i've had incidents where entire brunch was dry yet at the root level it sprouted after winter... so don't pull it out ... wait untill early summer. the key would be to plant the long brunch cuttings at least 8 inches deep if not deeper.

Edit: 05-13-14

 

The last time that my brunch was dry, I just drank some extra juice.  That made it much better, and easier to swallow.  (Aaron, I think you meant "branch" rather than "brunch" ).  (Also, have you considered putting your wishlist signature into horizontal format?)

Mike

Andy, I don't know for certain what will happen with your tree... maybe you'll get lucky and it'll make it.  Maybe.  But if you're serious about experimenting with cold hardiness, please read up about it a bit.  You can't conclude how cold hardy a variety is if you experiment with such small young trees.  There is plenty of misinformation about cold hardiness:  some varieties that are fairly hardy have a reputation as not being hardy at all, simply because early writers tried using very young trees, such as you are doing.  If you want to reach more valid conclusions, protect them when they're young, and experiment on them after they're 4 years old or so, once they have some size to them.  Don't take my word for it -- you can read about this from the experts if you want.

Mike

Thanks Mike.
I have done a lot of reading on cold hardy figs, and got to that point too, but it took a lot of searching around. One of my goals is to document how very young trees handle cold compared to older trees. Don't worry, I won't claim anything from just one tree in one winter. This is just the beginning. Right now this is just a journal for this tree. Besides, it's a fig and it's fun.

Ok Andy,

It's well into May, is there any update?

Waiting until we get through this last cold snap (fingers crossed). I'm hoping we get enough snow to cover the new growth...

So you did get some new growth from the base already?

Fantastic, new growth!  Once the weather is gone around Thursday, I hope to see some pics soon after.  I really want to put mine in ground, yet, since we are going to move in three years, I don't know if I want to deal digging them up.  May just leave them in the pots for now.

A long overdue update. The tree was killed to within a couple inches of the ground. Not really a surprise for a young tree and the -12f low we had last winter. The tree rebounded well, but did not fruit. We had a surprise cold snap in this Nov that got down to -2f that has already killed a large portion (but by no means all) of this years growth. Next summer I'll start pinching and limit the growth to three trunks to see if it will fruit.

 
 
 

It is amazing that a young sub tropical plant could survive a Colorado winter in any capacity.  It certainly shows promise for in ground figs in our harsh climate. 

I'm looking forward to more information and observations. 

Thank you Andy

I have been wanting to get rid of my IGO for a few years. It had never ripen for me and I was not sure
whether it needed the fig wasp. I got my tree from Jon after reading about its "mind blowing" taste. Looks
like I won't dig out my IGO knowing that it is a common fig type. I will air layer and grow it in my greenhouse
in pot culture.

Paully, it is not a given that this fig is Igo. I wish you luck with yours, let us know if you ever get to taste that legendary strawberry flavor :)

Here are a few shots taken of my in ground Florea which came from Herman and some cuttings propagated from it.
The odd thing is that more than half of the rooted cuttings from my in ground tree gave what seems to be an atypical leaf shape more like the Florea plant shown at the beginning of this thread.
No question of a cuttings mix up and my in ground 4 year old Florea doesn't show this different leaf shape.
In ground tree :  

Less than half the young plants had the mother plant leaf shape like this :
 

More than half the young plants showed this leaf shape ;
    

Same mother plant very different leaf shapes .
How about them Florea !

I do not know Kerry:Your young plants,on bottom row, look like Alma to me.
If those young plants ,will ,later (when old),have  leaves like ,your old plant , then it is Florea if not,somehow you ,had Alma cuttings and ,grew them as Florea.
Best Regards!
Note:Any grower,when growing more than one cultivar can make a mistake.
I apologize if i offend you.

Hi Herman , no offense at all, glad you chimed in. I agree any grower can make a mistake ,but because I thought I had made a mistake before , I was extremely careful this time and propagated only from my in ground Florea.
I don't have now and have never had Alma , but it sounds like a great fig.
All of these plants definitely were from my in ground Florea which I got from you. And by the way, thanks so much , it is a great fig for up here.
I was very surprised when so many of them showed this different leaf , but I wonder now if Andy's plant is actually Florea and not a mix up.

I have rooted Florea cuttings with that 3 lobed look too, no reason to believe it's not genuine.

I also have a batch of Florea cuttings rooted all from the same source(not Kerry, either), and have noticed two distinct leaf patterns, one more angular/elongated(I don't know the proper terminology) with five lobes, and the other has rounded three lobed leaves- very different looks.

Hi Kerry:You Welcome man.
Now that I ,know you positively did not make a mistake,i have to,recognize that,yes ,it is a fact,that fig tree is very variable from tree to tree they can vary,become mutated,like having new leaf shape,
Some People insist they had a white fig and,when they grew cuttings from it it produced brown fruits,and on and on.
I know for sure that even if mutation ocure,the plant if propagated from cuttings will still be a common kind at the same quality as fruits and will not require pollination,tho it does look mutated,so not much to worry.
Jon Verdick had a Panache that made regular green fruits,on a brunch and later became ,
what he sells as "Reverted Panache".a fig with same qualities as Panache ,but no stripes.
Best Regards

Thanks Kerry! It will certainly be interesting to see how the two forms compare, thanks to you I'll get the chance. I wonder if it is a mutation (sport) or something else, as it seems to occure regularly. Will it revert?

Kelby, Jesse, I'd be curious to hear how yours are when they fruit.

This is all extremely interesting! It is truly amazing that a cutting, a genetic copy can present differently from the original.  I am excited to find out how everyone's cutting preform over the next several years.  Will the mutant trees revert their leaves back to the original design, will the fruit be the same despite the leaves. Will be like the peach / nectarine  mutation? I've read about peaches trees with a non - grafted branch that bears nectarines, a peach with no fuzz....  a mutated branch that naturally grows on the tree.

Makes me wonder what my own Florea will look like. 

Panache is a chimera, two seperate plants growing together as one. In Panache it is obvious and attractive because one plant is an albino. Jolly Tiger is the same and sometimes will go all green or all white when one of the plants takes the other over.

Maybe Florea is a chimera but both are green? One has been controlling the leaf and fruit buds but now the other has taken over? 

My plant had trouble last season so no fruit.

That's a really interesting idea Brent!

Last season my Florea main crop started ripening just after mid Sept. In 2013, it started later, closer to end
Sept or early Oct. Last yr, I did see my in ground Igor ripening in Oct. Unfortunately I was too busy with both
work and fishing. Hence never got to pick them.

I feel foolish now for assuming it must have been a mix up and looking to other varieties for a match, fact is stranger than fiction! As H2 noted, the leaf is very similar to Alma; rounded with a decurrent base. It is not a common trait and Igo was my best guess based on available pictures. I did get ripe Alma last season and they were not comparable.

Brent , I think the jury is still out on this , so no reason to feel foolish.
You raised a good question and the fruit you showed a picture of looks really different from any Florea fruit I've ever seen on mine.
I hope they all turn out to be Florea , but we'll see this coming season what the figs tell us.