Hi, 

I'm new to this forum. I'm not sure yet what I'll call myself. Might just stick with this username.

Here's my story...

When I was a kid, I got my first experience with a fig tree... We planted it next to the heat pump in the ground. It was a bit colder there-- maybe zone 6a... It died... We thought maybe it was from a wood borer or something. Maybe it was just cold. I don't remember how long it lasted. It certainly didn't get the chance to produce ripe figs AFAIK.

The first time I clearly remember stating my intention to grow figs in a serious manner was somewhere around late 2004. I was about 14 years old. We were looking for more property-- a bigger farm, and one of my dreams was to grow figs.

Fast forward to 2016... The place we bought fell through. We had bad neighbors and had to move to some less desirable property. College, distractions, discouragements, new hobbies-- what have you-- have taken their toll. Over the years, the farming has crawled to a virtual halt. 

Now let's not make it overly complicated.... Right? What about figs? Well... A good neighbor and now friend of mine where I now live (He's now Pastor of a church I often visit) gave me what I would assume is a sucker from an unknown fig some Italian fellow gave him. It now grows in the ground. I guess that was 6-8 years ago. I managed to keep the top alive for a few years, and it grew into a strong tree that bore a good number of figs. However, that darned polar vortex and it's subsequent visits kept it killed to the ground. I think the cold got it again this year too, for the most part. The mice/rats did their damage as well. It has rooted in more than one place, so I should have multiple trees soon.

Last year I bought some little figs from Wellspring Nursery. I bought their Olympian, Celeste, and Lattarula/Lattrula (however it's spelled). They're coming out of dormancy now. I hope they are what they're supposed to be.

I'm in the process of buying some cuttings on Ebay. I'm buying a bunch of cold-hardy figs from drivewayfarmer. I gather he's a really good seller. For RdB, I was painfully split between levar and drivewayfarmer. Levar has a really good price on his, and I was interested in his LSU Purple. I considered even buying RdB from both sellers to see if there was any difference. Herman2 also has a good deal, but the price will probably go way up. Anyway, after discussing it with my folks, I gave drivewayfarmer a chance and put the one and only starting bid of 12 dollars-- not a cent more. I closed the laptop and walked away... I would have let someone else have it for a bid more... Paying 12 bucks for two unrooted sticks makes the cheap in me scream, but I went with it and won it.

I'm very picky, and I like a good deal. Two things that worry me are FMV and being true-to-type. I tend to shy away from sellers who are not members of the major fig forums because I want to be confident about the what and who of what I'm getting. Confidence and trust carries a premium. All the people I mentioned in the above paragraph are members here. It seems important to me to become a community member as well. 

I intend to send pictures of my growing fig collection at some point. Maybe I can make something out of this yet...

P.S. When I say Virginia, I don't mean the posh, warm East coast. I mean the rough and tumble Appalachians-- hillbilly coalminer country

My age is a little overstated. I just didn't want everyone to see my full birthdate. A little paranoid...

Welcome to the forum. Youre right to want to get a true variety of fig and at reasonable prices. My experience has been, and Im pretty new here too, that people here are trustworthy & genuine. Its a great community!

Hi cheapnewb,
Welcome to the forum !
There is a lot to read on here.
First info : you're in Zone6 and fig trees are generally said to be cold hardy down to Zone7 - when planted in the ground.

What rose my interest here was the potted culture. Being a bit lazy and old fashioned, I prefer planting the trees in the ground but even in Zone7, I get a bad Winter every now and then.
Here, 2012 was a hard one and I lost something like 10 fig trees out of 12 ... ouch ...
I now have some trees in pots. I protect them inside the garden house for the Winter. They are my backups. Last year I got my first ripe "potted fig".
In Zone6, I would consider raising my fig trees in pots ( 1 to 10 or 20 gallons of size) . There are special pots called sip/sips. You may want to search infos on them in the forum.
You could use standard pots, with a plate under, too. You could use standard pots buried in the dirt by one inch, and let the roots escape during the good season and chopping them
to move and protect the trees for the winter.
Do you have a barn or a garden house or a basement to protect the potted trees for the winter ?

Are your new trees currently potted, or in ground ?

Good luck !

Welcome! This is a great place to find information that goes beyond figs. 
Great people of all ages from around the world.  We are all here for the same reason to learn and share.

When I originally found f4f, I was on a mission to learn how to propagate my then, one and only fig tree.  Since then my collection of figs have grown just a tad bit.   I stocked the forum for months reading post after post and learned so much more than what I was originally searching.  There are times reading the forum leaves me laughing hard, not only at what I am reading, but at myself as I associate with it.  You learn not only about the figs but the members as well.  

You were wise to do your homework and buy from  trustworthy members.  There are scammers out there. 
When I started purchasing from eBay I also picked only forum member to buy from.

Looks like you have a good start on your fig collection.  They are very addicting you know.  

How about those FIG!
Best of luck!

All my new figs are still in pots. The other one is in the ground. It often has to recover from its crown. I gather that young wood is very susceptible. I reckon if it doesn't get a chance to grow a strong trunk for a few years, it's never going to withstand the cold. I plan on using some sort of winter protection like some of that heavy row cover fabric over hoops or something. I often use hay, but I'm not always successful. I often wait too late. The next time I use it, I'm going to have to use rat poison in there. This time, they girdled the largest trunk all the way round. :(

I'd like to use something cheap and low maintenance-- foolproof. If it's hard, expensive, or tricky..knowing myself...I'll probably get lazy and screw it up.

But, yeah, it's a good idea to keep some figs in pots anyway... small ones anyway. I shouldn't put any more into the ground until I can take care of them.

That fig that's in the ground now grew from the ground and bore fruit from the fresh wood, but most of it didn't get the chance to ripen. Is that what you call breba? 

Welcome!  I'm in 7a, northern VA.  You might want to take a look at Edible Landscaping, they might be down by you if you want to take a little outing.  My plan is to take cuttings every year just in case, especially of the ones I keep in-ground.

Welcome! You couldn't have done any better than buying from Kerry ( drivewayfarmer). He is a class act. His cuttings are top notch, always true to name and root very well. Congratulations.

Welcome!  There's a guy in GA (8a) who tested a lot of supposedly hardy figs in ground and none of them could bear fruit.  The only one that I know dies to the ground and bears fruit the same season in Z6 is Hardy Chicago.  I haven't tried a lot of others but after hearing the results from GA I'm not all that inclined to.  figs in 7 gal pots will bear fruit and you can bring them in to a garage or shed that stays above 28 and below 48 or so in the winter.  That way they'll stay dormant until it's safe for them to go outside.