Hi,

I would like to thank Francisco for his help in my attempt to introduce Blastophaga psenes in my location.

Last year he send me a few cuttings of some of the best caprifigs of Algarve that he selected (he named them Code 2 and Code 4). I grafted a few cuttings and rooted others and now, one of the grafts (Code 2) has some figs that should be receptive to the wasps.

So he send me a small box with mature caprifigs full of wasps.

I just finished hanging a few caprifigs near the grafts of Code 2 and Inchário Branco (this one had figs last year - the same year i grafted the variety).
This way i hope also to benefit from the work of the wasps in the pollination of this excellent Portuguese Smyrna fig.

For curiosity sake i also placed one caprifig near a Grise de S' Jean graft that has a few figs and another near a branch of my Preto de Torres Novas. The objective is trying to compare the effects of pollination on these two varieties that don't need it.

A few photos.

The Code 2 caprifigs a few minutes after hanging them near my own graft of Code 2:


    

The little wasps are leaving the caprifigs full of polen on their bodies.

Less than an hour later they were already on top of the small Inchário Branco figs (the graft located on the next branch of this adult fig tree)

  

The caprifigs placed near the Grise de S' Jean and near Preto de Torres Novas
 


Now i just have to wait for the results.

At least i hope to see some Inchário Branco caprified and some eggs deposited on my grafted Code 2 Mamoni. Hopefully they will survive and complete the cycle for next season.

If not, with the amount of Smyrna types i am collecting i may well establish a line of credit to Francisco so he can send me a big bag of caprifigs full of wasps every season.
:-) - Just kidding... I have a feeling they are going to make it and establish home over here.

Amazing little guys arent they?! Happy for your success!

Congratulations.
It's a good sign when the insects immediately show interest on the new fruit
Hope they will be doing the job on the Smyrnas as well as on the 'virgin' Caprifigs.
It would help to seed a few more caprifigs near the site, let them grow and select at a later stage the best
one/s showing more regular crops throughout the season

Francisco
Portugal

Thanks, Meg. They sure are busy little guys.

__________________________________________________________

Thanks again for the caprifigs and the suggestions, Francisco. I will follow your recommendations regarding the introducion of some more caprifig trees near by.

The small caprifig ostioles are looking like the store doors in a crazy black friday

 

And the Inchário Branco little figs are getting some interest too. Here's some wasps trying to find a way in:

 

I made a mistake hanging the caprifigs. I used fishing line to hang them and when i tied it, the line sliced through the skin of the fig leaving an opening.

The wasps where escaping through these openings leaving the caprifigs without polen. Not good for the pollination of the Smyrnas.
I don't know if it would have been so negative for the small caprifigs - i am not sure if the Mamoni also need polen appart from the eggs the wasps lays there, as the Profichi and Mamme don't use it.

Can you clarify on that?

I solved the problem with some Mastic (grafting glue) that blocked the openings so they have to leave through the ostiole contacting the male flowers and leaving with polen on their bodies.

 
 

Jaime,

Great pictures...
No doubt your Mammonis shall be given a nice set of wasp eggs for summer.
Understand your worries on that escape through the 'back door' but I would not care much about it... Even doing so they will be carrying enough pollen on their wings/bodies/legs/antennae.. to pollinate the few or not so few female flowers on the Mammonis ..
Also no problem for the InchBrancos.

When Mrs does that job she is more practical and swift, re-using the Onion/garlic package netting from the supermarket.. think it works better and avoids the line cutting through the much tender skin and flesh of those over ripen Profichis.

here a picture



A Zidi sporting its tell tale colors of a very recent caprification.
It is already 3 times the size of other black Smyrnas (inch.preto)
 
 
Good luck

Francisco

Francisco,

I feel so stupid now. A groceries netting bag. So simple and so effective. With the added bonus of protecting the caprifigs from birds. Why didn't i think of that?

I hope i can see some changes in my Inchário Branco figs so i can also confirm pollination. Do they also change color?

So envy of that Zidi. Great looking fig as always.
I was able to get my hands on a very small cutting of Zidi and i grafted a couple of buds. One is developing nicely so i hope i can see those beauties with my own eyes, next year.




A question...

I've just noticed that i have very small figs on my Inchário Preto graft.
Do you think i can keep some caprifigs in the fridge a couple of weeks without damaging the polen or killing the wasps until these figs are receptive for pollination?
It would be a treat to be able to taste a Inchário Preto this year.


   
 


A curiosity...

In this adult tree where i have all this grafted varieties, i have kept an original branch. The branch has 2 figs.
They always fall, so i never saw a mature fig from this tree. I noticed the wasps are showing an interest in them.

Maybe it's this year that i will be able to see and taste a mature fig of this unknown variety.

Here's a couple of photos. It's a curious fig with a very long stalk.

 

Well, when pollinated,  InchBranco will slowly change its skin color to a green  'jade' shade with white speckles,... just like its black brother InchPreto. The only noticeable difference being the red ostiole sepals on that black Smyrna.

Great for your success grafting that Zidi.
I am sure that sooner than later the young shoot shall be getting strength and putting up nice sets of leaves.
Some of this leaves shall be quite big ....and wide, most 3 lobe..
Make sure you protect this graft because if excessively exposed to the strong NW winds coming in force every summer afternoon there is a risk of an accident.
this sort of thinking goes for most young grafts, particularly the chip budding, saddle and simple whip formats.

As for retarding the exit of wasps, I agree that if you keep the 'greener' figs in the crisp box you may delay wasp action for at least a week.
My brother does it every year with good results.

Now I am curious about that mother of so many of your  grafts, sporting those 'long foot' figs !!
the ostiole color suggests a black fig... Do remember how it got there ??

Good luck
Francisco
Portugal

Hi jsacadura,
That rope rubbing on the stem would worry me. Young stems are soft and are easily damaged.
I'd rather put a stack next to the tree and hang the bags on the stick.

Hi jdsfrance,

Do you mean the fishing line? Yes, i thought of that too, but the line is coated and the figs aren't moving - they are stuck against the leaf stems.
I checked the new stems and they are quite sturdy and strong already so i think it's alright.

But thanks for the warning. The wasps seem so fragile when they walk of the ostiole, covered in polen, that i wanted to put them as close as possible to their destination, but off course that is not necessary (they can fly after all).

If i was going to do it now, i would use a different approach.

____________________________________________

Hi Francisco,

Thanks for the info on pollinated Inchários colour.

Regarding the Zidi graft - you are right, i need to secure it somehow or i am going to have a disappointment. It's growing quite fast and the union may not hold with strong winds.

 

My doubt regarding the survival of pollen and wasps has to do with keeping them on the fridge (4-5 ºC for a week may be stretching it a little...)
I hope it doesn't affect pollen viability. I think the little Inchario Preto figs are going to take at least 10-12 days to achieve enough size so they can be pollinated.

Regarding the unknown mother of all grafts (8 varieties and a caprifig and counting) it was a gift from a friend. He bought it in a nursery 7 years ago but failed to identify the variety.
He remembers talking to the owner and that he said something about male figs. 
It could be that the variety needed a male fig tree (pollen) to mature the second crop.
It seems to produce a first crop, but all the figs fall every year, so i am quite curious to see what happens when it's pollinated.

Some photos of the figs (they all dropped) and of the tree, last August 2015.
The leaves on the right are all from the mother tree. I am surprised with the size of the figs this year, as early as end of June.

     
 

The mother tree in 2011 (with lampos/brebas?) and with some of his grafts identified in May 2016:

      

Hi Jaime,

Nice pictures Thank you for sharing

Will try and pick / dispatch (same method) some late Profichis if I manage to locate a few, for your late Smyrnas as well as the 'long foot'

Interesting what you say about this UNK variety.

If it was a Cachopeiro - lampos & vindimos all ripening without pollination- you should be able to ripen both.. your climate if OK for these

If it was a San Pedro, you would get brebas/lampos but no main crop for lack of wasps and this has not happened so far

If it's a Common, again no problem ripening at your yard but it does not

Last possibility - a Smyrna- of some UNK variety ?
The August cutaways on your pictures show a forest of female flowers looking to be screaming for caprification (a lot with long pistils)
The brebas it shows could well be 'false' - all my Smyrnas do show those false brebas growing big and nice and... by mid April ALL shrinking, drying and falling.

I would not be worried to keep a few Profichis in the fridge for a week/10 days...

cheers
Francisco

Update - I did try to use the Profichi i left in the fridge for 10 days (the ones i stored were some that were not quite fully ripe). Leaving the fridge they seemed intact, but as the hours and days passed i saw no wasps leaving the figs.

I opened them and saw that the wasps were alive but for some reason unable to leave the figs. Also the male flowers appear immature and without pollen. I think that harvesting not fully ripe Profichi might not be a good idea because, at first sight from my results, they seem to be unable to mature enough to complete the cycle (providing polen and allowing the ostiole to open so the wasps can leave the fig).

Nevertheless, more than enough wasps full of pollen had leaved the first group of Profichi and my Inchário Branco Smyrna figs seem pollinated and were developing well.

In the last few weeks they seem to have stopped growing though. I don't know if this is normal or is a result of the extreme hot weather we are having (some leaves show the signs of the intense heat). I will wait and see.
A few small Incharios have appeared late and this will all fall due to lack of pollination.

My Caprifigs in another grafted branch were pollinated and seem also to be developing well. They are not many and i hope the little wasps can survive inside them and manage to caprify the next fig crop - if it appears (no sign of small caprifigs of a next crop yet)...

A few photos.
 
Inchario Branco (6 photos)
      

Caprifig Code 2 (6 Photos)

      

Update..

Almost all of my caprifigs Code 2 are drying up and falling. They where 7-8 and now only 2 remain. Unfortunately, the same is happening to the six Inchário Branco that seemed pollinated. Only 2 remain and are swelling but very slowly.

I think that some of these figs are casualties of the fruit fly that is quite nasty this year with all my fruits and they are getting to the figs as well. But it also seems the pollination wasn't quite successful this time.

I will have to try again next year with a more mature caprifig tree that has more receptive caprifigs.

A new Mammoni crop is appearing (lots of small figs) but they probably will also fall because there won't be any wasps around to lay eggs inside of them. 

A single Mammoni matured and it did get quite large, with edible pulp and full of seeds. According to Condit book "Caprifigs and Caprification" (page 355) the Mammoni that have almost no larvae inside, become at maturity, pulpy and edible. That also seems another sign of poor pollination. 

 

I believe that's what happened to mine.

I do think that lots of wasps escaped through the slit i did to hang the fig with the fishing line, leaving the fig without any polen. But some come out from the ostiole with lots of pollen in their bodies.
I really don't know why some of these figs didn't get pollinated, or maybe they did and the fruit fly made them drop. I do see some fruit fly galeries in a few of the dropped figs flesh.

A few photos of that Mammoni that weighted almost 50 grams.


         

At least the single original fig from the grafted tree (with the long foot) survived.

I almost forgot about it and it was already a bit wrinkled when i picked it. Although small, it seems pollinated (i was never able to taste them because they kept falling and never matured).
It was very good tasting, sweet with a nutty flavor.

I think i will keep a few branches of the original tree after all.

       

Jaime,

A seed test on both the Mammoni as well as the 'long foot' will help to confirm caprification by the insects on these figs

Francisco

Too late, Francisco

The taste test took all the seeds in the small fig :-) and i didn't thought of it for the Mammoni in time - lack of experience on these matters.

I intend to test the seeds on some of the other pollinated figs (like some Grise de S' Jean) but to use the seeds to produce caprifig trees the Mammoni would have been better.


Here's 3 Grise de S' Jean that the wasps had a chance to pollinate. I picked them a bit too late so 2 of them where overripe (they where more concentrated, less juicy and had almost a caramel flavor) but almost half of their seeds seem pollinated (they go to the bottom when placed in a glass of water).
The third one was picked at the right time, it was juicy and very sweet but i don't know if it was pollinated - i believe almost all of its seeds floated.


         

In this Link i have see, that Caprifig have 2 Flowers.
- Normal female Fruit Flowers and
- Fruit/Flower with short female and male Flower.

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/images2/capfigsy1b.jpg

Can you eat both Fruit/Flowers, if they persistent?

Where have pictures from both flowers on 1 Caprifig, female flower and male/short femal?

Thanks, Francisco. You are right. For a first try there are many things that are good news. It's just we always have the expectation that things will be easier than they are.

>> think you should plant and grow a few more wilds and, why not try and get from an eastern UE fellow member a few scions of a late ripening caprifig (?), this to try to bring in line and match receptiveness of your insect receiving figs with the wasp availability.

I already have a few potted 1 and 2 years caprifigs that i am going to plant in strategic locations nearby. At least one is from a region in Spain where the winters are quite harsh, so they should be late ripening.


>>Also we could try, depending on how your coming Profichi crop shows up, sending a few full Mamme by about 3rd week of February, early March/2017.

That could prove interesting. We can try that if you are willing to send me some at that time. The problem could be that my Profichi crop could be late showing up in my zone. We will see.

Some of the Profichi you sent me were still a bit green and some of those i kept in the fridge for a few days. When i placed them near the fig tress, i didn't see any wasps leaving them.
When i opened those caprifigs i didn't see any pollen.
Condit says that could happen when the Profichi are not quite mature:

 



Paul,

I am not sure if i fully understand your question...

Some caprifigs are edible. I tasted the Mammoni in the photo of post 12 and it was good.

That Mammoni had long styled female flowers. I believe both types of flowers (long and short styled female flowers) can coexist in caprifigs together with male flowers and not only in Profichi.

In his book  "Caprifigs and Caprification" Condit states that "Stamens, bearing pollen, are not uncommonly found in the Mammoni figs of some varieties" and some appear in Mamme crops and even produce some pollen that can be used to pollinate some Breba. Those are exceptions, of course. Usualy only Profichi produce pollen.

These informations are in these 2 pages:


 

 

Hi Jaime,

Thanks for showing those Condit papers which are quite interesting.
I have an original of his circular77 of October 1933 'FIG CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA' also a very good guide for a fig hobbyist
OK .. good if you already have those Caprifigs from the cold growing near your trees.
Believe that increasing the number of these trees and from various origins is a good move.
On several occasions have used a few Mamme about ripen to provide insects to some Profichi growing in pots.. and it worked. Will do that as suggested.

Guys here, on years of poor Profichi crops do run to the trees ahead of the correct timing and prune the branches showing a few Profichi still green and claim that they manage to get ripening of the fruit and some days later, a few insects.... think this may work on some fruit but the most shall be lost

also have seen practically ripen  Profichi being kept in the crisper box for another week .. 
Here, you have to select the fruit as it starts to soften and/or  the eye to show an almost imperceptible tiny opening slot ... indicating that the male insects are finalizing the job of opening the passage through the male flower bush with no females yet moving out.

Another concern affecting our efforts is the instability of the climate cycles throughout the seasons  determining more or less erratic responses of the fruit genetics.. this makes difficult any planing.
For centuries the period of (ST. John) June 16th to 24th was the date farmers should provide ready Profichi to pollinate their crops.. the deviations to this were minimal ( Northern Hemisphere, Med Basin..).
On recent times (the last ten years) one sees wasps already active by the 3rd week of May  

Francisco