Hi John,

Good to know. 

The problem with fig trees down here is that we can have periods of mild temps during the winter and sap will start running in some, not sure if it happens with all figs, but the Celeste is really bad for starting up--Then it will get quite cold and there go the splitting and killing.

Since the Celestes have gotten larger trunks that hasn't happened, but we haven't had any ice storms the past several years.  At least up North, if the trees go dormant, they tend to stay that way.

noss

The LSU Purple is still putting out a good numbers of figs, and the quality is still very good. 

Not the same as those that ripened in the intense heat of August of course, but very good for this time of year. 

We usually get a hard killing freeze in the next two or so, and I picked about two dozen nice figs yesterday, and another 15 or so today.

All the other figs have pretty much stopped producing, but the LSU Purple is still going strong.

The downsides to this variety are that it seems to take a few years before the plant starts producing peak flavor fruit, and it has a later ripening date, so it wouldn't be as good for short season areas.

But if you are in zone 7 or further south, this one is definately a winner.  The flavor and productivity are outstanding.  Definately one of our best here in the orchard.  The people at LSU know their figs.

Best wishes to all.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

p.s. This variety is also said to be nematode resistant, and ours has never shown any sign of FMV.  The LSU Purple is a strong, healthy grower in our experience, and very heat and drought tolerant as well.

It is a bushy grower, not just upright, so we give ours a good pruning every year.  Depending on your preferences that may be a negative or a positive.

John,

In my yard, LSU Purple is the first cultivar to break dormancy in the spring and the last cultivar to go dormant in the fall.  It will produce three main crops of figs......however, these crops are so close together that the tree looks like it is an ever-bearing fig. The flavor of very late season figs continues to be very good. Many LSU Purple fig trees produce rather insipid tasting figs when they are young........that seems to be the norm for this particular cultivar. Mature trees are very productive in producing excellent tasting figs that are rain tolerant and bug resistant. PRODUCTIVITY and a very LONG FRUITING PERIOD are very important fruiting characteristics for me as well as its good consistent flavor. My larger LSU Purple fig tree was badly wind damaged last year and I missed getting a decent crops of those figs this year. My smaller tree produced a handful these last couple of weeks and it reminded me that it really is a good fig to have in a collection. It is good to hear that the LSU Purple cultivar it is doing well in your area.

Dan 

Thank you Dan.  Your observations very much confirm ours.

And I didn't know about the cropping pattern, very interesting.  Thanks for sharing this.

We have a new LSU Gold also, and can't wait to try this one too.

I'm assuming you are in Louisiana, with very long summers and lots of heat, all of which figs love.

We get some serious heat here in Georgia too, but a little shorter season, and also some substantial snow and ice.  The LSU Purple stands up to these just fine.

Hope you have a great Fall there in LA.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

Yep, I live in south Louisiana and specialize in the LSU bred figs. Dr. O'Rourke bred Celeste and Hunt mothers figs in his breeding program because of their good taste and their favorable growing characteristics.  For that reason, his little known selections are worthy of further evaluation.  I am sure that some of his little known selections will eventually reach the retail trade. LSU Gold was officially released a few years ago. It is a beautiful large yellow fig with a neat skin quality to it. When you bite into it........it is kinda like biting into a bursting ball of honey.

If you like your figs super sweet with some flavor......get yourself a true LSU Golden Celeste (the one with the amber pulp, not the one at UC Davis, nor the red pulped strain).  This strain is very productive and even late season figs drip solid honey from a tiny eye. I ate a bunch of these today that are still excellent tasting this late into the season.

Dan

Thanks Dan.  Can't wait to try the LSU Gold, and I will look for an LSU Golden Celeste as well.

We have a lot of LSU people here at UGA in North Georgia.  Good people and I was very happy to give them all starts of the LSU fig, a little bit of home in their backyard here.

Say hi to Mike the Tiger for us.  Our kids love that guy, and even check out his habitat on the webcam pretty often.  Many years ago when I was in Baton Rouge, Mike just had a simple cage, but now he has a great habitat, very impressive.

We will also be on the look out for more of those great new LSU figs too.  Dr. O'Rourke is doing some great work.  If you ever run into those guys please tell them the LSU Purple is solidly cold hardy here, and to keep up the great work.

Best wishes.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

The LSU Purple's productivity and early, nearly continuous bearing sound very appealing, and well worth the wait for full flavor to develop. Maybe I'll have to give it a try!

Anyone having problems with fig rust?  Last year rust defoliated my Celeste fig tree but it had already produced a crop of figs earlier in the year.  Celeste only produced one fig crop and so I am interested in LSU Purple fig which is supposedly ever bearing.   I am in south Louisiana Zone 9.

This year I plan to spray a Copper fungicide to control fig rust.


Figs do not last long in storage so I am thinking of freezing some figs to enjoy out of season.  Does anyone freeze figs here?  Will they still have good flavor after a few months frozen?

The Celeste seems to ripen figs very early here( as early as June some years) and has a short season.  I would like to enjoy figs July through October.

Hi JCA.

The LSU Purple would do great in your climate, and it is very healthy, loving the heat and humidity.

As far as what to do with the figs, consider making some fig preserves.

I just put the figs in the food processor, then add lemon and sugat to taste while still cool, and then cook till it starts to thicken.  No pectin needed.

Also consider drying figs.  We have been eating fig preserves (the best preserves ever) and dried figs all winter.

GeorgiaFig, I will give LSU Purple fig a try.  Glad you enjoy the LSU Purple fig!  I have been growing citrus for years but not many figs until recently.  From what I have read figs are the easiest fruit to grow.  Well it is not really a fruit, but it is delicious for sure. 

Brown Turkey and LSU Gold are two other varieties that I am interested in.  The only problem is finding the space for new plants.  I have an area reserved for the LSU Purple that gets almost full sun.

Hello JCA,

The Brown Turkey might not do well in the rain and humidity down here.  (I live in Lafayette.)  I got one last year and a TX Everbearing and they are identical to each other, so they will either both do well, or not.  I had a BT many years ago and it didn't do well--split and soured.  Don't ask me why I tried another one.  There are other varieties that do well here rather than BTs.

Hi Noss and JCA.

Noss knows the climate there in Louisiana, and it's different than here in the North Georgia Piedmont.  BTs do fine here, but the humidity and heat there in LA are way beyond what we get here.

I have never seen one of our LSU Purples split though, even after a massive rain which we often get here in the summer.

We got our first VDB fruit this summer and it was definately a winner too.

And figs don't take up much space JCA is they are kept pruned properly.  I see people that just let them go and they can sprawl to 20+ feet.  It's more convenient for the birds to pick, but otherwise, keeping the figs pruned down to no more than 6 or 7 feet tall is best.  Easier to pick, easier to net if needed (and it is with the LSU Purple; the birds love them), and you can fit several varieties in the space one overgrown tree would fit.

Hi GF,

I'm glad to hear that your LSU Purples do well even in massive rain.  Good news.

noss

Noss,

LSU Purple figs have eyes that are closed as tight as a frog's butt.....no joke. The eye is smaller and tighter than many of the Celeste strains that you see in our area. It is a great fig for hot humid rainy areas. As stated before, LSU Purple figs on a young tree often are rather bland tasting. However, its flavor "dramatically" improves as the tree matures. LSU had reported that flavor improvement trait.  It has been the experience of many growers, including me, that it is one very good tasting and rain tolerant fig.  Too, it is nematode resistant.

Dan

It was fun to re-read all of this--I'm really looking forward to seeing how the LSU Purple performs in Tucson. It seems ideal for Arizona, and Dan, that sounds like the perfect "eye" to baffle the tiny fig-souring beetles that have made my Brown Turkey virtually worthless. The weather here finally seems to be warming up after some very cold (by our standards) spells this winter. We got down to about 18 degrees, ruining our almost-ripe orange crop, and all of the citrus foliage in the whole neighborhood got frost-killed; the dead leaves are piling up under the trees. I was hoping for at least enough "global warming" to give mangoes another try!

Ken,

The rule of thumb for citrus damage down here is South Louisiana.....it must be 18 degrees or lower for 6 hours or more before cold kills most citrus trees.

Dan

To protect citrus from severe cold you build a soil bank.  This will protect the graft union and trunk.  The top may freeze but most of the top will grow back in the growing season following the freeze.  The next year you get boxes of fruit production.   I have lots of soil and special containers to hold the soil around the trunk.

The graft union is the most vulnerable spot for freeze damage other than the foliage.  If you save the graft the plant will recover very very quickly.


We had a mature mandarin that survived 15 hours below 18F with low of 14F in the early 1980s.  This plant was never banked and later killed in 1989 though.  If you build a soil bank you can save your citrus plant from most freezes to as low as 8F.  A good soil bank will provide at least 10 F protection.

Non grafted citrus is more cold tolerant especially Changsha mandarin.


Figs do not need a soil bank since they are not grafted.

Thanks JCA--the soil bank is a great idea, and seems pretty foolproof. I'll definitely add it to my arsenal of things to do when it turns really cold, as it seems to do every few years.

I planted my LSU Purple fig tree today.  I had to plant it high on a hill I made with  my shovel because the planting site is low and do not want standing water problems.   The soil is well drained though and standing water only happens with very high rainfall over 4 inches in short time and only lasts a few hours.

It will take a few years to reach peak flavor, so you have to be patient, but this will be a great fig for you: Great flavor and high productivity over an extended season.

Best wishes.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

The LSU Purple fig is starting to leaf out.  Small leaves and tiny figs finally appear on the tree.  It was 79 F today UV index near 9 after some thunder storms and wind yesterday!   Looking forward to those 90 F days and 70 percent humidity.  I love the intense sun light heat and humidity.

Hello JCA,

Good to hear back from you about your LSU Purple.  I hope it will do well for you.  It should, as I've never seen such a tough little tree.  I think they're more tough than Celestes and LSU Ps laugh at the heat.

I was re-reading what you said about the soil banks around your citrus trees.  Where do you live in S LA?  I'm about to get a Owari Satsuma and a Meyer Lemon put in by Durio Nursery.  I'll remember what you said about protecting the graft union and trunk of my new babies next winter.

I have no idea what you mean by a soil bank, but could one put insulation of some kind up the trunk of the trees to protect them rather than soil?

Thanks,

noss

Hi Noss and JCA.

I agree that the LSU is one tough fig.  We had nearly 10 years of drought here in North Georgia, and the LSU pulled through that just fine.  Once established, it stands up to the cold pretty well too, and is the first to leaf out in the Spring.  No FMV, no splitting from heavy rain, heavy production most of the summer and great tasting figs.  What's not to love?

It does take a few years to reach good flavor.  I almost dug mine up the first few years, but be patient.  After a few years the flavor will improve dramatically, as will productivity.

On the heat and humidity though JCA, you are definately in the right place.  I had a neighbor here in the North Georgia Piedmont who was telling me she loved North Georgia because it was cooler and less humid.  Coming from the Great Lakes, I thought she had lost her mind, as North Georgia summers to me are almost unbearable (but the rest of the year is great).  And then she told me she was from Baton Rouge.  I spent a year in Baton Rouge one week! (it seemed like a year).  Nice people, good food, etc., but it was like living under water in a swamp!  ;-)

So if you love heat and humidity my friend, South Lousiana is heaven!

Hope your LSU fig grows great for you, and I am sure it will.

Best wishes.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

The LSU Purples are even BETTER this year!

Maybe it is because we have had very hot weather, but the flavor is remarkable, amazing flavor.

I had a bunch of them picked today.  I thought about taking a few to the neighbors, but then I ate them all!  ;-)

I will take the neigbhors some BTs!

Best wishes to all.

John