Those fig collectors must be nuts. That’s what is nice about having all sort of different fruit trees. I am not married to 1 thing. I’m not a collector; I’m an end user aka fruit eater. What that means is my trees are not picked for rareness or oddness; they are picked for production and taste. I’ve got 12 varieties of peach trees, so hopefully something produces. But I don’t need 100 varieties of peach trees like a peach tree collector needs. I got apples, plums, cherry, Euro pears, Asian pears, persimmons, figs, etc. I like to have a mix, I don’t need to be a collector / specialist.
Sure, it is good we have fruit tree collectors and preservationists. But man, it is $$! And maybe it is a rich person that would pay $1,000 for it. It just does not matter to rich people.
What do you think?
$182.50 + $12 shipping + maybe sales tax…for a twig.
Exactly. And it sometimes takes a decade to figure out what fruits (in general) work in a region – unless someone nearby has already done the ground work.
Many of them believe they will earn a steady income selling cuttings and rootings.
So many victims shoving their money out. There are no forums to call anything out so it will always be a continuous cycle. I’ve grown many figs and some of the best are old varieties. I’m always very leery of new figs on the market. In any event a cutting is worth $20 for a top tier desirable fig to me. And that’s it. I won’t be tempted or suckered into being made a fool of for some greedmongers.
It’s usually not a good idea to get a fig variety so soon after it is released, because a lot of the fig varieties are overrated, and it’s best to see how good they really are before taking the effort, also it’s good to hear from others what kind of climate each varieties does best in/good in before getting.
One reason I lost interest in fig varieties are all these crazy fig people. From my own experience 95% of getting the best taste is getting them to ripen well, the variety is much less relevant. Just get standard highly rated varieties for taste / hardiness / production in your climate and call it a day.
I wouldn’t spend so much on a cutting, but as far as hobbies go, collecting fig plants seems nice and as good as any other hobby. You have car fanatics who can only afford to buy a beater they fix up, as well as collectors who can spend oodles of money on a perfectly restored pristine vehicle.
If fig people have the money to be the first to get the newest coolest thing, and that’s what they want to spend their money on, it’s not a waste for them.
If it turns out to be a good variety, hopefully, they’ll propagate and sell it and it’ll be cheaper in a few years.
Every year I spend $$ on growing vegetables, I eat what I want, give away some and compost the rest. I would be much better off going to the farmers market buying what I want and save money. Most, nearly all, of my friends think I am irrational spending so much money and time growing fruit trees.
Several years ago, I bought a bass boat, used it maybe a dozen times the first year a couple of times for the next few years, then eventually sold it. Now If I want to go fishing I pay a guide, once or twice a year, it seems like an extravagance but is much cheaper than depreciation, upkeep, insurance, ect.
Over the past several years I have spent $$$ trying to push the zone and grow muscadines and have yet to harvest a single grape.
I could go on, but the point is most of us spend money and time on hobbies or entertainment that others will think is a waste of money, but it’s our money.
I would never spend much on a fig cutting but if that’s what you want to do go for it!
6 or 7 varieties have failed to survive winter, I currently have 4 varieties that have survived three years but they freeze to the ground every year. They re-grow with a vengence but fail to fruit.
This year I purchased Altus and Mighty Fine, the University of Arkansas bred cultivars that are supposed be more cold hardy as well as Oh My and Oh Yes through the group buy here.
This year I also laid down three vines and covered with 8” of mulch. I have not done this in the past, thinking that if they didn’t survive with out protection I didn’t want to keep them, but after three years I want to get at least one harvest.
