Was preparing to starting putting away some of the trees for the winter,
been fairly mild in NYC and some of the branches have not completely hardened off.

 I let the trees have free reign this past season,
no pruning on my part, figured if the Mayans were right,
I would save myself some work  :-)

 Was only able to prune two yesterday,
Belleclare Kronos Sika/Syka and Belleclare Sicilian Turbinado
These cuttings are from those two mother trees



Ran out of time to continue with more pruning,
so I thought I would take a few pics of some mature Belleclare momma's
Sun angle, cluttered background, etc  all conspired against me.
Pictures don't due these trees justice or show proper scale.
All are 7 feet in size or taller with very large caliper.
Will try again in the spring when leafed out.

Belleclare San Piero
A beautiful specimen tree when leafed out, truly classical look to it.
Over 20 years old.


BC Atreano, mother tree, 25+ years old
In the background  BC International Braided tree, 3 varieties.



Closeup of the braided trunks fused together

Sorry the pictures are not that good.
I have a major root pruning and up potting project this spring
for all my trees, everything will end up in either 60 or 75 gal containers.
Have over 50 trees to do, in three different locations
so when I'm working on them,
I will take photos of each against a white background,
assuming the repotting doesn't kill me ;)

Beautiful trees.

Love the pictures!  Fig trees look so nice when they've aged.

Them fig pics look good enough for me...
Where is the lime?

Wow

Very Impressive, they look like they have been spoiled a bit.

Very nice

HungryJack i love to see what others do in pictures and you really came thru !
I look forward to more from you and others as well.
Thanks for taking the time to post them. ; )

I am truly sorry I recently questioned your motives Hungryjack. This removes any doubt about why you are here from my mind. Thank you for sharing the pictures and please accept my apology.

Wow Jack the trees are beautiful !  Thanks for posting the pictures .

The braided trees....that is beautiful.  Makes me want to try that....after I get brave enough.  Right now I'm just tickled to get a cutting to produce a root...lol

Jack (aka., hungry[fig/fish]jack) is a very, very genuine fig man....
[Yesterday; I just happened to talk to a non-member fig-person that knows him very well]

If anyone is interested in the Tree Braiding, this is not a bad video of a nursery doing a Hibiscus.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNgBQFn1hSE[/video]

Very nice photos, and especially nice to see the old Belleclare trees alive and well grown.  The braided tree is something to be treasured.

Anyone attempting to braid fig trees should do it when the new wood is green and bendable.  Once the wood starts to lignify, it becomes too stiff to braid, and will crack.  Keep braiding as the stems grow longer and tie off the braided sections.  Encourage as much growth as possible.  The extra leaves, etc; encourages the stems to thicken, and extra growth can always be trimmed away at a later time.  This will be a work in progress, and will take a few years, but you will have a unique fig tree in the end.

Good luck.

Frank

very nice..thanks for sharing!

Wow!!

great  looking trees

good luck

You can tell they were taken care of. Nice trees!

Very nice pics

HungryJack, I hope you enjoy the fruits of your labour from these trees for a long long time. They look good even in winter.
 
What are the pot sizes you have used for these old trees. It is better to know even though it is getting difficult to deal with 10 and 7-gallon pots when there are a number of such pots to take care of.

[QUOTE=gorgi]Them fig pics look good enough for me...
Where is the lime?[/QUOTE]

Been busy pruning, didn't have time to respond.

Thanks,  but the trees and I can do better :-)

You can see a little lime left on the surface of the containers,
they were heavily limed in 2011, about 1"
Was planning to root prune and re-pot most of my trees in the early
spring of 2012, but a planned trip to a remote area in Micronesia
was delayed until March,  which prevented me from accomplishing the task in 2012.

I was taught not to put new lime on top of old lime,
so I left what was there for 2012.
Heavy lime has pros and cons,
one of the cons is soil compaction.
If you are following a regular root pruning and re-potting
schedule, this is not that much of a factor,
if you want to extend the intervals between re-potting,
heavy lime could become an issue, IMO.

I gave all my trees a break this year,
let them do their own thing
with minimal input from me other than water.
They did fine.

But vacation time is over for them,
this year I crack the whip !  :-)

[QUOTE=Dieseler]HungryJack i love to see what others do in pictures and you really came thru !
I look forward to more from you and others as well.
Thanks for taking the time to post them. ; )[/QUOTE]

Thank you Martin,
but I cannot take the credit for the beauty of these trees.
These particular trees I purchased  as mature trees
they were from the personal collection of Chris DiPaola,
he raised and shaped them to be what they are today.

I am simply the current caretaker of these beautiful trees.

When leafed out, the San Piero is one of the nicest/prettiest/classical fig trees
I have ever seen, others who have seen it say the same.

On one of the pictures, it appears that the pot is sitting on a round concrete pad.
Do you place something under your pots to keep the roots from growing into the ground?

The trees are beautiful. I would enjoy seeing pictures of them when they have leafed out.

[QUOTE=hoosierbanana]I am truly sorry I recently questioned your motives Hungryjack. This removes any doubt about why you are here from my mind. Thank you for sharing the pictures and please accept my apology.[/QUOTE]

No worries mate :-)
I don't sweat the small stuff.

I must have missed some good posts or thread,
never saw your comments :-)

I did learn something,
not to discuss naming, lol
Sorry if I offended anybody.

Let the fig naming continue with a religious fervor :-)

[QUOTE=Chivas]If anyone is interested in the Tree Braiding, this is not a bad video of a nursery doing a Hibiscus.[/quote]

Love the way the worker braids the tree so quickly !

With figs, you want to put some spacers between
the braids when they are young.

[QUOTE=OttawanZ5] 
What are the pot sizes you have used for these old trees. It is better to know even though it is getting difficult to deal with 10 and 7-gallon pots when there are a number of such pots to take care of.[/QUOTE]

Trees in these pictures are in 30 and 45 gallon containers.
I have some in 60 gallon as well.

I have a major re-potting project for this fall,
close to 100 trees are going into 60, 75 and 100 gallon containers,
its a major undertaking.

Up to 30 gal trees can be handled with a regular hand truck assuming
the person is moderatly strong.
45 gal start to get tough.  60 gal you need a special heavy duty nursery
hand truck,  they are $600-800 for a good one.

I have trees in 3 locations,
one location I keep them on pallets,
and move them around with a forklift,
makes life easy :-)

Besides dealing with the weight of these large containers,
another consideration is cost.
Containers are expensive, and the amount of potting material needed
becomes magnified, along with the expense.
I have a 52' trailer filled with pallets of pine bark, fines, soils, peat moss,
perlite, lime, empty containers, etc,
and I think I will still run short on certain materials when I re-pot.

[QUOTE=mayson]On one of the pictures, it appears that the pot is sitting on a round concrete pad.
Do you place something under your pots to keep the roots from growing into the ground?

The trees are beautiful. I would enjoy seeing pictures of them when they have leafed out.[/QUOTE]

Yes, they are sitting on round concrete pavers.
Which is actually the item I have the hardest time finding in my area.
The shape and size is no longer popular with home owners for concrete work,
so the factories stopped making them.

They help prevent roots growing into the ground,
and the ground from potentially acting as a wick
and sucking the moisture out of your container.

For larger pots, I use heavy duty black plastic pallets.
I use these at two of my locations,
where their appearance is not a major factor/eyesore.
They do help with heating the roots early in the season.

Thank you to everyone for the kind words about these trees.

Although they were raised by a master,
similar results can be accomplished by anyone
with a little patience, proper pruning and a bit of study.



"Train up a fig tree in the way it should go,
and when you are old,   sit under the shade of it "   

Charles Dickens

Sounds like you have quite a setup and upcoming task !! Hope you have a crew !!

Would love to see the "fruits" of your labor as you prune, repot , lime etc.

I'm in the process of looking for concrete pavers here in FL.

[QUOTE=Pattee]Sounds like you have quite a setup and upcoming task !! Hope you have a crew !!

Would love to see the "fruits" of your labor as you prune, re-pot , lime etc.

I'm in the process of looking for concrete pavers here in FL.[/QUOTE]

I re-potted two trees this spring as a test,
60 and 75 gal, which leads me to believe I need
even more potting material than I have already.
Based on the time it took, with a 3 man crew,
it will take me 5 or 6 days (10-12 hr/day)  to root prune and re-pot
everything the right way.
Might need a 4th person to take pics,
as my hands are constantly busy during this process.

You would have enjoyed yesterdays fig event.
Moving 45 gal container fig trees off the roof of a
three story building to put them away for the winter.
No elevators or stairs were used :-)

Good luck with your paver search,
lots of retired NY'ers down there,
maybe they are still in fashion.

I'll trade one cutting for each paver,
we each pay for shipping,
you the paver,
me the cutting, lol  :-)

Block and tackle hoists ?? Pictures !!!!????

They are beautiful!  I couldn't begin to think of that kind of job!   Can't wait to see pictures in the summer!

Absolutely beautiful.  I can't wait until I can try something like the braiding out. Thank you for sharing!

Just gorgeous, hungryjack, and what a monumentous task to repot. We have a heavy duty hand truck/dolly, but I think even ours would not manage a tree in that size container and weight. I love, love, love the braided trunk. I will have to see if any of my fig starts will be candidates for this. My neighbor is also a big gardener and has several figs, one sporting his last name just for fun, and he'd love to try this technique, I know, so I will have to share the video. Just lovely, lovely, lovely! You are doing such a fine job with the mother trees, what a great caretaker you are.

Thanks Hungryjack, I am relieved.

Are you talking about spacers between where the stems touch or in the empty spaces to keep them a decent shape?

[QUOTE=hungryjack]

[QUOTE=Chivas]If anyone is interested in the Tree Braiding, this is not a bad video of a nursery doing a Hibiscus.[/quote]

Love the way the worker braids the tree so quickly !

With figs, you want to put some spacers between
the braids when they are young.

That root pruning manwork and hours it takes is some serious work !
My largest containers are only 30g i'm thinking of a electric saw the one where the long blade goes in and out in very near future as i use a bow saw and its a pain to do the wedging cutouts.

To bad i do not live in the area or i could do some work for you , i figure one ripe dark type fig to consume for each picture i take 1 dinner plate minimum on job site. ; )

Magnificent trees!  I don't care who started them (well, OK it is cool to know they were once owned and tended by Chris), point is you are doing a excellent job maintaining them in great looking shape.

Wow! Worst thread title ever! :)

Great trees. Can't wait to see them in the summer. Thanks for showing us.

Thanks for sharing.  Great to see how well private collector's can do with a big commitment.  I look forward to many more photos.

Just beautiful trees !
Who makes the best pots you have found to use ?
I can't imagine the work of root pruning just one tree with a root ball that large.

[QUOTE=Pattee]Block and tackle hoists ?? Pictures !!!!????[/QUOTE]

 My friend owns the building next to mine,
he has 10 foot high small mesh chain link fence along the perimeter of the roof.
My idea was to put the trees on his roof, then stretch some bird netting over the top
and I would have a bird proof enclosure for 20 trees I have at this location.

 Trees are on pallets and we used a LULL, which is an extended reach forklift used in construction
to lift the trees to the roof in the Spring. Had to lift up a manual hi/low pallet jack first
to help transfer trees from the Lull to the roof,  was a bit of pain and took about 6 hours to complete the task.

 On Saturday, instead of using the Lull to remove them,
we used a crane, to hoist the pallets from the roof.
Was very easy to accomplish and only took 1.5 hours to do it all.
Another friend nearby owns all this construction equipment,
I could not do this without their help, as the expense to rent this
stuff would not be worth it to move fig trees around.

 Sorry, no pictures, I was taking the ride with the fig trees from the
roof to the ground, forgot the straps to secure them,
and didn't want to risk them falling, so I went for the ride with them,
holding on to the trees so they wouldn't fall.

[QUOTE=Dieseler]That root pruning manwork and hours it takes is some serious work !
My largest containers are only 30g i'm thinking of a electric saw the one where the long blade goes in and out in very near future as i use a bow saw and its a pain to do the wedging cutouts.

To bad i do not live in the area or i could do some work for you , i figure one ripe dark type fig to consume for each picture i take 1 dinner plate minimum on job site. ; )[/QUOTE]

You're talking about a reciprocating saw or Sawzall,
will work ok for trimming sides and bottom,
but probably not that well for the wedge cuts.

I have tried many things,
for me, the best has been a narrow kerf chainsaw bar and chain,
makes quick work of root pruning and works great for wedge or plunge cuts.
It will make a huge mess and have a spare chain handy.

I would be happy to compensate you with dark colored ripe figs
for your photographic services.
But be forewarned,
you will encounter the dreaded white figs as well,
I have some in my collection along with some yellow and green ones :-)

Hand Truck

For larger containers, up to about 45 gal,
Harbor Freight sells a hand truck that will work,
its about $200 and will handle the task.

Get larger than 60 gal and you need one
of the real heavy duty nursery ones that cost $500+
to move container around, especially on uneven ground.

Wow Jack! The crazy lengths we go to for our figs huh?

I just want to say. I hope you continue to share your experiences with plenty more "not so good pictures", as we move into next fig season and beyond. This is the kind of thread that keeps us coming back here nearly every day to see what's new :-) . Good stuff.

I know it's not always possible especially in NY and also depending on the type of tree, but if space was not an issue. Would you say it would be easier to plant in ground and wrap them very year or have the large pots and do the root pruning and moving around?

[QUOTE=Chivas]Are you talking about spacers between where the stems touch or in the empty spaces to keep them a decent shape?[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]

Where the stems touch, to help keep the stems separate
and prevent them from fusing together too soon.

Choose your varieties carefully,
you want them to all have similar growth rates.

[QUOTE]Choose your varieties carefully,
you want them to all have similar growth rates[/QUOTE]

You could use all one variety. If you still wanted multiple varieties, once you have the desired amount of braiding, you could graft whatever you want on top.

[QUOTE=71GTO]I know it's not always possible especially in NY and also depending on the type of tree, but if space was not an issue. Would you say it would be easier to plant in ground and wrap them very year or have the large pots and do the root pruning and moving around?[/QUOTE]

I find it easier to keep mature trees in containers,
then to grow in the ground and wrap every year.

It takes me a couple of minutes to move the tree in and out every year,
and once every 3-4 years, an hour or so to root prune and re-pot (with help)

It takes atleast an hour or more to tie up and wrap a mature tree in the ground,
then almost the same amount of time to untie and unwrap the tree in the spring.
Larger the tree more time it takes.
Trees grown in tree form are also harder to wrap than those grown as a bush.

Over the past generation, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of
fig trees in the NY area have perished being grown in the ground.
When grandpa got too old to wrap his trees, and there was nobody to help,
they went unwrapped, a small amount adapted and survived,
but most died within a few winters.  Lots of unique figs that were brought to this
country were lost this way.

Containers are not a sure thing either,
I know a person in MA that had over 100 Belleclare trees,
all different varieties, they were kept in a trailer for the winters.
One especially cold winter there was a major loss for this collector,
only 4 of the varieties survived.

Off to prune and put away the last few trees for the winter,
weather pattern is chaning this week, old man winter is coming.
Maybe I will try to take a few more  not so good pictures  :-)

Thank's for the advice Jack, I am making up a plant to pair some nice varieties together but need to observe the growth this year to see what to put with what and to try and get several different harvests on it throughout the season, look forward to more pictures and information from you.

That makes sense. It is easier to move them, but finding storage space is rough. I have to just hope some day soon I have a bigger garage or a barn.

[QUOTE=drivewayfarmer]Just beautiful trees !
Who makes the best pots you have found to use ?
I can't imagine the work of root pruning just one tree with a root ball that large.[/QUOTE]

Not sure who makes the best containers.
I think when it comes to large containers your options are potentially
limited by your local supply, which is best, since shipping gets pricey on these.

Containers are made by different processes,
Injected molded are the strongest and most expensive,
hard to find in larger sizes.
Vacuum formed would be the next strongest container,
and perfectly acceptable for using with large containers.

I would avoid anything that is Pressure formed or Blow molded,
they won't be strong enough.

Prepare for sticker shock when you check out pricing.
But, they do last for a number of years 7-10, so not too bad.

Had some containers laying around in the backyard, took a pic.
One gallon (with plant), 5 gallon, 45 gallon and 60 gallon

Say hello to Martha.
The only tree I have a name for in my collection.

Tree was purchased with a dozen other mature Belleclare trees from a collector.
Tree was saved by Chris until the nursery was closing and sold to this long time
collector.  Tree can be seen in the Martha Stewart video. She had wanted to purchase
this particular tree, but Chris refused to sell it to her at the time.

Petite Negre
History of this tree was confirmed by Chris DiPaola.

Martha before her haircut yesterday




Matha from above



Martha  ready for the Spring

Belleclare Long D' Aout

Tree developed a bit of lean this year at the top,
so this spring after root pruning and re-potting,
it will get staked to straighten it out.
Then I  will start to develope a full crown with some pruning.

Belleclare Weeping Italian EverBearing


Another TV star,
this tree is the one you see in the Martha Stewart video.

Sorry for the poor photograph,
tree was in a tight spot and did not have the room
to photograph properly.
Will get some good photos in the spring.

I won't be around for a couple of weeks,
headed to China in a few hours on a business trip.

Time permitting, my plan is to search out a fig tree I was told about,
that produces the largest figs in the world.
Variety is called Won Hung Low

;-)  :-)

[QUOTE=hungryjack]

I won't be around for a couple of weeks,
headed to China in a few hours on a business trip.

Time permitting, my plan is to search out a fig tree I was told about,
that produces the largest figs in the world.
Variety is called Won Hung Low

;-)  :-)

Back.

Martin, Who Flung Poo was on vacation,
met his brother and sister,
Wo Flung Dung and Sum Ting Wong  ;-)

Had spare time, was a long journey, two flights each way,
over 6,000 miles round trip, and lots of driving,
but made it to the 500 year old fig tree.

Saw many fig trees and grape vines in this area,
they have roadways covered for miles with grape trellis.

Tasted the most amazing dried figs I ever had,
also got to eat fresh melons that were locally grown,
very unique taste.

Interesting side trip,
wish I had more time to explore this area of China
and during the proper season.

Great photos with expert pruning. Does Martha come begging for figs?

Sounds like and adventurous trip. I am ready for the travelogue - just let me get some popcorn.

Hungryjack did you take any pictures on your journey that your willing to share if so would enjoy seeing them.  ; )

Would also love to see photos.  Glad you had a good time.

[QUOTE=musillid]Great photos with expert pruning. Does Martha come begging for figs?
[/QUOTE]

Martha doesn't talk to me anymore,
she is pissed I got her Petite Negre  :-)  ;-)

[QUOTE=Dieseler]Hungryjack did you take any pictures on your journey that your willing to share if so would enjoy seeing them.  ; )[/QUOTE]

Was planning on taking pictures,
that didn't work out too well :-(

I use a Nikon AW100, it has a GPS feature,
never used it before. Decided to use it for this side trip.
Turned on the feature in the camera before I went to the airport,
when I went to use to camera 40 hours later,
battery was dead, I attributed it to the extreme cold,
but later found out, the GPS feature drains the battery quickly,
even if the camera is turned off.
I did not pack the charger with me, as I was traveling lite
with only a carry on bag, sent the rest of my bags back to Beijing
with a luggage service, as I had departed for this trip from Shanghai.
The camera battery normally lasts days for me.

I have a couple of crappy pics I took on the cell phone I use in China,
just have to figure out how to download them from the camera.

This was a long and tiring trip,
further than I originally anticipated.
From start to finish, the trip was about 80 hours in duration,
I traveled over 6,500 miles round trip, due to travel delays
and blizzards and other transportation issues,
I spent about 75 of those hours traveling,
slept a total of 3 hours in a farm house freezing from the cold.

I knew it would be a crazy trip with such limited time and
great distances to travel, but did it anyhow.
Would like to return to this region at another point in time,
very fascinating place in China with alot of history and cultures.

I post a map below,
I went to the western part of the Xinjang from Shanghai in the east,
arrived/departed in China at Beijing.

Wild Mountain Figs

 I had the chance to try some dried figs,
they were small, dried cherry size.

There were a couple of different versions,
the very dried ones that needed hydration
and one type that was dried in a similar fashion to
dried figs from Cali or Turkey,
with sufficient moisture content to eat without rehydrating.

They were small in size, like a large size button,
darker in color and sticky from the sweetness of the fig.
Had an intensive fig flavor, with a little nuttiness and very sweet,
but not overpowering.

Best tasting dried fig I have ever eaten by a wide margin,
this fig was priced in a similar fashion,
as it was a little more than 10 times the cost ( $55 kg)  of other dried mountain figs at this vendor.
I was told these figs come from a specific mountain/area in Tajikistan,
transported on horseback from the mountains to the border and in limited supply.
I should have brought back a suitcase filled with these figs :-)

I had dried figs soaked in strong black tea which had a good taste,
had the same combo but with various spices and sugar added, again tasty.
Had figs soaked in several different wines, as this is a big grape area in China.

Since we arrived very late at the 500 year old fig tree,
and it was too nasty and late to head back towards the main city,
we spent a few hours resting/sleeping at the caretakers house nearby,
in the morning,  the family served us breakfast,
which had dried figs from the 500 y/o tree  prepared several ways.
The most unique and tasty to me was a porridge like dish that featured
the whole dried figs that were boiled in Yak's milk with  raisins, dates and walnuts,
with some additional spices and served in a bowl.
Eat some directly from the bowl  and the remaining portion was poured over rice,
it was a perfect combination of salty and sweet and very filling and warming.

Hungry Jack, have you managed to know if Chris is still in the area? I have a few other friends that were Belleclaires affectionados that were pretty upset with Richie (i think that was his name) after the nursery closed. 

Chris is still around and happy as a fig :-)
I speak to him several times a year,
I try not to bother him that often.

Purchased your friend's tree collection
I know because he had mentioned your name to me
as interested in the collection,
if I remember correctly, transportation was the issue for you.