One other thing which focused me on figs recently is that I bought a house which has a large fig in the backyard. I spoke with the son of the former owner and he said that his grandfather brought it from Italy 30-35 years ago and that he likes them a lot more than the other ones his grandfather (who lives across the street) grows. They didn’t know the name, (“Black fig” and “Purple fig” were the descriptions I got.
It looks like there are plenty of fruit which won’t ripen on it this year, but I see a lot of spots where it was picked.
The grandson told me that each year they put a cardboard box (or cardboard from boxes?) around the base and shove it full of leaves. Then, they put a tarp on top. Seems to be working for them to keep it around so long…
It could be in a bit of a warm micro-climate, as my own figs don’t look anywhere near as green.
I’ll try protecting it the same way this winter. Which means that I’ll need to prune back the top a bit. So, I’ve started taking some cuttings, which I’ve wrapped in parafilm and put in pots. I may use the paper towel and bag method as well, though I haven’t gotten great results from it in the past. The grandson is taking some cuttings as well, but it is so big that there should be plenty to go around.
