Nice video Joe. Kinda sucks to hear though! I'm hoping its a climate thing because I've got a LSU Purp in ground here in Houston. I know a guy in North HTown that says LSU Purp would rival the best figs in the country when grown here. He said Celeste is the queen and LSU Purp is the king here. He's came to that conclusion after growing 30 something varieties. I don't know? Only time will tell!

Climate could definitely having something to do with it. So could personal taste preference. I know there are plenty of people out there who really like this variety. I can only describe how it tastes to me growing here in my yard. Best of luck with your tree.

Frozen:

Thanks for telling it like it is.  Some like it, and, some don't.  I like the honesty.


Frank

Thanks, Joe. I enjoyed video.

Great video, Joe and sorry to hear the flavor has been off on most.  I purchased an LSU TC a few months ago, so no fruit, yet, but I have heard the flavor on the LSU isn't that good on immature trees, but with age, the fruit improves considerably.  I'd give it another year or two and see what happens.

Also, maybe someone else with more fig experience can voice their opinion, but you may also want to try removing some of the figs when they're young to see if the tree does any better concentrating its energy on ripening/flavoring a smaller batch of fruit.

Good luck with it!

Nice FrozenJoe

I recently was invited to taste figs from a large collector harvest. One of the disappointments was the LSU purple. The fruit was not to my liking and as was exactly as you describe yours.
Again nice review.

11-17-2013 UPDATE

Temps have cooled here in AZ down to the 70's.  It's been in the 70's or 80's for several weeks now.  In this cooler weather the LSU Purple tree has been ripening MUCH BETTER quality figs.  Here are some photos.  This fig tree is very prolific.  It is still producing a lot of figs.  They are medium sized and have good flavor.  It's been the best tree in my yard in November.  Unlike the other figs I have this one is tasting better in the cooler weather.  I guess I'll keep it just for this time of year!  Does anyone grow this tree up in the Pacific Northwest or on the California coast?  It might do well.  The main crop starts early.

Thank You Joe. I'll stick with Violette de Bordeaux.

Thanks, Joe. I was curious if the blacker fruit made it sweeter/more complex.

In Alabama we like the Purple because it handles our wet summers and our weather inconsistencies. My figs never get that dry, black look like yours; usually picked when they are a deep burgundy red with dark purple blush and begin to crackle a bit. As information, our avg annual temps range 33*F to 91*F, although we have short-lived winter freezes in the low 20s. Crops tend to come heavily in 3-week window in late-July into August with stragglers into September. This year we had a mild winter and rather mild spring: main crop was delayed a few weeks. Can't say that I've identified a breba crop, but we generally have cold snaps in late March or early April which might be to blame. Mine's been inground for 7 or 8 years: don't recall any die-back. In 2009, it got down to 12*F in January (I should mention the following week it was 70*F). As they say in Birmingham: if you don't like the weather, just give it a minute.

Here in Florida, it is like in Alabama: a lot of rain in the summer and then it drys up. I did have a couple of brebas that were really bad but as summer progressed they got better and now they are really good. It seems to like moisture, so reducing the watering, especially in a dry climate, must have a negative influence on it.

Hello Joe, Good looking tree. Sounds like your pushing to much water. I know it's set up to handle the rain in southeast, but your temps are better, more even. IMO if you use less water the flavor will be more concentrated and sweeter. Last thing is, if you don't want your figs to taste crappy...Don't put a diaper on them. Loved the video.


luke

Thanks for the feedback everyone.  I've been in Arizona now since 2010.  Before that I lived in Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey.  What I've observed is that figs are very adaptable.  A fig tree will adapt and change based on where it is grown.  Moisture, temperature, soil, length of season, etc., so many things affect how a fig tree will respond and perform.  A tree that will thrive and produce awesome figs in one part of the country may be a big disappointment in another part of the country.  I'm still trying to figure out which are the best fig trees to grow here in the Sonoran Desert.  LSU Purple is one of those figs that I had really high hopes for when I purchased it three years ago.  My experience with it so far is that it is one of those fig trees that makes good fruit early and late in the season, when the temps are below 100.  When the temps get really hot here (it's 105 to 110 here all summer) the figs concentrate their flavor so much and become really intense.  That is awesome if it is a delicious flavored fig like Hardy Chicago or Barnisotte.  But if the fig has a flavor that I'm not too fond of (like LSU Purple) then that concentrated flavor is not so good.  I think I like the LSU Purple figs when the temps are lower and the flavor is more subtle.  I guess that's just a reflection of my taste preferences.  Arizona is an excellent place to grow figs, once you find the ones that you really like.  I've already found several figs that taste great to me.  I'm still in the process of discovering some more.  It's very interesting to hear how this tree is doing for people in other parts of the country.  I think I'll keep it in my collection.  But for most of the year it's nothing special in my opinion.  Good luck to everyone growing this tree.

Good to hear from you Luke!  Hope all is well.

It seems that LSU Purple tastes like sugar and that's it. Very sweet

I got LSU Purple in 2006 from James Robin.  It's been a dud until this year.  Suddenly, it's one of the best figs I have.  There has been discussion on LSU Purple needing time to settle down.  I'd say it's accurate.  My tree probably took longer because it was neglected for a few years.  

Before this year the ripe figs softened, but did not crack on the sides.  This year there were excellent cracked figs, and some not-so-good smooth figs on the tree.  There was even a difference in texture between the cracked and smooth figs.  The excellent figs are very sweet and rich.  Some that were refrigerated had a distinct maple taste.  I think it's good that you are giving your tree more time.