Hey everyone,   My fig interest started about a year and a half ago and I've been planting and taking cuttings of the more available popular nursery varieties on an enthusiast scale. The trees are planted in-ground in my yard and are gaining fast girth with the drip irrigation on pine flatwoods heavy sandy soil (Decently rich) here in Central Florida. The fig trees are plagued with rust yet seem to keep growing vertical just ahead of the falling leaves. We've gotten a few figs early in the summer from the LSU Purple and the Celeste.
 
 With the humidity and nematode pressure in Florida, is it worth venturing into figs on a slightly larger scale to possibly sell at local markets?  Will certain fig varieties eventually establish and do better against the Rust? These could be put on raised beds with 100 percent drainage and drip irrigation (will that make a difference with the rust?) I was curious whether to start the propagation/collection task for plantings next fall or keep it entry level. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks, Florida-

Welcome, Florida.
There is huge amount of information on this forum that answers most of you questions. There are some excellent fig growers in FL who have overcome many of the problems you allude to. Invest some time and do a detailed search. WillsC from the Inveness area is currently growing 180+ fig varieties on his property...and he just only started a few years ago. He would be a great source for you.

I'll search him out- thanks. 

Welcome to the forum florida. There should be several Florida fig hobbyists that can give you suggestions. My major problem is rust in S. Florida.

Wayne, here too. Rust Never Sleeps...

Welcome Florida from South Georgia. Don't let FMD get off easy, he has a passel of figh himself. I'm planning on putting in around 150 in the spring so why scale down. Fig out.

Welcome!  Set yourself a limit and stand amazed as you get 10x that in less than a year.  You can check out any time you like...

Florida,

Welcome.  Answered your PM but will add some information here.  The nematodes seem to be VERY location dependent.  In my little slice of sand the nematodes are not a big issue and with a good layer of mulch they cause no issues.  One thing that seems to help is to get the plants in the ground early in the year when the nematodes are not as active and the plants take off and get the roots down below where the nematodes exist.  Mulch is your best weapon.  In some areas of Florida the nematodes are horrendous and very difficult to deal with.  There are actually a few species of the nematodes and if you happen to be in an area that has the bad ones, well you are going to have problems.  From the description of your ground I bet you won't have serious issues with them.  

Rust is worse in areas that are shielded from the morning sun.  You want the leaves to dry off as quick as possible.  Rust is just a fact of life, it does make the plants lose some leaves but a healthy robust plant shrugs it off.  This time of year the rust always wins but the plants need to go dormant anyway.....

Thanks for the encouragement you all-  I plan on giving it a go with propagation of my current stock and will try to search out all my questions on the site forums before bringing them foreword. Thanks again, Florida

florida, did you get my email to let you know that something was wrong with your membership? Anyways, if you do not want post the either send us a PM or email. We enjoy helping out the newbies when we have extra cuttings or plants. Welcome again to the forum.

Waynea, I checked the e-mail and clicked the link, not sure if it helped though. Please allow me to post. Thanks, Florida

We want you to post as much as you would like. We really need all your comments and the help you can give us.

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