LSU Purple not fruiting

10 years ago

Hi All,

I have a LSU Purple that's not fruiting. I bought it from Walmart 3 years ago and have been growing it a container with 511 mix like the rest of my figs. All my other figs, including the Hardy Chicago figs I got this year, have all born fruit. My neighbor across the street has a LSU Purple in his yard for about 6 years now and hasn't born fruit either. Has anyone else had similar experience? Thanks.

Oh, the LSU Golds I got this spring are doing fine and have born some fruit.

Featured Answer

tucsonken

9 years ago

I don't know, but my guess is that LSU Purple will not perform very good fruit for you in a pot, no matter how long you keep it. They are known for having poor flavor until they have been bearing for several years. I planted a large, rooted sucker in the ground back in 2011, and it is now about 10 tall and somewhat wider. It's had several years of tasteless fruit that even the birds won't eat, but is finally starting to produce good figs.

I don't know whether the transition from blah to tasty fruit is solely age-related, or if the size of the tree is a factor as well, but if size is important, it seems difficult to achieve that in a pot. How about it, fig experts? Is anybody out there growing this variety successfully (i.e., getting good fruit) in a pot? (You might also ask the question on the Figs 4 Fun forum, if you haven't done so already.)

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Comments (7)

Pino's Figs http://FigNuts.Ca
9 years ago
My LSU purple hasn't fruited either. I think it was 3/4 yrs olds when I got it. Root pruned and up potted it and 2 yrs later still no sign of a figlet.

Read somewhere that it took 6 yrs for it to start producing but after that it did very well.

I was ready to toss mine but will wait another year.
warpiper
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi Joe,

Thanks. I'm going to repot it tomorrow and see what happens.
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hamiltch
9 years ago
I have two LSU Purples. One that is two years old, and was planted in the ground this spring. Really a small tree in trunk diameter, and maybe 3 ft tall. It produced a few fruit this year. They were sugary sweet, kinda like mild brown sugar, but no complexity of flavor yet.

The other tree is in a 4 gallon SIP. I would have produced fruit, but I kept pinching the fig buds off to let it focus on growth to the tree (it was in pretty poor shape when I got it). This tree is also probably 2 -3 years old, max.

Try giving your trees more food (fertilizer), and keep them of a good watering routine (or use SIP pot).
warpiper
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi tucsonken and hamiltch,

Thank you for the feed back. It may be a combination of both. We are renting at the moment but once we find a place to buy I'm going to plant all my figs. Had a 4 year old Celeste in our back yard before we sold the house and it really started to take off. I've been giving all my potted figs about 1/4 cup of 10:10:10 every month from April through October but I'll double that for the Purple LSU next spring. I thought about using SIP pots but wasn't sure about them. I'll have to get 2 or 3 and see how they do.
altadenamara
9 years ago
It's possible the trees with no figs are not LSU Purple. I bought an LSU Purple and an LSU Gold from a national mail order nursery. The LSU Gold started producing dark figs. People on a fig forum helped me identify it as LSU Purple. The other tree, labeled LSU Purple, also producing dark figs, but was not LSU Purple. The leaves were completely different. The real LSU Purple produced some good figs its first year in the ground. There's a lot of mislabeling everywhere. If it doesn't walk like a duck, quack like a duck, or look like a duck, it probably isn't a duck.
warpiper
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi altadenamara,

I was thinking it may not be an LSU Purple. It came from Walmart so there is lots of room for doubt. Not that the box stores are any better. I may have to order one from a reputable dealer.