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O'Rourke Imposter,What happen to it yesterday!

I grew this Plant for three years,and this year was loaded with fruits,But:
It started dropping first fruit on July 15.
Till now it dropped over 20 fruits.
Upon close inspection,and comparative to Regular Celeste i had in the past(Many),i9 came to the conclusion,it is just that:
A regular Celeste.
It was coming from a very accomplished collector of fig trees,but i am sure he gave me cuttings before his plant fruited.!
Observing it dropping fruits under my watch was a torture for me,thinking i am doing something wrong,but no:
The fig cultivar is the problem,because all Celeste do that here,except "Improved Celeste(O'Rourke not)".
So Yesterday,i did it:
Dig it out of ground and cut my Loses.
So if you have an O'Rourke with leaves like regular Celeste,mostly three lobes,then do not kid yourself,it is a regular Celeste.!

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Good to know.

   My O'Rourke has the 3 lobed leaves and I started it from a cutting I got at the LSU orchard in 2013.

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  • sal

So the O'Rourke is also known as the Improved Celeste?

In The LSU Publication,of O'Rourke The cultivar clearly have 5 lobes well defined leaves.

Check topic:Where to find a true O'Rourke?,on this very forum

Picture I posted in 2013 from the LSU fig day.

If your leaves are like that it is an O 'Rourke.
Regular Celeste has different three lobe leaves.
What i pulled out did not have leaves like that.
And after all i do not care if it was O'Rourke or not,for me dropping immature figs makes it worth nothing.
In fact that tree owe me some money!!!

As you can see the picture in the publication is different from most of the leaves on the tree at LSU. There are some that look like the one's in the publication but it not the dominate shape in my opinion. I asked Dr. Johnson about that and the looked at the tree and pointed out one leaf with the shape like in the publication. I have an O'Rourke growing in the ground and it's a great fig. It doesn't drop, split, sour, or get any bugs. The eye is closed tight. Herman if you want one I can send you one any time you're ready. Just PM me you shipping address.
"gene"

and to add my 2 cents, it's not a hardy fig either.  I do have both Improved Celeste and O'Rourke.  My O'Rourke trees die back every year and come back slowly.  My Improved Celeste is a constant producer in my climate.  If I loose my O'Rourke, I will not seek another.

O'rourke happens to do great in my zone. Reliable, productive, tasty, early and I have not protect it for 2 seasons during winter. Its
in a large container & heavy to move. O'rourke happens to be the 2nd earliest variant in my collection after Florea to ripen main
crop. Its tight eye is an added bonus as I have an issue with fruit flies in Sept with too many other fruits ripening & rotting.

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