No need for comment!
Why worry with weather, season, bagged or not bagged, peat moss, more or less graded perlites !!??
Please watch the pictures
Francisco

francisco,

that a one lucky fig tree. only if we have ideal fig weather and fig wasps..

Because it's easier to mess with perlite than grow 2 palm trees    :)

Great photo.  

I was actually thinking about grafting figs or rooting them inside opuntia...

Hi, Pete - rcantor and eli,

Thank you for looking at the pictures.

Eli, may be...but not grafting as such! - I would say, they are not same genera

One may try to root a couple of twigs on these thick leaves ..Who knows ? there will be sufficient moisture to promote rooting and plenty of nutrients....may be too much.
I will try.

See this additional fig ! a seedling born on a heavy block of limestone !!

Francisco

Hello Noss,

Thank you..Yes straight to the point!

In many instances we do our utmost to comply with 'advanced suggestions', state of the art rooting medias....scratching once..twice,  the length of scratches..no way!  then, one day an 'illiterate' sparrow looks around for the ideal place away from indiscreet sights and  bingo! a new fig will be born soon

Look at this one !

By the way I am told that the dead trunks of palm trees are excellent media for rooting all sorts of cuttings. The one on these 3 pics easily germinate some fertile seed.
So far no figs, but the leaves do have an exquisite lobe shape and cut
francisco

Here: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Journals/TAPA/64/Ancient_Grafting*.html

they speak about the ancient art of adjoining two tree of different families. they say it is possible to graft a fig tree to mulberry...

Elin,  A lot of reading that link of yours and interesting!

I do not think it is possible...Only ficus may be grafted to ficus and it would not be easy every time.
This is my understanding from what I have read.

My best grafts have always been 'wild' as root stock with all the current figs common or Smyrna-San Pedro ...Caprifig also marries well on San Pedro as root stock.

See this one of Smyrna (Inchario-like yours) grafted on a extremely robust wild fig...now 3 years old!

francisco

Francisco, I really enjoyed the pictures, I might just trade a body part for the one in limestone! That was fabulous! I have to agree that the harder we try the worse it turns out. My best starts are the ones I just poked in the ground under the live oak.
Does anyone know how one would go about starting one in a hunk of limestone?

Hi Tami,
Thanks. This whole region stands on wide limestone rock formations dating from the Jurassic ages and originated on ancient sea beds. Rocks like the one on the picture are full of 'cheese' like  labyrinths full of rich soil where new roots develop rather quickly and strong.
With time the fig roots will grow and eventually  brake the rock apart.
cheers
Francisco

No hassles from nature?  That's not always true!  I spotted another volunteer fig growing on the neighboring farm a couple of days ago and I'm going to have to check out the fruit when they're ripe.  One big hassle: this fig is sprouted up from the middle of a large wild blackberry thicket!

Harvey,

Yes you right ! but the little fig came out first...then the place was invaded by the shameless blackberry.
See how it is struggling to keep with the sun. blackberries are the 'bad boys' of Nature!?

This type of uneasy association is very common here as well.. Will show pics of old figs being  completely swollen by blackberries.

Gina,

Thank you for your detailed description. In this particular case those family branches are somehow too far apart to make grafting viable

Francisco, I don't know for sure if the fig was there first.  I've farmed the area behind me (in this photo) for 7 years and know that the blackberries have been a problem along that drainage ditch for a long time.  The prior owner did nothing to control them and I can't spray them as the landlord has a cherry orchard on the other side of the ditch which could be damaged by any fumes from the pesticide (Garlon).  I was guessing that perhaps a bird rested on the blackberry when depositing the seed from which this fig tree grew, but I'm guessing a lot.

As far as grafting different species together, I know that some people graft loquat onto quince to obtain a dwarf tree.  While both are in the Rosaceae family, they certainly don't appear very similar.  I have recently grafted a chestnut (Castanea sativa x Castanea creanata hybrid) onto a valley oak (Quercus lobata) and, thus far, it is growing very vigorously.  I previously heard of an old chestnut that was on white oak rootstock so I decided to give this a try after spotting this young valley oak tree growing next to my orchard.  There has been some discussion of fig/mulberry grafts in the past but I don't believe anyone in the group here has given it a try.  I just might try it although I don't see any benefit in doing so.

Edit: here is a link to comments from translations of ancient writings on various grafting observations.  May are quite surprising (citrus on mulberry): http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Journals/TAPA/64/Ancient_Grafting*.html