ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1424538073
· Edited
Reply with quote #1
A couple of months ago, Mrs K, the lovely little Miss K and I were invited to attend a very good friend's wedding that took place in Orlando, Florida. All excited we packed our bags, loaded the Ram and off to the magical land we went. The night before the wedding the guests got together (mostly family members and close friends of the bride and groom) for the traditional rehearsal dinner. It was a very casual event and not at all suit and tie. Just a comfortable gathering where everyone had a chance to meet and have a great time. The couple actually did all of the cooking and the food was first class and out of this world!! Some "responsible" drinking was involved as well! During the dinner we were introduced to our friend's aunt, a very nice lady named Barbara. Ms Barb and Mrs K were talking up a storm after a couple of glasses of vino and my lovely wife thought it would be quite hilarious to reveal at that very moment my hobbies! "By the way" she said, "my husband is very into collecting and growing..." OH NO I thought in a panic, not at the wedding! "figs!" she continued and "oh yeah, he also plays soccer" she (very masterfully) added. GREAT, now the lady thinks I'm a complete nutcase, I thought again but tried to remain as cool as possible. "Is that true?" Ms. Barb asked. "yes ma'am, it is" I replied, " I love soccer!" "Guess what," Ms Barbara replied, "I have a fig tree in my backyard!" Holy cow, whaaat? I thought and the first thing I wanted to do was give my wife a high five! It turns out that Ms Barb is not crazy about figs but her late husband and his family just loved them. She told me that the tree was there when they bought the house seven years ago and the previous owners had found it there when they bought the house 10 years before that. That would put the tree in the 20+ year old category. Another important detail is the location. Ms Barb lives in Slidell, Louisiana, a town about 30 miles east of New Orleans. (We all know that Louisiana could very well be THE fig capital of the US due to the LSU program) Long story short, the wedding was as fine as weddings get and we all had a blast. I, of course, was already thinking hard and cooking up a plan to go to New Orleans (I'm sure you guys know why....that darn fig!!!) and guess what friends? I did not have to try very hard as Ms Barbara invited us to go to Slidell for Mardi Gras! Fast forward to the weekend before last and you find me loading up the Ram once again and 467 miles and 6 hours later (oh I know, hemi, lol) and finally I was staring at it!! The tree is very dwarf-like for it's age but by the appearance of the bark you can tell that it is an old tree! It was very grayish with lots and lots of nodes and stuff growing on it. Louisiana looking stuff, lol! From her description it was a dark fig with a red center. We looked at many fig pics online and she reacted to the Macedonia black from the "trees of joy" list of varieties with "oh that's it". Please understand that in no way do I claim to have that fig!! It could end up being anything, but my gut feeling is that it is indeed a good find. Looks like nothing that I currently grow, single trunk and no evidence of root suckers; dwarf-size and all those nodes!! I will take a trip again down there in August and sample the fruit, maybe even meet and share with other forum members (from the surrounding areas or those who can make the trip) who can actually help identify it. I gave it a hair cut and brought back a bunch of cuttings in different sizes.
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waynea
1362316304
Posted 1424548876
Reply with quote #2
Super offer Chris, and what a wonderful story.
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1424549991
Reply with quote #3
Thanks very much Wayne. I' m having a hard time loging in on the forum again When I click on the " forums" tab i get the same 404 error not found message ! Any help you'll be deeply appreciated.
DesertDance
1247674606
Posted 1424551150
Reply with quote #4
ChrisK, maybe you should delete your cookies (which I hate to do..remembering passwords is killer). Clean out the Cache. Sometimes sites get corrupted and you need a fresh approach. Nice story. There are only two figs I need now, and those are on my wish list. Good luck!
figpig_66
1416870358
Posted 1424551444
Reply with quote #5
Chriss is it by eden isles or oak harbor. Thanks. I just want to check it out i wont take mych from it!! Lol
figpig_66
1416870358
Posted 1424551536
Reply with quote #6
Oh never mind its in someones back yard. Lol
waynea
1362316304
Posted 1424552906
Reply with quote #7
Chris, I have had no problems once I created a shortcut, I had a problem in the past. If you have already done this then this info is for others that have not.
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1424553840
· Edited
Reply with quote #8
Thanks for the great info Wayne. Doing all this on my iPad so I don't know how to right click , I can go to the topic through the alert on my mail box and by clicking on the url . Once I get to the topic and want to return to the forums page is when I get the 404 error . I can access my pm box through older alerts also with no problem. It is the forums page that has the bug!
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1424569460
Reply with quote #9
Hey Suzi, thanks for the tip, I completely missed it before and I m realy sorry for that. This thing drives me crazy. Just when it all seems normal and running ,that darn error shows up!!! Grrrr. The other day I did the whole story on my iPhone and just as I was proof reading I hit something on the screen and lost the page.. All gone. I think I stick to growing sticks and leave technology for the smart people ! Lol
donpaid
1388952715
Posted 1424571205
Reply with quote #10
What an awesome story Chris! Thanks for sharing! It looks like that tree aged well and is well adapted to LA climate. Very interesting find. And lol I know I feel the same way when people start talking about my fig interest. For me, it's a strange combination of embarrassment and pride haha
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1424574817
· Edited
Reply with quote #11
Dan couldn't have said it any better. Lol thank God this one turned out in triumph !
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1424620584
Reply with quote #12
Great turn out guys and gals. Thanks very much for your trust on the story and taking on ,on the task of spreading the legacy ( and of course enjoying some awesome figs in the future;))
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1424688522
Reply with quote #13
Ok ,all gone. Thanks again for the great response.
needaclone
1346812939
Posted 1424996608
Reply with quote #14
Chris,
Longue D'Aout, Italian 258, Pennsylvania 6-5000
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1425004602
Reply with quote #15
Thanks very much Jim. I left all these things on them . They don't seem to be bothering the mom tree so.. The seem very quick to root in spagnoum . (Less than a week)Please keep updating your progress. Best of luck!
mtabby
1415328689
Posted 1425041350
Reply with quote #16
Thanks for the generous number of cuttings, Chris! They went right into sphagnum moss!
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1425092467
Reply with quote #17
Thank you Fiona. Best of luck with the cuttings!
bigfig
1417908022
Posted 1425164895
Reply with quote #18
Chris got my cuttings today ,just want to say unbelievable amount of nods ,counted 1 with 16 nods , thank you Joe oh and 4 went right in coir
JH Adriatic and common french Joe
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1425171054
Reply with quote #19
Thanks Joe ,very much . Good luck rooting , and keep us posted on your progress . The Slidell cuttings are now spread accros the country. Let's see who will be the first to report mission accomplished and post the first photos of a little plant and who knows, God willing we might get a fig by the end of the summer!
adoresfigs45
1421515059
Posted 1425184886
Reply with quote #20
Hey Chris Your slidell fig is enjoying a vacation outside of Tampa. Snug inside their bedrolls waiting for revelerie. I didn't wash anything off. I figured if it aint broke dont fix it. Thanks loads for the opportunity. Joyce
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1425217442
Reply with quote #21
You re very welcome Joyce . I'm glad the cuttings are enjoying the lovely Tampa sun. We could deffinitlly benefit from some of that ourselves so next time we're driving them down! lol, best of luck with your rooting efforts and thanks tons for your support!
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1431177366
Reply with quote #22
This pic was just sent to me. Breba and main crop on the same branch and both pretty large for early May. So Looks like a very early fig with breba and quite possibly more than one main crop!
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ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1431177796
· Edited
Reply with quote #23
I was looking at the photo again and all the fruit looks like main crop. Sorry for the confusion. Doing it on my phone at work and it's not easy to pick out details. Please let me know what you think. Thanks .
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1431211619
Reply with quote #24
Hey Shailesh . Good to hear from you again. If you could take a couple of photos of your cutting and post would be deeply appreciated! I'm glad your cuttings are doing well. I had very good luck with them also!
sppsp
1373989212
Posted 1431221687
Reply with quote #25
Shailesh, Pennsylvania, zone 6BDon't judge a fig tree by it's tag, just judge it by it's fig
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1431222424
· Edited
Reply with quote #26
Oh this is torture,I'm having a hard time opening the pics. You're very welcome Shailesh. and thanks for the update! Here are mine. Four levels of growth.
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recomer20
1378013757
Posted 1431769999
Reply with quote #27
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisK
ChrisK
1415844271
Posted 1431778544
Reply with quote #28
Thanks Rick . Let's see what it turns out to be. I have two inground Trees that were bought as Brown Turkeys but were identified by this forum to be Celeste and they have some obvious differences from the Slidell tree. The majority of the leaves are five lobed and grow to a very large size and the fruit stays tinny and at the size of a green olive up until a week or less of being ripe. It then turns light green and swells to roughly two inches almost over night and ends up looking like the photo below. Like you said the Slidell fruit looks a lot larger for this stage of its growth. Please let me know if my "Celeste"below looks like the ones in Alabama . Thanks for reading!
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baust55
1240892043
Posted 1435430651
· Edited
Reply with quote #29
I know have a small Slidell Black ukn ,
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/kitty-litter-really-kitty-litter-7398708?pid=1287129765#post1287129765
Quackmaster
1370361410
Posted 1435452961
Reply with quote #30
Has anyone got any ripe fruit from this variety yet? I wish I would have came across this thread when it was started, this sounds like a very interesting fig that I would like to try in my yard.
Ryan Zone 9a SeLa, wish list:
