Season coming near the end.

EL.Sals 2003

this season it has been a bit of a dissapointment, just not as sweet as in previous growing seasons even though tree is mature its been a lousy summer weather wise. I root pruned my trees the past winter and have never seen sals and hardy chicago look this similar to each other this LATE in the season ,leaves on both trees are small and look close to each other along with the figs with the exception being sals has more dark purple and hardy chicago has a type of blue tinge to it. Although these sals pictures you will see decieveingly look like they taste great but as mentioned above not so sweet.

Hardy Chicago 2004

each season this continues to taste better than sals, perhaps because im attracted to the richness of this fig as opposed to the sweetness of sals.

I know i know some say HC is sweet but to me its more rich and the sweetness to it compliments it very nicely for me but does not over power the richness, everyone has different palates. Take for example a pipe smoker, one that smokes pure blends not the aromatic type but like pure virgina and perique from same source will tell you he tasted different tones thruout the bowl compared to others each time. Same thing bascially with figs it seems at least for me.

Anyways Hardy Chicago hands down each year out taste that sals of mine, although sals out performs HC in production every year especially this year when i lost most crop of HC because in root pruning i failed to trim back the canopy and many figs dropped of because of this but the ones that came on were ; )

I have sals corleone and interested how this one will compare in years to come its young for now.

Violette De Bordeaux was good but its unfair for me to compare to my others as its first year for figs for me to taste in my first season with this plant, plant is probably in 3rd season as it was bought in 5 gallon but its a new fig for me so i give it time to see if the taste improves as i was not overly impressed with its taste although sweeter than Sals this season. Time will tell me more.

Oh before i forget i love to sing this song in early spring and as im moving them about in and out of garage to awake them.

(In Napoli where love is King)
(When boy meets girl)
(Here's what they say)

When the moon hits your eye
Like a big-a pizza pie
That's amore
When the world seems to shine
Like you've had too much wine
That's amore

Bells'll ring
Ting-a-ling-a-ling
Ting-a-ling-a-ling
And you'll sing "Vita bella"
Hearts'll play
Tippi-tippi-tay
Tippi-tippi-tay
Like a gay tarantella

When the stars make you drool
Joost-a like pasta fazool
That's amore
When you dance down the street
With a cloud at your feet, you're in love
When you walk in a dream
But you know you're not dreamin', signore
'Scusami, but you see
Back in old Napoli, that's amore

(When the moon hits your eye)
(Like a big-a pizza pie, that's amore)

That's amore

(When the world seems to shine
(Like you've had too much wine, that's amore)

That's amore

(Bells will ring)
(Ting-a-ling-a-ling)
(ting-a-ling-a-ling)
(And you'll sing "Vita bella")
(Vita bell-vita bella)
(Hearts will play)
(Tippi-tippi-tay, tippi-tippi-tay)
(Like a gay tarantella)

Lucky fella

When the stars make you drool just like pasta fazool
That's amore (that's amore)
When you dance down the street
With a cloud at your feet, you're in love
When you walk in a dream
But you know you're not dreaming, signore
'Scusami, but you see
Back in old Napoli, that's amore

first picture HC

hc figs

im sorry before this picture i could not resist biteing into the hardy chicago figs.

here is sals fig last 2 pictures

last sals

Martin
You still pretend you are in Zone 5!

Having seen your figs ripened to so yummy black colour and in good numbers, I believe there should be two numbers to fully specify a Zone. One to describe the winter average minimum temperature of the Zone and the second to describe the summer average maximum temperature or the average number of heat units available during the growing season.

But I am happy for you and hope you get some more tasty ripe figs for your efforts.
My season, in the open, will come to an end within a week with 5 semi-ripe figs, 3 for me and 2 for 'something' else which could be a squirrel or raccoon but most probably a squirrel because my tree was almost emptied of the green hard figs and saw some bits of these over the compost pile under a tree branch. They are taunting me to set-up that trap again to see if I will catch a skunk again, as I did the last time I set it up, or us (the squirrels).

I am not giving up yet (or later) and hope to have an enclosure next year to extend the fall end of the season for some ripe figs.

And also, if you ever decide to restart your unknown, let me know and my small whip of your unknown may be grown up by then into a young tree.

Ottawan you said
You still pretend you are in Zone 5!

 National Arbour Foundation basically updated there maps and took into account GLOBAL WARNING in doing so what there saying most everyone is now up 1 zone.

Being a child in the 60s growing up here i have seen the worst snowstorm recorded on my B-Day 1967 everything came to a standstill. In the 60s winters were cold and snowy it seemed.
Yes we have had some mild winters and some cold ones but to me they even themselves out.
Do i believe in global warming and in short NO , but thats just my opinion.
So accordinbg to the National Arbour Foundation im up a zone now to 6. I wish they would come live in my neighborhood.
Do i agree with it No, but thats just my opinion. But who the heck am i but just a little guy and probably no not better.

Yes you stated that you seen my figs look so black and yummy
 and your right this year they have looked really nice to me.

But also since iv'e been growing them 7 to 8 years now in same location this is what the fig plants themselves have seen this season.

This growing Season

The coldest winter temps they have seen in garage storage

The coldest summer they have seen
The latest to wake up Probably they have seen.
The lastest to ripen they have seen, 3 weeks late.
The prettiest figs I have seen on MY plants.

I do the best i can to wake them up early as possible, i give them all day sun and keep them warm as possible from underneath the pots in spring waking up on nice warm driveway and in summer on rocks and 4 to 6 inch thick cement patio. I even rotate the pots sometimes for figs to get more sunshine as sun moves.
To me though what i feel is most important for them is the full sun to shine on them, to keep the canopy open so most figs are not shaded and the sun can hit em real good coupled with bottom warmth.
Our nights can be rather cool such as we had when temps dropped into mid 40s several weeks back that i posted about and had to move the little ones into the shed for protection even though they will not ripen there figs .
The large trees well they stood in same spot all season.
I have known for good time there is a big difference in temps on the ground as sometimes at 3:30 am when i let the dogs out another long story, once in a while i have to chase my yorkie back in the house (he's hard headed) and im always barefoot. Let me tell ya that darn grass is cold as heck but when i walk back onto that cement patio awwww its nice and toasty warm and actually gets warmer as i walk towards the house door. The brick garage wall and house wall i have faces south and at that time of morning are nice and warm to the touch and thats where some of my plants also reside up against and on the rocks.
Yup i baby them each year, there spoiled and they in turn give me many figs.

The season before last i was redoing my small fishing boat and had 4  steel plates 16 inches square that are 1/4 inch thick on the driveway where i was working for several hours, it was a sunny day in early spring and when i went to pick them up off the driveway they were actually hot to the touch, same thing sometimes when i walk on driveway barefooted to get the mail on a hot day i make it halfway down the driveway and have to step into the grass because its too hot on the tar type driveway, the cement patio does not get that hot though i only wish. But ging back to them steel plate that got hot sitting in the sun kinda gave me an idea for even more warmth for my plants but i think they would cool to much at night if i were to apply that somehow with thinner ones under the pots individually on the patio and on the rocks.
As you suggested a green house for the fall to extend the season is great idea and would work well for me i think as long as i could give them air circulation, i tried with one plant last season late by wheeling 1 of my large plants the Martin Unknown at night into the garage which is warm at that point in season and back out during the day but the figs tasted bad in October. That particular plant is being picked up by another forum member.

So this is what has always been working for me, and i figure they up the zone map 2 more times and put me in an 8 but actually a 9 because of the things i do, i can apply what i do and grow any tropical fruit trees i want in containers and store them in a heated green house, heck i might even incorporate the fig wasp here at that point !!!
If anyone believe's that i have a bridge thats for sale that will take a person to my personal island i own.

On serious note i really dont know about all this global warming stuff.
I just have my doubts about it in MY area at least.

Also i ask one thing of you kind hearted Canada folks.

I rather tired year after year after year of you folks sending me that darn cold bitter weather our way each winter.
Then and only then perhaps i can send some more summer sunshine to warm your plants more .

I say this because perhaps your in a more colder zone than advertised .
Wishing Best Health

dieseler
Thanks for a detailed response.
It was just for fun when I said 'you still pretend being in Zone 5'.
I have learned through the fig forums, as I mentioned in my post, that the hardiness zone represent winter related conditions and not all locations with the same winter hardiness zone will exhibit similar summer conditions. There are many understandable reason for this to be true.

Your routines with figs growing are inspiring and encourages others like myself not to feel tired of the little efforts we put in. The only other thing I can add is to try and find the right variety for the growers own area over a length of time because a test for a short period of one or two years brings more confusion when two trees of the same variety and the same age under similar conditions behave differently; or the same tree showing different fruiting patterns over two or more different years.

BTW I will send an application to the weather bureau here to close the cold air channels from Ontario and Manitoba that bring cold air to your area.

Ottawan,
im in total agreement to your response about zones and all you have to say. 
Truthfully i know what you meant, but for others i try to explain how i grow my plants and hopefully some will get ideas for them. I know i have hard time explaining sometimes and words get tangled up, my family always says "dad you repeat yourself again" and thats not the proper word to use,thats just me. Anyhoot thats why i try to explain what i do and like others i never say you need to do it this way because im a firm believer if something is working for you let it be unless you like to experiment which sometimes i do but it gets me in trouble as some of my long stories show sometimes.
Its really fun though and i enjoy it, i hope to make a video next growing season maybe a couple of them and have even more fun. I sincerely hope no one gets the impression that i show off the fig plants or figs themselves because thats not me , i just try to show what im doing and the beauty of fig plants in general.
Martin

dieseler
That makes it more fun like in a chit-chat atmosphere rather than, the most often dull, slide shows presented in office meetings.

Dieseler, after watching the pic's posted from your HC, I was so happy that I don't need to take pic's of my ripe HC. Yours is better and Ottawan is correct that you have done so well & it is an inspiration for me to know I can do it in my zone too.

Thanks Guys, i hope your tasted well.
You knwo im thinking if i lived there and i might have to get a greenhouse heated of course as excuse to get more ripe figs, and the reason being because i would get a huge greenhouse to get many many more plants than i have now, i would just have to ease into it though cause believe it or not the Misses does not like figs grrrrrrr.

Dieseler,

They look great.  I just got a HC as one of my first trees.  I just moved it fron a 1g to 3g pot yesterday.  I can't wait to see what happens next year.

Pete

Hi Petea

I want to say welcome, and compliment you on the way you filled out your member profile

Thanks much, and happy gardening.

Thanks. I appreciate it