First attempt at a Frankenfig (and first time bark grafting). I cut it down two weeks ago around our last frost date and it was bleeding profusely from sap flow. The oozing finally calmed down so I gave it a shot yesterday. I’ll be happy if even one graft per branch takes. Fingers crossed 
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This is the first year I’ve ever had the beetles
I saw frass on my inground huge pastillierie. I then laid out ethanol traps and found at least 2 different beetles piling into the traps. That same week they hit several trees. I cut several large trees to the ground
I then started spraying permethrin/clay on the base of my unaffected trees. I haven’t had any new attacks in the past 2 weeks but I suspect that the wave of attacks just ended on their own. The warm weather seemed to set them in motion in a frenzied 2 weeks. My ethanol traps haven’t picked up any new beetles
I found a dogwood tree on my property with borer holes of some type and will remove it soon. I have a new neighbor and their property has a huge Celeste tree that suspiciously appears to have died. I suspect it likely has borers because it’s so large and has always done well with each winter.
I hate permethrin due to the pollinators. I plan on using traps next year proactively to look out for the beetles. If I trap 0 beetles then I won’t spray. If they start showing up then I’ll spray all trunks.
Most importantly I will change my pruning. I allowed large sprawling trees and they would get tip damage that I would let linger in case it would come back. I plan on pruning most things much lower and no more than 2 or 3 branches bent to the ground. I will have a lot less damaged branches to attract them
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Yeah. I’m reluctant to apply a bunch of it multiple times through the spring, especially since the grass around my figs has a lot of spring ephemerals blooming this time of year. It’s not as bad as neonics but still…
I’ve considered mixing it into a wash instead of spraying it, some combination of clay, latex, and pesticide. Haven’t had time to try it out yet though. There’s mulch immediately around my figs so the wash washing off wouldn’t be nearly as bad as over spray drifting into the grass.
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I noted in an earlier post that this was by far the worst year I’ve seen people asking about ambrosia beetles across all forms of social media. Which to me seems like it will just get worse because so many people don’t know to look/react to it, so the population may skyrocket. Can probably find over 100 pictures of ‘what’s this’ or ‘anyone know what these white things are’ just from past few months. Thankfully figs are one of the easiest to recouperate from both easy to regrow AND fruits on new wood, perfect combo. Pawpaws/grafted trees are much worse.
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Your case helps me. I sawed to ground and painted with interior white latex and purchased 30 some % permethrin but have not used it as A.B. attacks have stopped. First time I’ve ever seen A. B. in 50 years of orcharding.
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figgy row is set up for the season. the potted figs all go between this bed and the greenhouse to catch as much warmth as possible and get the rainwater running off the gh. first year this bed is a raised bed so we will see how they do.
also stuck a bunch more cuttings in a tray in perlite/optisorb but open top. they’re out by the fire pit on the bench so i can mist them daily for a while. an experiment in short scion rooting open to the air. will see if they take, if so I’ll go with this method since it’s so simple to set up.
vdb, mystery pink/green fig i took a branch from my friend’s place in socal, and white genoa are putting on a lot of fruit. florea already gave me a few very early breba ripened.
here’s fig row
the side house figs in ground are starting to fruit too. more leaves coming. I’m going to put everything hardy I’ve got, out along there too benefit from the warmth of the house foundation. since ch and florea both have survived. i don’t have any celeste or olympia but i would try em there. this fall I’ll put a black bethlehem out among them too as it’s meant to be relatively hardy.
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I’m taking care of my first figs this year:
- an unknown variety my MIL got me at Trader Joe’s or equivalent late last year (kept in a pot over winter in basement, planted out in late May in a sheltered part of my yard that gets a lot of heat and ~5 hours of sun from the southeast)
- a teramo unknown in a pot I got from @jrd51 on a visit to his collection, placed in the sunniest spot in my yard I could put a pot
I’m wondering how people think about fertilizing figs. I’ve read wildly different things via Google / the various AI summaries.
I put a bit of Fox Farms Marine Cuisine 10-7-7 (my go to, what I had on hand) around the base of both in early May, but not sure what I should be doing from here.
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I would add some 10-10-10 every few weeks late April through July, with a more micro-nutrient rich a few times in between.
BTW, you asked about when figs fruit for me. I check my pots today and found tiny figs on most trees. Teramo has little cylindrical buds that will become tiny peas in a day or two.
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Thanks! They probably need some food then. And I noticed what looked like some of those buds emerging when I watered today!
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p.s. It would be better if the other fig got>5 hours.
I know…but my options here are quite limited on a tiny tiny lot, alas. I think we are on .1 acres, and most of that is heavily shaded by the house and a hedge. There’s no other place to put it in ground with the way things are currently configured or easily configurable.
I’m “shade-pushing” some things on that side of the house (also put a pomegranate and cherry there, alongside 3-4 pawpaws and some arctic kiwi all of which should be fine), but it’s hot (southeast facing with some stone around the foundation base), sheltered from winds by house and fence on 3 sides, and if it dies or doesn’t thrive, well, experiment failed with a small trader joes fig and not the one you gave me.
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The deep mulch burial strategy works well for in-ground figs in cold climates. Pinning branches down before mulching is the key step a lot of people skip, otherwise you end up with a big mound that doesn’t actually protect the crown properly. March uncovering timing is always a bit nerve-wracking though, checking whether you went too early.
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My cordon-trained Col de Dame Grise:
Kind of surprised how readily it has taken to being cordon-trained. It doesn’t seem to want to fruit though. The neighboring Golden Rainbow and Figo Preto (also being cordon trained, though less developed) produce tons of figs, while a standard Col de Dame Blanc a few feet away is also decently productive.
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It’s only June but I am already thinking about how to overwinter my new potted fig (courtesy of @jrd51) next winter (as well as some other things, like grafted pawpaws I haven’t planted yet, or a containerized tam kam persimmon)
I have a few options but they all have trade offs. I don’t have a garage. My basement gets cold, but not cold enough, and we are about to weatherize. We have a porch that I could maybe open up and slide things under, next to the house, which I’ve read some people do, but I’m nervous about both vermin and it getting too cold.
I am on a tiny tiny postage stamp (I think no more than 900 sqft of grass/yard) and my wife and the upstairs neighbors have to be simpatico with whatever I do. There’s one obscured corner of the house and the fence that’s about 4ft wide, 4ft deep, and where I could go 6 feet high without going over the fence. It’s small, so small I may have to tie the limbs on the fig I do have to make it narrower.
I am thinking about buying or building a small shed, with a bare floor, to stick in that corner. Maybe dig it out a bit. Rely on ground heat. Pack in with straw and shut the door?
I could potentially try the same strategy with a different corner of the yard; would be a bit larger but more visible.
My other options seem likely to be asking a favor of a neighbor with a disconnected garage or trucking it to my folks’ place 2 hrs away with a big disconnected shed dug into the side of the hill.
Figs dont need dormancy but do need light if you go that route.
My mislabeled verdino tree inground, probably a Filacciano Bianco is putting out some good brebas after 3 years of nothing (not a single fruit). Even if the plant was pretty big, sometimes you need patience.
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@Fishsauce had plants in his basement window wells. He put a board over them once the plants were in. Do you have any basement window wells?
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Great idea, but alas, I don’t…
which route?
I did keep one fig alive, but a bit unhappy, in my basement last year under a grow light. I could do the same this year, except I’m very short on basement space too, and this (20 gal pot) is a much larger tree…pretty soon it won’t be able to fit in or out of my basement door (not a bulkhead)
You could have the fig lightly zapped by frost, only enough to send it into dormancy. Then put it into your basement. 
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