I've commented before about my standard variety Celeste not being a great producer. In fairness, it's at the end of a garden row, and may not be getting the best light. But it's been inground for the better part of a decade, and should be in its prime. It's long due for the axe. 

So I'm crowd-sourcing for a better Celeste cultivar for my area (North Central Alabama z7b). Late cold snaps means discounting brebas as a qualifier. Looking mainly for reliability (no dropping!) and heavy production. Still want to keep the basic Celeste flavor-profile.

There seem to be a host of figs that are Celeste-related: Hunt, O'Rourke, Tiger, Champagne, LSU Improved Celeste (Not O'Rourke), etc.

Your pick for the Best Celeste?  

(Thanks in advance!)

I don't know about the pedigree, whether they are Celeste family or not, but you seemed to zoom to the LSU figs so I would suggest the LSU Scott's Black, LSU Thibadaux, LSU St Gabriel, LSU Hollier.  All good in my area 7a/b.

Rick, I'd take Richards offer. An old Celeste is very hard to beat. And the LSU Black at PFTP is definately one hardy must have.

Maybe you can try some grafting onto it.

Hi Recomer20,
Sometimes we could be searching far away what we already have .
Try this for me ( if you want ) : put 4 shovels of manure around your tree (sink or swim they say) . You could use fertilizer (the blue bullet type one - 10-10-10 ) as well.
Sometimes it is all our trees are missing - you wouldn't be late to help the main crop . The advantage of manure is that the effect will last all season and with each rain the tree will get boosted .
Of course I'm assuming that you get rain ... as I do . By the way it is raining today here :) .
Of course the problem could be with the strain and changing for a better strain is always a good move - but since your axe is rusty, you could be doing both solutions at the same time.

I myself had a fig tree in another location that was not growing -since I was not often there to care for her-, and she rocketed when the manure got close to her.
I still got no edible figs from that fig tree, because the location is a tad bit colder and that is enough to abort the breba crop ... and amazingly that special unknown strain is a breba only or a really early maincrop ... But that is another topic .

Since you plan to get rid of it try pruning it back 50% and killing it with fertilizer this year.

Decide on a replacement and plant it next to the older tree say 6' or so.

I agree with jdfrance, I would smother it with aged manure, even give it a little MG. Add to that Jerry's suggestion of a hard prune. Those two things will often work wonders. At the same time I would start a cutting for replacement in the fall if your loving care does not pay off. You have very little to lose and a lot to gain.

BtW, I can't help with cuttings this late, but I have a local Celeste type that is wonderful. The figs are small but pack quite a flavor punch. If you are still looking for cuttings this fall, let me know.

Could you post a couple of current pics of your tree?
I would definitely take jds ,Jerry's and Gene's advice about giving it another change and prepare for the future with some nice cuttings from Richard. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do!

It only cost 5 bucks for me to ship fresh pruned cuttings. I my opinion cuttings during growing season root 100 percent faster then dormant cuttings. Not trying to push figs on you lol
I am a fig pusher. Lol. Figpig he he. Richie

I have LSU Improved and it produced tons of figs. It will fruit for th even if killed back to the soil line. I picked up a Hunt and Orourke This year so still evaluating those. Champagne is a fabulous fig too that produces in bounty for me. I got the Champagne at PFTP.

Thanks, folks. We'll give it one more season of heavy manure before giving it the Lizzie Borden treatment.  The Celeste was bought from Petals at the same time as the LSUpurple (about 9-10? years ago), and they are planted side by side. The LSU Purple continues to amaze, although the Celeste tends to drop what little it produces. Last year, I threw a few handfuls of granular, which didn't help. 

Blake, the Improved was my next step. I think Dennis said he thought it was superior to the O'Rourke (although I'll probably get an O'Rourke one day just out of respect for Ed). 

Rich, I'll PM you soon. Would love to get some cuttings. 


BTW, here's the trees from early last spring. The Celeste is big, just doesn't do anything.

 

Just let me know the cuttings are on the tree. Lol so no hurry. I think the older the tree the better. I agree with what i read that fig tree are just getting started on producing top notch figs at ten years old.

Rick, what do you think about your Lemon?

Blake, Lemon makes the best preserve I've ever had. Mine, however, has to contend with that Japanese maple and has grown to about 15 feet. All legs lol.  If I had a sunny place to transplant it, I would. Unfortunately the house sits in a valley surrounded by tall pines and sunny spots are scarce.  For me, lemon is the last to fruit. Celeste (in theory, lol), then LSUP, then Lemon. 
 

PS> Thanks Richie for the heirloom cuttings. They are already pushing roots after 5? days in a coir bin in my shed -- nice and warm/humid in there. That may be a record on pushing roots.

Nothing faster then actively growing cuttings. They will be nice size in two months. Good job on getting them going.

Speaking of favorite Celeste-types --

Can anyone tell me if the Tennessee Mountain fig variant is worth having? Is it noticeably different than "regular" Celeste? I'd kind of like to have one, since I'm in TN, but I won't bother if it's identical to the regular variety.

Thanks in advance!

Its a sport of celeste so should be different

Hey Richie --

A sport is a mutation. A bud sport means a mutation on one branch or bud of the plant. But so far as I can tell, we really don't *know* whether TN Mountain is actually a sport at all, or is just a "variety" named after a random tree that somebody happened to notice growing in an area where they didn't expect it to. To compare -- I mentioned the Chicago Hardy I started from cuttings that I got in Oak Ridge, same town as the TN Mountain momma plant. I could have taken those cuttings and named it Oak Ridge Hardy, and claimed that it was a super-hardy sport of CH. But that wouldn't actually make it any different than anyone else's CH.

So far as I can tell, nobody has actually grown TN Mountain and "regular" Celeste side-by-side. Maybe that'll be my job. ;-)

Thanks for clearing that up for me.