Fig Talk

How what about freeze dried fig juice? They can advertise it as fig dust.

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I saw some of those, that’s why i don’t want to join the fig forums… too serious and expensive.

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You would need a LOT of figs to create enough dust though…

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The biggest problem I’ve heard for fig growers in Florida is not lack of cool temperatures, but rather root nematodes which damage the plants and make them grow poorly.

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So potted is the way to go on Florida? If one were to live in Florida

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There are some cultivars with root nematode resistance which can be used as rootstock to graft onto for in ground. Even if kept in pots they could become affected by nematodes since they could come in through the drain holes unless the pots are kept away from soil.

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That would be nice :slightly_smiling_face:

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I have been a part of the fig community since 2011, and it definitely has a dark side. I created a fig forum since before the ‘ourfigs forum’ was started, because so many people left figs4fun, and they needed a new place, yet there was too much fighting going on within the fig community for it to become a famous fig forum, and so Willis created the ‘ourfigs forum’, as you can see the ‘ourfigs forum’ was not good enough for enough ‘ourfigs forum’ users to make the ‘Fig Fanatic’ forum successful. I would not be surprised if yet another fig forum pops up in time. Me I keep a very low profile in the fig community, because it’s so easy to find trouble within the fig community.

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There is this one guy in New Jersey that has a serious nematode problem, and he is using the ‘Desert King’ variety of fig tree as root stock, because of that, and it seems to be a good solution.

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How can fig talk get dark? I don’t quite understand i guess.

For example I have the fig variety originally called Unknown Carini, eventually at least two more varieties of fig with the same name showed up, all originating from Carini, Sicily, so now I call it ‘Carini (Figgy Frank)’, because the ‘Unknown Carini’ I have originated from the fig collector named ‘Figgy Frank’, and with Figgy Frank’s name that takes away the need to have unknown in the name. Anyway the figs on my ‘Carini (Figgy Frank)’ always looked the same, and they always looked like other people’s figs on their ‘Carini (Figgy Frank)’, and Figgy Frank is where I got the cuttings from. Someone got upset and angry claiming that I don’t have the 'Carini from ‘Figgy Frank’, because the fruit supposedly looks nothing like it. People like that don’t take in to consideration that fig fruit can look different in different climates, and that there is some misinformation out there that seems real, still does not make it true.

A lot of people try to become an expert in figs, and sometimes they think that they know way more than they do. It can look like an insult if you disagree with them. There are disagreements over how the fig community should be run, and sometimes that can get toxic. Sometimes the fig community can feel like politics at it’s most toxic. It’s hard to explain unless you have experienced it.

I think that it’s best if this forum does not become like a fig forum, if it becomes too much like one, then I’d fully understand @mamuang closing whatever forum thread that it happens in.

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Honestly, the first time I even posted on OurFigs, a long time member came at me kind of aggressive like he thought I was some sort of scammer. It was pretty bizzare. All sorts of drama happens in forums if admins aren’t able to keep the vibes right. Fortunately here on GrowingFruit the admins seem to know how to set the right mood.

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That’s wild :laughing: i would’ve never thought of that. I remember seeing some of posts of people being mad at each other when i searched stuff but i never went all the way back to read the beginning of it. I think even if i did, i wouldn’t have understood the anger anyways so thanks for explaining it to me

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This isn’t surprising, given the nature of the fig trade. The market for dormant cuttings is rife with hype and fraud. The culture among growers can focus on the newest, rarest, and of course reportedly most delicious names. Enthusiasts are often not mere growers but collectors paying luxury prices. Many years ago, for example, I won two cuttings of the variety “Black Madeira KK” in a contest. They could be offered as a prize because at the time these cuttings were trading for >$100 apiece. That’s >$100 for a 5" stick.

So it’s quite easy to imagine some newbie grower appearing on the forum (who is this guy who’s never posted here before, at least not under this name?) with typical newbie enthusiasm (real or fake?) asking questions about some new variety (is this purple fig named Julie’s Orgasm as good as people say?) that nobody’s ever heard of. It’s natural for people to wonder whether the poster is just trying to get people to pay hundreds of dollars for sticks that he just pruned off a wild – possibly male – tree that he found on a hike. And then some more experienced member challenges the newbie, intending only to protect the community.

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Except I wasn’t trying to sell anything. I was just engaging in conversation. I’ve also never tried to introduce any “new” fig variety, or hype up any fig variety there. If anything I’m typically anti-hype with figs (except for the already commonly available ‘Desert King’) since the vast majority just don’t end up being impressive in my climate.

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Thats interesting. Thats probably a lot easier to graft then onto a different species. How does “Desert King” perform in the Southeast? If its nemotode resistance, then even if it doesn’t set fruit I can hopefully use it to grow other figs that can without them being stunted by nemotodes.

The fig community has been burned enough times. That they react this way is not surprising. Remember Cajun Dan here? There are a lot of such folks introducing the next greatest thing.

Best to join the community and wait a bit before posting. There is a lot to learn there.
Figs are awesome. And deserve their own forum.

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I’ve literally seen people get blasted there when they post because their profile shows they had already been a member for some time, but had not been posting until much later. You just can’t please some people.

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I know it does good in Charlotte, North Carolina, and north of that to some degree, once the tree is old enough and well developed enough.

Based upon what I just read, that in Florida it makes a great root stock, yet if you are growing it there for ‘desert king figs’, then the figs would probably abort.

I have not grown it myself, so I have no personal opinion of it.

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True, although even the people who have been around a long time can be treated the same way. Falsely accused of having the wrong thing, I have even seen Harvey accused of that.

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