(sorry, no photos)

I have a second fig ripening on my zidi now - and I'm bringing in the 5 gallon pot at night. The first one I ate last week. It was quite good but not excellent. Mild, 'fruity', and pleasantly moist inside. Not jammy, but it was not what I would call 'overly ripe'.

There were a few seeds, but perhaps not fully formed. I don't know if it was pollinated, but if so, very lightly. One pollen grain is required for each seed to form - that did not happen just by observing the inside flesh.

The tree is about a year old and still small but is ripening it's second fig, with 2 or 3 more still to go. A good-tasting fig considering everything.

Zidi, still a mystery.

Gina, Zidi is one of the best tasting figs. Every time Jon and I go to UCD, I gorge myself with Zidi. The figs are so large and has a super sweet tangy rich flavor. I don't have the wasp in the Carolinas, but one day we might. I got one large tree and one day I will be eating Zidi figs in Charlottee.

Thank you for sharing.

Best,
Tam

These are pictures of a poorly polinated Snyrna

Francisco

Thanks for the photos Francisco.

The Zidi I had was not quite like that. I'm not sure there was any pollination - the seeds in your photo are quite pronounced compared to what mine had. I have another that should be ripe this coming week. I have it encased in wire so I'll have a chance at it. I'll look more closely this time when I cut it. Wish I could post photos.

Gina,

If your Zidi got up to now, growing on you tree, getting volume, showing  a pronounced dark color and signs of being ripe, something has certainly happened.  Otherwise, being a smyrna, and without pollination, it would have dried and fell long time ago (late June, early July).

To try and get an answer to what  happened, take part of the pulp showing some seeds on this coming fig and clean that between your fingers in warm water, then test the clan seeds for floatness. If all float, there was no pollination at all.

If some sink to the bottom of the transparent  container, these, being heavier than tap water, do have a kernel, are fertile and will generate new figs if planted.
This meaning that some grains of pollen may have entered the fig, somehow late, but enough to a partial pollination.

The fig of my previous pictures, still had in excess of 100 good seeds. but the great majority were just empty shells.

I am curious to what your next Zidi reserves for us

Francisco

So um Gina when are you getting a camera . rofl

Gina,

I am glad  you managed to have some Zidi's closer to became effectively ripe. The pictures would certainly be ideal for you to keep and document this very good piece of news.

Somehow, a few grains of pollen did get into that fig finding some flowers still receptive and caprificating them.
Under normal circumstances and in your area these figs will ripen through the course of August and 1st week of September.
Thinking that by the time this fig  would ripen, you had your camera problem fixed, I did not suggest you to register the weight and size (length/diam), or may be you did !?

I am attaching to this thread and for your reference a technical paper on caprification of three Tunisian cultivars (Zidi included)  where you have some tables with a number of interesting parameters, namely the size and weight of the figs following single and/or repetitive caprification efforts.

Francisco

(Dang, I just wrote a reply but the computer ate it.)

I know of two other people who successfully grow zidi about 50 miles from here. One has the wasp for sure. Also caprifigs. I got my cuttings from one of them.

I did not weigh nor measure the one from today - I was hungry and it was very appealing, so.... But I will next time. It was the largest fig I have picked this year, and was fully and nicely formed. In our area, there are a good number of ornamental figs that are grown. Not Ficus Carica. Perhaps they have wasps that stray, although I thought fig wasps were species specific.

Also, I can't post photos because of computer problems, not camera - and fixing that will be much more expensive. This works well enough for my purposes.

Nice to hear that you did enjoy tasting your Zidi and that you may have one or two more.
It could well happen that there are a F/Carica caprifig near your place and so far you are not aware of it.

In a month or two, all figs will have lost all their leaves, including the caprifig. However a good caprifig although having lost all its leaves, still displays an abundant crop of green, bluish  winter figs (called Mamme), all in this year's wood . They are very easy to locate ! The chances are great that it would be a good one.

Francisco

Gina,

All those places are potential locations for caprifigs to sprout. As a curiosity let me tell you that this past Sunday visiting friends living near a holiday resort, I had to go through a large 2way boulevard with palm trees on both alleys all along..saw then from the trunk of one palm on the cavity left after one old palm branch was cut, a long fig branch with many leaves on,...then another one... short, in between two roundabouts on those alleys have checked on both sides well over a dozen of wild (?) figs!! and that is the job of birds, sparrows most likely. It looks like that fig seedlings marry and root well in palm trunks. Have to get back there, to take pictures and to try and identify if those figs are of any use.
Those families living near if their origins are from the southern provinces there is a good chance they grow caprifigs .

Spotting caprifigs needs a lot of legwork and patience
Surprised the goats (capras)  let that caprifig grow.. their owner is probably a very good person and  feeds them with fresh lettuce and cabbage every day and they lost the habit of chewing the caprifigs!

Once you root caprifig cuttings and they become little trees, then they need to be caprified by the time the first figlets  show. Ideally one should root new caprifigs under or very near an established caprifig
Old and long established caprifigs (most not being taken care of) easily develop 'auto' or self air-layers on the branches closer to the ground..(keep this im mind and with a bit of luck you may find one or two ready and rooted waitting for you)

The winter or Mamme caprifigs usually show themselves on the wood of previous season but more individually, not in clusters... Then by mid January the (first crop)- Profichi is born on that same wood and surrounding (more or less) the winter Mamme. You may have from a few 5 or 6 Profichi up to well over a dozen  for each Mamme.
Attaching pictures showing a cluster of ripe Profichi in the  3rd week of past June by the time wasps leave  and a cutaway of a caprifig where the famous wasp escaping tunnel is shown.

You are a very lucky person... new Zidi's popping here and there ?!

Francisco