Tami

I live in SW Florida and our soil is infested with nematodes. They do not like mulch and concrete.
To control them either we plant near concrete (a wall or a pathway etc..) or we supply some compost to the soil and then we add between 4 to 6 inches of mulch. This keeps the soil moist and eliminates the nematodes.

Thank you for the info, I'm going to give it a try.

Has anyone ever seen a black mission with leaves like this, this is an air layer I took, the mother tree is about 6 feet tall and never put out any figs yet. It has pinkish stems and red tips. I got it from a nursery out of Florida.

At Ryan....YES!

Thanks Dennis and Alan.

Just an update:

......"IT'S ALIVE....IT'S ALIVE' !!!!!  (Colin Clive/Frankenstein)

The Winter of 2013-2014 has laid waste to my small collection fig trees, and most of my prime trees were killed off.  However, I am pleased to announce that my  5 ft. "Black Mission" fig tree has managed to survived, and, has even started to sprout some new leaves.  I believe it survived because I stored it in my unheated shed along with some of my older trees.  It was the only one that wasn't killed, even though it was frozen solid before I could get in into the  protected area.  I thought it was a gonner, but I held on to it because there was just a tiny hint of green after doing the "scratch test".  So, I waited, and, I watered, and I fertilized .... (Drum roll) and, it sprouted - after almost two months of nail biting suspense.

I'm hearin' the Jive Five's version of "I'm A Happy Man" playin' in my head.


Frank

Glad to hear that Frank.
Any idea why this one made it while so many others did not? I didn't think Black Mission was particularly more hardy than other varieties?

that's great frank ! kinda odd tho. i understand that tree to be zone 7. you had zone 6 trees that died, right?

Great news Frank!

Thanks-

I wish I could give you a definitive answer as to why this "Black Mission" lived, and the other hardier trees died.  "Atreano", "Bryant Dark", "Red Italian" are varieties that have survived NYC/Zone-7 without protection...however, NYC rarely gets hit with Zone-7 temperatures.  Often, winter temps, when cold, plunge into the teens.  Most of the time, temps. hover in the high 20s and mid 30s.  We do get some cold snaps, but the temps. usually moderate within a few days.  This past winter, we got freezing, bitter cold weather, and it stayed that way until March.

So why the "Black Mission" tree lived, and the other trees were killed, I can't tell you, since they were all stored in the same frozen shed.  I am as surprised as you are that the "Black Mission" lived.  So be it.

However, I will take precautions when the cold weather comes back.  So, dormancy, Wilt-Pruf,  then the trees will go into the storage shed (with some heat), in that order. I don't want a repeat of last winter.

Frank

That's great news Frank !!

Just an update to posting # 36:  My enthusiasm quickly turned into an ironic situation.  

While the "Black Mission" fig tree managed to barely cling to life over the last winter, and push out new leaves, it is also showing all the ugly symptoms of FMV.  The leaves show terrible deformities, the chlorophyll is blasted and blotchy, and the tree looks like it belongs in some hi-tech ICU.  I never expected this tree would survive, but after months of looking dead, it sprouted.  Not to be out foxed, I had bought a "new" "BM" tree to replace this tree, from a nursery that claimed their trees were disease-free.  Well, the 2nd "BM" tree proved to be just as virus-infected, contaminated, and sickly, as the original survivor.  They will both go into the garbage.

But wait!  There's more....There is a silver lining around my dark cloud.....Wellspring Gardens sent me 5 beautiful, tissue-cultured, "Black Mission" treelets.  Guess what!  No FMV, they are clean with a capital "C" and all are vigorously growing.  They have tripled in size over the last month.  Granted, it will take a few years for figs to show up, but at least the trees will be disease-free, healthy and productive.

My future plans for these five, tissue-cultured "BM" trees..... a five-stem braided-trunk....trained into a standard, tree-form... with branches near the top end.  Anyway, that's my goal, but who knows?


Frank

tissue cultured trees seem the way to go. mine is far  more vigorous than older purchased trees.

i've read of them being slow to produce, but my HC is 18 months old n has 4 figs growing. that's as good as my 3 year olds.

Hi Suzie-Q

I'm done with wasting my time on any diseased trees.  Season's too short to waste on compromised, weak fig trees.  Garbage...say hello to my "Black Mission" trees.

So far, my T-C trees have outgrown my other trees, over the same time period.  I can actually see my "Black Mission" and "Olympian" tree growing taller from day to day.  The "Olympian" trees are now just about 2 ft. tall, but remember, my area had a freezing cold Spring, so these trees went outside, late.  The T-C trees have averaged about 1 ft + of growth p/month.  (I'd kill to have a longer growing season).  I have read that T-C trees can "stall" in an extended juvenile stage, and can be slow to produce figs.... I guess not.  Your trees are a perfect example.  I'll bet my trees will push out some figs by next season.  I wish they would T-C some difficult-to-find varieties like: (insert varietal name here) so we can grow some disease-free "connoisseur figs".

So far, I have been very impressed with my T-C trees and I am not sorry at all that I bought them.  Now, I just have to keep them alive through each winter.

Thanks for the response.  Happy growing to you too.


Frank

frank, i was looking for an olypmian, after you mentioned it months ago.i didn't see it at well springs.
where can i get one, cultured?

Suzie-

I just checked, and they are in stock.

Go to: "Wellspring Gardens"... Fruit section.... and go to page 2.  OLYMPIAN is listed @ $6.95.

Good luck.


Frank


EDIT:  Burnt Ridge Nursery also retails this variety.

thanks frank. i guess they were out when i checked before. as soon as temps go down, i'll get some.

right now it's in the nineties so plants will  never survive truck time.

yeah, i have a longer growing season than you, but there are drawbacks.

Good for you Suzie Q ...

Frank

Never saw a Black Mission that wasn't infected. But many are 20-40' tall, grow like weeds, and fruit like crazy. Their leaves do show a lot of splotchiness.

Hi Jon...

So far, the tissue-cultured "Black Mission"-Wellspring Gdns. seems to be clean, robust, and show no signs of FMV.  But, my fingers are crossed.  Time will tell if the trees will stay clean.  So far, so good.

I don't think virus-infected trees will survive our cold winter climates for very long.  You're lucky.  You live in an area that has a very long and warm growing season.  The infected trees have plenty of good sunshine, over a long period of time, and possibly, are not as stressed.  So, they have plenty of time to thrive, grow tall, and produce plenty of good figs. 

It's the exact opposite, here on the East-Coast, especially in the colder climate, short-season areas like NYC.  I personally have never seen any local, in ground trees -growing in NYC, and surrounding areas- showing any signs of FMV infections.  In fact, these local trees are very robust and always have clean, healthy-looking leaves.  Some have lousy figs, some have great figs, but, they are all clean.  However, by mid-September/early-October the leaves do start to look ratty.  Rust, yes...mildew yes... but no FMV that's visible.  I don't think badly infected trees could survive, here, for very long.  They will become severely stressed, and will eventually die off.

For some, FMV is no big problem.  For me, it is, so I need to at least try to avoid it.


Frank

Frank,
Is it possible that it is not the trees with FMV that would have a hard t ime to survive but the FMV itself ?
Maybe the reason you have no virus is the virus cannot tolerate the cold well?

greenfig-

I couldn't even pretend to give you a scientifically correct answer.  Good evidence points to a certain fig mite as the spreading vector for this FMV, and this mite cannot survive in colder climates.  Warm areas, like in California, have this mite and the mites can infect trees that were previously clean.  If I sent you a clean, East-Coast tree...sooner or later FMV symptoms might show up because it may get the FMV infection from your local population of mites.

My conclusions are based on things that I have read, and not observable fact.  I just don't know.  I do know this:  None of my locally sourced "clean" trees, or my tissue-cultured trees show infection symptoms, and the virused "Black Mission" trees seem to be the only trees that grow poorly.  I have kept the "BM" trees showing virus, far away from my good trees...just in case a thirsty insect decides to visit my trees.  I also take precautions and sanitize my hands and any tools coming in contact with the infected trees trees, just in case.

To your question....I would love it if FMV was killed off by the cold weather, and subsequently, allowed the trees to survive and thrive.  I just can't say for sure.  Trees without FMV infection are far hardier than the same variety with FMV symptoms.  This might be why "BM" has a reputation of being a variety that does not do well in colder areas.  Why?  Because "BM" is a variety that's almost always infected with FMV.  So, the infected trees gradually die off in colder climates because they become too weak to survive any stressful conditions.  Who knows?

Anyway, my "Black Mission" trees with FMV are now in some garbage dump.  They have been made redundant.


Frank

frank, i'm not sure heat makes fmv less of a problem. i have a sick tree that i have not dug out yet. i see that it gets stressed by lack of water
before healthy trees. i'm using it as a meter. when it wilts i water all the trees. that way, no other trees show stress.

everyone here says that infected trees can be productive if you baby them.  i'm not a collector, i'm a fruit grower. my objective is maximum yield for  minimum work.
clean trees are necessary for that. i need tough trees.