I just got home from a marathon business trip to North Carolina with some figs in hand.

I had read the thread about the dwarf creeping fig that another member had bought from a local nursery in Wilmington and decided to stop by and check them out for myself.  I got to Lou's Flower Shop around 11am on Wednesday.  Upon inspection it looks like it has potential to produce fruit.  Ive attached some photos so we can all speculate as to what it actually is.

I will concur with the other member that the people working there have no clue about figs whatsoever. They had no other figs available.

When I asked the woman there about them she said that they produce delicious tasting figs. I asked her whether they were light or dark figs but she oddly didn't know. Kind of interesting how you think the figs are delicious but you dont know what color they are. She did mention that they had 100 plants originally and that they were now down to about 10.  

I picked one up for me and one up for another member of this board.

I did what I needed to do for work and ended up in Raleigh Durham which is about 3 hours from Wilmington.

By now I had them in a box in the rental car and left them in there to try and get some of the water to evaporate out of the soil. You are allowed to carry on live plants but they can not have any water in the soil.  They did well considering the 98 degree heat.

So this morning I returned the car and got to the airport. Right through security no problems and I had been upgraded to first class.

When I walk up to the gate, the gate agent looks at the box and says that I probably cant bring them on the plane because of the overhead space. My response, "Well i'm in 2F so im sure that we can find a way. She gave me a look and said well since you are in first class im sure we'll accomodate you. Dont let the airlines fool you, they totally treat first class way better than coach. I really wish that they'd upgrade me more....


So anyway me and the figs got into our respective seats and watched as everyone headed back to a full coach cabin stare at me as I snugly fastened the seatbelt on the box of figs that were comfortably sitting in 2D right next to me.  

When the flight attendant asked me if I wanted a drink, I asked for 2 glasses of water for my elitist figs and 1 glass of orange juice for me.  

Uneventful flight and we all arrived nice and relaxed. 

I repotted my fig and have the other one ready for the other member of this board.

All said, it was a fairly easy trip. I think im going to add fig plant shopping to my next trip although i'll probably put them in the belly of the plane. 

I just hope these figs continue their elitist ways and produce an awesome crop next year.

In closing, anyone have any idea what they are?

Well it's not the creeping fig that typically goes by that name, Ficus pumila.

I'll be interested to see what it is you have there.  How did you get upgraded?

It's definitely a ficus carica. Definitely unique. 

My upgrades come from the amount I fly. To give you an example I was on 16 flights in June. 

Excelent story, would have loved to see a pic of the fig tree buckled in its seat before take off.

That story is hilarious. And that tree is seriously cute. The leaves are so tiny. I bet you're going to get inundated for cutting requests.

Well, if that don't beat all!  A couple of sissy figs get the first-class treatment, and I'd be with the rest of the old, dried out, baggage.

Frank

I am 95% sure they are tissue culture plants. Like I said in that other thread, the habit is most likely temporary and a result of the thin growths, which also causes the small leaves. All 3 TC plants I have started as single stems and developed into the same spreading bush shape. I expect each year that the growths will get stronger and eventually overgrow the small compact shape.

You're probably right, Brent.  TC plants branch a lot more than ones started from cuttings.  Agristarts is growing

• Ficus ‘Black Misson’
• Ficus ‘Brown Turkey’
• Ficus ‘Ischia’
• Ficus ‘Magnolia’

There are no signs of fmv so Iguess they could
D be tc.   

Who told you that you can carry live plants?   Just curious because I fly a lot and have been checking them in buried in luggagecourt it's official then I wouldn't have to sweat it anymore.

The TSA said it was ok.  I asked a supervisor in Boston last week and confirmed with their website. 

the website does not mention the amount of water in the soil but the supervisor in Boston did. He said that if the soil was wet it became a judgement call by the agents as technically you could exceed the liquid allowance. 

Funny that they are worried about wet soil, I would think they'd be more concerned about what was burried in the soil. Oh well as long as you got them home that's great. 

Any updates?

Just growing like a weed.  I dont see any figs happening this year. Maybe next year.

I wonder if it will need pollination for the figs to ripen. I think Ficus pumila takes a long time to develop in its adult form. I have seen a couple of bonsais of it at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Very different than the juvenile creeping form. I wonder if the F. pumila gene pool slows down the development of the hybrid.

Im not so sure its a hybrid as much as a tissue culture, but who the heck knows.

It could be a tissue cultured hybrid

If it is Agristarts material why, oh why, couldn't they have propagated more select material! Virus free Black Ischia in every yard!

Impressive. That is a shame. I know some plants can be freed of virus infection through meristem culture. Thanks. But still - wouldn't we be happy to provide them with a better selection of propagation stock?!

I think only FMV-free material should be mericloned. It would be the only way to contain FMV.

Im not going to lie, I really havent been paying attention to it since I potted it up.

I decided to give it a thorough once over.  This thing is a rooting machine. the original pot was already too small so I repotted it into a similar size. A little deeper and a little wider. Maybe a centimeter.  When I picked up the pot it was light as a feather. I lifted it out of the pot and it had already filled the new pot with roots!  This thing does have a ton of leaves on it to support

So in the ground she went.  Should be an easy winter protect with it being so low to the ground and she needs the room 

BARRY- THE FIG IN THE POT IS THE VERDONE

If it is a hybrid with F. pumila it may not be as hardy at all... As F. pumila is a warm growing species. If you were in Florida or Louisiana I would leave it outside. I would probably trim the roots and put it in a pot and grow it inside in a bright window. 

Anyway guys from local hydroponic store grow the common fig Ficus carica in their window in the winter and never goes dormant.

Or I would leave it outside protected but I would start some indoor cuttings for next year, just in case that is not cold hardy. actually if you had a cutting or 2 I would be interested. 
I have an extra Ficus religiosa sapling that I started from seed, + Mexican banyan seedlings.

I def can see a lot of people wanting to get cuttings (me included). 

Chris