Topics

Seedlings

Two months back I bought some Turkish Figs and ate most of them. Kept some seed and planted them in fiberglass grow plugs. 
The attached image shows the tiny seedlings.
Not sure how long it will take to get some fruit but it is exciting to try.
I have grown lots of Ficus from seed but never edible figs.
Jerry

    Attached Images

  • Click image for larger version - Name: _MG_1701.jpg, Views: 102, Size: 93549

Sweet tiny little babies!  Good luck with them!  Would love to see their progress!  My story is different.  I sprinkled Black Mission seeds over the  top of a 3 gallon container, and waited and waited.  Finally, I let it go, and put 3 rooted Hardy Chicago cuttings in that container.  Suddenly their are 4!  Wouldn't you know, the seedling is on the very edge!  Couldn't it have come up in the middle?  Nope!!  It's not as small as yours.  It now has some palm sized leaves.  It will take many years to taste it's fruit, but when dormancy occures, it will get repotted into it's own container.

Suzi

Suzi,
Exciting to hear about your seedling. The exciting part growing from seed is never knowing what you have until it fruits. Perhaps a whole new exciting variety? How wonderful.
Jerry

It is exciting, Jerry.  I hope it doesn't need the wasp, and it could.  Black Mission does not need the wasp.  But, time will tell.  It's my first seedling, and yours are legion!  How do you plan to separate them and watch them?

Suzi

Suzi, Warm water is the key to separation.  Write it on the blackboard 100 times  :)

Good luck with all those seedlings, both of you!  I hope the best and most productive, cold hardy, rain resistant fig the world's ever tasted comes from those seedlings  :)

I grow my hundreds of figs and many species only in a plant room. They never go outside.
See.
http://www.bonsaihunk.us/Figsindoors.html
http://www.bonsaihunk.us/info/MetalHalides.html
Yes, I hope my figs will have fruit without any wasps.
Separating the figs out of the fiberglass plugs is easy. The manufacturer runs all the fibers in one direction so cleavage planes allow the plants to come out very easily.
Since my plants never go outside I need to have figs that are tolerant of no chilling, relatively low light and low humidity and since I would like to ultimately bonsai them having smaller leaves would be a real advantage too.
Jerry

Gotcha bonsaihunk!  You don't want fruit.  You want a Bonsai!  Try an old grapevine or an old olive, and I have both, but I love their fruit, and I will NEVER restrict their growth into a Bonsai!  Here, in this forum, we want the fruit of the ficus carica!  We happen to love the varieties, and various tastes and flavors and growth patterns of ficus carica!

There could be a couple here who bonsai, but most here just grow trees for the fruit!

Suzi

Suzi,
I want it all. Who doesn't?
A fig in a container with tasty figs on it and beautifully shaped. My goal.
PS I have a Ficus burtt-davyi as a bonsai. It is South African and has tiny figs on it each year. I ate one a few years back and it tasted very much like an edible fig!! At 1/4" in size it takes a lot of them for a mouthful.
Jerry

Jerry, thanks for sharing your knowledge of many years of growing plants inside. Your set up appears to be as perfect
as possible.

Thanks Mike. It is fun. If my climate was warm enough my plants would be outdoors. So I have to make the best of it.
Jerry

I am drooling here...colorful drooling...

Grasa, colorful is the way to go.
Jerry

Update on my fig seedlings. They are now about 5 months old and look ready to be potted up individually.
Jerry

    Attached Images

  • Click image for larger version - Name: _MG_2704.jpg, Views: 62, Size: 96140

Wow!  They look great!  Keep us posted!

Suzi

I was told once that plants from seeds turn into male trees.  They sure look great! Too bad you don't care for the fruit...  I would take some of your spares in a heart beat.

I planted some seeds and only one sprouted. it is the cuteiest thing I ever seen.

Thanks Suzi and Grasa.
These are an experiment to see how well edible figs, F. carica, do in my plant room. The room is always warm, never below 65F and pretty consistent other conditions. It will be intresting to see if they ever fruit or not. 
I also am trying cuttings of other cultivars to see how they will do in this plant room. Plants will never go outside.
One rooted cutting of North Topsail from John P. is shown.
Jerry

    Attached Images

  • Click image for larger version - Name: _MG_3327.jpg, Views: 29, Size: 73810

One half of seedlings are male caprifigs. The rest are female. They might fruit in a year, or maybe 10, or possibly never. If they do fruit, it might be good, and it might not. The trees might be smyrna types, san pedro typed, or common. It is a crap shoot. So, play, have fun, don't expect much, maybe be surprised.

Thanks pitangadiego for your information.
I hope to see how these do for me given my peculiar set of growing conditions. Fruit would be a nice 
feature if it happens.
Will keep you posted.
Jerry

Thank for sharing, I'm going to try this as well lol

Reply Cancel
Subscribe Share Cancel