Sorry to hear this Mike,
Knowing how much you liked it. Maybe you can find it again?

Consider Fafard 52 mix
Sunglo or Sungro? LC1
Or Promix.

Don't mean to hijack your thread Nick,
Would like to go back to the intended topic.

No problem guys, feel free to go off topic anytime as it's all good information for folks to learn from, including myself!  I checked several nurseries trying to find fafard, UPM, or ProMix.  None of them had any.  A couple of them could order it, but the price was ~$50 for 3cuft... I figured I would try the Freys for $15.

The local Hydroponics store has these $29.99 ea. or 4/$100.



Try searching for some Hydroponic stores in your area or search for the small ma and pa nursery stores.
I got my UPM from my uncles place and I paid cost so it was really cheap. But look to pay roughly $15 for a bag. That would be the very large bag.
Fafard 52 mix should be about the same too.

Good luck

Rafed, if you want something to keep the moisture in, try cocoa shells.  The potting mix I made up with them is great at holding moisture, just be careful not to over water like I did.

The mixes I've used in order of their ability to retain water:

Cocoa shells; even with pine bark and perlite held a tremendous amount of water



Miracle Grow; tried potting a couple of figs in just miracle grow, it was too easy to overwater and the fungus gnats were terrible



Frey's; pictured above

Orchid Mix; picked up at Home Depot, has a real nice porous mix, extremely well draining.

Rafed, if you want something to keep the moisture in, try cocoa shells.  The potting mix I made up with them is great at holding moisture, just be careful not to over water like I did.

The mixes I've used in order of their ability to retain water:

Cocoa shells; even with pine bark and perlite held a tremendous amount of water



Miracle Grow; tried potting a couple of figs in just miracle grow, it was too easy to overwater and the fungus gnats were terrible



Frey's; pictured above

Orchid Mix; picked up at Home Depot, has a real nice porous mix, extremely well draining.

37 degrees this morning headed to 55. Going to start the fig shuffle. A bit chilly still, but I figure the garage was in the low thirties or high twenties the last few months, so it shouldnt be too big of a change. The green figs in the office will need to wait a while still.

Kelby it can't be any worse than the miracle grow I used on a few of my figs!

Hi Johnnyq627,
Never forget to lock the door of your gh - if the wind sets in, the gh will act like a balloon and try to fly.
Is the gh against a wall or your house? If so, it is better .
Nice project ! Did you mention somewhere the size of the gh ?

Hopefully this warm weather keeps up!

Pulled the figs out for the second day.



They have green tips and are starting to leaf out...



Unfortunately, my conadria is just too large to shuffle, so she'll have to wait a bit longer.



I'm still debating if I should trim her to just the main branches. Thoughts?

Nolt's Produce has the best price on Promix you will find. Not sure if you need a BIN or not, the Amish like cash so I doubt that will be a problem. 

Frey Bros make good mixes and their pine bark soil conditioner was always perfectly sized, expensive but very nice. I switched to Agway PBM but would rather use Freys pine bark for mixes in smaller containers, hard to find in the last couple of years. 

You will need to call Nolts ahead so they can pick your order. Sometimes you need to call a few times for them to answer, especially this time of year.

I remembered there is another place closer to you called Griffin Greenhouse Supplies, have never been but heard good things. It looks like their selection is great.

I tried a new rooting method a couple of weeks ago... when I put tip cuttings into spaghnum moss, the tips always seem to rot. So this time, I tried cupping the cuttings with the tip out and put them in a 2 liter greenhouse. So far, both cuttings are showing roots and the black madeira is leafing out!





The cuttings that I rooted in spaghnum moss and then put in the orchid mix are doing well also. One lesson learned... don't wave a newly leafed cutting trying to get a fungus gnat away from it... the leaves WILL fall off!

I also received a package today to try another rooting method with some of the UC Davis cuttings that I received.



The figs in the office have started to spit out figs like crazy! I think I need to cutoff their thrive supplement... it appears to be fig crack!

Black Madeira


Green Ischia


Sodus Sicilian


Sodus Sicilian #2


Ronde de Bordeau

Good morning figgers!

I'll be interested to see if this fig I left on my negronne last year and overwintered will actually swell and ripen this spring!



Also, does anyone know the approximate stagnant period on Black Madeira and RdB figs?

Nick been there done that with figs from previous season in curiosity and it never works.
B.Madeira can take up to 120 days here from time you see it appear on plant Ronde little less also depends on how
much heat and sun plant is given.

I had a productive day of figgin today!

My Violette Soleis and Black Madeira that I cupped in orchid bark / potting mix are putting out some real healthy roots.



Levengoods nursery called and the coarse perlite I ordered came in. A nice big bad for $24. It wasn't as coarse as I had hoped, but coarser than what the normal HD stuff is at least.



I was able to cup up a Col de Dame cutting as well as another Black Madeira from UC Davis



I picked up a plastic bin to put my root riot figs into



Cut the cuttings into a few nodes each...



Then I poured some clonex into a bottle cap...



I dipped the top end of most in wax and the bottom end in clonex. Then made a label for each fig and did my best to write on the cuttings with a paint pen as well. Fifty cuttings later...



For my wife, I put three tip cuttings into small pots with two liter bottles over them as well.



Not a bad day! I also got a text from my contractor that he hopes to be out this week to start the foundation for the greenhouse... fingers crossed but breath not held.

It is supposed to get cold again tonight so the figs will need to come in. Most are about to leaf out. My negronne is a bit behind the others it seems. My big conadria that I couldnt shuffle must feel left out because it is starting to leaf out in the garage as well.

Looks like we will finally have a few warm days and nights in a row! I pulled my large conadria out to soak up some sun. It is taking a surprisingly long time for the figs to leaf out, they must be looking for that 60+ degree stuff.



Inside, figs are still going full speed. The root riot cubes aren't putting out any noticeable roots yet, but the tops are putting out buds faster than normal. The Nazartis are putting out figs that I will have to remove.



The cupped cuttings that I rooted in sphagnum are growing as well. The Black Madeiras sure are slow when it comes to root growth. I may need to try to hit them with some fertilizer.



My large Black Madeira has hit a sweet spot and stopped putting on a ton of growth and instead is putting on a ton of figs!



It looks like with any luck I will get a ripe main fig off of my Sodus Sicilian so I can try to ID it this year. I hope to plant one in ground this year to see if it is as cold hardy as its parent.



My Malta Black (25) is still putting out additional figs all down it.



Just for fun, here's a picture of my fungus gnat warrior!



It doesn't really solve my gnat problem, but it gives me great joy to see all the gnats being digested!

Try putting mulch on your containers for the gnats, I did that for mine and haven't seen any gnats since then. Unless the cats are eating the gnats...they sure like stink bugs.