when i first joined this forum, i was very new to figs. i still am very new to figs and do not know much at all. i never traded anything before, and i noticed people trading all the time. i only had 3 trees that i paid for from east coast figs. at first, my trees weren't old enough to trade cuttings and i didn't know what i had. i mean, i knew the names of the figs, but what was it worth? would it be good enough to trade.
i was just going to grow those 3 trees and be done with it.
then my trees started growing and i had cuttings available at the end of the yr. i asked for trade. for whatever reason, Kathleen's Black was relatively popular back then. so lot of generous forum members were willing to trade with me with more desirable cuttings. my rooting skills improved, and i also started growing USDA/UCD figs.
after being on the forum for awhile and participating and discussing my findings, some forum members were generous enough to send me few new figs to try in my area. most of these figs are now known to be very good figs.
with weather in NC, most of figs will do well. some of the more FMV loaded figs from USAD/UCD have no problem what so ever here.
what i'm saying is.. don't rush into getting everything under the sun. have fun and enjoy growing figs. if you stay on this forum long enough and show that you are willing to be a part of this community, people will share with you. to me, growing fig is more of a luxury, it's one of the "fun" part of my life and this forum is great way to share my experience and problems when it comes to figs.