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Why I'm not taking many cuttings this year

I had poor growth in the beginning of the year.  I blamed it on the cold but it was really not enough fertilizer.  Then an unexpected 29 degree night killed a lot of my tips.

cold blighted fig branch tip.jpg       fig branch tips cold damage.jpg 

And there's no way for me to know how far back will be viable.  I will be giving away my inground HC cuttings for postage later on.  they had no damage at all.

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I am planning another strategy for next year, to put some trees in the ground and get horse manure to fertilize, didn't get much fruit this year........living in the valley in the middle of California it can get cold a few nights....can hit about 17 degrees for a few hours..........I have visited Minnesota in December it was 0 degrees and -15 wind chill...bbbrrr.....came back to California and walked around a t-shirt for a few days....LOL
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I have listed this before. It works good for me anyway here in the midwest. As soom as ground thaws bone meal, as soon as buds swell and start to break blood meal with a top coat of my home brewed compost. Even this year I had a wounderful harvest even from qst year trees.
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A few of mine also have green tips that will probably have die-back as well.  I'm not sure why but the ones in the 5 gallon SWCs had the biggest issue with the tips not hardening off (i.e. lignifying) as the cold weather approached.  The ones in the ground and in conventional containers were pretty much lignified by the time it got below 30 degrees.  Bob, were yours in conventional containers?
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Plain old black pots.
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Originally Posted by armando93223
I am planning another strategy for next year, to put some trees in the ground and get horse manure to fertilize, didn't get much fruit this year........living in the valley in the middle of California it can get cold a few nights....can hit about 17 degrees for a few hours..........I have visited Minnesota in December it was 0 degrees and -15 wind chill...bbbrrr.....came back to California and walked around a t-shirt for a few days....LOL


Armando...If you are going to use Horse manure, make sure you put it through a couple of heats in a compose pile. A friend of mine spread horse manure, on his vegetable garden, about 10 years ago and he is still putting up with all kinds of weeds, thorns, etc.. Just make sure it goes through a couple of heats before using it.
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Thanks Frank, I don't know what a couple of heats is...????
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Originally Posted by armando93223
Thanks Frank, I don't know what a couple of heats is...????



When you compost manure it gets real hot! The heat can be so hot that it will actually smoke in the Winter time. What it does is, kill the weed and thorn seeds. But you need to do it 2 times... Google  ("Composting Horse Manure") ....hope this helps!
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I'm taking few cuttings also because of our move.  I really want the one thriving tree to continue with huge trunks to shade the house, so I can't take one thing from that one.  The others need time to adjust.

It's not a law that you must take cuttings.  You could wait a year or two.  Sorry, I don't have a copy of the rule book, but I'm saying what i think!

Suzi
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Thanks Frank....
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No sweat Bobby baby -- I'll send you a very happy Vasilika Sika I got from Hermann just to cheer you up.
You gotta pay postage though. Sorry. The pennies are beginning to count.
mgg
I'll throw in some cuttings if your wish list is more expansive then the one you currently have.
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