So far I can't get excited about this one. I give it a 2 out of 10.

Sorry. It's only the first one though. I'm sure it will improve, but I don't know that I will keep this one.

Hi dfoster25,
That's a small score :( .
Do you have more figs waiting on the tree for this year ?
How old is the tree ? If potted, what size of pot ?
I would try to pot up if in pot for now . Sometimes after a while something starts missing in the dirt, and you can fix it by replacing the dirt or giving more dirt in a bigger pot ...

LSU Purple is very slow in developing in size and figs.  In our longer growing season it is a great performer, but your shorter season may be the problem.  I have three and they did nothing in tree growth or taste for three years.

LSU Purple and LSU Gold takes about 3 yrs before any sweetness shows us. But when it is sweet, it is sweet and you will want more. I recommend handing on to it.

Had several off of 2 second year trees this season. One in ground at my Dads and mine in a pot. I can tell you the in ground tree is at least 8ft wide and 8ft tall now after 2 growing seasons. I would not say its a slow grower by any ones standards. Its growing at nuclear proportions. The fruit is twice as big and more flavorful than my potted plant as well. My potted plant is only 4ft tall and 4ft wide and the fruit was okay. Honestly I wasnt really impressed with it but Ive read they take a few years to really start putting out the good stuff. Both plants came from cuttings I rooted Oct 2012 from the LSU Purple I planted at my house before I moved. To my taste buds they are just sweet and figgy. Not much in the department of flavor notes but they are definatly edible. Im still on the fence with this one as well.

Reportedly LSU Purple is great after 5 yrs.

Is it really worth keeping for Five years, when something like a I258 is good after 6 months, this tree is in it's third year in a 20" pot. I can see getting 25% better, but I've had amazing figs in half the time. Now.... I do see some other figs on this tree that look like they will ripen a little larger. We'll see how they taste. I got this fig from Edible Landscaping in 2012. VDB in the same time had given me 25 delicious figs. I will hold off until they have all ripened, but I might let someone else wait the full 5 years.

I have 2 LSU Purples and have been getting figs for the last month that have been good, not great but it's a keeper. The tree is about 2 years old but maybe Florida weather may have something to do with taste and age. Sometimes a few of us have to settle for the less expensive varieties until we can afford to buy the more expensive or wait for the price to go down. Just saying. Everyone should be able to have access to VdB at a reasonable price if not gifted. Not too many of us have a chance to obtain the "rarer" varieties at a reasonable price.

True Wayne. My problem is that my baby's are getting to be teenagers and my garage will not be large enough to hold everything. I have to thin the herd. If I wait for Five years on everything, I will be in trouble. For you folks in warmer climates, I envy your ability to grow in ground or overwinter in better situations. I have to use some criteria.

Got ya, good explanation and your conditions determine what you need to buy, should have seen zone 6, I am in complete agreement and I would do the same in your situation.

I've got an LSU Purple I picked up from a WholeFoods market last year.  It was probably a large first year tree or perhaps a 2nd year tree when I got it.  I've gotten 4 figs from it so far this year.

I tasted another larger one today. I give it a 5. Sweet, but no hint of anything other than sweetness. A no character fig.

In my experience LSU purple is not a great fig, lsu gold is 10x better. I can't contest to the 5 year thing though mine is only 3yrs old

If it is small enough to ship, I'll take it.  Let me know price for shipping.

Sometimes all that is needed for a decision is an option.

It is the climate, not warm enough for LSU Purple.
In my opinion it needs zone 8 or warmer to ripe delicious figs .
Otherwise very healthy plant,growing here in my backyard.

It improves with time.  It does not have a traditional "fig" flavor.  It is very sweet and just has its own unique taste.  The tree needs to be mature enough to perfectly ripen the fruit, otherwise they're not really worth eating.  But when the tree is mature enough and the climate is right the fruit is pretty good.  The tree is a very strong grower and also very productive.  It's not my favorite tree but I plan on keeping it.  I've been growing it since 2010 so it doesn't make sense to get rid of it now.  Best of luck with your tree.

Sounds like you have made your decision and I think it is a wise one.  If you don't have much space, if you have a shorter growing season, and if there are varieties that will produce better quality figs faster, then I see no need to waste time with this one.

Dan, you know as well as I, it is a personal decision and I am not the person to tell someone to get rid of a plant without knowing all the conditions, weather, length growing season, age of plant, limited space, personal taste etc... even then, you know what's best better than I. LSU Purple grows well down here and tastes pretty good, and of coarse the LSUs were bred for our conditions. Good luck.

As I've indicated in my signature, I am in South East Michigan.   It's too big to ship.


take care.

 

dfoster25  did you get my pm? If so just know that I'm looking too and will share what I find with you. 

For the record, out of about 20 varieties I started this year, LSU Purple had the highest success rate and has been the fastest grower other than my Raspberry Latte. It also set a TON of figs... well, a ton relative to a first year cutting. I pulled them all off, so I won't have a taste this year. I hope this turns out to be a decent fig because I have plenty.

Amen! Fig Sister ;)

I've had 3-5 more and still nothing to write home about.

I have 3-4 figs that all have VDB similarities and I would take these in a heartbeat over some of the others. You gotta have se criteria for what you keep and what you don't unless you're in paradise and have plenty of land.