got 14 varieties from james robin yesterday. trees look great! i'm taking a break now, but i've got 10 of them planted.

i'm hoping to get root systems established before the first hard freeze in november. popping those suckers with superthrive.

james robins is such a great guy. he's full of cajun wisdom and has a great sense of humor. his wife has alzheimer's, and as an rn, i can tell you that's absolutely hell on the other spouse. i say bless him, and if he comes up with other varieties next year, i'll buy those too :).

boy am i ever gonna run out of room soon :). i'm squeezing plants in places now. not to mention all the stuff i've got coming this winter. olives and nuts galore :).

Good for you! Oh your gonna lots of figs in seasons ahead.
Your first member other than myself to mention superthrive i think, ive been useing it on a few plants also along with miracle grow.

Great of you to support JR Papayamon. I have read so much goodness about JR.  If JR does the phyto cert for Canada I will buy from him too. I avoid doing the cutting exercise as much as possible. I also buy figs from an old italian couple here even though I have more than enough --- just to lend support & enjoy their sincere friendship is already such a blessing.

this brings me up to around 35 varieties, though it's possible i've got some duplicates. i've only got 5 or 6 varieties on my wish list now, and hopefully i can get those in the spring. it's nice because i've got a drip system, and i really don't have to do much other than fertilize and mow around them. i would always rather spend the extra $$ to automate things.

papayamon,

I agree with you on everything about James Robin, and yes we know first hand about that dreaded disease Alzheimer's, My dearly departed mother-in law had it.

We are going to visit and pick up plants from JR next Thur.

Good luck on your plants (all)

Papayamon, sounds like a nice operation you have there with self watering and all and 35 types must be fantastic.

Cecil if its allowed some pictures would be nice of plants.
Either way best to you and have a safe trip.

Papayamon congrats on your ever expanding varieties. I see now you are in Gainesville Fl so you shouldn't have any problem with required chill hrs. and plants going dormant. I would winter protect those first few years as I know it can get cold there. 
On a side note my nephew played short stop for UF last year and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles (Mike Mooney) GO GATORS

yeah go gators!

i expect them all to freeze to the ground this year. all i'm going to do is mulch them heavily and hope for the best. so i'll be taking cuttings and hoping to make a few trades :). the only thing i'm going to worry about protecting is my bananas and my citrus. if you can get a naval orange past the first couple of years, it will take the cold.

i had one fig last year, a brown turkey, and i put it out in september. it was not much more than a cutting and it froze while i was working in san antonio. it came back, and this year it has grown incredibly, looks like it's been in the ground for 3 years now. that drip irrigation is great stuff.

i learned a big lesson when i put in my blueberries. it's too alkaline here for them, and i had to do so much work to get them to grow, i could buy blueberries by the case for the next 20 years before i recover my cost with these things. i've got about 30 of them planted in a bed of pine bark. i mean truckloads of pine bark. so now i say "the right plant in the right place". this is why i switched to figs :).

heck, i live in a big playground for a wanna be farmer :).