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james

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
A cold front is coming through on Saturday.  We're not gonna make it to 90 degrees all weekend! ;)

~james
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In containers - Littleton, CO (zone 5b)
In ground - N.E of Austin, TX (zone 8b) 

2016 Wish List:  Dārk Pōrtuguese, Grānthāms Royāl, Lātarolla, Negrettā, Nōire de Bārbentāne, Rockāway Green, Viōlet Sepōr, Viōlette Dāuphine.  Iranian figs are always welcome.
Figluvah

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
Yes James,

We are expecting a cold front this weekend here too, It will get down to the upper 80's this weekend, I reckon I better lite the central heat pilot light.

Do not want to get a chill.
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Cecil (Z 8b?) in the sticks of E.Tx

(Elkhart/Palestine TX)
Dieseler

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
Quote:
Originally Posted by james
A cold front is coming through on Saturday.  We're not gonna make it to 90 degrees all weekend! ;)

~james


lol James gonna be in 70s here this weekend next week low 80s.
This is when my figs ripen and taste at there best what left to ripen.
JoAnn749

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
And I have off on Sat!!!  I am looking forward to working in the garden.  I had a very long Labor Day weekend - it was too hot to work out there, over 100 every day and through this Friday.

Maybe I'll attempt an air layer - I think we have a good 8 weeks of growing left.  Or, do you think green cuttings would be better.  I have some long branches on the lower part of the tree near the soil line - they sprouted out in May and are 2 1/2 - 4 1/2 ft long.  Some have figs on them!  There are about 35 on the tree.
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Jo-Ann DFW TX, Zone 7b-8a Wish List: Black Madeira,, Kathleen's Black, Malta Black, Marseille VS Black, White Paradisio, LSU Scott's Black, Conadria, White Trianna, Marttineca Rimada, Excel, Peter's Honey, Bebera Preta (Abebereira), Strawberry Verte
james

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
Martin,

We probably won't have highs lower than 80 degrees until mid/late October.  Some of my trees will be ripening figs then.  I hope you are right and the best is yet to come.

Jo-Ann

This is definitely a good time to air-layer in Texas. Unfortunately, I won't be able to get to mine for several weeks.  If I can get my company's taxes (mostly) done this week, I'll burn a pile of trash and get a few air-layers on my pomegranate trees.

~james
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In containers - Littleton, CO (zone 5b)
In ground - N.E of Austin, TX (zone 8b) 

2016 Wish List:  Dārk Pōrtuguese, Grānthāms Royāl, Lātarolla, Negrettā, Nōire de Bārbentāne, Rockāway Green, Viōlet Sepōr, Viōlette Dāuphine.  Iranian figs are always welcome.
landscapewitch

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
This is so exciting! Bring the dogs and cats in and pile 'em on the bed!

If our trees behave like they did in that last cool(er) spell we had they just seem to flush and ripen with the heat and evapotranspiration stress off.
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Alexis
Manor, Tx 8b


Wish list - Yellow Neches, Persian White, Dalmatie, Berbera
JoAnn749

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
I checked my pictures to see when I saw the new crop of figs and it was on Aug 20.  The first main crop started to ripen 70 days from the day I noticed them so I was thinking the second crop will be the same which brings the date to Oct. 22.

Should I leave the branches with figs on them alone and air-layer the fig-less branches?  What about the suckers?  How would I handle them?

I would love to get this done on Sat, pleeeease help me with a little more instruction on choosing the branches.

Thanks!
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Jo-Ann DFW TX, Zone 7b-8a Wish List: Black Madeira,, Kathleen's Black, Malta Black, Marseille VS Black, White Paradisio, LSU Scott's Black, Conadria, White Trianna, Marttineca Rimada, Excel, Peter's Honey, Bebera Preta (Abebereira), Strawberry Verte
james

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
Suckers:  I am leaving the ones on my tree alone until the tree goes dormant.  Then I will dig around them trying to preserve as many roots as I can, cut them off, and pot them up.  Since we have milder winter temperatures, the roots will grow and establish themselves while the top stays dormant.  Next spring they will be ready to grow.

Air-Layers: I've not tried to layer a limb with fruit on it.  It *should* be okay since a girdle (yes, I normally girdle my air-layers) only disrupting the flow of nutrients to the parent tree and not to the limb. 

I also have an alternative to doing the air-layer this weekend which maybe safer and you won't lose too much time... Instead of air-layering, wet the limb where you would normally be doing the layer.  Then wrap with black electrical tape (sticky part out).  Like this:



If the weather is still hot and the leaves do not provide enough shade, wrap a piece of foil around the tape to keep it cool.  Then wait for the transformation to happen... let say about 4-6 weeks or after your figs are ripe.  Remove the electrical tape. You should have some adventitious root nodes forming along the limb where your tape was.  It should looks something like this:



and like this:



and like this:


Once you remove the tape, put on a your air-layer media as usual.  The roots will grow quickly from these nodes.

If one prefers to air-layer in the spring, I *THINK* (some experimentation is needed) will work while the tree is dormant.  This will give the layer a head start in the spring.  The new tree will have more time to establish itself before the onset of summer heat.
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In containers - Littleton, CO (zone 5b)
In ground - N.E of Austin, TX (zone 8b) 

2016 Wish List:  Dārk Pōrtuguese, Grānthāms Royāl, Lātarolla, Negrettā, Nōire de Bārbentāne, Rockāway Green, Viōlet Sepōr, Viōlette Dāuphine.  Iranian figs are always welcome.
Darkman

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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
James,

Thanks for that. Do you see any reason Parafilm would not work too?

I guess you would need to wrap with foil to stop light from getting in.
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Charles in Pensacola AKA Darkman
Zone 8b/9a
Winter of 09/10 low 19
Winter of 10/11 low 19
Winter of 11/12 low 29
Winter of 12/13 low 31
Winter of 13/14 low 19
james

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
Charles,

If I remember correctly, part of the process (etiolating) is keeping the wood in the dark.  On these limbs, the canopy of the tree provided enough shade to where I did not wrap any foil around the tape.

I have not used parafilm in this (or similar) situations to know how it would work and why it might fail.
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In containers - Littleton, CO (zone 5b)
In ground - N.E of Austin, TX (zone 8b) 

2016 Wish List:  Dārk Pōrtuguese, Grānthāms Royāl, Lātarolla, Negrettā, Nōire de Bārbentāne, Rockāway Green, Viōlet Sepōr, Viōlette Dāuphine.  Iranian figs are always welcome.
rcantor

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
James, that is great!  I knew you were famous for a reason!
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Zone 6, MO

Wish list:
Galicia Negra, De La Reina - Pons, Genovese Nero - Rafed's, Sbayi, Souadi, Acciano, Any Rimada, Sodus Sicilian, any Bass, Pons or Axier fig, any great tasting fig.
noss

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Posted Reply with quote  #12 
James,

Is electrical tape non-sticky?

noss
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noss/a.k.a. Vivian Lafayette, LA Zone 9a Wish List: Col de Dame Blanc, Col de Dame Noir, Scott's Yellow, Tony's Brown Italian, any other fig that is good in the rain/humidity and has a real figgy flavor.
genecolin

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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
James someone, perhaps you, posted about this method before and I tried it this year. It worked great. I had noticed the effect of the tape even before when I did and air layer using tape to hold the bag on. I just didn't connect the dots.
"gene"
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From the bayou,
"gene"

zone 9
Houma, La.
james

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Posted Reply with quote  #14 
Bob, you make me blush.

Noss, wrap the tape onto the limb w/the sticky side out.  It sticks to itself pretty well.  BTW, I didn't fig-ure this out until the second time I did this.  There was no major damage by putting the sticky side against the bark (at least the one time I did it), but I had to be much more careful removing the tape from the tree.  With the sticky side out, it unwraps much more easily. 

Gene, these pics are from 2007.  I've posted about this before and I think sometime in 2006 Gene Hosey made some comments about this process.
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In containers - Littleton, CO (zone 5b)
In ground - N.E of Austin, TX (zone 8b) 

2016 Wish List:  Dārk Pōrtuguese, Grānthāms Royāl, Lātarolla, Negrettā, Nōire de Bārbentāne, Rockāway Green, Viōlet Sepōr, Viōlette Dāuphine.  Iranian figs are always welcome.
dkirtexas

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 
I did this using un-sticky grafting tape, works well
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Thx, glad to be here

Danny K "EL CAZADOR DE HIGO"
Waskom Tx Zone 7B/8

Wish list: anything anyone wants me to have. LSU RED.  Any LSU fig.
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