I have a tissue-culture LSU Purple that I got from an online nursery a year ago. I put it in ground last year. It survived the past winter with some protections. Now it starts to push out figs.

I heard that tissue-culture Figs could be late on producing figs. I guess different varieties may behave differently.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

Back in March:

 
Now:   

Looks fabulous!

Thanks, PhilaGardener.

Initially I thought it may not survive my zone 6b winter, because this variety is not particularly cold hardy. Now it not only survived the extreme cold, but also is one of the earliest to push out figs in my yard. I am very happy. :-))

I second the "looks fabulous".  What did you do to protect it?
Thanks

Wayne, what kind of protection did you use?  None of my in ground figs here in zone 7a were able to keep that much wood viable even with various forms of protection.  Anyway, whatever you used it worked!

Rewton,

I did several layers protection:
1st layer:dry leaves
2nd layer: a large trash bin
3rd layer: more dry leaves

Below is a picture -- it was the protection for another larger tree. It looked very ugly but worked. Fortunately my neighbors are super nice and didn't complain. :-))


 

Second year tree with all those figs on it? Amazing work Wayne. Keep us posted .it is a very good variety!

Thanks, ChrisK! It actually has only about a dozen figlets right now.
Last year, I got two figs. But they are small. Averaging ~20 gram.
They tasted good though. The wife likes it more than Hardy Chicago! Kind of surprising because many people say that LSU purple does not taste good in the first several years.

Last year's picture:
 

 

Nice work ......they look great

Nice work. I just noticed today that some trees are starting to show the main crop figlets here as well.
What was your lowest temp there ? Whatever it was, the protection was efficient. Congrats !

That fig photo looks delicious!  Perfectly ripe!  We don't have to winter protect here, but you did a great job!

Suzi

Thanks, all!

To answer jdsfrance's question: The lowest T in the past winter here is about ~-3F. Without good protection, the tree will die back to ground for sure.

The main thing that I learned is that tissue culture figs could be as good as figs grown from cuttings, as least for some varieties. Initially I had doubt about this.

Wayne,
I have bought a number of TC plants and their performance has been extremely varied, but it has not been good enough over the long run to warrant buying any more. Yours looks wonderful and your protection method is great.
What other varieties are you growing and how did they do?
thx
mgg
May I ask where in MD?
I'm about 50 miles west of DC.

Thanks, Michael!
I live in Boyds, MD, fairly close to your place. I learned a lot from your previous posts on this great forum.

I have two other TC figs: Green Ischia and Black Mission. These two are very vigorous (~4 feet growth in last season) but haven't shown any sign of figs yet.
I think you are right --  their performance can be extremely varied. This year I am going to pinch them and see if that helps.