I just did my very first figs grafting today so do not know what I will get. But here we go
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Is there something that I can spray to kill the mites?
You could try spinosad, it is easy to find and works on lots of different types of pests too, it is not labeled for eriophyid mites but a few people have said it worked for fig bud mites. It gets absorbed into the leaves and buds and kills the mites when they feed, you will probably have to follow up with another spray or 2. I used spiromesifen and abamectin which are also absorbed into the leaf and have residual activity as well, spiromesifen worked with one spray. The other option is a sulfur dusting, it is what commercial orchards use to control them, I decided against it because once it is on the leaves it is even harder to see the mites and know if any are still alive.
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@Naeem @ampersand @hoosierbanana
Gentlemen,
The figs I successfully rooted in Feb/March has been moved from the perlite box I rooted them in to half-quart cups filled with potting soil and they did well there until they seemed to outgrow these cups, so I moved them to two-gallon plastic pots that I filled with mostly topsoil about a month ago. Their growth has been kind of anemic since moving to the 2-gal containers (even the two of them that have previously been growing very well in) they are not dying but they are either not growing at all or very slowly growing, even though they have been in full sun for the past month and our weather has been in the sixties up to nineties for the past couple of weeks. I am starting to suspect that the topsoil was a mistake, because it tends to get quite hard and/or it does not drain well. My plan was to transfer them to five-gallon fabric containers towards mid summer.
What do you think I should do now?
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They probably don’t have many roots running through the top soil mix. You might be able to wash it out and pot them in a better draining mix without doing too much damage. Or, if they are going to be planted in the ground just slide them out of the container and plant them with the root ball intact, I’ve planted many trees that age.
I would be very careful about pulling newly rooted cuttings struggling from media. Please see if your media is not holding too much water. My mix is three part bark one part organic potting soil and one part Perlite. When you move from one pot to another one its always few days for plants to adjust. But your is taking way too long. Are you using any fertilizer?
Yes, I used Miracle Grow 4-12-4 (I think it is called quick start) which is mixed with water before applying. I checked the plants again today and I think I got confused about the soil, it was not pure top soil (that I used for some potted peach seedlings), it is a mix of potting soil and perlite wit a little bit of topsoil, and it looked pretty fluffy, so I am still not sure why the fig plants growth slowed down that much. I water every few days, after measuring the moisture with a moisture meter. I try to keep the soil moderately wet.
I would give these little bit more Nitrogen like Miracle grow general purpose plant food which has more Nitrogen. For my establish cuttings when I up pot I used Osmocote plus once in growing season. Not too much water and not too dry just moist soil is best and it should drain very well. If you give water to your plant it should drain right away I am talking about newly rooted cuttings.
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Here is a little update 05-10-2018 on my cuttings and figs. Yesterday I did 35 cuttings from cups / one gallon to 5 gallons. In first picture it shows that much roots when I like to transfer from cups to bigger pot. Please post your cuttings and figs picture too if you are growing!
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Just checking on how your figs are doing. I just posted an update on mine.
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I have a bunch of cuttings going, not really much to look at yet though. Here’s a tub full of cuttings that have callused, will be sticking them next week. I used half coir and half biochar in this batch, seems to work fine, heavy though. The ones with all of the roots are from seedlings, they seem to root really quickly.
Brebas/profichi on seedling
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My figs and cuttings are coming along. I might get some ripe Brebas in a few months. I gave some a head start in my sunroom.
Tony
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My figs have transitioned to out doors and have just started to push new growth. This is second leaf and they are potted. Please help advise me on what I need to do to promote the best growth and fruiting
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I fertilize mine twice already with Urea Nitrogen. I will pinch their tips at the fifth leaf soon here to encourage fruits production.
Tony
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Thanks tony, will follow your advice
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Here is what’s left of my fig starts. I’ve given away some. My biggest losses involved the transferring from the big bin to individual pots. Next time I’ll start them in individual cups. I now have cups just like the one Naeem shows in the first of his recent photos. I’m not sure if I should keep mine containerized this Summer, as opposed to planting them out…in ground. I’ll look into that. A friend and recipient of one of my starts said he cut open his small pot and there were many roots so he put the unit into a larger pot which will probably be its home 'til next Spring.
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Very nice! Not one of my dozen Dominicks even started to start. Fortunately I had cuttings from a couple trees near my dentist’s office. I’ve sampled them before…delish; but no Dominicks.
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These are looking great and healthy.
Looking very good and healthy.
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