Is it just me or is there a lot of New members lately and almost all of them are from other countries and there all asking for cuttings I don't know maybe its just me but they seem to all come at once I don't mind at all trading or giving away cuttings but I don't know it just seems a little odd what do you think ? PS yes I know I asked for cuttings when I first came around ......

It is odd, Tony!  You are a very new member too..5 months!  And, yep!  You did ask for cuttings, and a lot of them. I remember the red flags I got when you came in here. 

Silly me, I never asked for a thing until I was a member for a couple years.  I was, and still am, happy with UC Davis.  In no rush. 

But we who have been here a while are used to people coming, asking, getting, and leaving.  If you are a member in good standing who posts topics that have NOTHING to do with requests or offers, just asking for help or offering help, the cuttings come to you and you never need to ask.

Members here are generous because members have been generous to them.  There is a line though.

Suzi

I did ask for cuttings but I'm also giving it just seems that they want to pay to ship to other countries I have no plans on going anywhere but it seems like they do I get emails and they all seem the same

I think some people have come from garden web or from word of mouth of friends or have seen the forum through search on the web. 

It's complicated, and should be handled by PM's.  Nobody here wants the Department of Agriculture standing on our doorsteps or the Feds.  YIKES!

It's just there are so many really nice new fig lovers in the USA, and they can't help the month they join.  Most offer to pay for cuttings, and often they are not required to do so because most of us received cuttings from members at no charge, but we must pay it forward! :-))

International trading should be done on PM's.

Just my take!

Suzi

I asked if any one wanted to trade and im new. but dont worry about me leaving. during the growing season i might not be in as much. but i still might be. thats my busy time of year and some days i work 20 hours. but you are not getting rid of me that quick or easy. i still have loads of info to share floating around in this head of mine that im trying to figure out how to get down on the screen. and there is still so, so, much for me to learn about my addiction. been hooked 3 years not enough time to know as much as possible. I have only been on here for a little over a week. but i am very active, but my job also allows this. so i guess your stuck with atleast.

We do have a new member who joined in September, and this new member has been so generous, so experimental and instructive, and has offered so much, nobody minds sending that new member cuttings.  You know who that member is, and that member isn't leaving any time soon!

Give first, and you get it back!

Suzi

I'm referring to new members outside the USA it almost seems like when you get spam on Craigslist from people wanting to send money because they need your help blah blah blah,,,

Hehehehehe, I'm laughing with you right now, Tony! I noticed also, but I've been keeping my mouth shut in the holiday spirit! I ain't faultin' you buddy, I feel you!

People who actually ship cuttings overseas, you better beware! Familiarize yourself with laws of where you're sendin stuff!

Thank god I'm not loosing my mind. Thanks for noticing Jason

Well, we had a new member 3 or 4 days ago, on their first day (suspiciously) calling us kooks and to get a life!!!
You just gotta roll with it.

Oh I'm Rollin but just wondering if I was getting singled out by the newbies to ship outside the USA

Well this is the kinda kook I wanna be a fig kook....

Just so you know, we have many international members who are very helpful and generous, and I still say, don't include ALL new members.  I'm sticking up right here for our International members, both new and old who actually grow and love figs!

Sure, there are those that take advantage.  Take it to a pm.

Suzi

I have been here about a year now, many members have given me cuttings and I bought most of my figs on ebay, offen starting 5 or 6 trees of the same kind, so next spring, if they winter ok I will be giving trees away to make room . 200 trees was way too much to move last fall lol. I just want to  say thanks to everyone here Rex.

Haha Tony
I'm a retired P.O.
There are a lot, a lot, a lot worse kooks than fig kooks LOL

New members need to be gently educated. Someone Ruben? said it best "It is considered bad form to ask for cuttings immediately upon joining"
something like that

There are a lot of people who are new here, that are often also new to figs. And many of them have just eaten their first figs, and are just like a kid in a candy store when they arrive here. See Hi Forum. They are so excited to get started. Often they are new here because they have inquired about something via my nursery, and I send them here to get answers that I don't have (I still haven't grown figs in Pittsburgh). Some do come just to score some cuttings, but many are just a little too excited to discover figs, to discover this forum, and the whole fig community. Not everyone was growing figs for years before this forum was started. Hey, when I was a kid, my grandfather had figs and they were the most disgusting thing on earth. Later in life I got a couple trees because all my fruit friends seem to have them. I was just "fitting in" . . . and then all hell broke loose . . . and the rest is history.

Ok Suzi whats fair is fair not ALL new members but in the past month 98 percent of the new members that contacted me where from somewhere else looking to pay for cuttings if I could ship them out of the country......  I just wanted to clarify.

And Jon you couldnt be more correct with the kid in a candy store...I love candy and that was me 5 months ago but im here to stay.

i did notice lot of new overseas members lately. not sure why. it's good we have a multicultural forum. i know few members on this forum from france, spain and other locations who contribute a lot. what i don't understand is asking for cutting of varieties that are already readily available in europe. i mean.. VdB, RdB, NdC, CdD.. they are all from europe and readily available in european nurseries. some i heard are not heavily infected with FMV like ones we have here.

Well...from a newbies perspective.....I joined mid September this year and have not asked for any cuttings.  I did post a trade list of fruiting plants I had and started working on trades and in 2.5 months have went from having just a couple in ground fig varieties to over 40 varieties.  Only one of those trades was just a person saying I want to send you a couple varieties...and wanted nothing in return, thank you (name withheld to prevent PM assault).  The rest were all trades that benefited both sides.  Just don't want people to say all new people do is say gimme gimme gimme though yes I know some do that.   

Everyone was new at some point.   Some people after they have been members for awhile develop a feeling of superiority or perhaps it is just they tire of newbies asking the same old questions.  As forum boards age the general mood of the people on a board will turn from a sense of helping and generosity to a more snobbish elitist mentality which turns off newer members or keeps people from joining and that starts a board heading in to decline.  Like it or not the newbies are what drive discussion boards forward and keep them lively and energized.  This board is great and the best way to keep it thriving is to encourage the participation of new members and make them feel welcome.  That does not mean you can't say no especially to those that tend toward the pushy.  Just my two cents.

i do notice older members being "elitist" in other forums, however, i have seen very little, if not none on this forum. one of the reason why i keep coming back to this one. you will notice that members registered date going back to 2007. don't really see older members being snobbish.

this forum is unique in sense that most older members and newer members act as if they are all new members with their curiosity for fig still alive. i think what tony is talking about is sudden increase in new members from overseas. new members asking for some cuttings is nothing new, but large number of overseas members suddenly showing up is unique.

I just got to say that the wish lists at the bottom of everybody's signatures do not help with regard to what is being discussed here. New members see older members do it and they think that is what this site is all about. I felt really funny posting my first wish list on a dedicated page, but there is no way I am going to make a request with every post, that is not why I am here.

Hoosier,

I see the wish list different.  Lets say you have a question and somebody posts a good reply that helps or makes a post that makes you laugh and at the bottom of the post you see that member wants XXXXX and you have it so you PM them and offer it or see what they will trade for it.....  The wish list just saves time and is a way for members to help others when THEY want to and that is the difference.   

personally, i think wish list is great. i have sent few cuttings since i saw what the members wishes for. i have extra, so i send it to people who want them. simple. i have extra cuttings and i don't want them to go to waste. it makes others happy. don't see any issue with it.

on the other hand, sending them overseas is another matter.