Just noticed that you use rice hulls in your potted figs. Do you mix them with other materials or straight rice hulls as potted media.
Now I just blend it with potting mix for seed starting / rooting cuttings. I think 30% rice hulls and 70% potting mix is a decent mix but you wouldnāt want to use just rice hulls because they donāt distribute and retain water very well.
In the photo you are probably referencing I was just using them as mulch, but they are kind of messy to work with and I wouldnāt use them again for that.
1 Like
A friend gave me four Chicago Hardy Fig cuttings.
In May, I got them sprouting leaves and producing some roots by soaking them in water in a jar by the kitchen sink.
I planted them outside rather than trying to get them established in pots. During our Great Lakes Region June drought, I watered them daily and at least early-on, alternated dosing the water with root stimulator or with āliquid ironā fertilizer.
I have 3 of them at 3 different locations in the backyard showing the development of leaves and branch growth seen seen by Drew51 above. I have no idea what the root structure is like since they are in the yard planted in the ground. I figure I need at least 2 on account of the cross-pollination requirement.
Are these plants going to make it through the winter in a reasonably sheltered Madison, WI location (yeah, yeah, at the very edge of the range)? Should I put tree shelters over them (those plastic ātubeā thingies used to establish seedling in reforestation/tree farms)? Should I pile leaves over them in Fall when they go dormant? Should I construct little mini-greenhouses over them?
Thanks!
Iām in zone 6 NJ. This spring, I started fig cuttings in garden, in late March.
Those are probably Verte or Strawberry Verte. I also tried various things from indoors and success varied. Outdoor is the easiest. But it is just slow.
If I have any plants left, Iāll just pile some wood chips on top of them. I canāt wrap those.
For my in-ground fig trees, I plan to wrap some and pile wood chip on the remainder. I get so many of them in ground. It is not practical to wrap them. Some of the varieties wonāt get enough time to ripen figs. So just be aware of that. Your zone is even colder. So you better wrap or provide some good winter protection.
1 Like
Can you elaborate on both the piling-on-of-wood chips over-wintering method and the wrapping you mention?
How deep to pile the chips? Can leaves by piled up or should it be wood chips?
Tell me more about wrapping. I have only 3 cuttings that have rooted in soil outdoors so it should not be too labor intensive?
Thanks!
One would think that the Chicago Hardy variety can grow and ripen figs in the climate of Chicago although people among the orchardists in Chicago I know about are growing peaches and persimmons that I wouldnāt try in Madison.
The other thing about whether figs can ripen in the Great Lakes Region, I read that the leaves are edible. They can be used as a wrap for savory rice-and-meat filling in place of cabbage or grape leaves. They are supposed to have a coconut-like flavor, and this practice dates back to Egypt of the 3rd century BCE. I woman of my acquaintance from Egypt of the late 20th century CE made the tastiest rice-stuffed grape leaves, but there must be some people in the modern Near East who are using fig leaves for this dish?
1 Like
I found it too hard to grow in ground. It can be done but I grow many fruits. It is time consuming as it is. In containers stored in an attached garage. Keeping the temp in the garage no colder than 25 F is easy as it hardly ever drops below 25. I get hundreds of figs. I have a lot right now. Iām testing many varieties so get a lot of figs. Itās working well for me. Having a blast!
1 Like
I certainly understand where you come from. But Iāve not had much success with my container fig trees. Anything goes wrong, the crop is gone. So Iāve been planting out container fig trees to ground slowly, one by one. This was my intention anyhow.
Here is a section of my fig planting. There are about 36 of them. They do not need frequent watering. Fertilizer does not wash out easily. Hardly need any mineral nutrients. They do not need shade in the 95F hot days. Also I do not get a lot of storage room in my garage.
Certainly I need to protect them. There are various ways Iām experimenting. When they grow older, Iāll get more and more harvest.
4 Likes
Yeah hope that works out. I started getting ripe figs. I picked some Yesterday. I mostly away all summer. Still no major problems losing figs. Sure I lose some but any varieties that drop easily I usually cull. Also to note I donāt have any early figs. Most I donāt care for. My Mt Etnaās are starting to ripen. About my earliest fig.
I do have one early fig in ground but in ground itās not early. It mostly dies to the ground each year. Florea. Iām developing a low cordon to cover in mulch. Not that much work. It is the only fig that can ripen fruit coming back from the roots. No Etnaās like Hardy Chicago can.
1 Like
Drew, your zone may be too cold to grow in-ground. My zone is better. Still cold. My in-ground Hardy Chicago ripened end of August last year. Hope it is earlier this year since the tree is older and it sent out figlets earlier.
I mostly grow hardy early varieties. I get the time and space to trial them. Plan to keep them at least 3-4 year to give them chance to prove they are worth of keeping.
During the growing season, I hardly do much. Just add scoops of granular fertilizer and remove suckers from time to time. Also water them during the drought period.
You probably have tried a lot of varieties. Iāll be happy to chat with you about the varieties good in our cold climateā¦
1 Like
Question? Do the deer mess with your figs at all?
Also I noticed you put rocks on the bottom to keep heat and works as a mulch as well.
I been wondering about to place a tire over the fig then you can fill the rest with mulch to give more protection on winter time besides the heat of the rubber should help as well and act as a heat radiant if you think of the sunlight heating the tire ( rubber ).
If you live near the water seaweed or marsh grass is great source of minerals and mulch at the same time for your figs!
1 Like
Deer leaves fig trees alone. Over the years, I only lost one fig plant. It was a newly planted small plant that some animal yanked out of the ground. So I put tomato cages on small new plants.
Tire is a good idea. I just do not have enough tire. Also, tire does not look close to my house.
The whole idea of planting fig trees in ground serves landscape needs too. That entire area was full of red cedars and tall grass. I had to cut about 20ā buffer to rid of those red cedars. I also moved all the rocks I dug up in my garden. The rocks look much better that way. They also help the plants to grow.
I have another area that is more difficult with poor soil and drier condition. Iāll continue to experiment to see how fig trees grow.
3 Likes
Iāve got a lot of wild Turkish fig seedlings.
Have no idea if any of the seedlings will like growing around here.
2 Likes
I hope you know that there are four types of Ficus carica, Caprifig, San Pedro, Smyrna and Common types. Turkey is the largest fig growing country over the world. But most of the figs are Smyrna figs that require pollination.
I do not know if any of the types can cross grafting. Hope so.
I pile wood chips or shredded hardwood mulch in a pile 3 ft wide by minimum 12 inches tall at center of fig. Not leaves- learned that the hard way. This is the easiest way Iāve found to help roots survive winter and possibly a few inches of above ground stem.
3 Likes
What went wrong with leaves?
I think those large leaves decay slowly. So they behave like a thick cover that can promote mold. So if you use leaves, keep them dry. Rodent is another consideration.
I think if you want to pile on wood chip mulch, youāll need to cover the top. Or too much moisture and mold. But leave side exposed to air to get circulation.
1 Like
Correction: I lost my Adriatic JH fig to winter-kill (roots and all) when I āprotectedā it with oak leaves inside a four foot tall fence. Only fig Iāve had winter kill totally except an old BT about 8 years ago in a nasty winter. 7 A/B
1 Like
Commercial fig orchard in PA just piles on the wood chips with no covering and it works well for him.
1 Like
It really depends on what they do. If they only grow green top to sell cuttings, then they just need to make sure plants wonāt die. But if you want to protect as much old wood as possible, then that is probably not enough.
This is exactly what I did year(s) before. I do not like the results in particular. I did not get a lot of production.
2 Likes