Hi,

I have got a big wild fig which I have imported from turkey. Unfortunately this fig tree drops his fruits because the tree is not self pollinating I think. The fruits were big but inside the fruits there is no ripining.

Now my question is can I hang one branch of this fig to a self pollinating fig to get a better taste (Caprification?) or is the wild fig useless?

Thank you for your replies!

Hello Diamond 72,

Did you buy it as a wild, male fig -  (Caprifig) ? Did the seller identify the variety ? any name ?
To my knowledge there are no fig wasps in Germany so, even hanging a branch of a Caprifig  on a 'self pollinating' or Common variety, nothing will happen..

If your fig is a Smyrna type... it will also drop all its figs for lack of pollination (lack of wasps and pollen).
Have you any pictures of tree..fruit ??

Thank you
Francisco
Portugal

I would try to caprificate my figs, but there aren't still blastophagas in the syconia of the caprifigs.
I checked about twenty caprifig trees, but the pollen isn't yet formed, and neither a wasp.
Maybe it's still too early in my area for caprification? 1st May i've seen millions of wasps out of the mamme, 
but now nothing at all.  

Fico,
what is your area ?

-As you say, millions of wasps exiting mamme figs on the first of May,  lead me to believe that at that time there were thousands of receptive Profichis ready to give shelter to those wasps..and to fill their galls with eggs for the spring generation of wasps (Profichis)

-if this was true, and if Nature did not bring about any climatic extremes, you should have by now plenty of Profichis about becoming ripe and ready to send out millions of wasps (with good pollen) ..  -wasps born from those 1stMay eggs.
you may verify this opening a fig and checking what the galls look like

Caprifigs around the S.Francisco Bay fields may well be now ripening the very first Profichi figs

In my area the process is over.. pollination is practically finished.. no more Profichis available but enough Mammonis already receptive, on the green wood of the year taking wasps inn and to start another cycle.

Francisco
Portugal

Hi Francisco,
thanks for the info.

The syconia looks full of seeds, maybe the "seeds" that i've seen are wasp galls (caprifigs are still unripe); a caprifig that i've checked in another village looked empty, and probably inside there were no galls.

Probably i'll have to wait a few weeks. Many figs are already big, when caprifigs are ripe my figs will still be receptive for the pollination?




ps: how are cuttings?

Hi,

here are pictures of the trees. Sry I dont have pictures of the fruits now.

Diamond_72


Thank you for sharing these pictures.
You have a very robust and healthy fig tree.  Looking to its leaves alone it will be very difficult to guess what in fact it is ... it could be anything but,

One thing is certain - it looks to be doing very well in your climate and IMO you have a wonderful and ideal rootstock to graft 2 or 3 'hardy'  Common varieties on its limbs
With that much 'fig power' available at your doorstep,  I would not hesitate a second.
I am in a very hot zone and have no particularly hardy varieties to offer you.... May be the biferous Lampeira Preta which gives huge and early brebas..

let's have a look of the fruit then..

Francisco
Portugal

I post two pics to let you see the typical habitat of the caprifig fig in my area;
as you can see it grows with the roots in the water (these are small trees, there are huge specimens):