Figs who's got them?

Hi. I am new to the forum and from Arizona zone 10, Sunset zone 13. I have been gardening for a few years but recently started growing figs. I have been reading tons of information and have ordered some figs from Bass. I just want to know what you are growing and or trading? I am looking for great tasting highly productive figs. Doesn’t need to be very cold hardy since I may only get down to 20 degrees on a real cold winter and it usually only l lasts a few hours at that temp. So let me know what you are growing and what you have seen in your climate. Taste etc? Love pics of course!

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@Figluv,
There are many fig threads that you can browse.
Please use the looking glass symbol on the top right corner of the page. Click on it. Put in the key word, Figs. There will be many thread for your to read to your heart content. Below is the samples.
Also, you should list what you have so others can see and comment on them.

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Here are some good tasting figs for your future collection: Bass favorite Fig BFF, Figo Preto, I-258, Maltese Beauty, Takoma Violet, Craven’s Craving, Moscatel Preto, Ben’s Golden Riverside aka Golden Rainbow, B. Noire, CCD Blanc, Grise or Noir, Socorro Black, Black Madeira KK, Smith, VDS, RDB, Improved Celeste. You may have to open your check book a bit on figbid.com which is the safest to bid. If you get all of the above but it mays run you about $1500 or more. Lol…

Tony

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Ouch! Yeah, I was looking on figbid at I-258 and the black Madeira but it quickly went out of my price range. I really am interested in Preto if it has better growth than BM. I know that you named all the ones I want! :yum: Probably more I am sure. I bought a supposed BM in San Diego area and he says he sells on figbid but didn’t get his name. It’s small but it looks like it may be showing signs of fmv. I heard that you can use neem oil to kill fig mites that spread the disease. I was thinking of hitting it with this before mixing it with my other figs. Wondering if that’s why it’s so slow growing?

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Just hit it with Nitrogen fertilizer and it will outgrow the FMV. I used the big gun Urea Nitrogen 46-0-0 but you can use Miracle Gro fertilizer if you like. Btw I forget to mention Ischia Black UCD.

Good luck.

Tony

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I haven’t moved it out of the original container yet. Anyone recognize who this is from? I am super nervous about getting one that is true to type.

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It doesn’t look sick with FMV. You just need to up pot it.

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I hope you didn’t pay more $5 for that.

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Tell me what it’s supposed to look like? It looks fine here but in the light it has mottled spots on the leaves. I will eventually spend the money and just buy or trade for a known variety. Honestly though, I didn’t have super high hopes.

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Black Madeira is a dwarf of sorts, with short internodes. You will probably need something stronger than neem oil to get rid of fig bud mites, they are insidious bastards. Forbid 4f is very effective, spinosad may work with repeated applications, as well as imidacloprid, sulfur is probably more effective than neem. Be careful with that plant all the same, the way the terminal bud has shrunk down is another sign of fig bud mite feeding. The chlorotic spots on leaves from fig bud mites only show when the plant is actively growing, they don’t form on older leaves. I’ve honestly never dealt with a plant that is that stunted, I’d be tempted to chop off the top inch and plant it in the ground to try and kick start some growth, might kill it, but it might die from lack of growth in time as well.

I’d be real cautious buying anything from anyone, anywhere, who does not have their own fruit and leaf pictures that look true to type to you. There’s a whole gaggle of people who are just into figs for selling plants and they try to turn them over as quick as possible without verifying what they’ve got. I got a little plant in a cup like that with mites from a guy from Fresno in a trade that turned out to be a Smyrna seedling that needed pollination, he’s a popular seller now.

There was a guy on Figs4Fun in Phoenix called Frozenjoe who trialed a whole bunch of figs. Here’s his youtube channel, should be useful to you. MrFrozenJoe - YouTube

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The only reason I think it may have them is because the leaf looks discolored in the sunlight. Is this correct? I just assumed that because of my research. I don’t know a lot but I am a fast learner. I won’t make the same mistake twice. This guy was from San Carlos. So you think it looks stunted? I thought it looked that way but wasn’t sure if that was because of variety or what? He also gave me a yellow passion vine. Here is the link. https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/grd/d/san-diego-black-madeira-figs-from/6922776594.html

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Looks like less than one inch of growth from a dormant cutting, so figure about 4 months old at least, that’s really stunted and the leaf might only have a month or 2 left before it drops. Probably more a result of bad growing conditions than variety or FMV though.

His other plants don’t show any signs of fig bud mites, so that is good, it doesn’t rule them out though and you won’t see any obvious signs until after it is growing again like I said. They can cause a wide variety of symptoms from disfigured leaves, chlorotic spots, new leaves dropping, bronzing, russeting, bud death, discolored fruit interiors, probably more as well. It does look like there could be a touch of FMV, but it is not bad. FMV can cause some pretty severe disfigurement sometimes. Collectors are honestly the worst for fig bud mites, they are bringing in so many new plants each year from so many different sources that if they aren’t proactive about treating for fig bud mites it is a certainty they will have them and spread them around. If you plan on collecting you should probably get some forbid 4f and spray all new plants before you introduce them to your others. Last I knew you could get small quantities on eBay.

Anyway, If you had gotten a plant in better shape I think it would have been a decent buy, although what he is asking for a slightly larger container is absurd for any fig plant. Prices are up and quality is down, and there’s no market for 95% of the varieties out there. But since there are all these people who want to get in first on “new” varieties there’s a real incentive to rename existing ones. Like that Golden Rainbow appears identical to Long Yellow Neck, doesn’t matter to new sellers because the high price is the selling point. But it looks like the guy you bought from has the real deal so you shouldn’t be too worried about that, just keeping it alive and getting it growing again. It doesn’t even look rootbound so I’m guessing that potting mix is too dense, or it has been overwatered and the bottom of the cutting has rotted or something like that. You could put it straight in the ground and that shouldn’t be a problem, but if you want to keep it in a container it might be a good idea to carefully rinse off as much potting mix as you can and repot into a larger container with a better aerated mix.

I’m torn about pruning, that stunted section will slow down growth, but it might not have enough energy to grow without that leaf. Probably the best thing is to fix the drainage issues by planting or repotting and see how it goes from there.

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I plan on spraying everything that comes in and it isn’t with any other plants right now except new ones.i ordered that yln and bidding now on some better ones.

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You should probably watch all of Frozenjoes videos before you decide which are the “better ones” for your climate.

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It looks like you got a small rooted cutting that isn’t terribly established yet. I’d give it time, diluted fertilizer (full strength may burn tender roots), enough water (but not too much - wet conditions will rot young roots) and moderate sun initially. Let it get some additional growth, then gradually increase the sunlight, water, and nutrients. It will take off at that point.

Be careful of using Neem on a fig, particularly a small one as there are reports of it burning leaves.

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Oh, and I’d start on easier, cheaper varieties first such as VdB, Black Mission, etc. Once you have some experience, then try getting the more expensive, but often harder to care for, varieties. Make your mistakes on the cheap stuff. Practice airlayering and rooting cheaper cuttings and the chance of you wasting money goes down.

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@JCT I am not totally new to gardening and don’t intend on trying to root any new cultivars yet. My biggest concern is the adapting to my heat zone. Most figs love it here and so far it actually is a bit bigger since bringing it home over the weekend. I haven’t messed with it yet since we just got back from San Diego vacation but you are right it’s better to learn on easier to grow cultivars. I have never been one to start slow. It’s all in or all out😂 what type of fertilizer do you guys recommend? Honestly, I have really only ever used fish emulsion and some organic stuff for fruit trees on my figs. Otherwise, I don’t fertilize.

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I have a newbie question. Are fungus gnats an obvious problem? Is that something I need to worry about? I read that can affect roots? I don’t see anything.

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Yes, they are obvious when inside away from wind and natural predators where their population can explode, and that is why they get blamed for the death of cuttings so often, IMO. They can spread pathogens but their mouthparts are not capable of damaging bark, they only feed on cuttings after fungi and bacteria have begun to cause rot. If they have a population explosion inside it is a sign that either the potting mix was improperly stored wet, causing fungal growth and gnats to lay their eggs, or the cuttings are being overwatered. If you ever get them in the future try pointing a small fan at the cuttings, it will make for an inhospitable environment because they are weak flyers, and help dry the containers faster. And you can also try putting a container of moist compost with the cuttings, they prefer to feed on fungi and will bother roots and spread pathogens only when their normal food sources are not available to them, just dump the compost outside every week and you will get rid of all the larvae that have been laid in it. Compost often contains predatory mites as well which will travel to the cuttings and eat any larvae in there.

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So how would I know if the above rooted cutting is affected? I don’t want to miss anything. I think you are right on about the heavy soil and it being too wet. It already looks way better just from getting a little sun and seems to love the hot weather here. BTW, thank you for all the great info! :grin:

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