CLBC

Ikibahd

Ikibahd

Well-known member
It looks like I could potentially get at least a couple of figs off my CLBC this year… but it only has “double bumps” currently where some of my other trees (notably Mittica Unk) have figlets already getting pea size and larger. I am wondering (and will observe over this early part of the season) how long it takes for the figlets to truly start forming from bumps.

Does anyone with experience growing it know: is it as late as Black Madeira or Col de Dame varieties? Do those varieties set figlets later or do they just take longer to form and ripen after being set?

I’ve read that CLBC is not overly productive for lots of those that grow it, but can be very prolific with the right growing conditions. My tree was put in ground in Spring last year after rooting in 2024. I am pleasantly surprised by how little damage it took over this winter, as it seemed like a pretty harsh one in this area (and a lot of others…)

I think the location is key, being in the southwest corner of the house where it gets lots of sun for a large part of the day as well as radiant heat from the bricks.

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Great work! I tried to grow CLBC for years and I could never get a decent crop out of it. Mine was super low on vigour.... I mean, slooooow.

Yours looks nice and healthy
 
Your tree looks great in ground! The brick and southern position definitely helps. What made you plant it in ground in our area? CLBC was found in Florida and I didn’t think it was cold hardy at all.

CLBC is stingy in its First year, Still produced some great fruit though. Mine typically ripened late August / early September, so in line with BMKK ripening in our area. At 2 years old it produced very well, it died from borers the next spring 😭. Now I have a 1 year old replacement starting over.
 

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JC Figgy said:
Your tree looks great in ground! The brick and southern position definitely helps. What made you plant it in ground in our area? CLBC was found in Florida and I didn’t think it was cold hardy at all.

CLBC is stingy in its First year, Still produced some great fruit though. Mine typically ripened late August / early September, so in line with BMKK ripening in our area. At 2 years old it produced very well, it died from borers the next spring 😭. Now I have a 1 year old replacement starting over.
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That’s devastating! I put it in the ground mostly out of a desire to put all the different trees that I end up keeping in the ground eventually - in pots is painful to keep watered for me even with makeshift drip irrigation (though it’s much better than hand watering!)

I put it in that spot specifically because it seemed like the most premier spot in my whole property and I read that CLBC needs lots of light and heat. I was so surprised at how well it came through the winter! My Peters’s honey (possibly just a Kadota) died back nearly to the ground in a similarly sheltered place against the south face of my house, whereas CLBC and Mittica both did great!
 
As mentioned above by others, I can confirm CLBC is very slow in vigor and is late aswell in terms of ripening. If I did not headstart mine, I would not get anything off my tree.

I personally think it’s much better on grafting stock, I have two trees on roots and one grafted onto Desert King. And I noticed this year the grafted tree is moving a bit faster than the other two!
 
As posted above your tree looks great. I have a few that have frozen back for 5 years now, never doing much on the way back. Turns out they are all Chicago Hardy trees. This year for some reason they are growing like a weed setting fruit all over. My point is 2-3 year old roots don't seem to have the "Push" quite built up yet. As good as your tree looks when it does fruit they will be very sweet & flavorful.
 
I've had one for 6 years. It's one heck of a grower. Though I've only eaten a few figs off of it - all of them last year. I tried limiting nitrogen, root bounding it, ignoring it, babying it, and finally not pruning it. Most of those did nothing to produce fruit in time. My experience is that it does not like to lose its apical buds each fall. After a heavy pruning it responds with vigorous growth to the detriment of fruit set (7 gallon pot supporting a 6ft sphere of growth with almost no figs to be found).

This is basically what it looked like every year after a typical pruning that's a 6ft fence in the background and it's in a pot slightly larger than a 5g bucket - that was end of July a couple years ago. Not a fig on the stupid thing:

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I have found it surprisingly early. Not early, but it ripened with some solidly mid season figs (maybe late mid season) here in the mid Atlantic. It's definitely a very tasty fig so it got a gentle trimming of a couple of old leaders this past fall (leaving plenty of growth tips). This year it seems to be slightly behind a lot of my figs but it has plenty of figlets going now.

This one is/has been on the chopping block (saved by the few delicious figs last season) so it didn't get a spot in the comfy greenhouse this winter but survived multiple days of single digits temps in the basement stairwell with just a tarp covering it so it gets another chance this year. No loss of any growth tips. I did a minor root pruning this year (for the first time) which could help account for the late fig set, but at least they were there by June 1.
 
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hambones said:
I've had one for 6 years. It's one heck of a grower. Though I've only eaten a few figs off of it - all of them last year. I tried limiting nitrogen, root bounding it, ignoring it, babying it, and finally not pruning it. Most of those did nothing to produce fruit in time. My experience is that it does not like to lose its apical buds each fall. After a heavy pruning it responds with vigorous growth to the detriment of fruit set (7 gallon pot supporting a 6ft sphere of growth with almost no figs to be found).

This is basically what it looked like every year after a typical pruning that's a 6ft fence in the background and it's in a pot slightly larger than a 5g bucket - that was end of July a couple years ago. Not a fig on the stupid thing:

View attachment 24201

I have found it surprisingly early. Not early, but it ripened with some solidly mid season figs (maybe late mid season) here in the mid Atlantic. It's definitely a very tasty fig so it got a gentle trimming of a couple of old leaders this past fall (leaving plenty of growth tips). This year it seems to be slightly behind a lot of my figs but it has plenty of figlets going now.

This one is/has been on the chopping block (saved by the few delicious figs last season) so it didn't get a spot in the comfy greenhouse this winter but survived multiple days of single digits temps in the basement stairwell with just a tarp covering it so it gets another chance this year. No loss of any growth tips. I did a minor root pruning this year (for the first time) which could help account for the late fig set, but at least they were there by June 1.
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Good Post
 
hambones said:
I've had one for 6 years. It's one heck of a grower. Though I've only eaten a few figs off of it - all of them last year. I tried limiting nitrogen, root bounding it, ignoring it, babying it, and finally not pruning it. Most of those did nothing to produce fruit in time. My experience is that it does not like to lose its apical buds each fall. After a heavy pruning it responds with vigorous growth to the detriment of fruit set (7 gallon pot supporting a 6ft sphere of growth with almost no figs to be found).

This is basically what it looked like every year after a typical pruning that's a 6ft fence in the background and it's in a pot slightly larger than a 5g bucket - that was end of July a couple years ago. Not a fig on the stupid thing:

View attachment 24201

I have found it surprisingly early. Not early, but it ripened with some solidly mid season figs (maybe late mid season) here in the mid Atlantic. It's definitely a very tasty fig so it got a gentle trimming of a couple of old leaders this past fall (leaving plenty of growth tips). This year it seems to be slightly behind a lot of my figs but it has plenty of figlets going now.

This one is/has been on the chopping block (saved by the few delicious figs last season) so it didn't get a spot in the comfy greenhouse this winter but survived multiple days of single digits temps in the basement stairwell with just a tarp covering it so it gets another chance this year. No loss of any growth tips. I did a minor root pruning this year (for the first time) which could help account for the late fig set, but at least they were there by June 1.
Click to expand...
You know, Celeste also really doesn’t like having growth tips removed either - could it be that enough people prune most of their potted trees that that is a big reason for lack of fruit set?
 
Mine is setting scaffolds after being topped off and hopefully I’ll get some figs this year. The 2 I had from it last year were tasty. Yep, its production seems to be on the low side.
 
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