I have rooted several varieties of figs this spring and would be interested in opinions of which I should plant and will do fairly well in my area. (AR zone 7a) I have rooted Salce,Vasilika Sika, Vasilika Melissi, Preto, St. Rita, Dark Portuguese, Col de Dame Blanc, Excel, Marseilles Black VS, Ronde de Bordeaux, Violet de Bordeaux, Gino, Adriatic JH, Scott''s Black, Scott's Yellow, Violet Sepor, Emerald Strawberry, Ischia, Longue d' Aout, Pied de Boeuf, Deanna, Nero 600 M, Wuhan, Unknown Black Russian, Unknown Owensboro, Danny's Delight, Dotatto, Violetta, Black Triana, Black Mission, Yellow Lebanese, Algerian, TX Blue Giant, Hailey Brunswick, Smith, Troiano Calabrese, Golden Riverside and Alma. If I were to plant 15 of these, which should they be? The only experience I have with figs is whole fig preserves, which taste amazing when compared to other fruit preserves. Thanks, Julie

I would not put these in ground unless I'm willing to lose most of them.
The following list would be my first choice based on the names that I'm familiar with:
Ischia and Black Mission, with winter protection.
I would also get a Chicago Hardy, which is readily available and experiment with it if you wish, before putting in the St Rita, Longue D'Aout and perhaps others.

Best of luck.

Julie, I'm in zone 6b. The ones I have in common with yours, that I plan to plant in ground eventually...after researching other people's successes and failures are:

St. Rita
Marsailles Black VS
RdB
VdB
Longue d'Aout
Unk Owensboro
Violetta
Black Triana

Not to say some of the others are not considered cold hardy with protection, I just don't happen to have them.

The Midwest, New England and Canadian growers here and on OurFigs are the best resources for hardiness. How much sun, how close to a wall and how much wind they will get in winter appear to play a big part in survival.

Good luck with your new tree!

KyFig. I also had 9 1st year cuttings left outside in pots over winter with no protection. 6 survived. They were white Marseilles, Black Jack, Violette de Bordeaux, Kadota, Ischia and Lattarula. Winter temp lows were 17 degrees F.

Look around and find some trees or tree owners.  They are the ones with the experience in your locale.  I can tell you what does well here but that is absolutely of no use to you, look local.

Welcome and best of luck with your trees.  People in warmer zones than you have lost these trees.  Last year was a very mild winter.  I'll send you a PM with some info on who to talk to.

Thank you.

In the 30 years I've lived here, the coldest temp I have ever seen was 1 week of +14 degrees.

That is an amazing variety of figs that you have rooted.

Congratulations.

Tad

Julie,
Can I ask you what method you planted your Col de Dame Blanc? Someone told me they were harder to root for a beginner. Unfortunately, I already purchased it. I'm giving it to my daughter to play with since I don't have time to babysit the cuttings. lol I was going to help her start them. I was going to just start it in a smaller clear plastic cup with a cover over plastic to keep the roots dark. I have starting soil mix but I'm curious if you did anything special to the cutting itself. Or if you did anything different, where did you place them? Thanks for your tip in advance.  

I rooted 1 in bark mulch with perlite in a $1 lasagne pan with lid and the other in a turbo klone box with continuous water spray on the bottom portion of the cutting. Most were rooted in the lasagne pans with only a few in the cloning box. It works great on elderberries, rosemary, basil, thyme and even grapes. However, mine is small with only 24 openings.

Plant no tree in the ground under 2 years old without a strong root ball!!!!!

Here is my recommendation and what I do in my climate which is Zone 8A:

Thanks snaglpus. This is very helpful. I will definitely plant the varieties with no winterization after a couple of seasons in the pots. :)

You're Welcome Julie.  Plant hardiness is very important especially in relation to your zone.  Ninety-nine percent of Charlotte, which is where I live, is in zone 7b.  My home use to be in 7b but after the city completed the new interstate North of my house, my zone was changed to 8a.  I contacted the US Dept of Agriculture questioning my zone.  They responded back stating my area is a hotter climate now but the rest of Charlotte is not.  

Twenty minutes south of Charlotte is Rock Hill, SC.  They're also in zone 8a.  But they sometimes get more ice and snow than me!  Go figure!  Julie, what zone are you in?  Here is a link to the plant hardiness map.  Just enter your zip code and click return.

http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/

cheers!

7b by this map. However in 30 years winter temps never below 14 degrees F.

Wow! That's pretty good. You should be good then. Good luck!

To me,
Winterize means I wrap with a frost blanket. They add 10 degrees to a tree.
Winterize a little mean add chicken wire around the tree and stuff it with dry leaves.
Winterize heavy means to do both, wrap the tree, surround with chicken wire and stuff it with leaves.

Now, this is what I do and it works for me. It may not work for you. What really kills a fig tree is sever constant wind. If you block the wind to keep out sever cold, your tree should be fine. This past winter was one of our mildest ever. Temps in my climate dropped down to 25 degrees twice and that's not bad. In previous years, temps would drop to 10 or 5. I lost trees at temps that low and confuses me b/c I'm in zone 8a.

Wow Dennis this is great info on hardiness , many of my thoughts on this are solved. Though most of the time chicken wire and straw usually takes mine through the winter.

Thanks

Dennis,

Thanks for the information on winterizing.  I live about 100 miles north of you in Cary, NC and I wish I knew to heavily winterize my Black Mission.  I just had leaves and chicken wire around the trunk when we had the bitter cold weather in early March and I almost lost the trunk - just started seeing some growth on it yesterday.

My Brown Turkey and Celeste did well this winter in the ground


Tad

Hey Dennis. Thanks for the explanation.

Some strains of Black Mission are hardier than others. I have 5 from different sources. All produce with winterization. Without it and they don't. My largest BM has NEVER produced 1 fig. Why? Because it's its root bound and needs to be repotted. I just brought it inside my garage 2 hours ago. I'm getting ready to root prune it and soak it is hormone solution. I did winterize it last year. And it will fruit this year.

What kind of hormone solution? Where do you get it and what type figs benefit from it?

This is what I use especially now b/c in my climate we're getting temps in the mid 80s. It keeps my trees from stressing out when I up-pot them. Fertilome Root Stimulator

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000OV8WM8/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1494723945&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=fertilome+root+stimulator&dpPl=1&dpID=41G5RsvsinL&ref=plSrch