Now you have touched upon a subject matter that is dear to me and at the very heart of my fig research activities. One of my main goals is to find the BEST cultivars for growing in the rainy, hot, humid climate of South Louisiana. I am currently studying the growing and fruiting characteristics of many different cultivars and several hundred in-ground fig trees.

A century ago, fig trials were conducted at the test orchards at LSU (still on going to this day) and Celeste was hands down determined to be the BEST fig for growing in my area. That's because of its excellent taste, good cooking qualities, rain tolerance, and its bug resistance due to its completely CLOSED eye. A closed eyed fig will not allow water or bugs entrance to the inside of a fig through the eye. A fig that is bug resistant will not sour very easily while it it on the tree.

Years ago there was a thriving fig preserving and canning industry here in south Louisiana. Most of the figs sold to these canning facilities were Celeste figs. Celeste, however, bears only ONE MAIN CROP of figs that usually ripens between July 1st through mid to late August. Indeed this is a very short operating time frame for any industry. The infant canning industry in Louisiana needed a larger supply of fig fruit over an extended period of time to increase profitability and to help meet the ever increasing demand for their product. In steps Dr. O'Rourke from LSU.... he received some State funding and set a goal to support the fig canning industry by developing new fig varieties that maintained all of the good qualities of the Celeste cultivar. His intent was to try to "improve" upon the productivity of the well established Celeste cultivar. It is no wonder that he choose to start with two very good tasting CLOSED EYED figs (Celeste and Hunt)for the mother fig trees in his fig breeding program. All of the LSU bred figs originated from either a Hunt or Celeste mother tree.

So........Dr. O'Rourke's fig breeding program was undertaken to support the fig preserve and canning industry. This is in contrast to Condit's fig breeding program. Condit was trying to develop other fig cultivars that were suitable for DRYING in California....to supplement or replace the light colored Calimyrna cultivar in the dried fig market. Both breeding programs were funded to support the needs of the processed fig industry. Both programs were successful in introducing some new cutlivars to world.

These seems to be some confusion as what constitutes an open or closed eye. Here is some ramblings of mine that I posted in another thread:

"The eye of a fig is located at the apex of the fig. Its size has nothing to do with it being "open" or "closed". The size of an eye is determined by its outward appearance on the fig's skin surface. It is a measurement of the WIDTH of the fig's eye. It can be a small, medium, or large eyed. 'Open or closed' is a reference to the condition of the eye's outside OPENING leading to the interior pulp of the fig. Both water and/or insects can move through a fig's eye opening and do some damage. Insects carry yeast organisms on their body to the interior of a fig causing it to ferment and turn sour. Water that enters a fig will dilute its sweetness and flavor and make it easier to ferment and/or split. Figs that absorb water often swell too fast causing tender skins to tear and split before they are fully ripe. These skin tears and splits then provide another route to the inside of a fig for those nasty souring bugs and insects to use and ruin the fig.

Some fig eyes are sealed with RESIN (Alma) and others are sealed with thick HONEY (Italian Honey) or a very thick near solid HONEY (Cajun Honey). Honey and resin are not chemically the same material and each reacts to water differently. Resin is NOT SOLUBLE in rain or water while honey is VERY SOLUBLE. So........resin sealed eyes block both water and insect entrance to the fig's sweet pulp and this type eye sealant is very durable.

Some fig eyes, on the other hand, are sealed with thick honey (Italian Honey). Honey too will block the entrance of the fig's eye to those souring insects. Thick honey will also will prevent some rainwater from getting inside. THICK honey that blocks the entrance hole is so high in sugar content that it CANNOT BE FERMENTED even if visited by insects carrying yeast organisms. Pure honey MUST BE DILUTED with rain or water BEFORE any fermentation can occcur. Honey sealed eyes are not as durable as resin sealed eyes because honey is very soluble in water. Once rain dilutes the honey (sugar concentration) and reopens the entrance to a fig's eye.....it can then be attacked by yeast organisms that are carried on insects that can now go inside. Yeast thus introduced will cause the honey sugars to ferment and turn the fig sour.

So..........open eyed honey sealed figs cannot take HEAVY rains but often can tolerate a moderate amount. Heavy rains can and will eventually dissolve the honey blockage and make the opening available to those insects and allow further water entrance. Honey sealed open eyed figs do very well in dry climates and often can handle some light to medium rains without any adverse problems. Whether the fig eye HANGS UP OR DOWN can make a difference.

A COMPLETELY closed tight-eyed fig (some strains of Celeste) is one that has no entrance at all to the inside of the fig. It is the ultimate fig eye seal and is a very desirable characteristic for any fig growing in a hot, humid, rainy climate. However, we should keep in mind that there are some resin and honey eye sealed figs that can do quite well (like Alma, Italian Honey, and LSU Gold for instance) that are worth having in a fig collection even in a hot, humid, rainy area."

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Last season I noticed that breba, main crop, and second or third crops fig eyes can be different during each particular fig crop. I never paid much attention that before, but intend to do a better job at that this year. I expect to be an expert on this subject matter one day.........

Dan