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jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 

I recently saw a bunch of fig plants being sold at a local nursery. They had tiny leaves, none more than 1 1/2" long and most less than an inch. The plants sprawled along the ground like a vine with no branches growing upright.

 

I asked the staff if they got dark or light figs. They had no idea and went to the owner who said, "It's a Brown Turkey." So, does anyone know of a dwarf-leaved, creeping variant? If it's something good, I'll go get one. Thanks.

 

John
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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
It's called Creeping Fig.  Google it. Note without the wasp it doesn't produce fruit and can ruin your masonry by climbing.  Invasive to a degree.
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Jason
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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
Ps, I am still laughing my ass off.  These jackasses at nurseries think everything is a freaking Brown Turkey.  It just goes to show you.... Never trust a nursery when it comes to figs.
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Jason
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BronxFigs

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
Jason...

John was smart enough to ask.  What about the poor schmuck that buys the plant thinking it will become something that it will never be!

But, I think I remember reading about a hybrid between F. carica crossed  with F. pumila.  Its supposed to creep, and make long vines.  Maybe it is a Brown Turkey crossed with pumila.  Then you can hang yourself from the vines while eating crappy figs!

Frank
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slingha

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 

Imagine the poor guy who gets suckered into buying this thing?  6 years from now his house will be covered by it and wondering when the figs will be coming
jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 

Believe it or not, I do indeed know what a fruiting fig looks like. Before we all laugh ourselves silly, I will let you know that I did Google it. It is not what was shown as "Creeping Fig." I actually knew about that non-fruiting houseplant.

 

These plants were definitely fruiting figs, complete with the leaves we all see on our plants. I was told it gets a brown fruit. I thought perhaps it could be somewhat like the Weeping Black. That said, any other guesses?

 

P.S. - I knew that mentioning BT was like bait for Jason's venom. Say Brown Turkey and duck!
BLB

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
You can say Brown Turkey to me and I wll say, please take a pic of what they are selling. If it is the real thing, a ficus carica I am interested. I might ask you to purchase one for me!
BronxFigs

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
U P D A T E .....

I knew I saw this plant listed somewhere.

This hybrid can be found listed in the WOODLANDERS INC. catalog, in the 'Rare Native and Exotic Plants' section.  It is called: "CLIMBING FIG" and is a cross between F. carica X F. pumila.  Figs from this hybrid are listed as edible...with one plant being named.

Frank
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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
Aww c'mon guys, I hope you know I wasn't stabbing or biting here.  Don't mistake my unusual brevity for anger.  Frank, you're right about him asking (both here and at the nursery)

I'm cynical about the nursery guy who said "BT", yes... But to say Creeping Fig is like Ficus Carica... 

I had a typo in my first post.  Creeping Fig is in the Ficus family, native to Asia, it will ripen a fruit given pollination from fig wasp (I have pics of one or two taken from Savannah), but I didnt think it looked anything I'd eat.
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Jason
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jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 

I may have to just buy one and get a photo. It doesn't have leaves like the Climbing Figs I looked up either. They look like the normal 3-5 lobed fig leaves on my trees. I just found it weird that the leaves were so small and that it was prostrate. They labelled it as "Dwarf Fig" for the sale. It cascaded over the edges of the pots in some.
jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 

And I know you were not biting (much). I know your passion with regard to BT, so it is often fun to set it up for you to knock down. :)

 

I really do want to find out what this strange fig is though. Might be a great find for $10.
gorgi

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Posted Reply with quote  #12 
A few years ago, I did see one F.carica; really, really weeping
down over its pot edges. This was while I was visiting a small local fig nursery.
I asked what it was; his answer: It is just a BT(!) and I do not
know why it is behaving so different from its (normal) mother tree (a possible mutation?).

I did buy some figs from him; but I kept thinking about his weeping BT fig.

After a while, I called him to request him making me a little one for me to buy.
His answer was: Too late! A guy from CT came here and made me a
$$$ offer that I could not refuse...
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BronxFigs

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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
The next chapter to this fig mystery is yet to be written.  I can't find any photos of this plant.


****************************************************************

Now I have a request....Where can I buy a small plant of Ficus auriculata?  Caldwell Nursery has it listed, but they don't ship.

Thanks,
Frank
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Dieseler

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Posted Reply with quote  #14 
You can google it for more information and possible leads perhaps.
Also if your curious here a tid bit about it in this thead  .
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Another-Figs-World-Ficus-auriculata-Ficus-roxburghii-Elephant-ear-fig-tree-5737757
satellitehead

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 
A search for "weeping" here or at GW FF will turn up pictures of fig with clear weeping nature.  May be what you are describing?

I didn't see this was a multi-lobe leaf earlier.  Creeping fig has leaves shaped like an oval (grape).  They sell it all over down here and that, along with Crepe Myrtle, are found all over coastal towns like Savannah.

Curious to see a pic of this $10 plant now.  Could be worth a buy.  Got a smartphone that you can go back and take a picture with?
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Jason
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slingha

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Posted Reply with quote  #16 

It's called the Ruth Bancroft

 

http://plantlust.com/plants/ficus-carica-x-pumila-ruth-bancroft/

 

Cistus Nursery had it back in 2006

 
BronxFigs

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Posted Reply with quote  #17 
Thanks, Martin...

Look for my PM.

Frank
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jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #18 

I went back and bought one (photos pending). A few leaves were 2 1/2 inches, but no larger. As stated before, most were smaller. And they are densely placed up and down the horizontally-growing branches. It would make a great bonsai if it doesn't produce good fruit.

 

I spoke with the owner of the business. I commented that I thought this one was interesting, as I had not seen anything quite like it and let him know I had several varieties at home. He gave me a pacifying look like "Sure, you do." I doubt he knows there are more than one variety of fig, kind of like China might not exist because he has never been there.

 

He's a nice guy, but judging from previous conversations, I don't think he is the sharpest tack. I asked him if it was a dark or light fig. He said, "It's plum-colored" and called it "a Southern fig." OK, there are all colors of plums, so I asked again. He said it was purplish-brown. I'll have to see.

 

 
jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #19 

Here are some shots. It's a gallon pot. Sorry for the hazy view. It's super humid here today.

 

 
satellitehead

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Posted Reply with quote  #20 
What a weirdo (tree and the dude). That is curious indeed (tree).  Looks like an awesome find.
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Jason
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slingha

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Posted Reply with quote  #21 
No tag on it to tell you what it is definitely?
jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #22 

No tags. No idea of point of origin. Just about 6 or so pots sitting near the gate, priced to move. Looks alone made me bite.

hoosierbanana

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Posted Reply with quote  #23 
It is a tissue culture plant, leaves look right for a BT. The one I got from Florida Hill Nursery last year looks pretty much identical as a year old plant.

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slingha

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Posted Reply with quote  #24 

how much was if if I may ask?
hoosierbanana

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Posted Reply with quote  #25 
It was a tiny plant with one inch square or roots and I think it was around $5. I saw some for sale for $10 that were a little smaller than yours in half gallon pots.
 I am guessing about the leaves really, I ordered 3 BTs and one looks like that, while the other 2 have Brunswick leaves and red terminal buds, obviously the botched my order. All 3 grew in that spreading habit all last year. Complete with tons of shoots forming on the lateral branches.
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BLB

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Posted Reply with quote  #26 
I think it will be hard to find a spot for that fig as cool as it looks, Spreading like that takes up a lot of room. I can envision it in a large hanging pot that would be cool
jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #27 

It's possible that you are correct, Brent. Although I question if this guy deals with anything as sophisticated as tissue cultures. I'm going to go back to the local public gardens. I seem to recall a similar (though larger) fig that was almost like a groundcover. Maybe his source material is local.
Dieseler

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Posted Reply with quote  #28 
For those that like its shape just train it early on by tying the branches from pot to stakes at ground level little by little or send me your best dark types and i fix it for you but no guarantee you get it back if the figs taste excellent .   ; )
hoosierbanana

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Posted Reply with quote  #29 
I think what you are seeing is more of a temporary thing, I am not sure though. I expect mine to send up big thick suckers after a while and then the original "trunks" will be under the rest of the canopy.


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jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #30 

Maybe I should put it into a Topsy Turvy tomato container. Or suspend a pot on the top of a pergola and grow a roof.
stefpix

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Posted Reply with quote  #31 
Any updates on this? any figs developing?
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slingha

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Posted Reply with quote  #32 
I have 2 of them, one being reserved for another member. Both are figless. I think it may be trying but I think it's a young plant at this point. Maybe next year
MichaelTucson

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Posted Reply with quote  #33 
There's a guy near here, in my neighborhood, who has been growing some kind of creeping fig tree for the past 3 years (at least... it may be longer, but I only noticed it 3 years ago).  His tree kind of meanders through and between other bushes, has multiple stems, and spreads over a distance of perhaps 15 feet, but never more than a foot or 18" above the ground.  I haven't ever found him at home when I've stopped to ask about it.  He has other figs too, more traditional looking trees.  From the leaves it looks like F. carica to me.  I'm hoping to find him at home sometime soon, so I can ask about it.  

Mike   central NY state, zone 5
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slingha

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Posted Reply with quote  #34 
mike

my money is on a tissue culture brown turkey that just needs another year
landscapewitch

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Posted Reply with quote  #35 
It will be interesting to find out. A prostrate habit fig would be a fine monster for the garden design palette. Also, I come across Ficus pumila with fruit fairly often here. The fruit is surprisingly large but without caprification they were not that tasty. In Florida we used to quip that it was the only thing holding some roofs on during hurricanes. Highway overpasses too.
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stefpix

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Posted Reply with quote  #36 
I saw a F. pumila bonsai and I liked the adult leaves a lot. I only find small juveniles for sale. The bonsai I saw even had synconia.  Alexis, how old do you think the F. pumila are when they start fruiting. I also wonder if the hybrid with the common Fig may need a pollinator to produce edible fruit.
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jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #37 
Mine is growing well, but no figs in sight this season. And I have to shoot down the tissue culture theory. Mine has a touch of FMV. I still think the grower may have gotten his start from the local county gardens. They have a large, sprawling fig that is very similar.
landscapewitch

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Posted Reply with quote  #38 
Stefano, I have no idea. I usually come across them on back alley garages in neighborhoods from 1920 to 1945. I think the F.pumila bonsai are propagated from mature vines much like fruiting English Ivy can be done. At least that is what we did in Florida.
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Alexis
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slingha

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Posted Reply with quote  #39 
John,

Does that fig produce?
MichaelTucson

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Posted Reply with quote  #40 
Quote:
Originally Posted by slingha
my money is on a tissue culture brown turkey that just needs another year

Tim, I saw Brent's and Bob's suggestions to that effect in that other thread about dwarf BT that you had.  But I'm not so sure that's the case with this one... it's at least 3 years old, so I'm not so sure that it'll change significantly in its 4th year.  I'll try to get some pics of it, if I ever find the guy at home.  (His neighbors might react funny if I just go up there into his garden and take pictures when he's not home).

Quote:
Originally Posted by jpeaspanen
And I have to shoot down the tissue culture theory. Mine has a touch of FMV.

John, the fact that it has FMV doesn't rule out tissue culture.  If there were viruses in the part that was cultured, those viruses could be cultured too.  Or the tree could have been exposed to FMV at any point before you got it.  Tissue culture is just a method of propagation... it doesn't guarantee a virus-free tree.

Mike   central NY state, zone 5
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slingha

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Posted Reply with quote  #41 
I just posted a few updated photos in the thread I had started.
jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #42 
Yep, it is covered in unripe figs. I checked it last week.
slingha

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Posted Reply with quote  #43 
John,

did your fig tree put out any figs?
jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #44 
Nope. Not this season. I admit though that I left it in its nursery pot and kind of forgot about it. It's doing fine, but I got more focused on the ones producing figs and my other plants. I'll either pot it up into a bucket in the spring or I might give it a try as a bonsai. It has such small leaves that I think it might be a good candidate.
jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #45 
Update - My assessment of FMV may have been premature. I had rust this year on most of the plants. Once this one dropped its damaged leaves, it grew new unblemished ones. I think it is fine now.

It's a tough little tree. I all but totally neglected it, but it still grew well, spreading out like a leafy spider. It never got larger leaves; and it cascaded over the pot's edge. Weird and wonderful. Can't wait for it to fruit next season.

P.S. - I should have a limited number of cuttings available for trade. PM me if interested.
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Posted Reply with quote  #46 
pre-bonsai?
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jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #47 
No, after looking it over, I think it is too low-growing to be a good bonsai, even if you went with a cascade design. I am growing it for the fruit, which the seller told me was brownish-purple in coloration and allegedly sweet. I take this with a grain of salt though, as he also called it Brown Turkey. Pretty sure it is not that.

Personally, I think he lifted some starts from the local county gardens. They have a sprawling fig tree tucked away in a corner of the property. It has small leaves, creeps along the ground and produces brown/purple figs. It is unlabeled and unattended. Kind of forgotten, so taking cuttings would be easy enough.

As for my tree, I'm calling it "Wilmington Creeper," in honor of the recent Halloween holiday.
cookie_dr

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Posted Reply with quote  #48 
Maybe it's a Fiorone Di Ruvo fig?
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jtp

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Posted Reply with quote  #49 
I am not familiar with that fig. Can anyone tell us about this variety?
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Posted Reply with quote  #50 
I've been looking around online for a fig tree with similarities to this fig tree and found this type today.  I would love to know what type it is...the mystery...lol  Looked at photos of Fiorone Di Ruvo fig and it grows similar to the Wilmington Creeper.
Here is how it is described by someone that has this type of fig: "The tree is growing in an odd shape. It reminds me of a helicopter with its blades at rest sort of sticking straight outward and drooping a bit."
Also says it has a early crop of figs but has no autumn crop if not caprified.
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