Rooting Galicia Negra - patience required

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Encanto Farms Nursery > Topics > Rooting Galicia Negra - patience required

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Jsacadura

Registered:1419781955
Posts: 346

Posted 1471183104	Reply with quote #1

I finally managed to get my hands on a couple of small cuttings from Galicia Negra. The cuttings where from the original tree, so i was very excited and a bit anxious because i have read on the forum that they where not very easy to root and my rooting success has been fair but not great. First i tried the coco coir method that has been able to produce roots in almost any variety i have tried but, after a couple of months, there where none. At this time i considered grafting (which as saved me many of the "stubborn" varieties), but the cuttings had a very rough look of old wood, covered in lichens and no visible buds, so i was concerned the grafts might fail. The friend who sent them told me that the tree is near a river and the very wet conditions that it has endured this winter produced no new growth so he was stuck with sending me "old" wood. So i decided to place them directly on soil in a last desperate move and just wait. Some roots where visible but no buds where showing - they all seemed "dead". Finally, after a couple more months i finally saw a green bud breaking and was thrilled. One more week and the same happened in the other cutting. They seemed to take forever to grow into small leaves but, probably, was just because i was watching them like a hawk. The two cuttings are now growing slowly but steadily. The weaker one didn't like it very much when i up potted it, but it bounced back, so it will find a new home this winter down south to a very good friend. I hope that, with luck, we can both taste a couple of figs next year. __________________ Jaime - Zone 9b - near Caldas da Rainha - Portugal Wish List: São Luís, Valamandil, Sofeno Tradicional, Cótio, Cavaleiro, Belmandil, Coll de Dame de Ciutat, Strawberry Verte, Marabout, Sihagi.

fignutty

Registered:1374034473
Posts: 580

Posted 1471190856	Reply with quote #2

That's worth a green thumb award..!! Way to hang in there. __________________ Steve in Alpine TX 7b/8a Wish list: Sangue Dolce, Siblawi, Victoria, Emalyn's Purple, Colonel Littman's Black Cross

Rewton

Registered:1291943117
Posts: 1,946

Posted 1471191928	Reply with quote #3

Did yours come from the ancestral home of this variety in Galicia, Spain? I haven't been growing figs long enough for any of my varieties to get lichens on the bark! Anyway, glad that they finally rooted for you. I also find that direct potting method is usually the best when it is warm enough for figs to be growing outdoors. __________________ Steve MD zone 7a

Jsacadura

Registered:1419781955
Posts: 346

Posted 1471207063	Reply with quote #4

Thanks. I don't think my green thumb had nothing to do with it. I was patient, decided to go for the simpler approach (the warm weather helped me) and i was lucky! The cuttings did indeed come from the the "mother tree" of this variety, in Galicia. I never saw cuttings so full of lichens in the bark and so "old" looking. In the photos they appear slightly cleaned. I was thinking of removing all the lichens but decided to left them alone for the most part because they where not easy to remove and i could risk loosing some buds that may come out with the bark. __________________ Jaime - Zone 9b - near Caldas da Rainha - Portugal Wish List: São Luís, Valamandil, Sofeno Tradicional, Cótio, Cavaleiro, Belmandil, Coll de Dame de Ciutat, Strawberry Verte, Marabout, Sihagi.

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