Strategies & ideas for collecting fig varieties

I was wondering if anyone is interested in teaming up locally where we each purchase a few different varieties, and then exchange cuttings the following year. So if we each bought 3 varieties, we’d have 6 by next year. That sort of thing.

I’m in GA myself.

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I do agree that some are outrageous but if you wait a year the hype normally blows over. Which ones are you looking for?

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I too am surprised by the prices. I guess a lot of new growers are around and driving demand through the roof. I myself trade only. I won’t buy ever at those prices. Never have never will. Having said that I have plenty of very rare figs to trade. So I have never had a need to buy something I wanted as I could easily trade for it and have done just that. Contact me in the fall and maybe I can get you some cuttings.

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Supply and demand dictate value and pricing. One can always get a very decent and common fig variety for a very reasonable price. You don’t have to get caught up in the hype. It’s like wine, you can get a good bottle for less than $20, but you can’t get the $400 bottle for $20.

I agree, but it may be closer to the Rudy Kurniawan side of the wine world… I really wouldn’t be surprised if one of the hype varieties (either now or in the future) was exposed to be a purposefully rebranded commonly available cultivar. Hundreds of dollars for a stick is/will be too tempting for someone out there…

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Fig trees are the new houseplants for millennials?

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The Dutch Tulip Bubble, AKA “Tulipmania,” lives on as Figmania. But @Drew51’s right. You don’t need to set up a local trade system like you’re talking about. Come fall, people have a lot of cuttings available and are often looking to trade so they don’t have to compete with the bidding wars you see on places like figbid. There also seem to be some people who enjoy the bidding aspect of the hobby, and that’s okay too.

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You can always ask someone like Drew if he wants a specific tree and buy that for him (using you as an example only) and in return he might send cuttings. There’s gotta be other ways, too.

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I’m at a point I don’t want anymore figs I have a lot and I would prefer a trade for other plants but we can work something out if you don’t have anything. If you’re looking for something specific l may or may not have. Some great figs I have avoided as they work poorly here. I don’t have a black Madeira. I have CC and MIB. CC no cuttings will be available for another couple years as I’m starting over from a cutting. My currant tree was badly damaged in a freeze. I will have cuttings of MIB though. These are very late fruiting and are al probably the same fig. Oh I also have black Tuscan too small for cuttings
I sell extra trees on figbid. I will probably stop after next year. I will always have cuttings as I shape my trees the way I want.

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There is a fig exchange Facebook page that you can look to see if there are varieties on there that you’re looking for. It is an exchange only transactions.

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That’s very kind of you. Let me know if you have any on your wish list, that I can try and get for you in return.

EDIT: Woops, I didn’t see your newer post until just now.

I just started getting into fruit tree growing this year. This is the start of the journey for me. It seems that there are so many great figs out there. Before I came across the fig community on the internet, I purchased some cuttings from a guy who explained that he has: Kadota, Black mission, Celeste, Texas Everbearing, Hmadi, Marseilles. As you can see, these aren’t really specific names or considered great/rare. I bought 4 from him, and forgot to jot down their names, but I do remember him giving me one he called Texas Everbearing. Then I came across the internet and and realized these aren’t the best, haha. I also have an unknown gifted to my mom by a coworker, which produced a couple of figs this year, but more than likely it’s just another common one.

I’m just looking for good figs and many of the common ones are winners. Also location matters. The north is cold, the south is humid, and the west is dry. Very few figs do well in al three. All gardening is local. I plan to cut out all but what fits my needs. No matter how rare. Ones needs at least three years to decide. Longer in some cases.

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How many figs do you have and what is your overwinter procedure ? I think you told me once but my brain is coming up blank. I just have the one strawberry verte…i might add one more variety down the road. I’ve never had a fig (except those fig newton things about 30 years ago) so i’ll be interested in seeing if i like them.

I might order another fig off ebay…$15 shipped doesn’t seem bad.

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I keep them in my unheated attached garage. I don’t let it get below 25 degrees. I’ll turn a space heater on. It has to be below zero for it to be that cold in the garage.
I never counted them. I have a bunch I’m selling too.

Be careful about who you order from. The fig world has attracted a lot of scammers. And they tend to be most active on ebay.

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You want to keep in mind that lots of people in the fig world have conflicts if interest. Because there are not many nurseries that sell figs online it became normal for longtime growers to sell on eBay. Then, new sellers arrived after prices started going up, and more or less dominate online discussions now despite having little experience and a purely financial interest in figs.

The standards are much lower than what they were, old timers experienced frustration from mislabeled trees and were careful to accurately represent what they were selling, evaluating and comparing varieties for years, now it is sell first and don’t ask questions later.

I threw out fifty pounds of thinned branches today, from only 3 5 year old trees. The fact that a stick brings so much at auction is artificial.

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Check your PM.

Oh…i’ve had plenty of scams…At least twice i’ve had orders say delivered and they weren’t (bike parts)…i’ve had seeds that were garbage, but overall i’ve had good luck with plants…Florida sellers have impressed me. Ebay is also really good about protecting you…and you can use paypal for another layer. Having said that…about 2 weeks ago i had my credit card charged with fraud purchases…luckily the company froze my card and let me know before it got too bad. They got it all cleared up and i have a new card.

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Here’s an idea. Come fall, put out a request for the varieties you are wanting and offer to ship a padded envelope to the donor(for lack of a better word) which already has postage, address, and everything ready to go. I have tossed many variety of cuttings in garbage just because I don’t have time or desire to deal with it, and I am pretty sure I’m not alone. But if all one had to do was take trimmings and wrap them in some plastic, put them in an envelope, and then put said envelope in the mailbox…well that’s fairly hassle free.
I bet you get some things on your list. But don’t expect to get the latest hot sellers; people who recently spent too much on material likely want to get some of that money back. But in a couple/few years things change.

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