If you CHOOSE to believe that all fig trees have FMV.......go right ahead. I do not. And I do know that a fig tree which does not display ANY distorted FMV looking leaves on it, usually performs a lot better than a tree that does have obvious signs of FMV.  Given a choice......give me one that does not have any signs of FMV.... EVERY TIME. I do not need any other scientific "TEST" other than that simple critieria........(;>)

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

I had a conversation with Nick ( oldghost) last night. We were discussing FMV.

Dan and Jason, I appreciate the discussion/debate, as well as its civil tone; it's very instructive to hear different sides of the issue. When I first heard about FMV, I had only heard one side and the whole thing sounded pretty cut-and-dried. Now I'm far less dogmatic about it. I'm not even sure that every instance of mottled coloration or leaf deformation that I originally chalked up to FMV was truly caused by the virus. It usually feels like progress to put a name to things, but in my experience life tends to be more complicated.

last year before i got into figs, i read enough about the FMV. after reading them, i decided to forget about it.

i assumed that all the tress that i'll get will have FMV. if they produce figs, great. if they don't, too bad.

after being on this forum, i realized that there are so many different types of figs and so many different strain from each named figs, even if everyone of my fig trees do have FMV, i'm sure to end up with enough figs to eat and enjoy.

the trees that i have currently do show slight FMV. but so far, VdB produced edible figs. paradiso gene has good size fig on it, and kathleen black is growing very nicely. white greek is very young, but i can see it growing almost every other day. i'm happy FMV or not.

now.. rooting the cuttings is totally another matter. that i need to learn and control so i can have more trees with FMV or not.

pete

Here is but 1 example in my yard Violet De Bordeaux.
Has FMV but not set back at all by it, just looks different in spring when it displays it but nice later in season when its difficult to spot but still slightly noticeable..
Fig production is good as tree ages like most any other tree in my yard with only 1 exception.

And
yes it good to see adults act like adults we all are different .  ; )

Something then is either suppressing it or magnifying it.

Stress.  Either from environmental conditions or the presence of other infection, most likely.  Stress seems to be the dominant factor which causes FMV to present in my short couple years of experience with figs/FMV.  It's the same across all 70- or 80-something varieties I've rooted so far that have shown symptoms.  Remove the stress, and the symptoms of FMV diminish or disappear for most of them.

Or is FMV getting more of the blame then it should. Are what we are seeing symptomatic of other viruses not known.

IMO, much of what is being seen on young trees Is NOT FMV........IMO, it's likely due to a nutrient imbalance of some sort.....not caused by any virus.

And  yes indeed, new starts can and OFTEN will have absolutely NO SIGNS of any kind of FMV. Herman2 is going to soon be getting one such fig known as "Beall" from yours truly. How many FMV free Beall starts have you seen?????  If you got one from UC Davis.....it WILL have FMV. Well, I have seen a lot without FMV, BECAUSE I have a BEALL tree that did not come from UC Davis and that tree IS FMV FREE for all intents and purposes.

I honestly dont believe that every fig tree out there is infected with FMV. This is my believe, regardless of evidence im sticking to my guns even if im dead wrong wich I doubt I am. FMV is a common problem world wide, Now my main concern is are we adding to this problem by sharing cuttings?

What I mean is if were taking cuttings from several different trees some might have fmv other might not if the prunning shears are not cleaned well will this transfer fmv to the fmv free plants? Because I know I didn't have any fmv on my Colasanti Dark until I grafted a black Mission bud onto it. The sucker I removed from the tree before being grafted still no signs of fmv and the figs are bigger than the ones on the mother plant.

That is a very interesting observation Nelson. I can see where grafting could easilly infect an uninfected tree.

Dan
Semper Fi-vus

Hi Nelson you write
Now my main concern is are we adding to this problem by sharing cuttings?

Personally i feel were way past the point of no return on that matter.
No offense just my opinion.

I dont even care about weather a source has it anymore because from my experience all mine do very well despite it they

except my 1 type to date, it may change i always have hope for it.

Actually it may be boring "to me" if that plant did act and look normal i might think
now there is surely something wrong with it.   ; )

Normal is not allowed on this forum. We're all a little looney. Some more than others! ;-)

Here's some work that was done in California on Fig Mosaic Virus.......note that all fig trees in California have this mite. Also note that "seedlings" from infected trees DO NOT HAVE FMV. That is subtantiated by the fact the the O'Rourke bred figs DO NOT (yet)  HAVE  FMV. The virus is spread by mites. And IMO, it is very likely spread by leaf eating June bugs Time will tell.......

Good info Dan, thanks for posting it.

This is just my take on this
Personally I think everyone is right and wrong there are many things that make leaves mottled and or distorted FMV I believe is not always the case but it is everywhere.
In the past there were areas that definatly did not have FMV that is no longer the case if someone bought a fig at a box store then the area has the virus.
That does not mean that every tree has it or does it if mites or some other critter can transmit they are everywhere.
I guess whet I'm saying is its here and we should put our resourses into getting our trees to grow out of it the best we can.
Believe me if you look at the ailments that are out in the plant world we have it easy dealing with this miner ailment.
P.S I know some of my facts are probably wrong so don't yell too loud

@Jim, that's the beauty.  Nobody yelling.  I think everyone here is probably right, and the reality is we won't know how right they are for another couple of decades.

Thats why I like this forum people are very civil.
The yelling thing was in fun I just forgot the smiley face :)

Blasphemy!!   ;)

Hey Dan, this is one of my Kadota seedling's check out the leaves. All of my 3 kadota seedlings have this spotting on the leaves I figured its fmv? But yet I have read that seedlings are supposed to be virus free? Clearly not the case here.

According to UCD researchers who have specifically studied FMV.......they stated emphatically that fig seedlings DO NOT HAVE FMV. In fact UCD used FMV free seedlings for their control population. Seedling were all they could find that was assured FMV free. Had you seen the link I provided to that UC Davis FMV report?? They also state that not all discolored leaves are an indication of FMV....

However, like you......I would not declare your seedling as FMV free. IMO, that could just as easily be a nutrient imbalance of some sort. Thanks for posting.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus