Figs, figs, everywhere!

Just transplanted this Panache Fig from its container to in ground.

Here is my container grown Strawberry Verte showing it’s first figs of the season!

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Just a reminder because this is the time to pinch the fig tips to promote main crops formation at 5th leaves. I used a scissor to cut the tips of most of my figs today.

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Also remember to thin out fig branches. Branches that grow inwards on a bush will not get much light and won’t form many fruit or ripen them well because of this. They will also shade out the center which further inhibits fruit production. You don’t want your trees wasting energy growing these branches!

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Rot is a big problem for me on new cuttings of fig. I used a 50/50 Pumice Vermiculite blend.
I think I will go 2/5 Vermiculite, 3/5 Pumice next season.

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I had too many rot too. I switched to DE and I’m happy with it.

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What is DE?
Never heard of it.

If you are having problems with rot, I’d switch away from Vermiculite to perlite.

DE is diatomaceous earth which is a silicon based additive. When used with rooting, it holds moisture, but generally not enough to rot cuttings. However, I would not put the cutting too deep inside the DE, maybe half way down the container (which is the same advice I’d give for most rooting mediums). Some people have reported issues up-potting from DE and I’ve killed a couple of cuttings this way, but I made some other mistakes that significantly contributed to the problem.

Diatomaceous earth in large particle form. The stuff is magic, so many studies show benefits from the silicon in it, it’s water holding capacity, and aeration of soil. Disney uses it in all of it’s gardens. Once you root in it, use leftover as soil amendment in potting mixes or raised beds.

It only holds exactly how much water you need. You stick a cutting in DE and water hourly for a month and it will not rot but it will root. If cutting is good. Occasionally one will rot. Bad cutting,old, already dead etc. good cuttings never will. You can root seed in finer grain types, works great! I first discovered it 7 years ago when my friends tried it to root pepper and tomato seed. Worked awesome!

I have heard of up potting problems too, but out of about 100 I lost only one. I have more rooting this year outside in DE. See how it goes…It’s been about 3 weeks now. Although I expect more than average failures as 3 or 4 nights it got below freezing. That might have killed some scion. Although a lot are rooting already. One there is White Primus currant.
Next year I will wait longer. My bad!

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Drew, I think you meant to say water daily! Watering hourly would be taxing for most.

I water mine when the first inch or so of DE dries out, very easy to monitor in a clear cup. If I’m using bottom heat and it is hot, I may have to water daily, but I usually reduce the amount of bottom heat at that point so I go back to every other day or less. I also use the two cup method so that I do not have to worry about run-off everytime, I just empty the bottom cup when the water level starts to get near the cup holding the DE.

Your setup looks nice!

I’m not sure what I do wrong, DE usually ends in disaster for me. I’ve sifted and rinsed, but the particles just seem to stick to the cuttings and cause rot.

I was not suggesting to water hourly but if you do they will be fine. I was trying to make the point you can’t over water. I water everyday if hot and sunny. On cloudy days I go two days.
if growing outside and it rains all day you don’t have to protect them.

Use a different source. Optisorb is the best. Roots will grow into them so leave those alone. Weird it is sticking, it must be too small.

I’m still new to figs…this is a strawberry verte…3rd summer (ordered off ebay). It started quickly leafing out inside in January…formed some fruit (a half dozen) … it was fine until early spring…started dropping those fruit… i moved it outside as soon as i could…sun burnt its leaves to a crisp…dropped everything…sat dormant ==i thought dead==for probably 6 weeks or more…now i look and it is still alive and growing… So is the goal here to just try to keep it dormant all winter? I think that is what i want. Can i just cover it so it gets no light? I kept it in a cool basement.

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You’ll need to keep it colder during the winter. Mine don’t wake up until March or April in my garage. I’ll even bring the dormant pots outside early while the weather still dips below freezing to prevent early budbreak. Mine can handle temps into the mid-20’s without damage. I normally end up shuffling them back in and out a couple times during the spring though. My potted figs usually always end up budding out before our last frost.

Hmmmm… so it’s the temp not light? I think the basement runs in the 50Fs most of the winter. This will be tough. My garage is way too cold. Now i get why people bury them outside…i need a cave. I’ll have to find out a way to bury it deep in the ground if i want to keep doing this…thanks for the help.

Did you keep it well watered after bringing it inside? My garage stays in the 50’s for the most part too… My figs wake up early if I over water during dormancy. Your garage should be ok as long as it doesn’t stay below freezing for extended periods.

Garage is a no go…it easily drops to 0F in there on cold mornings. I don’t recall the watering schedule…but i’m sure i kept it somewhat moist but not wet. I had some houseplants under a grow light not far from the fig so i thought that might have triggered it…but maybe it was a little too warm.

Once dormant 25F is about the lowest. Mine can get that cold, but never lost any.
It should be OK in the basement. Keep it dark or covered. Wait till all leaves fall off from the cold. I wait till it’s near 25-30F as a low then put them in.

I’ll try that…i have a pretty dark basement…but i’ll pick the coldest spot and then enclose it as much as possible. Digging a giant hole in the yard doesn’t sound like fun. I’ll leave it outside as late as possible…probably November. At least it isn’t dead…yet :slight_smile:

Got it! Sorry for the misunderstanding.

To get the cuttings out of the pot, I always add water to avoid roots sticking to the cup.

I may be interested in trading fig cuttings this fall.

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