I am excited that I  found a caprifig with momme and profichi on it, some of momme are ripe. The tree is on somebody's property but close to the street. Nobody was home and I took 3 small cuttings and a ripe momme. I am hopping that they will root. If not I'll go back to see if I find somebody home.  I put the ripe momme next to my caprifig hoping that the fig wasps will populate my capri tree.
This morning I saw a wasp coming out of the momme I put it next to my tree.

   

and one of the cutting i took

Exciting!  Good for you!  Hope this works out successfully!

Suzi

Pat,

These are very good news.. Congratulations! Thanks for showing these detailed pictures and the Mamme wasps. You are absolutely right ... Keeping that cutting near your Caprifig the insects will definitely find its receptive Profichis and fill their galls with fertile eggs.
Think that it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and obtain additional cuttings with Mamme figs to warrant more wasps for your tree and have a few well rooted additional Caprifigs.
Let me tell you (think I said it before)  that I was under the impression that in your zone this wasp moves would come somehow later.. say a month from now....March in the Central Valley and April around the SF Bay area.
So far so good.. Later on,  when your Smyrna become receptive early summer, they shall have the required pollination assistance!
Good luck

Francisco
Portugal

Nice pictures!

Awesome. Thanks for sharing. A caprifig is a good thing to have when you are in fig wasp territory.

Great work.  If the cutting doesn't root quickly you may have to remove those figs.   It may not have enough energy for both processes.  Best of luck with them!

I think it is better to aks the owner before taking cuttings.

Do you know if fig wasps are present in Oakland?

Lisascenic i have no idea but i guess you do. I found that I have fig wasps last year when one of my figs i got from a friend turned out to be a caprifig with wasps. His figs are edible and I thought this was a sucker from his tree but I guess a bird plant it :-)

Look around for caprifigs in your area and see if they have wasps. If you find a caprifig look to see if it has ripe looking figs on it and check them out. Here the momme are almost gone. Next time to look for them is June/July

Good luck.

Is there a source for calrifigs? I'm intrigued.

lisascenic,
I have a few duplicate caprifigs I started last year. I'll be up in your area mid-May if you want to meet up. Otherwise you can order from USDA Davis or maybe some members can send you cuttings. My trees are too small for cuttings.

I'd love to have you over to my little garden when you're in the Bay Area, Sue!