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Post by richardw on Feb 13, 2016 16:14:04 GMT -5
I was surprised to find yesterday figs for sale at the roadside stall only 5 mins drive from here, if he can grow them so can i. Whats the best way to get the seed to grow?
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Post by diane on Feb 13, 2016 17:35:59 GMT -5
From a Sunset magazine fruit book: The fig is not a true fruit, but a fleshy flower.
There are figs that require pollination by a wasp, and they will produce seeds, but I think the figs that are grown here do not require pollination, and don't produce viable seeds.
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Post by richardw on Feb 13, 2016 18:40:35 GMT -5
diane does the fruit still have seed though
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Post by diane on Feb 13, 2016 20:42:34 GMT -5
Mine don't.
I've checked a few of my books which say some "tame" figs have just female flowers and the fig develops parthenogenetically.
I don't know whether some cultivars have male flowers as well and manage to self-pollinate and produce seeds.
More study needed.
Advances in Fruit Breeding, edited by Jules Janick and James N. Moore:
There is information on breeding figs, but you want to know about growing any seeds you find in a ripe fruit.
Dates are for the Northern Hemisphere.
Aug or Sept: Ripe fruits are broken up and dropped into jars of water for fermenting. In a few days, drupelets with viable seeds sink to the bottom. Wash in two or three changes of water, spread on paper to dry. A single fruit can yield 300 to 500 drupelets.
Sow on fine vermiculite. Put in warm glasshouse. By December (midwinter) they will be 5 to 7.6 cm tall, with several leaves. Transplant into pots.
By the end of January most are 10 to 25 cm tall. Set outside in the cold to induce dormancy. (This is happening in California).
Fig seedlings on their own roots take five to seven years to come into bearing from germination. This can be shortened to one to three years by grafting onto a mature tree in March or April.
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Post by raymondo on Feb 13, 2016 21:34:20 GMT -5
None of the figs you're likely to come across will have seeds. Figs are very easy to propagate from cuttings though. Find a fig tree, take cuttings when dormant, put them in a pot (in autumn) or even in the ground where you want them to grow (late winter). They like reasonable drainage. They may need protection for the first winter or two but once established they'd be fine where you are Richard.
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Post by richardw on Feb 14, 2016 1:39:21 GMT -5
yes ive been told they are easy and maybe i call in and ask the fella for some cuttings this winter. raymondo the fruit had heaps of seed in them |
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Post by farmermike on Feb 14, 2016 2:05:59 GMT -5
richardw, in my experience figs grow very easily from seed. I have a couple of old fig trees in my yard (one with black fruit, one with green--don't know the varieties). Figs, from either tree, that fall and rot in my vegetable garden or potted plants, result in a little cluster of seedlings the following spring. I've been potting them up and planting them around. I don't know if they breed true from seed since none are old enough to fruit yet. But they are figs, after all--how bad could they be? I also grow them from cuttings by sticking them in a pot full of perlite (any time of year), and keeping them well watered--at least at first. If your seeds look viable, might as well give it a shot! Mike
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Post by philagardener on Feb 14, 2016 7:04:17 GMT -5
Southern CA has Fig wasps, so farmermike apparently can grow ones that require the wasp for pollination (as well as the ones that don't). Here in the mid-Atlantic US we are out of the wasp range, so varieties that require pollination won't fruit for us. Locally sourced varieties are great since you know they do well where you are, so cuttings or seeds are a great way to go. richardw , you can propagate them by either green or dormant cuttings - very easy rooters. I have had excellent luck rooting dormant cuttings in Winter by washing well 4-6 inch cuttings with a bit of soap and a brush (to reduce surface mold spores) and then placing them in a plastic bag with damp but not soggy perlite. They will callus and root prolifically, at which point I pot them up in 50% peat moss / 50% perlite. A bigger issue for me is winter hardiness. We are marginal here in Philadelphia. Some established plants make it through in sheltered locations and the heat island in cities helps. However, last night was really cold here so I probably have lost some young plants for the 3rd year in a row :<( I am trying to propagate plants that have done well locally, but even some of the old mature trees have taken a hit with the extreme cold in the last few years. Good luck! |
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Post by taihaku on Feb 14, 2016 8:07:00 GMT -5
In terms of figs, cuttings are the best for sure - if you can get a variety going nicely you can often build a collection via cutting swaps. I've received a few varieties as pencils from kind donors and am hoping to be able to pay that karma forward in due course.
As to seed grown I know there are a surprisingly large number of wild figs along britain's canals which are seedlings from seeds dropped from lunches etc carried by bargemen. There was a monster near me on the lea canal when I lived in Hackney in London (and it fruited).
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Post by castanea on Feb 14, 2016 10:40:25 GMT -5
I have unwanted fig seedlings popping up all the time here in the California central valley. Occasionally I plant seeds myself. A seed of Petite Negri resulted in a seedling with larger fruit than the parent. The seedling has almost all of the richness of the parent but with an additional tanginess that is excellent. The seedling in short has even better fruit than the parent. Fig seedlings tend to be far more vigorous than cuttings. IT can really be a shock if you've only grown cuttings. I have had fig seedlings grow to 20 feet tall in 3 or 4 years and outgrow deciduous trees.
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Post by richardw on Feb 14, 2016 12:40:44 GMT -5
After ready a lot of info off the net i was starting to think i would be wasting my time growing the seed i had extracted because of the huge degree of variation between seedlings, castanea you have just convinced me to give it as go, but, i know that i will need to grow decent number as it appears that growing from seed can produce a high number of poor or very nil fruiting tress. Some may ask 'why?' when cuttings are easier, buy hey, growing the seed sounds fun. I still will try cuttings as well, philagardener what grade of perlite do you recommend fine or coarse? |
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Post by richardw on Feb 14, 2016 12:47:13 GMT -5
....the other thing thats got me thinking, you guys talk of a fig wasp being the pollinator in some areas, so considering our local fruit has plenty of seed i wonder what is pollinating them, flies? though we do have a number of native wasps.
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Post by philagardener on Feb 14, 2016 15:34:24 GMT -5
I still will try cuttings as well, philagardener what grade of perlite do you recommend fine or coarse? I use a coarse horticultural grade, richardw - not really big but fines pack when wet so I avoid those. In addition to rooting in bags, I've had good success putting dormant cuttings in plastic packs - the "clamshells" used for berries and greens in the markets here. The perlite should be damp but not dripping. Set it in a warm spot (not sun, but on top of a refrigerator or on a fluorescent light fixture) and keep an eye on it. You will see callus forming on the bottom end and then roots from there and the nodes. |
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Post by philagardener on Feb 14, 2016 15:41:32 GMT -5
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Post by raymondo on Feb 14, 2016 15:52:41 GMT -5
... raymondo the fruit had heaps of seed in them Wow. Never seen a fig with seeds. Perhaps the fig wasp is in NZ, or one of your native wasps does the job. Doesn't seem to happen here. It might be that where I live isn't really fig territory. Most Australian grown figs come from a different state with a classic Mediterranean climate. |
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