I just wanted to show everybody that the cuttings I got from Turkey are starting to show signs of life.  Both the cuttings in the moss and in the Root Riot cubes were started on February 20th.  The Root Riot started showing their roots about a week ago, and today (March 6th) I saw the roots starting in the moss.  The roots on the ones in the moss are about 1/8 inch long.  I cupped 2 Bardaciks, 1 Sarizeybek, and 1 Goklop from the Root Riot bunch.  I'm pretty excited to see what the next few weeks will bring.... as soon as this cold snap of58 degrees high/40 degrees low breaks!!  Brrrrr.... 

Good luck! Do you have the wasp where you are?

Don't know.  I checked the forum before I bought these and I haven't found any hard evidence regarding whether or not these varieties actually need the wasp.  I have friends in the Central Valley (California) that I may be able to pull some strings with if need be.  I'm doing this for fun, so we'll see where it goes...the whole concept of wasp placement, configuration, etc is a bit much for this old boy!

Are you coastal, central, mountain or what.  I believe the Yuba City area has the wasp but I don't know how much further north it goes.

rcantor-

I'm about an hour south of San Francisco in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Even though we're in the redwoods, the fog stays at a minimum and we get plenty of sunshine.  I doubt there's wasps in the immediate area, but about a 10-minute drive away in the town of Soquel there's a gentleman farmer who has probably 10 acres of figs, varieties unknown (working up the nerve to knock on the guy's door... is that weird?).  He may be using wasps.....just don't know.

Wasps aside... I'm convinced there's a fig bug here that I've bitten by.  My first idea was how great it would be to have "exotic" figs, so I ordered the 3 from Turkey, thinking that since they would take a few weeks to arrive, I would have plenty of time to practice on some local varieties that would be easier to grow.  I put an ad in the mountain "free" group swap/email forum, and ended up with a few responses, yielding 6 branches that somehow became 25 cuttings, all of which immediately became my family (I'm blaming the fig bug!).  I then added a few I got from roadside fig trees... concerning which I had to convince my wife to drop me off by a freeway frontage road so I could run up the hill for some cuttings. I'm blaming the fig bug for that one, too.  I convinced myself I needed all of these cuttings to practice several rooting techniques prior to these Turkish figs arriving.  When they did arrive, I cut them in half - using recommendations from this forum - so now I have over 50 cuttings, all getting the same royal treatment.  I'm certainly getting an accelerated education!  MUCH funner than originally thought!

Hey JR sounds like your having a ton of fun and thats a great thing in IMHO.
As for that Sarizeybek i came within a hair of a purchase for fun but the fig bug for me is waning .
Its a darn nice looking fig .

Dieseler-

Maybe a lean Turkish Sarizeybek beauty might be just the thing to rekindle the fig bug for you?  Since I'm limited on ideal locations at the moment and I can see my collection of beauties growing, I have an extra one in a Root Riot cube I'd love to send your way if you promise to take good care of her :)

Thanks for the consideration JR i wait to see in future years if FMD's Sarizeybek produces figs that do not drop .
Its a beautiful looking fig though otherwise.

Anytime :)

OOps i said FMD i confused FMD with you JR for some odd reason or another.
FMD has not even posted in this thread .
Good luck and it would be nice if you keep updating as to whats happening with them.

Today was up-pot day and I thought I'd share some photos of my Turkish beauties...


Here's the Sarizeybek's




And the Bardacik's



And the Goklop's

And I've got 45 other miscellaneous varieties to up-pot soon.... how do you guys keep up with it all???!!!  :-)

Same as you.  We scramble  :).  Keep us updated on how they do.  Have you tasted any of the figs you have cuttings from?

No , not yet . :(  But I keep going back to the photos and drool alot ;)

Resurrecting this thread. :-)

JR, how are your cuttings doing? Have you determined whether or not these require a wasp?

Those look great, JR. Keep us posted.

I'm surprised you didn't get the mini nut.  I thought that looked pretty good.  Looking at La Honda for weather info it seems you have a pretty good chance of frosts most years which would mean you can't sustain a population of fig wasps. 

Tamar, it will probably take a few years to know.  If they don't need the wasp we might know in a little over a year if the new plants can tolerate producing a fig but that would be the soonest.

I found conflicting information about those Turkish figs needing a wasp, and unfortunately we may never know.... I lost every single one of those Turkish beauties and have not yet *sniff* fully recovered from the loss... *sniff* *sob*.... Sadly, a couple of months ago we had a string of unfortunate events (which seems to happen to me a lot), which, combined with my inexperience, resulted in tragedy for most of them.  Some were lost to birds, some to rodents, and some to me using the wrong soil mixture and overwatering which led to fungus gnats.  By the time I figured out that I had the fungus gnats, I was down to just one Turkish fig left.  The last one was a Bardacik, which hung on for quite a while and had survived several bird uprootings (thanks to the Root Riot cube, I think) and slug attacks.  It ultimately met its demise when I put it on my deck, unknowingly placing it directly above the air conditioner fan under the deck... it didn't stand a chance.

I'm hoping to adopt some more Turkish cuttings next Spring - the mini nut included - when I can focus more of my attention on them.  I've learned my lesson NOT to try to take on 40-50 cuttings at a time and I'll stick with just a dozen or so at a time.  Though actually right now 3 at a time seems to be a good number :)

rcantor, yes we do get frost, but I'm not too worried about it.  The idea of growing a fig from an exotic location outweighs the desire to eat a fig from an exotic location.  I'm pretty sure we don't have the fig wasp here, but whether or not the frost is a factor does pique my interest.... My dad lives in the Central Valley (Visalia, CA) where they get the occasional frost, and I do know that they have the wasp there.  It may be that they only get a few frosts a year, while we have frosts more often (with frosts sometimes extending into April...).  If you have some more info on the relationship between the wasp and frost, I'd definitely love to hear it. 


 

I've been looking for that info but haven't been able to find it.  I love your area.  I also spent a fair amount of time working from Porterville to Orange Cove while living up the hill from Palo Alto.

I rooted sarizeybek and bardacik this year. Both are thriving and have small fruit buds whether they need the wasp is unknown. I will grow them through the winter to see if they drop their figs. I will try and post pictures for you in a few days.

rcantor- I love my area, too... can't beat the micro-climates we have, being between the coast and the valley floor of the Bay Area.  We are above the fog in the summer and the coastal breeze usually keeps us cooler than San Jose, which is much appreciated when temps get above 100 down there.  Sometimes we get trapped in an inversion layer and experience warmer temps than the valley, but its infrequent and short-lived.  Just a few weeks ago San Jose was in the 90's and we were 104, but it only lasted a couple of days before the fog cooled us off.  I love the weather here but hate the politics, but have been unable to find any place comparable (weather-wise). 

One place that is pretty comparable weather-wise and complimentary to my lifestyle is a little town called Three Rivers, which is just below Sequoia National Park.  About 5 years ago we came close to moving there, having purchased 3 acres of river-front property.  It would have been an IDEAL location to grow figs: warm weather, rich & sandy soil, and lots of sun and water.  (In fact, there are many fig trees growing wild in some of the smaller streams in the area.)  I think my Turkish beauties would have loved it there....

7deuce - Glad to hear that your Turkish beauties are doing well (though I'm envious just a little bit)... can't wait to see pictures and hope you have a successful crop!

Oh by the way, rcantor, if you don't mind me asking...  What were you doing that had you in Palo Alto AND Porterville?  Seems an unlikely combination, but must have been rewarding to warrant the 4 hour drive!

Will be very interested in how the Turkish figs work out.  My daughter-in-law is from Turkey and I am interested in growing some of the figs which she grew up with. She has indicated that her family grew figs up in the mountains where it is cold enough that they have frost. If that is true, maybe the wasps are not a requirement. I was lucky to get one Saribeyzek cutting this spring but unfortunately, my experience was similar to yours...off to a good start and then pouf! Trying to improve my technique too in preparation for a re-engagement.  I keep looking at the pictures and drooling. Patlicans, Saribeyzek and Mini-nuts seem to be calling my name.

Onconee Cty, SC 7B

Resurrecting this thread. :-)

any new information from this kind of cuttings and fruits? 

I can give you detailed info about these varieties if you want.But it seems there is lack of information and before buying these varieties ,pls know properly its type symnra ,common,San Pedro .
Because all these varieties you mentioned above need wasp and polination.
Why you didn't ask its type before buying cuttings?

ercan, i think even the seller is not knowing the idea of need fig wasp of it.

hell, even the seller / farmer who know about this wasp, still doesn't know about the need of it for pollination and which one which need to get pollinated.