ok, i'm going to track this fig's growth for the next couple of years. this is a rooted natalina cutting i just bought from our friend george at figsnstuff on ebay (go george!). dug my hole about 14 inches deep, 18 inches wide, filled with potting soil - we get a relatively cheap mix here for 25 dollars a cubic yard. it's great stuff. so i fill the hole with pure potting soil and top with a little of my sandy soil, mulch, and away we go! tommorrow i'll install drip irrigation and pop it with miracle grow, superthrive and granular 10-10-10. my prediction? it will freeze to the ground this winter, and come back in the spring to end up three to four feet tall and about as wide of a bush by this next fall :). bets anyone?

who says figs aren't fun?

by the way, i just bought this camera, so maybe i'm going a little crazy taking pics... i just want to document the growth of my figs to share with newbies. unfortunately, the upload manager won't let me load these in the order i'm trying to load them in...

I didnt think Florida would get 'freeze to the ground' type of weather?

Good for you papayamon. Been reading positive posts on this variant. Just be cautious with fertilizing program at this time of the year. Definetly a NO in my region at this time. Ya, keep us updated on this variant. Still little info on this variant performance.

bass told me that the reason they freeze off at the ground here is it doesn't stay cold enough for a proper dormancy. it will go from the 70's to the 20's without warning, and the plants have no time to adjust. so a plant that would go into dormancy and get through the winter in a colder region will paradoxically freeze off here. will this happen to all varieties? we'll find out :).

i am only focusing on vegetative growth at this point. when the thing gets big enough, it should start making figs. if it doesn't, well .... no one likes to talk of such things.

whether it lives or dies or makes no figs or is loaded with them, i'm just experimenting. the nature of this is you'll have some successes and some failures. if i document what i did with notes and pics, then i'll have some basis for learning, which i'll try to pass on here.

what the heck, you got to figure that what anyone wants is to plant a fig, have it grow as quickly as possible and fruit well. in order to find the best way to do that, you've got to take chances and push the plants.

Nice pics thanks for posting been hearing allot of good things about Natalina and the leaves do resemble Hardy Chicago.

Thats a Natalina alright, I am glad you have one and best of luck with it.  Ciao

many thanks to george for offering so many varieties on ebay.  without the starter plant, you can't grow anything :).

had an initial episode of transplant shock, worse than usual. thought it was going to die on me, so i broke out the shadecloth and gave it a break from the sun for a for a week.

it found its legs, and now it looks like we're off to the races. the unfortunate thing is that winter in right around the corner :(. my strategy is all out growth for a root system that survives the winter. :). next year this thing will kick butt!

Good luck Mike,

I lost every fig I planted this year that was that small!

I sure hope that don't happen to you!

no matter what, i ain't worried. if it does die, i'm sure george will be selling another one next year :).

a little update on this thread.  this is today's pic. :).  that's a 5 gallon bucket for perspective.

Looking good Mike, my Natalina just broke dormancy I was about to junk it and all of a sudden it decided to join the party. Is your Natalina also from Grimonut??

Mike, what ever you did to it, it liked it! WOW! Looking Great!

i used drip irrigation, fertilizer and roundup.  speaking of the latter, it works well if you put it on the grass with a paintbrush instead of a sprayer.  that way there's no danger of overspray.  i'm getting incredible growth out of most of my plants.  i leave for a week and come back and if not for the nametag, i wouldn't know which plant it is.  they're flat out putting it on.

even most of my fmv plants have taken off.  i think out of about 91 figs i've got 6 that aren't just tearing it up.

now if i was living here and had the time, i could really be nailing them with micronutrient spray, etc.  then we'd really see some growth.   i have to admit that i am very pleased with the way it's going overall.

nelson, i bought this plant from our good friend gorgi on ebay last year.  it froze below the ground (here is a pic of it at 03/31/10...  and only now is really hitting its stride.