LSU provided some of the first cuttings to start the trial. I managed to destroy many of the cuttings by following instructions from the internet, another lesson learned the hard way. Fig cuttings like a dry environment not a mist bench. Second never follow instructions for what works in the tropics or Australia if you live in Arkansas. Luckily some of the LSU cuttings survived despite my bumbling mistakes.
One good thing came from surfing on the internet, I met Charlie Little. Charlie lives in Arkansas and once I explained the trial Charlie shared the information with fig people in the "Fig 4 Fun" group. Members across the country in the group sent cuttings for the trial.
Spring 2015 we planted the first 40 fig trees in the trial orchard. Spring 2016 another 40 varieties of fig trees were added.
The winter of 2017 we had 30 straight nights of freezing temperatures and one-night temps dropped to 9 degrees and held there most of the night.
I was sure most, if not all of the fig trees had been lost but spring 2018 finally arrived and 67 of the 80 trees put back up from the roots and many produced fruits that summer.

The plan for the 10 year trial will be to post information as it occurs on this site and publish the data in 2020 and a final report 2025.
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