You’re using Florea for earliness and production right? Have you prioritized size in any of the other crosses or do you think that’s a quixotic quest?
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The Barnisotte and LdA crosses should be big. I didn’t bother growing out the NdB seed though.
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Do you think that ‘San Pedro’ types of figs would make a great fig type for a hybridization project?
Also there appears to be a lot of confusion, what is the difference between ‘San Pedro’ type, and edible caprifigs. Even though universities say that there is something called edible caprifigs, someone who knows a lot about figs once made it seem like there is no such thing as edible caprifigs. As if figs like Croisic is a ‘San Pedro’ type.
I am recalling that someone told me that edible caprifigs have 3 fig crops a year with the fig wasp, and ‘San Pedro’ type has two fig crops a year with the fig wasp.
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The female is not supposed to matter for persistence, I don’t know if San Pedros have a different version of that gene and it works the same way, or if it is a different gene altogether.
For a female parent though, you would not be able to see what unpollinated main crop figs look like to get an idea of what the seedling might look like. I didn’t realize that when I used UP, when unpollinated they are small and the seedlings seem to be small as well.
Presumably there are San Pedro caprifigs out there somewhere, though San Pedro females seem rare so they probably are as well.
My impression has always been that edible caprifigs should only have long styled female flowers that the wasp cannot inhabit. Otherwise the developing wasp larvae produce galls rather than juicy flowers.
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Freeze is coming tonight so I covered all of the first year seedlings and a few of the second year hopefuls.
First LdA seedling ripened, looks just like it’s mother, maybe a little more red inside.
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Are you cross pollinating black/purple female fig and black/purple caprifig?
What is the ratio of green to black color skin fig in the offspring when you did your experiment?
Ultimately I want to develop a persistent caprifig that has the genetic materials of a Colonel Littman or some similiar black fig. I found some wild black caprifig near my house, but I cannot tell whether it is persistent or not yet. Around my house are many groves of wild caprifig with wasps. I would have to protect some figs from the wasp to find out.
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I’m not really sure of the actual percentages, anything that didn’t fruit fairly quickly in the first round got discarded. Figs have mixed up genomes so it seems like there can be a lot of surprises. Since I got some green skinned figs with red interiors from a cross of dark skinned parents with light interiors it seems like green skin and red interiors are recessive.
But… I think there are multiple genes responsible for some things. Figs with red buds are always dark skinned IME, but not all dark skinned figs have red buds.
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Is here any difference in taste/sweetness/texture of between those with red bud and those without?
Could the slower to fruit fig you killed possibly have better tasting fruits? Have you kept any to test to see if this may be true or not?
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The red buds are mostly aesthetic. The skin doesn’t have as much flavor as the interior.
Precociousness doesn’t have anything to do with fruit quality as far as I can tell, some of the best tasting named varieties are precocious. It isn’t a matter of just waiting for these seedlings to fruit, the ones that don’t show signs of productivity in the first few years will probably always be unproductive in my climate
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Turns out fig seeds can stay viable for 3 years in the freezer, who knew? Not sure how much more space and time I can spare, but at least I have some idea now of which crosses might produce more decent seedlings.
The 2 yo trees that were unprotected in the main patch look half dead from the winter, despite the lack of bitter cold this year. And brutalized by bucks rubbing, and eating the buds on top of that. A small patch in a sheltered location seems to have done better, possibly there will be profichi/breba on some of those and the ones that were protected.
1 yo trees that were protected look about the same as last year, voles girdled a dozen or so despite trapping them all fall and winter. Will most likely collect what is left alive up top and try grafting them back onto the roots or some of the 2 yo duds when it warms up. Uncovered for the time being so they hopefully don’t wake up as early this year.
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Quite a few sticks to turn into biochar, these are just the ones over a half inch, smaller is just going under the ground cover.
Thinned out half of the one year olds, really hard, since they are spaced so tight. Went easier on the other half to see which is better. Unpruned on the right.
Think I have enough space to squeeze in most of the babies at one foot spacing, will be interesting.
Lots of other work, too much to take pics. Lots of heavy thinning left to do on older trees, grafting onto duds, flagging breba/profichi.
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Did u make crosses with early fig varieties ?
Hello, the early crosses would be to Flores, Etna types, Unk Pastilierre, and probably others I am probably forgetting.
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I fractured my hip earlier this week, so it has been tough. I do have a reliable person to take care of all my trees, and I have a very good chance to make a full recovery.
I really appreciate everyone who has given this project a like or 2 over the years, I was not sure I wanted to continue on with it just briefly, since the fig community at large cannot be trusted and that makes this so much more difficult. Thank you.
I am getting to take a break for a bit, and I think I earned it a long time ago. Should be much, much better by the time figs are ripening.
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Brent, I am so sorry to hear about your injury… Take care of yourself and get well soon… Take it easy my friend.
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Thank you Ahmad, everyone here at home has been so supportive, and I am getting better every day.
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I’m sorry to hear this setback for you, Brent. Best wishes. You are still young so I bet you’ll be good as new soon!
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They tagged and released me back into the wild within 28 hours based on my progress, when 4 days is the norm. The surgeon spent an extra 2 hours getting things just right, that x ray really is a work of art, but I could tell as soon as I woke up I was fixed, and I am so grateful to him.
I will do my part and be safe to not wreck his work.
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Sorry to hear of your injury Brent. I had a hip replaced several years ago but for arthritis after an old injury, not an acute fracture-not fun at all.
Hope you recover quickly and that your project does not get derailed.
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