News from Birmingham 5/29/15

recomer20
1432951861

April showers brought the May deluge here. One of my little Valle Negras that was already too wet got caught under the eaves and had an ugly death. Its twin, who I gave to my mom and stayed in her basement under grow lights, is apparently doing great. Blessings for that.

In January 2014, I got a few scions from Jon during the ScionFest. One was GreenGreek-sg (encanto515) which I was really excited to get but has since remained very much the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree for me. Although I've given it plenty of sun and small doses of FloraliciousPlus, it remains pitiful. Thinking about amending the soil with Prozac.

In that same lot of scions, I received an extra couple of sticks which according to their tag were coded for St Jean. Hard to root and slow to grow, the surviving plant has grown quite well and despite the hard rains maintains a very upright trunk even without a stake. We'll see how things turn out. Would be great if it turned out to be GSJ. (below)

Two of the best performers, even with all this rain, have been WillsC's Battaglia (not shown) and Justin's Sunbird UNK (link here: http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/unknownmaybe-carini-6701228?highlight=sunbird&pid=1283155627#post1283155627 which I bought this winter as a small dormant plant. Wanted to share because it seems to really love the climate here--even being wet. Already putting on main crop figlets and putting out leaf buds on all the lower nodes without any pinching or pruning--don't know if that's common to the plant, but thought it was noteworthy. Beautiful lush green leaves. So far looks like a candidate for the "great production" tree. (below)

sunbird full.jpg

So many members are doing such a fine job offering rooted youngins that I've gone from trying to root all from sticks to about 50/50 sticks:young potted plants. Enjoying that mix quite a bit.

That's about all I have to add to the party. By the way, the tone of the forum has been really outstanding lately. Thanks everybody for keeping this place a really good one and one that's welcoming to new peeps.

Happy growing!
Rick

Quote

ChrisK
1432952766

Hey Rick. Great pics there and thanks for sharing. My experience with slow growing cuttings is that up potting them boosts growth. I would get a 5 gal bucket or similar size pot and a good potting mix and go that way with your Greek tree. Be careful not to disturb the roots and water every night or so( if you use a quick draining potting mix)! Not crazy with fertilizing too much either. Figs are wild things. They thrive on hillsides and granite slabs. Maybe a bit of lime in the mix would be ok. Best of luck and have a great growing season.

Quote

figgary
1432955679

Hi Rick, your figs look great. I hope the one does turn out to be Grise de St. Jean. Mine was very slow to root also, but is growing great now. I got a couple of ripe ones last fall and they are unbelievably good! Best of luck this season.

Quote