Around Thanksgiving time I saw an ad on Craigslist regarding a fig tree for sale . Since it was in my neighborhood, I was curious and decided to run to that house to find out what it is .
The owner of the tree was a Hungarian lady . She said she needed room for other things because the fig tree drew squirrels to come and they ate all her figs whenever they are ripe . She told me  "make me an offer" . I said I just wanted to buy some cuttings .
"No cuttings for sale . You have to take the whole thing for $250.00 "
"What do you mean by the whole thing ? Can I just cut all the branches down and use them as firewood ?"
" The whole thing means that you have to dig all the roots out of here "
" Well, I need to hire someone to do the job because I cannot dig it myself  "
"Okay . Give me $150 . And do it fast before Thanksgiving "
"Mam, what is the name of your figs ? what color is outside and what color is inside ?"
"Celeste . Never have a chance to eat the fruits, so dont know ."
Her son jumped in " the fruit is green . The pulp is dark pink"
Well, I thought, then it is not Celest ??????. 

I bought it . I gave her a deposit and told her that I would come back the next day (Friday) to pay for the rest .
Mid Friday after paying her the full price, I started to cut down all the small branches and loaded all of them in my pickup bed .
The owner ran out, yelling " I told you that you have to take the WHOLE thing, not only the branches, you hear me ? "  
I assured her that I would come back the next day with a guy to dig that unwanted fig tree out of her yard

Here is the tree after all the small branches were removed

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/hongkhackimmai/20151219_110351_zpsutxrkq9j.jpg[/IMG]

Guess how old is it ?

17 years old?

20

OMG, reading that just gave me a good laugh but I felt so bad for you. Thanks for sharing.

10 years? I think she should PAY YOU for digging up that "aweful" figvtree for her :-D

I'll guess less than 10, 8years old. I thin it's a great deal for a tree that's going to give you many figs, no matter what variety. Enjoy it :)

15 years old?

beautiful :) 30 years?  wow your going to get soo much figs

Great find! Don't be surprised if the tree doesn't produce figs or has very low yields the first couple years. Its going to be in shock and have severe root damage. I think you did the right thing by cutting off the smaller braches so the tree can focus its energy.

between 10 to 14 years old

6-8 years old. The fig is worth exactly as much as your labor to take it out. I had 2 opportunities to do this for people. Both times I did it in exchange for the tree but nothing more. (I had to bring topsoil and grass seed to fix the hole). They were much more of a multi stem bush and less of a tree that you have there. Hopefully it does very well for you. Good luck!

Congrats on your new tree...Hopefully, you gonna have fig this year...
Age is not the important thing here...
the question is what you did with the cuttings...
Again a good find.
Mark

Post back pics when it fruits for you Mai!  Until you identify it may I suggest the name 'UNK Squirrel Magnet'?

I'd say, that tree is probably around 3 years old.  Meaning.....it was full grown when they planted in the ground probalby around 6 feet.  It might be Atreano...but I am just guessing here.  Mine grew like that until the 5 degree temps got it.

250 dollars is a steal for a tree of that size.  If I was in the area, I'd take it!

Fig trees can grow that size quickly if you let them and feed them liquid fish emulsion every weekend from Spring through Fall.  If getting a good heat source during winter.

I bet 1 doller. Wait this isn't the price is right ! 3 1/4 years old. I take it the winner gets free cuttings. ... ;)

LOL RIchie!!!

I like your story. My guess, it's over 7 years old. Enjoy...

8 years .. Does the winner get free cuttings lol??

. It could be ponte tresa lol

I'll go 12 and a half Bob.

Hi,
My 2 cents for 9 years of age, because the trunks are not that thick after all.
But the price would be too high for me.  30 bucks is my psychological limit.
Anyway, I would take the opportunity to split that bush into 3 or 4 trees and plant them separately.
They'll take some time to recover and produce figs again, unfortunately ... Keep them well watered during the next season.
Good luck with your new trees !

11 years old

4 years old

6 years old.

Nice looking tree! You bought it for a good price! I say the tree is 3 Years old ( I agree with Dennis) : )

[QUOTE=kkk2210]8 years .. Does the winner get free cuttings lol?? . It could be ponte tresa lol[/QUOTE]

Your wish might come true Vinny ! who knows ? but you guess of 8 years is ..... wrong hehehe

[QUOTE=kkk2210]8 years .. Does the winner get free cuttings lol?? . It could be ponte tresa lol[/QUOTE]

Your wish might come true Vinny ! who knows ?

Everybody so far, did not have a right answer yet
Yes, I will give away something nice if ... I win the lottery tonite hehehe

Wait.....that tree is in Texas! Ok, it is 4 years old. But I still think it could be Atreano. Those branches look just like my tree.

I'm with Dennis.  4 years old.

I would guess that it's 5 years old.

5 years old

The lady owner said 10 years, but I do not think so 

Mai
check the history of the sale of the house and see how much the old owners had the house before the Hungarians purchased the house.
check the Zillow.com first.
then you might have an idea give and take couple of years...
Mark

I don't want the tree, so I don't care how old it is, but you could air layer big pots on each of the trunks and get several trees for free AND let the stumps grow up to get more, if it's a good variety.  Just a thought.  Good luck with your tree.

noss

[QUOTE=lolita1234]The lady owner said 10 years, but I do not think so [/QUOTE]

How old do you think the tree is, and why? Thanks for your interesting account and photo :)

Lol, Richie!!

How is the Fig Rescue coming along? I love the story and hope the tree does great and rewards you with beauty and tasty Figs!

[QUOTE=noss]I don't want the tree, so I don't care how old it is, but you could air layer big pots on each of the trunks and get several trees for free AND let the stumps grow up to get more, if it's a good variety.  Just a thought.  Good luck with your tree.

noss[/QUOTE]

You read my mind, Sir .
I already did since the tree was in my possession from day 1 

Nice tree! You may graft your PT to this tree.

I had a truck load of branches to bring home that day . It took me 10 hours to cut them into small sticks and another 2 days to pot all the branches (that I am planning to do bonsai with them)

here are some of the cuttings. There was a total of more than 850 cuttings   . Please do not mind the name on the bags. I just recycled old plastic bags that belonged to people who sold their cuttings to me )r
[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/hongkhackimmai/cuttings1_zps4eeuala9.jpg[/IMG]

The next day , I brought an electric Saw-All, 2 shovels, and a number of plastic bags . Hired a Mexican guy at the Labor center to go along .
The Hungarian lady asked "what are you going to do with the fig tree ?"
I joked  " I am going to grind all the trunks into powder and make medicine with it "
"for what kinda treatment ?"
"leaves for Sadness. Fruit for Depression . Roots for Mental troubles . Trunk for Laziness .. You name it !."
"Really ?'  
"Yah ! this is a precious tree "
"Well,  you are going to make a fortune ! I think I was crazy to sell it . I need to keep one branch "
I laughed  , laughed and laughed ...

Using a shovel the guy started to dig around the tree . We both thought that the tree was 10 year old (the owner told us so) 

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/hongkhackimmai/20151219_110608_zpsmw55tyhc.jpg[/IMG]

But when all the dead leaves around the tree base were removed, my Gosh ! what you saw before was just some branches that belonged to a huge tree underneath .

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/hongkhackimmai/20151219_111305_zpsqnrnaaue.jpg[/IMG]
. The more we took the dirt out (and it was muddy ) the more we discovered that the diameter of that base was about 1 meter . No way that we can dig the whole thing in one piece . Way tooooooo big and roots were crawling everywhere .

What should we  do ??? use a crane ?

What the story about bonsai?

[QUOTE=lolita1234]
The Hungarian lady asked "what are you going to do with the fig tree ?"
I joked  " I am going to grind all the trunks into powder and make medicine with it "
"for what kinda treatment ?"
"leaves for Sadness. Fruit for Depression . Roots for Mental troubles . Trunk for Laziness .. You name it !."
"Really ?'  
"Yah ! this is a precious tree "
"Well,  you are going to make a fortune ! I think I was crazy to sell it . I need to keep one branch "
I laughed  , laughed and laughed ...[/QUOTE]

Mai, that is hilarious.  :)
As for the trunk, I would dig up what is achievable by the average human, then simply state that there is no way to remove that caliber of trunk without a machine.  I think that would be fair.  Don't let her take advantage of you.  Get some rest!

I have done bigger and it probably weigh in around 350 lbs, need to dig a three foot diameter and two feet down. Two very strong people can lift it into a van.

Wait a second. That cut off base was not part of the original picture. My guess was 6-8 years old. That is the age of what I saw in the picture. It would not include age of the stump. Lol

I'm a landscaper. The largest fig tree I've moved (with 2 helpers) was about 8' tall x 6' wide. The base was over 3' wide x 2' deep. We hand dug it and used a ball cart to move it. I estimate it was well over 600 lbs. probably over 30 years old. The largest roots were the size of baseball bats. We cut those off with a sawzall.

[QUOTE=Figgysid1]17 years old? [/QUOTE] I ALSO HAD A CHANCE TO TAKE OUT A FIG TREE BUT THEY WANTED TOO MUCH AND I'M WAY TO OLD TO DO IT MYSELF!! IT WAS A CELESTE FOR SURE.. I'D SAY LOOKING AT THE SIZE OF THE BRANCHES LEFT IT IS ABOUT 5 YEARS OLD OR EVEN MAYBE 6 BECAUSE TREE'S IN DALLAS, TX DON'T GROW VERY FAST BECAUSE OF THE WINTER MONTHS.. LOOKING AT IT I  WOULD THINK IT MIGHT BE A ALMA FIG TREE!! ??? JUST GUESSING THOUGH..
THEFIGSTER!