and white?

  • Avatar / Picture
  • Sas

Herman, Is there a huge difference in taste between the Gris and the Black? I'm not sure as to why the Gris is the rarest of the three. Is it because it's more sensitive to the environment.

After reading some comments and having experienced the white vs others I decided to get the Black and the Gris.
The first photo is of my Gris received around July and the second taken today in windy conditions, approximately four months after I received it. I moved the Gris about two weeks ago to a permanent location in my yard.
I still have to find space for my black Col de Dame in the ground but it grew at a much slower pace this summer and had to overcome the moving shock.

I believe that these wonderful figs trees should be in the ground.

    Attached Images

  • Click image for larger version - Name: 20131101DDG_1.JPG, Views: 142, Size: 380262
  • Click image for larger version - Name: 20131101_CDDG2.JPG, Views: 140, Size: 619277

Sas:In your place,Austin,the three colors of Col de Dame should be tasting ,very similar and ,at the top of what,any fruit wish to be in taste.
The difference could be that some plants are healthier than others,as to the kind of Fig mosaic virus it suffer with,because that will determine as to how productive the plant will be.
In my climate the plants infected by the ,strain of virus ,found in UCD Collection,never produce much fruits,and so I had to get rid of the White version,I initially got from the Germaplasm collection.
The Grise is not rare anymore as I sold cuttings in 2012,but it could be that many people had the cuttings die on them,so it is not abundant yet.
I got this Grise from Cuttings from Gene Hosey,in Washington DC about 7 years ago to my recollection.
Of course my figs are in ground the remaining black and grise are in ground,but the black did not ripe yet this year tho id did ripe last year and in 2011.
This past season was very cool and rainy and many other cultivar selections ,that ripe just fine in other years ,had a hard time getting a few ripe fruits this year.
As to the Grise being sensitive,that is not the case here,as in fact is the strongest grower from them all.

Fantastic Herman!!! I always get happy when the premium figs get ripe in battle against climate. CddG must be extremely special to retain its high quality in war against weather.

  • Avatar / Picture
  • Sas

As to my white, two cuttings from the UCD collection were super healthy and productive this first year. I was amazed. The third one is struggling and looks like it's hardly growing.
So I was wondering if it's luck and I received cuttings that were not infected. What's your thought on that.

FYI I love the inside colors of your figs.

Thank You

Fig mosaic virus is a subjiect,I never figured out,and so I will not say anything about it.
I can also see that ,when i grow a batch of cuttings from one cultivar,sometime even if the mother plant  is infected,a few cuttings grow much stronger than the rest while other,die or grow very slow.
All i think it needs to be done is discard the new plants that are visibly diseased,from the beginning,and select only the strong plants.
Edit note:SAS
The interior color is as close as it can be to a proper ripe Col de Dame fruit,and all of them if grown in ground will ripe having that luscious interior color and a WOW taste,one will know how to appreciate instantly.
And By the way:Your ColdeD grise is very healthy,but ,tho in Austin,I would say protect it from cold this Winter,because when they grow fast like that they are more susceptible to Winter damage.

Thanks for sharing, Herman, look forward to fruit from the trees and cuttings I got from you.  I don't think any of us that paid those high prices will regret it.

I really like the looks and sound of this one Herman

It is not green,It is exactly like the pix shows,Gray to brownish.
The leaves are 5 lobes,sometime with 2 thumbs and sometimes not,as you know all fig varies at the leaf shape,but mostly 5 lobes.

I have a grise fig. May be a breba. Not really swelling up but is turning yellow. What going on with it. This is my first fig on the tree so dont know what to expect

  • Avatar / Picture
  • Sas
  • · Edited

I don't recall seeing breba figs for the past three years on any of my Col de Dame trees. These are late ripening varieties.

It is possible to have Breba on Col de Dame(all colors), but first the climate has to be very mild during the Winter so they survive,and also,chances are they might have better persistence if those breba would be caprified by fig wasp.
Sometimes when plants are in Greenhouse over the Winter they do produce a few Breba fruits,that persist,and get ripe early.
I grow fig outside so in my climate Breba is killed most of the time.

Herman,
The CdDG airlayer I got from you a couple years ago gave me some brebas last year(it's in a pot). They were the first(and only) fruits off of that tree, nothing really special but I honestly wasn't expecting much from a breba off of a small tree. It was one of many trees that got some frost damage last spring after they had grown 3-4 leaves and severely stunted most of them the rest of the season. Stunted growth and stunted small leaves.

Do you have some leaf pictures from your CdDG? The last 2 years the leaves on mine are consistently dominated with 5 lobe leaves that have serrated edges, it really reminds me of something out of the LSU family of figs.  I know that with location and age leaves can really vary, just curious at this point. Hopefully I get some main crop figs this year to help confirm the tree.

Here is my tree,in 2014

    Attached Images

  • Click image for larger version - Name: Col_de_Dame_grise_tree2014.JPG, Views: 94, Size: 149822

Thank you Herman.
Well, your tree does have strongly defined and consistent 5 lobe leaf patterns. My leaves just don't have the club shape on the ends of the fingers yet, maybe that will come with age.

Yes positively when tree is older the leaves will be larger and ,like you said,better defined.
Here is a pix i took now,from my tree outside my Window and you will see young leaves and of course what is left from my tree from past very cold Winter and ,frost in April.
The chicken wire is because,i have 2 small Pomeranian,young ones that chew on my trees,and on most else,they can get there mouth on.
DSCN3124.JPG


  • Avatar / Picture
  • Sas

This is my Col de Dame Gris (Baud) photos taken today. It is in its third leaf. In contrast with last year, it appears To be forming a lot of figlets this year and like Herman said, this year is putting on the strongest growth of the three Col de Dame varieties. One season or two are never enough to form an opinion on a tree's performance. In fact most surprises will be happening after growing a tree for several years.


    Attached Images

  • Click image for larger version - Name: image.jpeg, Views: 101, Size: 801143
  • Click image for larger version - Name: image.jpeg, Views: 98, Size: 825666
  • Click image for larger version - Name: image.jpeg, Views: 93, Size: 822124

Here is my tree,in 2014
Hey Herman, those bricks around your tree, might that be there to hold some heat during the winter as in to help the tree through winter when the tree was small.

Carl

Load More Posts... 1 remaining topics of 26 total
Reply Cancel
Subscribe Share Cancel