Ive got 1 tree with FMV. I know that it spreads via a mite. Are the mites in zone 6(NJ)?

What do you do with the tree with FMV?

Not worry about it. If you plan on collecting figs then the FMV comes with the package. We all learn to deal with it.
It comes and goes. On rare occasions a tree will be heavily infested, give it extra treatment and extra chops at it and it will be fine as it matures.

Enjoy your figs.

Rafed,

Some say it can spread from tree to tree and some say it doesn't. I just never paid close attention to it.

I have some that have it along side the ones that don't have it. I don't see any affects. Though I could be wrong.

I'm here simply trying to put you at ease.

I would ask someone with more knowledge about it.

I researched this a little bit just this spring.  (Like you slingha, I'm relatively new to the forum, though not new to figs... but I am new to collecting multiple cultivars, having grown just one variety for a long time).  From what I was able to read about this, mites are present everywhere, and they pick up the viruses from the infected tree(s) and will likely carry them to other trees.  (The mites don't hatch with the virus, they have to pick it up from an infected tree).  How far a mite can range, I don't know.  Probably they can go from one tree to another that's 3 feet away, but maybe not another that's 2000 feet away.  But where the cutoff is in between those two distances, I have no idea.  (And I just made those distances up, just to illustrate the point).  So I don't know whether it's worth trying to separate the trees by any distance.  Maybe others on here know more about the range of mites, but in practical terms if you have contact with all of your trees, then sooner or later some mites will have hitched a ride on you, so it really doesn't matter how far they can range on their own.  So instead of trying to isolate a tree that's infected, I've learned to just accept the presence of the viruses... i.e. what Rafed is saying.  In fact some people suggest that FMV is everywhere, in almost all fig trees, but that because some trees are less affected than others, a tree may appear to be virus free, but actually not be.  Like I said, I'm learning to just accept it as an inevitable part of growing figs.

To complicate it a little more, I doubt that anyone has any idea how many additional sap-sucking bugs might spread it as well--so even if you don't happen to have a particular mite or aphid living in your area, that might not mean you're home free. Sometimes I notice leaf hoppers on my fig leaves--particularly on the newest growth, where it's probably easiest to suck the sap. They can hop and fly, so I assume they're far more mobile than a mite. I've wondered if they might spread FMV; Wikipedia says, "Leafhoppers can transmit plant pathogens, such as viruses, phytoplasmas^[2] and bacteria."

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r261100611.html
"The fig mosaic is vectored by the eriophyid mite Aceria fici; feeding by a single mite is sufficient to transmit the virus to a healthy seedling of F. carica."
Mites are everywhere, yes, but not all mites will feed on the fig.what is the habitat range of Aceria fici?  It would make sense that the mite,, Aceria fici, is adapted to the native climatic conditions of the areas where fig trees grow naturally and that it does not survive outside of  those conditions.

Grant
z5b

and to further complicate things, i have fig plants that shown no sign of the virus when young and up to 2 years later its there.

One for example was bought locally and i saw several of the adults that these plants were propagated from and there was no sign of virus at the particualr time i viewed them.
But thats not to say its not there . The one i have now displays it rather well this season as i type this.

My Vdb displays it very well early in season now only the trained eye can see it this time of year.

My Native de Aregentile i cut down after a branch broke when i was moving the pot and this plant had displayed it bad . I had trained a sucker to grow and the leaves look wonderful but the virus is certainly there but very faint and perhaps next season will show it worse or maybe not.

It' just something you have to live with when you collect figs. Good culture seems to alleviate some of the symptoms. Planting in ground usually helps the tree to grow stronger. Adding lime helps in our area and a little fertilizer for trees that aren't young starts recently rooted. 

Grant:  I live in a climate where figs don't grow natively, but there are definitely mites here that will feed on fig trees.  Whether they are Aceria fici or not, I cannot say.  But they're mites and they are feeding on fig trees.  Meanwhile, I'm with Ken on this one... there may well be other ways for these viruses to be transmitted, in addition to Aceria fici.

Aceria fici ,adults live in ground around the tree in  mild climates where fig ideally live.
In cold climates the soil is frozen and if any mites might have been brought in with a plant that was imported with foliage on,eventually will die ,and in the Spring no more mites left.If you have a healthy clean fig in Chicago it will stay clean forever.
This is a fact.
iT DOESN'T mATTER WHAT BOOKS SAY ,BECAUSE THEY ARE WRITTEN BY PEOPLE THAT GROW AND  sell plants in area where Aceria fici lives.
There is an interest there,so take it with a grain of salt.

Herman, I understand what you are saying about Aceria fici.  But you also seem to be implying that Aceria fici is the only way that the viruses can be transmitted from one tree to another.  If you're saying that, how do you know that to be true?  

Well:Acaria fici is called that way because it is adapted to suck juices from a fig leaf.
Any other insect that will try to feed on a fig leaf will get it's sucking tromp full of latex that will harden inside the tromp orifice ,and that will be the end of that insect.
You can look long and hard ,and you will not find any insects sucking on fig tree leaves,here in NJ.

What about spider mites? I saw some of them earlier in the spring scurrying around my trees. I havn't seen them lately. What do they eat?

I have never seen spider mites feeding on the fig leaf.
I have seen them feeding on grape leaf but not on fig.

 This is my St-Rita fig.Last year was very heavily invested with FMV,but this year i was surprised to see it gone.Now,i have a healthy plant.  Marius

Herman, I'm pretty sure they were spider mites. I have not really seen them recently, but for a little while in May or so. I did see them crawling around and I started spraying the trees with the hose and maybe the warm weather?

Here is a picture I took. This is about as good as the pics got since them moved so fast.

Yes it is a spider mite but it is important if it is capable to feed on fig or not.
Spider mites are found in nature on a lots of plants and will land on plants moved by wind ,birds people etc.
When spider mites feed you can see the results of them feeding.
I see a lot of marks showing them feeding on my grapes but nothing on fig leaf!

Thanks Herman, what are the signs of them feeding? For a little while there I was seeing them all, webs and everything. 

Where the mites were feeding there will be a spot on leaf,like a iregular or round spot,where you can see that the material in the leaf were taken out used,by the mites and you can almost see trough the leaf.
Here is a pix how the Damage should look on a different plant species.

I didn't really see any damage like that on my trees, but I wonder why they would have been all over the trees if they didnt eat them. 

They might have been predatory mites looking for other bugs to pray on.