Awesome harvests!

ktrain

ktrain

Moderator
Yeah...awesome if you are a Bee, Wasp, Gnat, Fly, SWD, 4 legged creature from hell.

This has been my issue for the last 2 months.
My seasons always start out excellent, growth booming trees kicking out tons of figlets.

Then summer gets here with the rains, heat, humidity....and everything goes to crap.
I am working more hours then I care to and weekends and just don't have time for all this.

A lot of trees will be going bye bye, I will keep a decent amount...enough that I can handle.
Just tired of pouring resources and time into this hobby and getting near nothing.

I know I know....bag the figs right...well if you've ever bagged figs and then seen what happens when it rains a lot...its a mess.

Thanks for letting me rant. lol20250824_133546.jpg20250824_133558.jpg20250824_133626.jpg20250824_133640.jpg20250824_133659.jpg20250824_133721.jpg
 
GoodFriendMike said:
Are those honey bees and bumble bees at least pollinating your other fruit trees?
Click to expand...
I barely ever see a bee until they come to eat my figs.
Bumble bees are all over I guess...lol
Wasps are taking over my inground fig trees.
Other trees are basically the same...deer ate my pears from my young asian pear trees.
I took out the sweet cherry...my new sour cherry tree is just a young one.
Got rid of peaches and apples.

It's frustrating man...I didn't have these issues so bad up north.
I'm really beginning to hate the south.
 
I am with you !00%. My season starts off great too. Practically no pests until mid-August. Then they all hit at the same time - coons, wasps, SWD, flies, etc. Last year I had possums and skunks coming in July, but I plugged off all holes around the perimeter of my backyard and that helped. Haven't seen a single one of those this season.

I agree, fewer but more productive trees for better management is the way to go. I'll be trying to ripen as many figs as possible before August, while I don't have to do anything to protect my figs.

Organza bags are a double-edged sword. I like them and I hate them.

I also noticed that some varieties are such pest magnets. I am glad I don't like sugar and honey figs as those brought tons of pests - ants, wasps, flies... This year I noticed that my Smith was hit the hardest by the coons. I had a Smith, BG and I-258 next each other. They barely touched BG, I think I lost only one. None were touched on I-258, and Smith was practically stripped of all ripe and semi-ripe figs. I like Smith, but not that much, so I am considering replacing it with another BG or some other variety. I don't want the aroma of a fig that I don't even like that much increasing the chances of bringing more vermin into the garden.
 
I never had a bee/wasp problem here. But never had beetles attack my fig trees until this year. Seems every year there is something new.
But it lets us know what may be coming next year. Hopefully I will be more prepared next season. :)
 
Sorry for that Kevin and see those beautiful figs spoiled, and I agree with you if you’re not using figs as income then reduce to manageable levels will give you more control for protection and would use less time and resources.

This is the year of the chicken 🐓 someone would be happy

I am hoping you share some good harvest pics with us soon, Chin up brother!
 
Yikes, I feel for you, Kevin. So much labor, so little reward. I HATE bagging and rebagging with dry organza bags after each rain ...and I only have two small trees with actually ripening figs!

I hope some version of your mesh netting saves it.

I think we all need a place and time to vent. We love growing things, and we do it, sometimes it gets just so discouraging. I remember being so angry, hating the suffocating heat and humidity in the South. I can really join you there.
 
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Sorry to see that Kevin. Wasps love my figs. If I don't pick figs early enough before sun rises the wasps beat me to it and I have to wait until they're finished. And now I'm getting more and more deer. It is a battle.
 
If I don't stay on top of picking, the bees and wasps really get active. I've been getting up before the wife and kids the past few weeks so I can get out and stay on top of it.

My squirrels are down this year but the foxes have found the figs finally. Those two things are probably related so I'm not too mad at the foxes. They only steal the lower figs and don't break branches and they only get a few each night, fortunately.

I have to say their taste is questionable though. One really didn't like this nice fat ondata and it didn't want anyone else to enjoy it either...

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