I've been thinking for some time, as I am sure others have, about how to possibly add caprifigs for fig pollination here in the cold snowy north.  I am interested not for the idea of breeding and new fig varieties, but for the improvement in common fig quallity and possibly earlier ripening.  Aaron's recent offer of caprifig cuttings has stimulated more thinking.

Does anyone have info on just how low a temperature a caprifig can handle and have the wasps in the mamme crop survive?  In their Mediterranean home where caprifigs and wasps exist naturally, does it NEVER drop below freezing, or are the wasps killed at that temp only to be gradually re-introduced from surviving colonies.  Or how long the caprifigs and wasps can handle a sub-freezing temp?  I have a basement storage area that I have kept above 33 degrees F so far this winter with a small electric heater, only have had to run it about 48 hrs total so far.  The lowest outside temp this year so far was about 3 degrees.

Another question relates to the duration of wasp survival in a dormant mamme crop of caprifigs.  I am assuming that in the natural environment a caprifig with wasps is dormant from roughly November to March.  If I am overwintering caprifigs in a 35-40 degree storage, I might need to make that a longer period until frosts are ended and until my common figs are waking up from dormancy.  Anyone have knowledge about wasp survival in a 'longer-than-natural' dormancy?  If it is just a matter of the wasps not hatching until the fig wakes up, there should not be a problem extending dormancy a month or so.  But if the wasps have thir own timing apart from fig dormancy and try to wake up or hatch early, this idea is not going to work well.

Last question for now is related to pruning to keeping caprifigs to a managable size in a pot.  Anyone have experience with this?  Obviously you can't just prune the caprifig back to a small size at the end of the season or you lose your mamme crop, but pruning after the profichi release their wasps might cause loss of the next mammoni crop of figs.  Would you prune similar to what you would do for a breba crop like Desert King, partially cutting back alternate branches each year?  Other suggestions?

I am sure that I and others might have additional caprifig questions..add em on here.

You have to have a heated greenhouses that does not ever drop below 60 + degrees. Maybe Aron will see this post i am not the person at all to answer this. i just know about the heated greenhouses. That is the most important thing is the heatedheated that cannot brake below 60 degrees.
So that is your first battle is maintaining a wRm greenhouse. Richie from louisiana zone 8

These are really interesting questions, and they are spot on in terms of their relevancy to your proposal. The fact is, not only are Caprifigs non-existent in most of the USA, but no one has, as far as I know, ever successfully (or even unsuccessfully) tried any of the things you are proposing. My sense is that you just can't take the nature out of nature. I think the warmer areas of the mediterranean where the Blastophaga Psenes wasp survives the winter not only have exceptionally mild winters, it almost never snows in these places. Coastal Portugal, much of Greece, Southern Spain, maybe areas in the Levant/Eastern mediterrenean. The thought of improving common figs by pollinating them is of course the main driver here, but it just seems too difficult a proposal given our harsh winter climate. If there were a way to force figs to ripen in Northern climes at the same time as they ripen in California, then the easiest solution would be to ship Caprifigs with active wasp populations via overnight mail to other regions. But I don't see how that could be accomplished, except maybe with a very professional, expensive greenhouse setup.

Penandpike from Bulgaria is in z6a and has the wasp in his area. It makes me wonder if there are subspecies of Blastophaga that are more cold hardy than the Mediterrenean wasp that was transplanted to California.

Mike in Hanover, VA

In Sochi, Tuapse, Yalta -Every winter temperatures are negative. In Tuapse temperature in winter drops to -10 -12 degrees Celsius. Wasp blastofaga lives and pollinating summer figs type of San Pedro, myrrh, general type.

Yes, The wasp lives here and it is very cold hardy. It survives very low temp as -20C (-4F)
For short time. this are wild trees living unprotected in the open fields around my hometown Stara Zagora. 

  В НБС Ялта 16 известных разновидностей Капри фиг. В сельскохозяйственных садов брошены сортовые капри фикусы. Вот фото Желтая опылителей -Figue JAUNE

Fig wasps are known to survive brief dips of temps below 32 and the thought was because they were insulated in their figgy homes.  Development of the wasp slows with temperature but it's not known how long they can last.  You don't have to keep the greenhouse above 60.

I don't know of studies looking at prolonged cold exposure of the wasps to varying degrees and duration of cold.

Ed:

I think you'll be fine both for low temp and length of dormant period. In CA in drops to low 20s at times where wasp are present. My greenhouse drops to about 34F. That's better than CA so I'm not concerned on that front. If my colony fails it will be another reason.

It is very important to know that many of the caprifigs very often do not set, profichi, mammoni or mamme crop. Especialy  mammoni and mamme. As a matter of fact 90% of the male figs varieties  around here set only profichi crop and rarely if ever mammoni and mamme. Luckily few varieties are different and set all crops. During my usual "Summer fig hunt" last few years I have found 3 varieties that are very prolific and never miss seting the profichi or mamme (over wintering) crop but sometimes one will miss the (fall) mammoni crop. I guess that many wasps live and lay eggs in the common or calimyrna figs during the summer and fall so the mammoni crop is not as important as the other two, but this is just a GUESS.
So keeping all this in mind you must have different varieties of caprifigs and make sure the wasp has a "home" to live in! :)

Thanks to all for their answers and opinions.  Where are the caprifig experts like Francisco when you need one?  :)

No other ideas on pruning potted caprifigs?

I know that the wasp can not lay eggs in the long style female flower but I think that this is probably true in only 99%  of the cases.
And that few wasp go around this obstacle and still manage to lay their eggs.
I am saying all this because some years In some areas I can not see a single mammoni fig and yet the fig wasp is still there the next year.  but as you said  most probably the wasps from other areas come and populate the trees again.

wasps do not lay eggs in common figs because it
has flesh that is or will become wet. they need a dry enviroment.
also wasps do not fly far from there capri fig stand, only about 150 feet,
so if you have capri figs with no wasps you will not get them unless
you introduce fruit with wasps. 

The wasp can fly lery long distances. Some may fly 150 km with the wind. I red that somewhere.

Ed,
Regarding the pruning questions, I can only say that I have never done it...not felt the need.
Every season new Caprifigs sprout and if the weather goes right,there are always plenty of wasps and pollen everywhere!

For those with less abundance and willing to prune their Caprifigs  I would suggest (just common sense) a measured approach,  as follows:

On a given tree, say this year (2015) by the time the Profichi crop has all ripen, given their wasps to the orchard, dry  and fall to the ground, (15thJuly to 15th August), take approx 1/2 of the canopy and prune as if it was a San Pedro fig. ..The following season prune the other half of the canopy.

On the Pen's Caprifig on a zone 6, I believe , may be, he has some well localized 'microclimate' tolerating the wild fig. Has he tried to grow Smyrna varieties ??.. checking the float-ability of the fig seeds ?
Another interesting possibility is to carefully open some of the Mammoni figs by the time they ripen and extract their fertile seeds (not many...may be 10 or 12)  of full wild parentage and expect they bring the 'hardiness genes'...

There is always the possibility on less harsh places of spreading hundreds or even thousands of fertile seeds (Calimyrna) on areas with some protection (ravines, ruins, etc..) and expect new trees to pop up and if good  Caprifigs come up, to force wasps to caprificate their crops at the correct dates.

Francisco
Portugal

Thanks for the helpful info, Francisco.

One additional line of questions. How long, roughly, is the total 'caprifig season', from when the Mamme laden plant wakes up in the spring until the next crop of Mamme figs goes dormant?
And how long from when the plant wakes up until the Mamme crop releases their load of wasps?
And until the Profichi crop releases its wasps?

OK Ed..

The rise and fall of the Caprifig takes the full year with its 3 (some say 4) crops.
(I will comment on what I see in my district which is about similar to what one sees along the Med basin bordering countries). I also should add that from the books, circ/letters, quotes, papers, reports etc from the US pomologists of late 19th century .... I understand that exactly the same behavior occurs along the California Central Valley.

A)  First crop - Profichi - how and when they are born.
Now as we go through the mid of January, looking at a reliable Caprifig , we see:
Practically no leaves at all and a nice crop of the winter Mamme rough figs, dark green, round, big, some figs with purple shades.. very hard and heavy, anchored on last year's wood.
These figs are well alive (not at all dormant IMO). Their gall flowers are full, each gall containing a live developing wasp larvae going through the last stages of its metamorphosis into pupa and later the fig wasp we all know. All together, male and female, each Mamme fig may generate some time later on, around 400 to 500 insects, may be more.
A closer look, shows now around each of the above Mamme figs, still on last years wood, a number of tiny figlets growing fast. On good years you may see from 6..,8 up to a couple of dozens of these minor figs. These are the young Profichi- conventionally called the first crop.

B) As the Mamme fig develops and approach a ripen stage, becoming softer and yellowish/brown, those Profichis are now almost receptive (10 to 12 mm in diameter) and growing fast. Inside the Mamme fig, the male wasps -wingless, blind and colored gold- breaks its gall shell, pops out and starts inseminating the females still inside their own galls... this job accomplished well inside the syconium, male wasps converge to the center of the fig and commence 'excavating' a tunnel through the fig insides, aiming for the ostiole, breaking it open with their strong mandibles and dying soon after still inside the fruit. Female wasps (black and winged) follow the males and feeling the warmth of the sun and light, quickly get out to freedom looking for a receptive Caprifig where to lay their load of fertile eggs. (*)
No need for a big search and long flights...Near the now decaying Mamme where they were born and transformed into full insects, they have many new young receptive Profichis built by Nature with gall flowers with the right size style and ready to take their load of eggs and to give birth to a new colony of insects.
We are now through mid March, the first leaves appear and for around two weeks as the Mamme ripen and fall, many thousands of wasps fill the galls of the young  Profichi with fresh eggs... dying afterwards.

C) The Profichi crop, ripening by mid June (3 months after the ripening of the Mamme), is ready to repeat the cycle.. similar scenario, ..male wasps showing up first, fertilizing the females, opening the tunnel, and allowing the females to exit the fig...
This particular crop of Caprifigs is the only wild fig with abundant male flowers just under the ostiole, inside the syconium. To reach the eye of the fig,  female wasps shall have to cross this 'bush' of male flowers being completely smeared with the fertilizing pollen, a golden fine powder.
This time, it's not evident that they will easily find the next generation of Caprifigs, the second crop (Mammoni) where to lay their eggs.. in fact there will be some but not many. The many thousands of wasps will then spread in the orchard visiting all receptive figs (and there will be many..) to offer their pollen, thus achieving pollination of many Common , San Pedro and Smyrna figs.
A good Caprifig will provide Profichis with pollen for approx two to three weeks.

(*) On a sunny day a few male wasps also accompany the females dying under the sun close to the ostiole

- There will be some minor deviations on above dates as a result of abnormal weather excesses
- For instance, last season, by the 28th of May most of my potted Smyrna figs were pollinated.
- As a general guide one Smyrna pollinated at that date, was ripe on the first of August
- On the San Francisco Bay Area, Profichi' ripen one month later (mid July).

May have responded to your questions with too much detail, but I believe it is needed.
These wild figs do not go dormant, and IMO neither the tree.

Francisco
Portugal


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Francisco, thanks for your expertise. And never too much detail, I love to learn about figs.

I don't think I would be able to make potted caprifigs work in my climate without a heated greenhouse. With the fig shuffle I can get my season to extend from late April to late October.