I came across a beautiful fig tree today , no leaves but full of figs, was tempted to find out all about it , so I knocked the house doorbell.
The lady of the house asked me with puzzled face, what I wanted. When I said I was a fig admirer... she started to smale. Immediately I knew she was one too. So I asked her what type of fig this is and why there were still figs on the tree and she said they are not eatable, very dry and if I wanted I could try them. She added, even if it's a fig season they are not eatable, they never get sweet and are always tough to the touch, then they fall off of the tree.... So, I'm thinking small to small-medium size figs, green with touch of purple on one side, very hard, and when I squeezed to open they are very tough skinned and dry inside. Felt weird to even open them at this time of the year.
Questions in my mind started to form as I was walking away from this well established , vigorously growing mysterious fig tree.

1. Is this a Capri fig tree and if so...should I get a cutting and plant in my backyard to have wasps around?

2. Should I plant in the middle of the backyard where all my fig trees will be around it?
Or, should I plant it far in a corner so it doesn't even take a valuable space where good fig should be planted?  

3. Are there more then one type of Capri?

4. Does one need more then one type Capri fig or any type would do as long as it produced wasp?

5. Does it produce wasp as long as it's a Capri fig?

Sorry for all my questions, I'm not familiar with this wasping concept, it's all new to me.

I will attach a photo of the tree later as an edit.

Thanks in advance for any info to how and what to do with this subject of Capri.

I think Francisco  ought to give you the answers you seek. Trying to learn here also.

Aaron,
I do not think you need it.
The wasps are everywhere and there is no additional benefit for you unless you really fell in love with the tree.

No, Igor, nothing to fall in love with, LOL 
I'm just thinking the figs might get benefits form the Wasp fig tree by being pollinated

FWIW, We don't have the wasp in the SE, but someone (Harvey C., I think) has said before that even self-fertile figs may get a boost from caprification. He speculated that caprification requires the male caprifig to be located in VERY close proximity to other trees to be effective. In the middle-east, they hang clumps of caprifigs ON the receiving tree, so that supports the idea of close proximity.

Aaron,

The description suggests it could be a Caprifig . Pictures, close-ups, cutaways,.. will definitely help to confirm it or not.

answering your questions...


1- If it is a Caprifig, yes you can get cuttings and root them as you do for all other figs.. but, still assuming it is a good Caprifig, I would rather cut a deal with the lady and ask her permission to prepare 2 or 3 air-layers and you could have small trees in say, 3 months. You would leave these potted air-layers under the mother tree while growing for the full season in other to have them conveniently caprified by April/May 2015.
At that time they certainly show its crop of Profichis (the figs with pollen and wasps) ready to issue the insects by mid June 2015 having in the meantime moved the pots to your orchard.
In other words in June 2015 you could have the benefits of your potted Caprifigs on a good deal of your varieties if not all ...In the fall of 2015 you would moved the trees to the dirt for a permanent position some place of your orchard, depending on the position of your trees, dominant winds, exposure, etc..

2- see above

3- There are many types/varieties of Capri figs,.. dark, black, white, violet, big small, etc.. polleniferous, insectiferous,...

4- Ideally you should have 2 or 3 varieties, issuing insects from mid June up to mid/end July. It seems that San Francisco bay area Caprifigs, issue insects 15 to 20 days later than in San Joaquin valley.

Weather/conditions allowing an insectiferous  Caprifig will always issue wasps. It would help to position these wild figs in a somehow protected area, avoiding direct exposure to the sun and wind.

Let's have your pictures.

Good luck
Francisco

Francisco, thank you so much, that's a lot of info to digest... here it is.
These figs are very dry to the touch and very hard, took me a lot to squeeze it open to see the inside. It has absolutely no taste and has some fig smell to it when you smell. They look pretty up close but when you touch them they are hard as rock, and all the eyes are closed, even the ones that have fallen to the ground.

 
 
 

This could of originated from a seed, you may find the original mother tree in the vicinity. I have found some new trees in my neighborhood. Just waiting to see the fruit and leaves in the summer.

Looks like the Beverly Hills hood..

As the tree does no longer have leaves, the figs looking odd would not surprise me. My own self pollinated figs look like that by now.
You would need to evaluate the tree while in full growth.
The tree being poorly watered could lead as well to the figs dropping and looking corky inside.
A female tree needing pollination and the fruit not getting pollinated would lead to the same dry figs falling of.

If it is a caprifig, they bear the wasps, but the first wasps need to come from a nearby or distant tree or from the Mediterranean coast :) .

If you have the place for it, just take cuttings or a root sucker and you could figure out what it really is .

Aaron,

No doubt, that's a Caprifig and reading from the pictures it is not 'any' Caprifig !? seems to be a good one! and black !? (color will only be established on its next crop of Profichis by June. The figs shown now are the Mamme crop - rock hard - closed eye - plenty of gall flowers full of larvae, to metamorphose soon into wasps.

I dare to say that this tree may well have been planted there (seedling) by a bird on one of the many cuts of one of those palm trees, then its roots migrated around the trunk and eventually finding the dirt and establishing definitely and making that nice set-up.

Given its location I assume that it gets regular watering (probably too much for a caprifig!)..
This could mean that it may yield Profochi's one week/10 days ahead of time.

A couple of years ago when talking Caprifigs in this forum, I said that in rural communities in Portugal,  at the right time in the season,  people would bring Caprifigs in baskets for sale in the market.
The lady owner of that tree could well establish such an arrangement and sell them !

You need to watch this tree very closely from now on and witness the new crop being born soon (if not already there) popping up around those figs in that same wood, hopefully in great numbers !

Francisco

Francisco, thank you so much for the great info about Capri Figs :)
So, the next question is will my Fig trees benefit from it being in my garden , although they are non-polonating type? I guess now I could have Smyrna types too...?
Also, can I plant this in my garden in a far corner so it won't take precious space where a eatable fig could be planted, or, should I plant it in the middle of the garden so the chance of being Caprified is equal for every Fig tree?
I am so excited about this find.

Igor: you are right about the Beverly Hills part, haha... ;)

jdsfrance: (btw, what's your name and location , zone?) you have strong points about this too but the fact that these figs don't fall on the ground, unless they are gone bad by some reason or another, they are very firmly attached to the tree, and that color , although dark purple...it doesn't mean they are ripe. It is very weird feeling to touch them, firm , yet very dry feell to them.

Wow! what a beautiful tree and location...
Thank you Francisco for your wisdom regarding these amazing trees!

I could get cuttings and send out few but... would it carry wasps or the wasp has to be introduced later when the tree starts fruiting?

Aaron,

All your fig trees will definitely benefit from the presence of good Caprifigs issuing their pollen laden wasps at the right time (Jun-July)
You will have the pleasure of ripening and tasting the super flavored Smyrna varieties as well as boosting the attributes of the majority of all Common and San Pedro (2nd crop) fruit.

It is a good time now to find a source for a number of Smyrna rooted trees of 4 or 5 varieties in anticipation of the availability of the insects early this Summer even if you have not yet your Caprifig trees in place..You could buy or borrow Profichi's from that lady and bring them home, close to your trees... you may have seen this topic..

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/fig-caprification-in-syria-4350338

As regards to the best place for planting it in your garden it depends on how big it is, the number of trees you have there, dominant winds,exposure , etc.. On the local Smyrna orchards here there is one established Caprifig for every 15 to 20 female trees. But many people with smaller gardens of 10/15 trees still prepare strings with 5 or 6 Profichis each and throw them over

You have good reasons to be excited! I do appreciate that. Many people, God knows why, call all sorts of bad names to Caprifigs and some pretend they are good for nothing !
You deal now with the Father of ALL figs, .. without it there were no figs at all!

Now, with all leaves gone on figs, let me show (pictures attached) another seedling born on a Gemini palm. Believe the beginnings of your neighbor's  Caprifig are very similar to this one but, with a difference: instead of a wild fig, it  gave birth to a NEW black Smyrna (*) shown to the forum this past summer and to which I gave a temporary name- the Sparrow fig.

(*) tested its seeds, and they were all fertile a sign of successful pollination by wasps.

Grasa,

Thank you
Some day you also find a good one in your area...A fellow member from Bulgaria has Caprifigs in a 6a climatic zone..?

cheers
Francisco

Aaron,

The cuttings do not carry any wasps. Once planted like all other fig cuttings,  they root more or less rapidly and grow... Once established they may go to bigger pots or to the ground BUT they must grow on a wasp rich environment to have their figs caprificated...

That's why I suggested 'air-layers' for a much quicker propagation and to remain close to the mother tree for one season for effective caprification. If you do so now, by June 2015 you may have them active and having a number of Profichi's ready to issue wasps.

Doing it with cuttings,  hardly you may have good caprifigs in less than 3 or 4 seasons.

You may have some density of wasps in your area and if this is so, the better!

I do test samples of seeds of all my figs every season to evaluate the presence of wasps.
For instance practically all figs I showed in the forum during the summer and autums/2013 had fertile seeds, a good sign of wasp service in the area.

If in doubt, best is to do a seed test.

Francisco

Lovely pictures and , yes, I do remember the story of the "sparrow fig tree" was a great story.

This Capri information is going to raise some bars here, hehe.. Now we are talking some serious Figging.

I think some people who don't appreciate Capri figs is because they can't have them in their climates ;/ , so they can't even know what a true fig taste from Mediterranean or Middle East is. Just like the story of the fox and the green grapes... LOL ;)

I have to become good friends with the old lady of Capri fig tree house. We are talking about Air layering time, then keeping the potted tree in her patio for another year... wow, I think it will be a very interesting relationship! I had my eye in that branch that's growing parallel to the palm tree on the left in the picture, the one with four tops. It's a 6 foot tall branch that she would never miss.

Grassa was right about you being an interesting person Francisco  (thank you Grasa), I appreciate your knowledge on figs.

All this capri/smyrna fig talk makes my head spin. Someday, who knows, this knowledge of 'virtual' capri can come handy.. See Aaron, you now have homework to do.

Plenty of wasps here in Fresno!

Grassa, you are right about serious homework, you need to move to LA, haha, i'm going to need help :x

Brian, we have wasps too in LA but I think it will make a difference if I have few pots of Capri here and there in my own backyard, to get PRIMA quality figs. That would be the ultimate thing to do for a fig connoisseur (how ever you spell that word, LOL)

Aaron,

Have discussed this subject with my brother Manel, to try and find additional contributions on how to best sort this out and let you have the wasp support on hand at your garden as quickly as possible.

He agrees with the air-layer options, cuttings may take too long (at least 3 years)... and suggested that if you are confident that wasps are around, (even in small quantities),  he would advise (you have nothing to lose!)... grafting 2 or 3 Caprifig selected healthy scions on existing trees on your garden.
And he added that this could be done next month (Feb) using the cleft method or the bark graft, slightly later.
If necessary, other grafting option are available for April/May, (chip-bud grafting for instance) which is very easy and simple to do with high rates of success.

Francisco

hm... maybe I can graft on this tree bellow, it hasn't fruited for 4th year now... I had pulled it from the Ivy beds of local Police department when it was 12" little tree. Maybe it was from seed in bird droppings.

 

Sorry, cannot see your picture.
If it is a wild rootstock , no problem providing it is robust and healthy

Francisco

I could use several branches to graft and the location is ideal, northern corner, wind blows from north and spreads to my backyard towards south.