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FrozenJoe

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
I received several cuttings of Barnisotte (aka Barnissotte) from UC Davis last year and rooted them successfully.  I gave some of the rooted cuttings away but kept one for myself.  The one that I kept started out as a strong little grower until one hot day last August when it decided to collapse and look dead.  It managed to stay barely alive for the rest of the season.  This year it has been growing again, but the leaves have a yellowish color that is different from all of my other figs.  The leaves keep coming out different shapes.  They curl up in the heat and the plant just always looks stressed.  This plant has the worst case of FMV that I have seen.

Here is what it looks like now:

Obviously UC Davis has been able to grow a mature Barnisotte tree because they have one in their collection that they take cuttings from.  But I'm wondering, have any forum members been able to grow a large, healthy Barnisotte tree from a UC Davis cutting?  Is there hope for this little tree or will it always struggle and never prosper?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.
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Joe
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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
I think the Barnisotte grew at UCD because the climate is ideal for fig growing.
I had one,It fruited but eventually died 3 years later.
FMV,makes tree weak,  and struggle in adverse climatic condition,be it frost or heat.
satellitehead

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
I lost the one UCD Barnisotte cutting a figfriend shared with me. I got another this year and failed to root, I think (I need to check - too many trees). I bought more Nero and Barnisotte cuttings from R Watts who has successfully grown one for sure.
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Jason
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Olga

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
Hello!
I got one cutting from UCDA, root may be 2 month from now.. very, very slow, I move it to one gallon.. Bad case of FMV.. But I hope this one will get over it.. hopefully..
nypd5229

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
The F4F site is a little confusing.

Is this a synonym for Nero and is Brogiotto Nero all the same?
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Dominick
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FrozenJoe

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
Thanks for the responses.

It's good to know that R Watts has been able to grow a healthy tree of this variety.  Jason, what climate is he in?

My plan is to baby this little tree and to pinch every fig that it tries to form until it gets big and strong, and then let it start producing figs at that point.  So I won't taste any fruit from it until next year or the year after.  But from what I hear it will be worth the wait.

If anyone is growing a big healthy Barnisotte from UC Davis I would love to see pictures.

I know that Jon has an accession of Barnisotte called "1-23" that produces fruit for him, but I'm not sure if the original source of that tree is UC Davis or not.

Dominick, those are synonyms for Barnisotte, though there may also be other varieties that are referred to as Nero (which means "black" in Italian).
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Joe
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rafed

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
Would it do any damage to dig the tree out and tap off a bit of the soil and add some potting mix in the hole and replace the plant?
And also remove most of the leaves to restore some energy to the roots?

I have tried something similar to some more common and more readily available figs before. But would be a little hesitant to try it with a rare one.
genecolin

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
Joe, maybe you could put some shade on it along with some heavy mulch to keep the soil damp and cooler.
"gene"

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"gene"

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nypd5229

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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
I was curious since I have a Brogiotto Nero that is doing well. A bit of FMV but all in all, good.
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Dominick
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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
I agree with Gene, it might do better in the shade for a while. Those internodes are pretty close together. They would stretch out a bit more if it had to reach for the sun. Looks like it needs a bit of a rest from the sunlight.
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FrozenJoe

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
Thank you all for the advice.  I'm going to do more to help this little plant cope with the heat here.  I'm hoping that it will get through this phase and grow into a healthy tree.  Even though it isn't the prettiest looking plant it keeps putting out new growth so that gives me hope.

Dominick, I'd love to see photos of your Brogiotto Nero.  If you don't mind me asking, what was the source of your plant?
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Joe
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satellitehead

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Posted Reply with quote  #12 
@Joe, he is in southern California.

@Dom, see:  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=5209688&highlight=brogiotto+nero
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Jason
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nypd5229

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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
Jason

I remember that thread. That why my head spins ( among other reasons).
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Dominick
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Posted Reply with quote  #14 
Barnisotte in bucket, ucd sourced, needs good winter protection

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jpeg IMG_0271.jpg (435.74 KB, 95 views)
jpeg th_IMG_0272.jpg (5.81 KB, 83 views)
FrozenJoe

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 
Thanks for posting the photos.  Its good to see a healthy looking UC Davis Barnisotte.  Hopefully mine will get there.
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Joe
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Peg919

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Posted Reply with quote  #16 
I have one barinsotte from a USD cutting. It is very much like the pix
in the bucket. Tall but not too many leaves. Just starting its 3rd season.
Right now it has 7 main crop unripe figs. I'd say this is quite an
accomplishment since many of my producing fig trees do not have any figs this year.

Peg
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FrozenJoe

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Posted Reply with quote  #17 
Peg,

Thanks for the info.  The more I hear that other people are growing this variety the more I think my little tree will make it.
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Joe
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tmc2009

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Posted Reply with quote  #18 
I have three of various growing vigor that I started last year from cuttings.  The tallest one has no figs yet.  Its funny that the strongest appearing one has no figs and the smaller weaker one has figs starting.  Still confused about the Barnisotte and Barnissotte difference?

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jpeg Barnissotte2011.jpg (39.31 KB, 57 views)
jpeg Barnissotte2011-2.jpg (46.48 KB, 57 views)
jpeg Barnissotte2011-3.jpg (35.14 KB, 49 views)


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Tom
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FrozenJoe

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Posted Reply with quote  #19 
TMC, 

Thanks for posting photos.  The leaf color on your plants is similar to the color on my plant's leaves.  My plant has tried to grow 8 or 10 little figs that I have had to pinch off.  I have a feeling that when mature it will be fairly productive.  The figs that it tries to grow have a thick stem and I can see that it will produce large fruit.  It could be that your tallest has grown the best because it has not put energy into figs.

As far as the spelling goes, Barnisotte and Barnissotte are the same variety.  The name is spelled differently in different sources.  On the figs4fun varieties page Barnisotte is listed as the primary spelling.  Ray Givan spells it Barnisotte as well in The New Fig Booklet.  UC Davis, Ira Condit, and Gustav Eisen all spell it Barnissotte, which is probably the correct spelling.
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Joe
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satellitehead

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Posted Reply with quote  #20 
@TMC, It actually makes sense that the two lesser trees are fruiting.  If I understand correctly, this is a common survival mechanism inherent in plants - when under stress or threat of death, fruit will be produced in order to try and spread seeds.  It is a genetic survival mechanism to protect the genes and future of the tree.

This could explain why the healthy and vigorous tree is not fruiting (all energy spent on growth) and why the ones that aren't growing or have stunted growth are producing fruit (expending energy on seed-bearing fruit  "just in case").

Curious to hear if others agree.
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Jason
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Posted Reply with quote  #21 

PS - if you might want to swap for one of those Barnisotte trees, give me a holler when we reach end of year.  I am intending on starting the other half of my last cuttings - I've tried one stick of Barnisotte from UCD last year and one this year and haven't had a ton of luck.
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Jason
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FrozenJoe

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Posted Reply with quote  #22 
Jason,

That is an interesting idea that a weakened plant will put it's energy into fruiting as a last resort to pass on its genes in case it does not survive. I'm also interested to see what others think.

As far as fig trees go, I've observed that each variety behaves somewhat differently in terms of how soon it produces fruit. For example, Hardy Chicago (a variety I'm pretty familiar with) has consistently put lots of energy into vegatative growth and needs to be pinched or allowed to put out lots of new growth for the year before starting to produce figs. The Barnissotte that I have has been trying to form figs since it was quite small, and I'm inclined to think that that's just a characteristic of this variety. TMC's 2 smaller plants are behaving in a similar manner to my plant, leading me to believe that it is typical for this variety to try to fruit as soon as it can. However, because Barnissotte produces large figs (I've seen the same thing with LSU Gold) a small plant can easily become stressed trying to grow and ripen fruit and that can negatively affect the plant's growth and lead to a stunted plant. I'm not sure why one of TMC's plants has no fruit forming on it, but I would guess that that plant has grown larger because it has not been diverting energy into producing fruit.

What do others think?
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Joe
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nypd5229

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Posted Reply with quote  #23 
My Brogiotto Nero ( possible syn. for Barnissotte) was a stater last year and grew slowly this year. I pinched after about 8 leaves, just curious to see if branching and  fruits would form. Branching started and grew slowly. After about 10 weeks out of storage I looked at the roots and seemed to be on the verge of becoming rootbound. I potted up to a one gallon. About 2.5 weeks later figs began to form on the new branches.

So mine did not form figs until I pinched then repotted.
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Dominick
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FrozenJoe

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Posted Reply with quote  #24 
Dominick,

From the photos you've seen posted on this thread do you think your Brogiotto Nero is the same variety as UC Davis Barnissotte?  Can you post photos of your plant?
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Joe
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Posted Reply with quote  #25 
It looks more like yours than TMC. Mine had a slight case of FMV but when it started to branch, the new branches hardly showed any.
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Dominick
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FrozenJoe

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Posted Reply with quote  #26 
Dominick,

Thanks for posting those photos and for posting on how your plant has been performing for you.  It's always interesting to see how a variety performs with different growers and in different parts of the country.  I used to live up in your neck of the woods (sort of) in the Merrimack Valley.  It would be cool to see down the road when all of these plants are larger and producing fruit to see how they all compare.

Here's a photo showing where I have been pinching figs off of my plant.  You can see from the stem bases left on the tree that this little guy has been trying to grow big figs that I keep having to pinch off:
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Joe
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