thanks jack. these people are claiming virus free plants. i just ordered a couple just to see.

susie

I bought 5 - 6 figs from them last year, they are clean and healthy, but small. The figs will look somewhat different, with small stems and leaves the first year so do not be surprised when you receive them.  test tube plants start at the cell level, so be prepared for several years before you see fruit.  Tissue culturing is big, its not a claim , its real, they invest in this equipment to start off with no carry over problems and also obtain volume stock.  It does not mean that they cannot be infected later on. Enjoy

Tissue culture in itself does not prevent spreading of the virus.  It takes further treatment with various chemicals to rid the virus.  In citrus, they also grow plants in chambers to produce very fast growth and will take new tip cuttings and that will sometimes result in areas of the plant where the virus has not spread yet.

Interesting thread here.  From what I have observed many types of figs exhibit FMV when young but most outgrow it over time, though leaves with symptoms can still pop up here and there on healthy trees.  People should be very careful when claiming that they have FMV free trees.  Unless you have tissue from the tree checked by a lab you don't really know that the tree is FMV free.  Just because it is not showing signs you cannot assume it is FMV free.  

For most trees it is not a big deal.  Some varieties seem to be more badly affected by FMV, but it is hard to tell if that tree has a bad form of FMV or if its just a weak variety that wouldn't do that well regardless of FMV or not.  As far as I'm concerned it's a non-issue and I would not let it affect my decision to get a variety that I am interested in.

I think the newest fad here on the forums will be FMV free trees.  In a year or two the fad will be something else.

Susie,

My understanding is this, the term tissue culture alone does not guarantee that the process of cleaning of disease or viruses has been preformed.  A lab can take a relatively small amount of genetic material and turn it into a large numbrer of plants.  During the process of tissue culture steps can be taken to clean the plant, or not.  During the plant tissue retrieval process they can preform a heat treatment that brings the plant tissue to a specific temperature range which like Pete mentioned will cause the viral genetic code to unravel yet the plant tissue is able to endure; they then use the treated tissue to make a clean plant. They could do this process repeatedly with many tissue specimens or make one or more mother plant(s) and then tissue culture the clean plant(s) if they so chose.

If your Hardy Chicago turns out to be not what you were hoping for, or if you just want a bigger one to start with try Hartman's. They have several sizes available, and if you have trouble finding the figs on their website call them,they are very helpful.  I got one last fall, it had a bit of rust but it is producing well this year and it still looks clean. HC is the only variety they carry, they are mostly into producing virus free blueberries.

This may be useful, go retail then "other small fruit plants"
http://www.hartmannsplantcompany.com/index.html

Yes, very true, anyone culturing figs and chestnuts etc trying to break the chain of virus from legacy generations should be treating the cells accordingly using the protocol for that.  I assume, ( over used word!) these firms do so properly! 

Susie,
You cannot assume that "reputable" nurseries will not ship plants that have visible signs of FMD. They will ship whatever they have grown.

There are a few areas that do not currently have incidents of fig mites, usually areas that have cold winters with extended below freezing temperatures. There are only a few mail order nurseries in these locations, and they offer a limited variety of fig cultivars. These locations have locally grow trees that have not been exposed to fig mites, for decades and are usually free of FMD symptoms.

There are the Tissue cultured plants, but most labs (wholesalers) have not published any guarantees of specific FMD removal. The retailers usually have little or no knowledge of FMD.

a simple three paragraph document by UC Davis, actually answers many of the questions brought up in this topic. The paragraphs on FMV are self explanatory.

thanks guys. i'm just going to try a little expirement here. i'm confident that i can avoid any contamination here, due to extreme isolation. [3 miles to a government road.

i want to find out if my idea is true, that there are different strains of fmv. if i'm right and i strart with a group of supposedly clean trees, and another group that just have no visible  signs i will never have a bad case of fmv.

susie

Never is a strong word! If your trees look clean for several years you likley either have FMV free or very dormant carrier  trees. I have had trees look clean for 5 years, then put them under stress, ex: too little or too much water, bingo the signs emerge, hence they were happy carriers until stress brought it up. Buying clean looking trees is what we all strive for, so its an excellant start.