Verdal Longue - I know some of you have grown....

[Darkman]

I know some of you (Bass, Gina, Snaglpus, NYPD5229) have grown Verdal Longue for quite a few years. Some I believe back to 2009. I have a small one (three years old) and hope I grows a bit better this year. I will upgrade it to a 45 gallon pot to see if I can inspire it! Or it may see fig heaven....

How has it done for you? Are you still growing it?

I think FMD has it and his opinion being climatologically similar to mine would be greatly valued. JD are you growing it? OTHERS???

[Bijan]

I have been growing it in central Texas for 5 years. If it fruited last year, I wasn't there to see it. I've had fruit on it before, but it wouldn't ripen before getting zapped.

Mine has frozen to the ground every year I've had it. When it grows, usually one limb will grow strong, the rest are severely (and I mean severely) stunted by FMV. I do not know why one limb will grow clean, but the rest wont. I didn't mind keeping it, because it had a good reputation. I wanted to see if it would produce. Whenever I did run out of space, it was third on the list of trees to be dug out (if it did not improve).

[Darkman]

Thanks,

Maybe you should try a one node propagation from the tip of a fast growing limb to try and get ahead of the FMV.

[FMD]

Mine is in one of the hedges and it hasn't fruited yet. Poorly located but protected from freezing...this is a recurrent theme for me.

[Darkman]

Have you ever considered one in the hedge and one in the field? They do seem to be slow growing!

[Gina]

I do have Verdal Longue and have tasted a fruit last year. It was really good, but hard to come to a conclusion based on just one fig. My plant is about 2 years old and smaller than other figs started at that time (except for CdDB).

I clipped the cuttings myself from a tree about 10 years old. It was a largish tree, but in retrospect, not that lush. Grown in a water challenged area, so its health too is hard to judge. I believe it is sadly another of the good but challenged UCD figs with severe, or multiply infected FMV.

I do recall that Herman said it is very good tasting, and is one of the few (perhaps the only?) UCD figs he grows because of it's flavor.

[Darkman]

Thanks Gina,

I recall some theory that if one were to take the cells from a growing point and applied tissue culture propagation to them one might defeat the FMV in the newly grown tree. I wonder if that would work. It seems that FMV effects so many really otherwise great figs that maybe it's time to test that idea.

I have a contact with a botanist at our state university. I might try to exploit that and see if they can assist.

[Posturedoc]

I'll add to the slow growth commentary. My Verdal Longue fruited last year for the first time in, I think, it's third leaf, though it might only be two years old. I've got that info somewhere... Anyway, I got three or four figs off of it and had a few more that did not mature. The first two figs matured in late September/early Oct and were very good, those that followed didn't mature until late October and were not very good, just not enough heat. If you can extend the season on the front end and ripen the figs in the heat and have room for what appears to be a fairly low productivity variety, it's worth growing.