I have had a great experience learning and sharing info on this forum. Thank You.

As of late there are a few members who insist on being overtly rude and discourteous, claiming to foster forum unity but practicing the opposite as seen in several topics, some of which have been deleted and cannot be referenced. I have always refused to remain near rude and vulgar people so I'm removing myself from the forum. I'll be back in the Spring when hopefully the discourse will be about figs and fig cultivation.

Have a wonderful winter...

Best of luck to you.  If looking to make any trades pm me.

Aw, come on Pete, that .5% probably will never change, rudeness is a side effect of insecurity, so we probably should feel sorry for them. Most members will not reply to them because they feel that they will be attacked also. Remember your words "99.5% good", don't let the .5% discourage your participation. Everyone feels the same as you, but here we are, ignoring the rude and enjoying everyone else. We see by the members posts who are positive and who are negative, very easy to read, and I hope others will chime in and give their positive encouragement.

I hate to hear that Pete. I completely understand though. Some people are very disrespectful and cannot communicate without putting others down.

Pete, I have learned a lot from your posts. Thank you! Have a great winter, and I hope to see you back soon.

    Pete, I will miss your new, good information, but at least I have your other post and comments I can still learn from and search, being I am fairly new to the fig growing hobby. I too do not like the back stabbing, negative, bickering comments that I feel have no place on this forum, but that is how it is in life and politics I am afraid.
    We all have a choice to either participate with those who do those things, or ignore them and not give them the satisfaction of upsetting us. Sometimes though, it is best to just take some time away from those things that upset us, and let our bodies and mind renew.
  Good luck to you, and see you in the spring

Happy holidays Pete you will be missed.

Adios Pete, we'll see you in the spring. You know as well as any that things generally get even crazier in the winter months; people get crazy with cabin fever. Enjoy yourself, happy holidays!

Enjoy your time off Pete..... Negativity on the forum: I get annoyed mostly, a few burn me up. I am deeply grateful to have found this forum, Jon of Ecanto, Paully22, Satelitehead, Greenfig, all the Daves and the many more who have shared ideas and solved my many questions. When I first started a few years back, I was very immature and made a few bad comments.....Anyway, I am selling a Zingerella fig tree on Ebay....just kidding...LOL Pete return soon my friend.

Pete,
I hate to see you join the ever growing list of folks who just can no longer put up with the rude and and insecure. There is no reason for this behavior and it certainly has driven off a lot of quality folks. Please PM me if you need anything and please do return in the spring as I (we) value your posts.
thx,
best,
mgg

Take care Pete, sorry to see you go.

Be well Pete, see you back in Spring :)

Things always get better then.

Pete takes the high road....we look forward to your updates and insights come spring.
Stay warm!

Pete,
You are one of the best sources of accurate and tested information on growing figs. 
Your postings helped me immensely getting started in rooting cuttings and improving my own fig growing skills.  Hope to see you back in spring. 
Season's Greetings

Pete:

I've found your input both interesting and informative. You really do know what you're talking about. I'll look forward to your return but would prefer that you stay.

Sorry Pete, I feel the pain.

Pete,

Sorry to see you leaving too.  I have noticed that things seem to be much more ugly than the used to be and this is only a year for me.  I limit my time here but like to keep track of some of the good things. (like the slug hunt).  I find if a thread is nasty I just don't keep reading or reply.  Honestly it's not worth my time since I could be doing more productive things.  Will miss you while your off but do come back.

Merry Christmas Pete. It saddens me to see people pushed to this, but happy you plan to return. Losing forum 'elders' for any reason is bad enough, but it's made worse when it's because of nonsense/negativity. If the dust-ups have any useful purpose at all, at least for me, it's that I get to see a bit of the character/behavior of the participants, some of whom seem to be involved in each/all of the conflicts. 

Stay warm, happy figging and see you'se in the Spring. =)

billy

Have a wonderful holiday!! Recharge and renew and spring will see hopefully a happier forum. Be blessed.

Merry Christmas Pete! My email address is the same as my forum name. Just add "@inbox.com" and my iphone and IPAD will ding! Keep in touch my friend.

Pete, always the gentleman.
Another reason for me to look forward to the Spring.
Please keep in touch my friend
Coop

Thank you, Pete, for being part of the 99.5%. Along with everyone who's voiced their gratitude, I have appreciated your contributions. May your Winter be mild, and your Spring early.

Hey Pete -- have a great winter break, Merry Christmas & Happy New Yr. Glad
you will be back in spring.

Jon, glad you still find time to do a good job maintaining this forum. I dunno how U
find the time. Appreciate your best efforts. Perhaps you can highlight NOT ACCEPTABLE
REMARKS. This forum has grown with a large membership base.

I always enjoy your posts Pete, so I am glad you will be back. It is frustrating when things slow down here and the negative posts really stand out. As mentioned by others, most people here are positive and kind to one another, and are here to share information about figs. The negative people and those here just to stir up trouble is very small. Hope your holidays and new year are good, see you in the spring.

Mike in Hanover, VA

Pete, like many others I find your posts REALLY helpful and many of the container culture techniques I use were learned from you.  I look forward to seeing your posts again in the Spring.