I HAVE A QUESTION that might p.o members:

What would you rather grow: A ) 5 figtree's of the same variety with a taste 9-                                             10.

                                            B) 5 figtree's with 1 exellent(9-10) and 4 not so

                                                 good,but all different varieties.

I have 3 Chicago hardy's(large tree's),3 magnolia's, 3 Desert King's,another one with no name,but very good tasting,these are all large tree's in ground.

I like to grow a lot of them but can not take care of them since i grow so many other things.I also have 9 other varieties but they are still small. I like to keep no more then 9 kinds.

I opt for A ,but it is not possible for me to grow that few.Right now i have no idea the many tastes figs have. It might take a long while to get the same experiences that you guys have.

Hi Luak,
first it  will never PO me i could care less ! ...lol    ; )

But for me personally and me only were all different 
In answer to your question.
None of the above you mentioned.

What i do for me only.
I give them some years to develop and select only the best tasting ones for my palate only.
I keep a duplicate here for personal reasons to perhaps experiment with.

If one taste similar to another and its a real good one i get rid of one of them i cannot keep them all.
 I do not worry about how hardy they are in my climate if they are that good as i grow em in pots .

Average tasting figs go.
Im still sorting out figs as i aquire new ones here and there and this sorting them out is on a rotating basis .

For me its difficult to have too may growing in pots and "properly" take care of them such as decent potting mix , fertilizer, water, and then root pruning them when needed its a lot of work for one person.

Even if i live in perfect warm climate and could grow inground i would still do the same its only me dealing with and eating the figs .

So this is why i do what i do .

Good question if I could only have five figs I would rotate untill I found 5 different excellent tasting figs that ripened at different times

With no experience I ask can you top work large fig trees to have multiple figs on one tree?

You could then only tend a few trees but have many varieties.

Interesting question, and good responses. I'm in the process of finding out what will do best in my yard. I initially planned on growing the five best varieties. The climate is such that I should be able to grow most anything in-ground, and after asking people's opinions and doing a little research, I'm now looking forward to spring, when I'll add six new varieties to the 20 I already have. So much for self-restraint. But, like Jim suggests, I plan to eliminate any that don't earn their keep. A few are already marked for removal.

Luak...I honestly would not choose any of your options.  It can take quite some time before a fig tree "comes into its own". Some are early, prolific growers with tasty fruit, while others are slow to go, etc. Just depends on what YOU are seeking.

Charles...I plan to do my first grafting this year on a LSU Purple. Have no idea what I will graft to it just yet, still working on that part of the decision tree.  But eventually I would hope to have several cultivar per rootstock.

What make it so difficult is the fact that when you have never been expose to so many varieties by belonging to a fig forum like this one.I understand that taste is a matter to me and my taste   totally differ with others.As with asian persimmon,paw paw's i have reach the end of dwelling as what varieties to grow.

I grow 10 different varieties of each and that is plenty for me and to me i like them alot, to others you eat one and they all taste the same.When you are into edible landscaping the looks of the landscape is also important.I compare my hillside as a miniture paradise(2 acres only). I try to persuede my wife to wear a fig leave in the summer and it did not go over well.Eva must not be alergic to fig sap.

Alan - i hope you will make the video available to all of us

Yes, Alan, I'm sure many of us are looking forward to seeing it.

Great tutorial, Alan--thanks very much for making it available. Another good tutorial (for grafting persimmons) was recommended to me by F4F member Strudeldog. It's a series of step by step photos rather than video, and it requires registration (quick and easy) to be able to view it, but it's very good and worth seeing:  http://citrus.forumup.org/about500-citrus.html 

Why not just have 5 (or 9) trees that are all 8, or 9 or 10? There is more than one variety that rates a 9 or a 10.

MultiGrafting will produce a Fig Mosaic infected tree,that will not produce well,on any of the graft on that tree.
You only need one graft to be from an infected tree and the interior sap of the tree will spread the virus to all including the base tree.
If you do not have space ,is better to plant 2 or three rooted cuttings in one planting hole,at one foot distance between them.
Later in life you can eliminate the cultivar with inferior fruits.

As near as I can tell, all of my figs have FMV already. It slows their growth when they're small, and/or early in the season--although it's hard to say for sure, because most of them are only starting their second season in the ground, and since nothing has leafed out yet, I don't know how much leaf distortion will appear. But, based on last year's performance, the pattern here seems to be varying degrees of stunted growth and distorted foliage from the time a cutting develops its first leaves up until it's about 18 inches tall, and probably the first flush of growth each season afterward. Then, the subsequent leaves start developing normally and it doesn't seem to matter.

Alan, I would suggest to choose one of the LSU varieties as your rootstock. Like, LSU Purple, Scott's Blk., O'Rourke and etc. None of my LSU variants have shown any symptoms of FMV to this day and all are strong growers. I am not saying that they are fmv free, but if they are infected the virus has not appeared to affect their growth and leaf characteristics.
Also, I would not choose the European cultivators as my rootstock. Varieties such as; NdC, Abicou/Aubaco, NdB, VN, Cdd, Pastilier, and etc. They all have/do show symptoms of FMV in my collection.

Pics- Deformed and discolored leaves on rooted NdC and Abicou (from Baud).



Navid.


Edit: VN stands for; Violette Normande.