Quite a few people I communicated with lately told me that they were maxed out with respect to the space and it was time to move in a different direction , to reduce the number of units and be more selective.

I have almost approached this state too... I was wondering what was the strategy of the seasoned people here with a limited space? Did you grow out of proportion in the years 2 and 3 and then started cutting back as well?

I am curious how many people have no room left?

I want figs that will produce fruit here in soggy/cold Seattle. I am testing a few, and rely on my heroes local fig people. it is only a hand full of known varieties that do well here.

Would grafting onto strong stock be the solution? Will know soon!

My approach was buy more land.

Grasa,
So your approach is to graft the exotic varieties onto the local rootstocks?  Please update us as soon as you know something!

Strudeldog,
To buy more land is not feasible in the most of the urban areas unless you do not care how much it costs. Also, I think this approach works temporarily only, it is like widening the freeways to reduce the traffic, - works for 1 year max in LA (or doesn't work at all).

I will have to liquidate this year. I have 45 acres, but the problem living in the cold is where to store them in the winter. I go by taste and production. It looks like the darker figs are winning out.

Last time the garden was almost full the winter killed 8 trees - that made me some (bad!!) space - especially regarding the shadows from the trees.
I since then found some more places, removed a peach tree, but now I'm done...
If in the future I would like to put a new figtree, I would remove one in place to have space for the new one.
Buying land is for now not an option, perhaps in the future ...

Understand Greenfig,

But I did move primarily for more space to grow things, and agree that is not a practical answer for most. Besides a few privledged  potted plants, much of my selection process will be made by Mother Nature as they are planted out in ground. I want a full season of productive tasty plants, so I envision those trees that don't exceed will be replaced with proven performers for me or what others are raving about here.

last winter i tought i will not root another fig unless its extra special..

now i have over 50 cuttings so.... and they are common variety Hmadi and sbayi ones.

Greedy me

Just got 30 acres to play with. I'm trying to decide which figs to move to the new land and which ones to keep outside my window. I'm leaning towards moving those that produce late will got to the new land. It's nice to have options. ;)

i'm starting to get rid of figs that doesn't improve with in 3rd season putting on the figs.. of course, some i'm willing to wait longer. if the taste is not outstanding, they will go to the trash can. 

Congratulations Dennis,
I am sure you are excited, 30 acres should keep you busy.

Pete,
You are going to have folks going through your Garbage.
 

Pete, Do you remember what varieties went to the trash? So it seems my assumption to wait 2-3 years was about right. It is my second year and some figs produced last summer and some are going to this coming one. Next December I will have to decide if my wife was right on the first place :) It is also may be true that my " bad" fig may produce better some place else. Shipping bare root is not too pricy. Watching a fig to develop from a cutting to a tree and then trash it is beyond my abilities at this time...

Like every one, I to ran out of space

I'm going to try my hand at grafting too, in order to put 3-4 varieties on one tree.  One possible limitation to keep in mind would be spreading of fmv.  One would expect that the grafted "combination" tree will contain all strains of fmv that the respective scions and rootstock harbored.  It is possible that the grafted tree might have a fmv cocktail that causes problems.  So it is probably not a good idea to graft a variety like UCD Black Ischia onto a tree with several relatively healthy varieties.  Whether bringing together 3-4 healthy varieties into one tree causes more fmv symptoms than the isolated varieties exhibited is probably not too likely but is something to consider.  I'm definitely going to keep the isolated varieties going for a couple years until I know the grafted tree is healthy.

We did buy more land.  A lot of it!!  And now we decide where to plant.  A few have died for unknown reasons, but most thrive. 

Suzi

Can I post my address on those trashcans guys?  ;-p

on the grafted cuttings i would think it will still die back to the hardy part of the cutting (the root stalk) unless you dig it up and bring it in the winter time. on the other hand, i think grafting on the hardy wood stalk would be a good way to get the slow growing, less than hardy varieties to grow more vigorously with the heavy sap flow from the root stalk. that would be what i would be interested in trying with grafting.

It is hard to get rid of fig trees or to turn down offers for trades... but sometimes you just have to do it.

Got rid of many varieties in 2013. In terms of trees, likely over 40. Should have room. Just have a weak spot for trials. Did add a few varieties that have worked well in Eastern Canada. Anyway, I am trying hard in not keeping any spares.

I've been maxed out for awhile but still find room for a few more. I'm currently trying to convince myself to thin out the herd a lot. There's a few that I'm definitely going to have to give the boot to, not because of taste but because they split too easily for my climate. There's a few more that I'll be watching this year to see how productive they are and that will determine their fate as whether they earn their keep or not. With limited winter storage space I'll be forced into keeping only the best producers.

Igor, perhaps you need to start a neighborhood fig watch campaign.  You can help out the neighbors by offering a fig tree to plant in their front yard at a location where you are able to come by and check them out easily. :)

Harvey, I already started that! :) I found one location on a street and one in somebody's backyard nearby. I also have a friend who needs to modify his yard to conserve more water otherwise the city of Monrovia will bite his ass off. I told him that the fig trees are quite drought tolerant :D I think he bought the idea, and he likes eating figs too!

greenfig, 

when only land i have is 1/3 acre where my house is on, kind of hard to keep too many trees. elimination starts from the cutting. unless a cutting is very special fig, i only root 3 best cutting out of how many ever i have. once they are in cups, and if they are getting heavy mold on the top of the soil and on the bud, they go into trash can. once moved to the 1 gal, if they show any sign of drying up, they go into trash can. once they survived 1 yr in 1 gal and if they show promise, they go into 3 or 10 gal depends on the fig they have provided last yr. if the fig was very good, they go into 10 gal. if not, they go into 3 gal for one more yr to prove themselves. if the fig doesn't improve, they go into trash can. if they show some improvement, they will stay in 3 gal. if they have that certain something, they go into 10 gal. even then, i won't be able to keep too many 10 gal due to lack of space. only the very best and special ones go into 10 gal. 

Pete, If your figs go through such a rigorous selection process, you must be a special person to trade with since you keep only the best! Thanks for an advise.

I bought 5.45 acres in the south in the south just to grow figs,So untill I move I will go down once a year and plant figs.So the extra figs can go south.Rex.

greenfig, 

the cuttings/trees that came in as gift gets priority in which ones i keep :) even if they are not the best figs, they get their place around the house. things i get from USDA/UCD are most likely to get chopped and things i paid for also gets the chopped quicker, other than the 3 first trees. it's more about what meaning that trees has for me, then the taste. 

VdB, Kathleen's Black, Paradiso Gene, White Greek, Genovese Nero, RdB, Longue D'Aout, CdDN, Hardy Chicago, and others were gifts. so i can't get rid of them. that would be a bad karma. :)

Pete, as I mentioned to you once before, I have some very good friends in Durham.  They are renting and aren't in the financial position to be spending money on potted figs.  If you ever have a decent fig that is potted and you want to get rid of, please let me know so I can make arrangements (and compensate you) to help find it a new home. :)

harvey, i don't usually get rid of decent figs. lol but we'll see. i think i might have few trees i'll be getting rid of in spring. i'll let you know. 

Igor, I met a guy the other day and we chatted about white sapote (we're both enthusiasts of the fruit/tree).  Anyways, he wrote me and one of his comments seemed to maybe fit your situation:

[QUOTE]I am planting them in friends backyards and even sometimes on private property , commercial buildings with multiple tenants , apartments ............anywhere there's free water and a low chance that I will be arrested . hehe [/QUOTE]

:)

Wow! That is an extreme case, no exactly my situation :) But thanks! I hope he is labeling the trees properly. I planted 2 white sapote seeds last year. They have grown nicely and could be grafted now if needed. Have you grafted the sapote trees? What time of the year it is best to do? What varieties could be grafted onto the seedlings?

[QUOTE=kubota1]I will have to liquidate this year. I have 45 acres, but the problem living in the cold is where to store them in the winter. I go by taste and production. It looks like the darker figs are winning out.[/QUOTE]

You need an insulated barn with a little heating ability.  With 30+ acres to devote to figs you could become the potted fig capital of the world.  A research facility second to none.  You could have a few big heated greenhouses with caprifigs and wasps and let them out in the summer to make your 10,000 varieties the best tasting in the world.  In a few years when fig cuttings are allowed across borders again you could get everything Pons has and more in your quarantine greenhouse.  Then you could sell them and make some $$.  Plus you can do breeding experiments, sequence the genome of all the figs and make designer figs for zone 2 with different flavor profiles.  In fact, you could make a fig that tastes like the best steak anyone's ever eaten. 

I say, "Go for it!"

Sounds like a plan Bob.

[QUOTE=greenfig]Wow! That is an extreme case, no exactly my situation :) But thanks! I hope he is labeling the trees properly. I planted 2 white sapote seeds last year. They have grown nicely and could be grafted now if needed. Have you grafted the sapote trees? What time of the year it is best to do? What varieties could be grafted onto the seedlings? [/QUOTE]

Igor, sorry to get your thread off topic, but it's your fault! ;)

Yes, I've grafted white sapote maybe 50 times.  Search YouTube for "white sapote grafting" and you'll see my fat fingers. :)  I grafted a greenhouse seedling tree last night and may do some more tonight.  I use primarily cleft grafts.  It's best to graft the tree when it's pushing new growth.  I will try to keep my newly grafted trees in my heated shop if I can spare the space since my greenhouse isn't really as warm as they ideally should be.  Eventually, I'll get around to developing my web site some more to include my own trees and fruit, etc.  It's at www.WhiteSapote.com  I have around 25 varieties.  There aren't nearly as many to pick from as figs, thankfully!!!

Wow, Harvey, I am speachless, that orchard looks awesome! On the page 3 you mentined the mother Tree in Pasadena. Is it on a public land? Can you pm me an address, if it is ok? The cleft grafting is done on some fat rootstocks, my seedlings are not there yet. Let me check the YouTube sapote source. This offtopic is great. The fig cuttings at this time of the year can drive you crazy. They are like toddlrs all running in different directions :)

Igor, the reference to "stealth pruning" is a discrete way for me to say I trespassed.  Bob's daughter used to own the house, though, and he named the variety after her.  Should count for some level of permission and I don't think the homeowners really wanted to be disturbed so I think it was okay. :)  Let me see if I can find my notes and you can tell them I gave you permission. :)

He-he.. Thank you!
Too bad it is not a fig season, I would leave them some as a thank you and a postcard with your return address :D

Couldn't find the address in my notes, but sometimes my memory amazes me.  PM headed your way! :)