and I'd like to say hello to everyone. I'm Gary, and I live in Sonoma County, CA. zone 9A.  A life-long gardener, but fairly new to the growing of figs. I am interested in varieties from Portugal and Madeira, as my grandparents were from there. I have a young Abebereira (thanks Harvey), Blackjack, Excel, Violette de Bordeaux, Panachee, Osbourne Prolific, and Conadria. Also many cuttings started. This morning I attended the scion exchange of the CA Rare Fruit Growers, and was lucky to find some harder to come by varieties; St. Jean, Lampiera, Col De DAme Noir, and Monstrueuse. I have a very few more than I need, and would like to share, especially a trade for Portuguese varieties. So PM me if you are interested... I only have a few of each, and since I didn't meet the person who supplied them, I can make no guarantees. They look good is all I know. I appreciate the knowledge and insights here! Thanks; Gary

Welcome to the forum Gary.

Greetings Gary

Welcome

My welcome also.  I do not have any Portuguese or I would send you. Last year I was sent several Figo Preto cuttings and manage to kill them all. I was new and made  mistakes. however if you want some of my unknown for you to 'practice', I am happy to send you a few.

Lots of nice fig people in California... I wish I lived there also.

Welcome, way to dive in with a splash;) I'm sure you will get what you want here. Some very generous peeps on the forum!

Gary, Welcome.  I'm relatively new to the forum but it didn't take me long to figure out that there are a lot of very knowledgeable people here.  Sounds like you have a nice collection of figs going already.

Christine

Welcome!  Your PM box should be full!  Enjoy your new hobby, and good luck to you!

Suzi

Welcome Gary.
Yup, Portuguese representation aplenty.
For such a small country with such a small population, we do know how to spread out!
As a "yearling" I can offer two bits of advice from personal experience:
1. Root one cutting of each variety at a time.
2. Water your cuttings 50% less than your instincts tell you.

Nice collection you're starting out with.
Post lots of pictures, we love pictures on this forum.

Welcome!  Best of luck with your quest.  You have a bunch of great figs already.

welcome

Hi Figgary,
Welcome, and good luck in your figging !
But from what I see, you have a better climate than me .
Don't you hesitate to test strains as Brownturkeys and others.
I read once that when creating an orchard, the most effective way to go is to plant the trees two times as close as you plan to leave them.
By the 5th year, you simply remove the weakest trees or/and the in place trees that are too much .
Of course in fig trees, that means lots of cuttings to spread :) - especially for your own piece of land.

Welcome Gary.

Norhayati

Welcome Gary,
That's so great you are starting to collect and root cuttings!
Also you must be thrilled to know some of The Best Figs come from Portugal & Madeira. You have wonderful Family Heritage for this sort of thing - I'm still looking for a German Fig for mine, if it exists - Haha!
Side Note: I was born in Sonoma County (Santa Rosa) & have the Birth Certificate to prove it :)
Enjoy the Forum.

Welcome Gary. You will find this forum to be fun, full of knowledgeable and generous people. You should be able to get your fig hobby off to a good start here.

Welcome to the forum, and hope you can find the figs of your dreams!

Hello everyone, I just joined and can't believe the wonderful support that I see on this site. I bought a small fig tree last year and moved inside my NY basement in late December but it has budded and I was told it will most likely now die. Any suggestions, I purchased a grow light and began watering it. any suggestions would be very much appreciated.  

Greetings Gary

Welcome, Gary! I can appreciate your interest in the Portuguese figs. Our resident Portugal correspondent, Francisco, always has the most amazing pics!
Best of luck,
Rick

Greetings Gary and welcome.
Earman, make a new thread with your question and you will get some answers.
The people on this forum love to help others.
Good luck with your new tree I hope it makes it.

Welcome Gary .. Bemvindo!
From the shores of Algarve (South Coast) 'aquele abraço'
What can I do for you ?

Cheers

Francisco

Welcome!

Welcome, Gary, from Philadelphia!  Sounds like you have come to the right place!

Welcome Gary :)

You should make a current estimate of how many types of figs you think you'd like to grow...so you can look back on that number after some time here at F4F and laugh about how conservative it was.

Don't fight the fever...