New Fig Grower Looking for Advice

Kompakfigs said:
Not at all. I bought the tree from Lowes which sells tissue culture plants (propagated in a lab) and sometimes they take forever to produce figs. Basically, try not to buy fig trees from big box stores.
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Before I started rooting cuttings, I have found 3 gallon fig trees for sale at my local Lowe's. The selection was limited to Brown Turkey or Celeste at the time and some already had small ripe fruit on them. If there were fruit already on young trees, they couldn't be tissue culture plants.
 
paupau said:
Is that something typical for honey types? Maybe I won't do that one afterall
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Not typical of honey figs, just something going on with my in-laws fig tree. Marseilles is a pretty common honey fig from what I can tell so I'm sure many others can attest to how well theirs grow.
 
I guess ive been talking about figs a lot recently. My parents came over to watch the game and brought a cutting of their neighbor's celeste.

I haven't finished reading up on what to do so I don't know what to do next please help! It's currently in a ziploc bag with a paper towel wrapped around it and soaked in water.
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paupau said:
I guess ive been talking about figs a lot recently. My parents came over to watch the game and brought a cutting of their neighbor's celeste.

I haven't finished reading up on what to do so I don't know what to do next please help! It's currently in a ziploc bag with a paper towel wrapped around it and soaked in water.
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Alrighty, what you'll need to do is cut up the branch into 6-8" long sticks/cuttings with each stick having at least 3 nodes. Write the name and put an up arrow with a sharpie (black is fine) for obvious reasons. You can wash with dish soap and sanitize with hydrogen peroxide or a solution of 1 part bleach and 9 parts water. Let the sticks sit in the solution for 10-15 minutes. I let my cuttings air dry for 24 hours. If you are not going to propagate immediately, you can put them in a ziplock bag with a paper towel for moisture control. Watch @ChesapeakeFigs recent video on 2 simple methods. There are lots of videos on cutting propagation.
 
paupau said:
Hello there,

I'm in zone 8 in central NC. I want to grow figs for my wife and I to enjoy throughout the year as snacks. I am not looking to put a ton of energy and resources into growing a variety that does not do well in my area. I want to learn the basics and whatever I need to in order to get from where I am now (0 fig knowledge before this week) to having some plants outside this summer.

My grow area is pretty small as I only have around an around 1000 sqft back yard where my handful of raised bed vegetable garden currently resides. The back yard is enclosed by a fence on the north and south sides of the yard and a ~50ft retaining wall (neighborhood was built on a hill) on the east-facing side. I'm thinking about putting some figs in the back right corner (northwest corner, southeast facing) of the yard which does get 8ish hours of sun a day. I'm not married to that location but I don't exactly have too many options.

I also have a grow tent in my garage that I use to start onions, peppers, and tomatoes before transplanting to the yard. I use some T8 LED lights for seedlings and I have a 200W light I use for growing pepper plants for breeding in the tent throughout the year.

Some initial questions I have which hopefully will get me going in the right direction:
1. When do I start? Based on what i've read so far my best bet would be to get my hands on some cuttings and start the plants from there. One grower I talked to earlier today said I should look to get started ASAP
2. What's the cutting to transplant process like? Is it similar to growing vegetables (seedlings -> harden -> transplant)? I understand with cuttings/scions i'll have the added steps for rooting.
3. What should I grow to start? I think 1 variety each from sugar, dark berry, and honey to start. I don't want to break the bank and I'm really just looking for something that grows well in central NC (pest, rain, and frost/freeze resistant) and doesn't require a ton of input (i'm no stranger to nutrient feeding schedules but I don't want to have to go buy specialized stuff or constantly having to fight pests/use pesticide - I stopped trying to grow squash due to squash bugs and vine borers). I'm also not looking to sink a ton of time into this (my wife gets on me about the time I already spend on garden stuff lol) I just want to grow some figs for us to eat. Based on feedback i've received so far as well as web surfing i've done in the last couple days I'm thinking about starting out with some kind of celeste (probably black) and ronde de bordeaux. I'd like to try a honey type as well but haven't settled on one to start yet.
4. Best way to go about obtaining cuttings? I've seen sites list different varieties for anywhere from $20 to $200 and i'm definitely not looking to spend the latter.

Thanks in advance!
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1- start with rooted trees in spring. You can root them but if you are new to rooting you will have a higher mortality rate on your fig cuttings so a rooted tree would be better option than rooting. If you still plan on rooting I suggest you start asap and get multiple cuttings of each variety as back ups.
2- if rooting you will need to root, water successfully without rotting out the newly rooted cutting, feeding the newly rooted cutting enough so it grows well without burning it, potting the rooted cutting, and hardening it off in the shade outdoors for 2 weeks before full sun.
3- I’d assume for you ease of growing you will most likely be placing trees in ground and I suggest you wait until any tree is in its second year in a pot before you place them in ground. Preferably grown in a grow bag or air prune pot so roots will not circle and girdle the trees like in a solid pot. If growing in a solid pot you will stress the trees untangling the roots before planting. I suggest 4 varieties to place in ground facing south so they get the most sun possible.
Sugar- Improved Celeste, Godfather, Stallion
Honey- Pingo De Mel, Barbillone, Campaniere
Berry- Black Celeste, Moro Da Caneva, Bari
Adriatic- Green Michurinska, White Madeira #1, Adriatic JH
4- Best way to get cuttings or rooted trees if figbid, you can also reach out to people on this forum or go to the online nurseries. I’m a big fan of off the beaten path nursery especially for rooted cuttings and if you are going for just straight cuttings Figaholics really cannot be beat. If a cutting is costing over $20 and most definitely closer to $200 there is a good chance it’s a rare fig and if you are just getting into figs I would stay away from those unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket.

Bonus- sure there are better varieties out there that I listed but hardiness is also important. Out of the list I gave you the most cold hardy varieties would be Green Michurinska, Bari, Campaniere, and a toss up between Improved Celeste and Godfather.
 
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Thinking ahead:
what do yall use for fertilizing your 'seedlings' once the roots are well established and I up-pot to 1 gallon bags?

usually i make my mix with fertilizer already in it but i purposefully did not do that for the fig starting mix (which is just peat moss and perlite).

I would prefer to stick to organic but want to avoid fish emulsion-like fertilizers due to the odor.

I'm thinking that since it'll be a good few weeks before i start feeding them and that my last frost date is at the end of april... that I should expect to feed the starts for a solid 2 months (all of march and april) before they get up-potted and sent outside.
 
paupau said:
I guess ive been talking about figs a lot recently. My parents came over to watch the game and brought a cutting of their neighbor's celeste.

I haven't finished reading up on what to do so I don't know what to do next please help! It's currently in a ziploc bag with a paper towel wrapped around it and soaked in water.
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Where did you get the Grogu fig pot?
 
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Bags still have water droplets in them which i assume is a good sign they are humid. Bags are also sitting around 83f right now. How high of a temp is considered unsafe?
 
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