I attempt some artificial pollination earlier this summer. Using pollen from a profichi crop of a capri fig. Not sure how successful I am yet. So far one of the figs that I pollinated which is a common type had some crunchy seeds, so I placed some of them in water and they sank; which is an indication they're not hollow, and most likely pollinated. Just planted the seeds and hoping to see them sprout.
I will keep you guys updated on the progress. 

 

Thanks.  I would be very interested to know how it turns out.  =)

Bass, is there a sign you use to know when the female flowers are most receptive?  Thank you for the nice pics.

Hope you get some great figs out of it!

Not sure exactly when females figs are most receptive, but just by the size you can kinda tell.

Very cool Bass! Thanks for posting the pictures. What caprifig did you use?

I had 2-3 types of dried capri figs, I am not sure what variety this was pollinated with.

Interesting. Any idea how old the dried caprifigs were? I'm curious how long the pollen stays viable.

It was about 2 weeks old or a little longer.

At last !
Nice job Bass..keep on doing the good work.
Don't tell me you forgot the Zidi's ...!? that was a good opportunity!

Francisco

On the question of fig receptiveness to pollination...
There are no fixed/precise rules to tell us when Smyrna or other figs are receptive to pollination
What we know is that when the first wasps laden with pollen come out of the first ripening Profichis, the receiving trees already have plenty of fruit ready!

What is observed  is that when the young Smyrna fig is ready to be 'visited' by the insect, its average cross diameter is between 10 and 12 mm (approx 1/2 inch).

The attached pictures give an idea of that fig development/size comparatively to the wasp  (3mm)
Also to be taken into account is that the wasp has to cut the fig ostiole scales to open a way to get in and I think that only at that approx size the tissue of the scales will be soft enough to allow that 'cutting'

Before pollination of this (and many other) smyrna varieties the fig color is of an 'indian' glossy green..
Immediately after pollination ..1 ,2 days the fruit swollens. the color changes to a jade/emerald green with a spray of white dots.
Note that the fig on pic ..---685 should be a very sexy one, to evaluate from the 'queue'(?) of pretenders.

Francisco

looking forward to continued report Bass

This is so cool! Please keep us informed. thx.

Interesting idea, maybe to cross black maderia, col de damas etc and see what develops, I don't know what caprifig would would best for these varieties, just a thought to make an earlier black maderia or col de dama?

Oooh! What some fig-people go thru for the benefit of them figs ...

This kind of reminds me of the modern artificial insemination being done to (say) big farm animals (e.g., cows or horses).

Artificial insemination is being done with humans, not just cows. lol

Thanks Bass. I'll be interested to hear what about how the seedlings develop, especially with regards to FMV transmission.

BTW, are those caprifigs you grew? Any idea if they are cold hardy?

I grow some Capri, have not produced a profichi crop yet, so I had them shared by a friend.
Capri trees even if theyre hardy, theyre not capable of producing all the 3 crops needed fr the wasp's life cycle.
The summer Capri crop is called Mammoni, followed by the winter crop which is Mamme, then followed by the spring crop of Profichi which is the one producing the pollen.

I'm sure the topic of capri and pollination was covered before, here's a great reading on this topic by Ira Condit, The classes of figs

Here's an update on the pollinated seeds. I planted them after posting this about 3 weeks ago. I see the seedlings have sprouted.... now need to keep them going.

Hello Bass,
Can you tell us the name of the fig from which you grew seedlings that were given away at the Fig Gathering in June? I still have one seedling that survived and is still growing. Thanks.

These were iranian wild mountain figs

This is really cool Bass.  Keep us posted

Bass, did you use a liquid when you injected the pollen with the syringe or did you stick with pushing the pollen in with air?
BTW, your Iranian wild mountain fig seedlings are putting on some strong growth since you sent them.
Thanks again,
Greg

No liquid just air. Glad those are growing well for you.