Figs shrink and dropped

[Jeffrey88]

My LSU tiger is not performing well this year. It has not ripen any figs yet and once in a while figlets shrink, turn purplish and easy to pick off.
Same soil as other pots. Could it be the weather?

[don_sanders]

Did it dry out at all?

[Jeffrey88]

It did not dry out but get really soft and wrinkled.

[Ktrain]

I think he means did the root ball ever dry out, if it did it could abort the figs.

[Jeffrey88]

No i water it several times a weekly just like any other pots, i also check for soil moisture regularly.

[Ktrain]

Other than that....how old is your tree?
If it's young excessive heat maybe, sometimes until they mature they will drop their fruit.

Just hope for next year at that point.

[acerpictum]

These are inflorescences, if cut in two, white flowers will be visible. The parthenocarpicity of figs for many varieties is a normal property, but not always stable. In some varieties, it is strongly pronounced, in others it is weaker. And the farther from the optimal geographic-climatic-soil conditions, the greater the likelihood of complications in the phase of transition from inflorescence to infructescence.

[JMeeker]

I've had a couple of these on my 1st year Hardy Chicago's. Just a couple though. Seems normal to me. Especially with the heat wave that we had a couple of weeks ago. I would think that the trees would shift priorities during stressful times. Sacrificing nutrients to a few fruit for the benefit of the others. That's my theory anyway.

[arachyd]

My LSU Tiger does not like hot, dry weather and will drop figs. This is the first year it didn't drop all the brebas.

[Jeffrey88]

This is a 3rd year tree. The weather here is 85 degrees in average, which is on the chill side. All other trees are 2nd year tree that are performing very well.

[Mateo Milmo]

Could be it's root bound. LSU Tiger has been one of my most vigorous trees I've grown, being 3 years old and pot grown I wouldn't be surprised the roots are coiled pretty bad in there.
I'd give it a root prune come end of season and if possible I'd put it in the ground, this variety is a workhorse for me along with my other LSUs.

[ginamcd]

Root pruning in cold climates is best done in spring right before trees break dormancy. I suggest pulling the rootball out of the pot before moving into winter storage to see if it's at the point of needing a root pruning, and if it is make plans to do it in spring.

[Figarious Maximus]

I notice that my trees do this more when I've let them dry out too much.

[ginamcd]

As I mentioned in a recent thread, my two Smith trees both dropped a healthy number of fruit. I did not have the drip irrigation installed during a heatwave we had earlier this summer and I know for a fact the trees did not get enough water. Thankfully this was the only variety (so far) to drop any, but many have noted that Smith is likely more "sensitive" to environmental factors.

If you look at the end of the fruit stems, you can see where they dried up and turned brown. They like "detached" or started to, long before they actually dropped.

[tinyfish]

I don't know what size the pot is but only watering several times a week might not be enough for that variety. I water multiple times a day just to try and keep the roots cool and give them the water they need in full leaf.

[Noah Mercy]

"... multiple times a day", whoa...

manually, or on a timer?

The consensus seems to be that it got too dry at some point. I'm wondering why it didn't drop any leaves? It looks like a pretty big plant with quite a bit of fruit for the size of pot (hard to tell).

[tinyfish]

Drip system with timer. Far too many to hand water. Most my tree's are in 6gal pots and stand 6-7 feet tall with a full canopy and need lots of water.

[ginamcd]

If stressed, they often abort the fruit before the leaves.

[jrdewhirst]

In my experience, the LSU varieties need more (or at least much more consistent) water than others. My potted O'Rourke and Champagne were very finicky. O'Rourke would regularly drop its figs, something it didn't do in the ground. Improved Celeste held its figs but dropped lower leaves at the first hint of dryness.

[Jeffrey88]

It is in 18”D x 16”H pot, i actually water it 1-3 times a day, after rain i will cut water for 3 days. This year is not as hot as last year and the leaves didn’t show any sign of dehydration. Few figs show sign of deformity, they look like double stacked figs