Here is the thread where this tree was introduced.

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/saving-a-fig-tree-in-brooklyn-7506971?pid=1288609072

Great News everyone! I was finally able to get some dormant cuttings of the tree, which I’m very thankful for because the house is GONE! When I mean gone, I mean they bulldozed the house, the one time the city does something quick and doesn’t take its time on. Luckily they only demolished the house and didn’t touch the backyard, so I was able to get the remains of the tree. I’m sure by next year the plot will be a new condo even with its incredibly small lot size of maybe 30x120.

As you can see, this tree is super hardy and has grown back more than any other tree I have seen in Brooklyn. This tree was a victim of Sandy and kept truckin. The tree grew back at least 12 new shoots, ranging from 5ft to 13ft this year. I was not able to get to Brooklyn enough this summer to check on the type of fruit, but I vaguely remember it being a dark fruit and the leaves are similar to Mount Etna varieties. So you’re looking at getting a true UNKNOWN ☺, the only thing i know is it originated from italy.

I was able to salvage quite a few cuttings and have already set aside some for members who already showed interest and for my friends and family.  I will be sending 3-5 cuttings with at least 3 nodes, i will also include a 2 node or skinny/chubby guys as fillers. I have washed all cuttings with soap and let them dry before packing them in saran wrap and zip lock bags. All I am asking in return is the cost of postage for priority mail flat rate which is $6 or if you want to trade something we can figure it out through messages. I hope to have the first group of cuttings mailed out monday.

Please PM me if interested and send me your mailing address and I’ll send you my PayPal information in return. (Please choose friends and family to avoid fees). I might not respond right away, so don’t worry if you dont hear from me till weekend.

NYC has already lost many trees due to Sandy and severe winters, my goal is to try and preserve one more tree that has been in Brooklyn probably 40+ years and has a place in my heart. I’m hoping it will have a place in yours.

Do you want to own a piece of Brooklyn? ☺

This was 3 weeks ago
  
 

No more house!
 
 

Cuttings
 
 

Cuttings are all accounted for, i will not have any more available until next season if we're lucky.

Any thoughts of this being Hardy Chicago?

[QUOTE=brianm]Any thoughts of this being Hardy Chicago?[/QUOTE]

This tree has been there over 40+ years and was brought over from Italy from owners. The leaves are similar as its most likely a mt. Etna fig like Chicago hardy.

That tree is one tough cookie! It's really lucky that they didn't destroy the backyard before you could take cuttings. Seems that these old NY trees were often labors of love with very personal backstories for many families. It's a shame to lose any of them. PM sent. :)

Thanks Danielle! I had all my gear with me and a change of clothing (thanksgiving ) to go ninja style over the 8ft fence in the back, my wife thought I was nuts. Luckily they left a grand opening for me :) I have been slammed with requests and am catching up to everyone with paypal info and questions. Please pm me if still interested, I am not sure everyone will make it on the list but I will at least have a queue to work off of. P.S. - after all cuttings are distributed, the only thing I ask is if you can update this thread with progress of your cuttings and potential fruit this upcoming season. Thanks, Matt

Gotta love ninja gardening adventures! Besides, this was a fig tree emergency. ;P

It'd be really exciting to see everyone document their progress here. It kinda reminds me of the Let's Grows that people used to do together on a forum I loved (sadly doesn't exist anymore). For example ten people would all start growing a mango from the grocery store around the same time, and everyone always gravitated to different methods/faced different challenges. People could join at any time, and over years the threads filled up with all kinds of great information about successful methods and likely problems for all kinds of plants in different situations. It was great fun and a source of learning for everyone. Plus, the camaraderie was fantastic.

[QUOTE=Windowsill_Gardens]Gotta love ninja gardening adventures! Besides, this was a fig tree emergency. ;P It'd be really exciting to see everyone document their progress here. It kinda reminds me of the Let's Grows that people used to do together on a forum I loved (sadly doesn't exist anymore). For example ten people would all start growing a mango from the grocery store around the same time, and everyone always gravitated to different methods/faced different challenges. People could join at any time, and over years the threads filled up with all kinds of great information about successful methods and likely problems for all kinds of plants in different situations. It was great fun and a source of learning for everyone. Plus, the camaraderie was fantastic. [/QUOTE]

EXACTLY! That's kinda what i was looking for, how people grow it out and the progress. I remember doing something similar on my hotpepper forums to see who can get the largest plant by end of season. I know i'm especially excited to see charlie's take as he is the experimenting guru here on the boards.

[QUOTE=Brooklynmatty]
EXACTLY! That's kinda what i was looking for, how people grow it out and the progress. I remember doing something similar on my hotpepper forums to see who can get the largest plant by end of season. I know i'm especially excited to see charlie's take as he is the experimenting guru here on the boards.[/QUOTE]

I probably won't experiment with it first season, being it's a rescue tree.  Need to grow it big and fast, make lots of limbs and then maybe. :)

Pm sent..3 good cuttings should be plenty B'H.

Hi Matt,

Do you have a picture of the fruit?

Nice little project.

Lewi- responded back. Still waiting on a bunch of people to pay then I'll know what's left. Sas- as mentioned in first post, the fruit is a complete unknown other than knowing it has mt etna leaves and being a dark fruit from what I remember. Mystery fig ;)

All,

Just shipped out 16 packages, if you paid me then you should have received a tracking# already in private message. Please keep me posted :)

Updates to come in a few days once remaining people pay or respond back.

Matt

Hi Matt
I received the fig clippings today, thank you very much! I put them in my refrig and will start them in a month or so.
If we meet up one day, I will give you a bottle of homemade wine ;)

[QUOTE=PeterC]Hi Matt
I received the fig clippings today, thank you very much! I put them in my refrig and will start them in a month or so.
If we meet up one day, I will give you a bottle of homemade wine ;)[/QUOTE]

Great to hear Peter. Keep me posted on progress. If we meet up I can share some homebrew beer too ;)

p.m. sent. I am going to try and grow this in ground here in zone 6a. will keep you updated. thank you for all your hard work saving this piece of history.

The cuttings arrived today. They're safely waiting in the fridge for the moment, and a fresh bag of sphagnum is due to arrive tonight. I'll be starting cuttings this week. I like to use my grow lights to get a jump on my short growing season here. EDIT. Sphagnum just arrived. I'll post pics in the next few days, as I start rooting.

Hi, Windowsill Gardens!  Just reading your post...where do you suggest I buy a grow light?  I don't know what bulb to buy, etc.  I'm a newbee :-D  Thanks!

[QUOTE=Smyfigs]Hi, Windowsill Gardens!  Just reading your post...where do you suggest I buy a grow light?  I don't know what bulb to buy, etc.  I'm a newbee :-D  Thanks![/QUOTE]

Meg, I wrote a whole post for you about grow lights a few weeks ago. Guess you didn't read it.

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/anyone-have-a-cloning-parts-list-7775641?pid=1289839018

Matt

Hi, Smyfigs! Matt gave a great answer already, but I'll give you my limited experience too. What to get and where to get it depends greatly on your space, budget, and what you are growing. I'm just using some inexpensive T8 shop lights ($10-12 for each fixture from W-mart), which I hang in a metal wire shelf that I got at the same time. It's mostly for seed starting, but I've also used them to grow small figs over the winter and other edibles. I do have a pepper fruiting under them right now. T5 lights seem to be better at producing darker green growth, but my grow room has a good amount of natural light too, so I decided to go with the less expensive but similar in power option. For either kind you would use "daylight" high/full spectrum bulbs. What I have is a very popular entry level lighting rig, and lots of folks get the components from their local big box or home improvement stores. It's a huge topic with no single answer, but I agree with Matt about my favorite starting options.

The cuttings I got from greenfin arrived today, so I was able to start all of my cuttings together. Gave them all a wash and waxed the ends on most. Started to feel like I was running a fig day-spa. "Unknown--party of five, your sphagnum bed is waiting." ;P

My grow room stays the warmest at this time of year, so that's where I'm keeping them for now. I labelled them Brooklynmatty's Unk. Sheepshead, and they are in the bag that's furthest from the window. There's no direct sun on any of them, just a little indirect light. So now the waiting game begins.

[QUOTE=Windowsill_Gardens]Hi, Smyfigs! Matt gave a great answer already, but I'll give you my limited experience too. What to get and where to get it depends greatly on your space, budget, and what you are growing. I'm just using some inexpensive T8 shop lights ($10-12 for each fixture from W-mart), which I hang in a metal wire shelf that I got at the same time. It's mostly for seed starting, but I've also used them to grow small figs over the winter and other edibles. I do have a pepper fruiting under them right now. T5 lights seem to be better at producing darker green growth, but my grow room has a good amount of natural light too, so I decided to go with the less expensive but similar in power option. For either kind you would use "daylight" high/full spectrum bulbs. What I have is a very popular entry level lighting rig, and lots of folks get the components from their local big box or home improvement stores. It's a huge topic with no single answer, but I agree with Matt about my favorite starting options. [/QUOTE]

Yes, youre right, windosill_gardens, I now see Matt's answer, which I had missed. And, thanks for your help too. I'm keepng a logg on the different methods & techniques, etc. I really want to do my best with these cuttings.

By the way, I got some great cuttings from Matt (thx Matt!) & will be growing them this January. I am so excited about this tree. I read about the Sheepshead area...interesting!

I sent a PM on this if there are any cuttings left I would love to grow some down here in North Carolina.  Let me know if any are available.  Thank you and thanks for saving it!

Danielle - can't wait to see your progress. Good job so far :) Meg - good luck, keep us posted once you start. Lou- sent you a response :)

Hey, Matt! Yes, I will post a picture when I start my cuttings in January. And, thanks for sharing your cuttings with us, Matt.

I have roots growing. One root I saw was probably about an inch and a half long. I sterilized some potting mix with boiling water, and I will be doing some potting tomorrow. I'll post pictures then.

[QUOTE=Windowsill_Gardens]I have roots growing. One root I saw was probably about an inch and a half long. I sterilized some potting mix with boiling water, and I will be doing some potting tomorrow. I'll post pictures then.[/QUOTE]

Awesome Danielle - thats great news! Can't wait to see progress pics, i know PeterC had some root intials going. Who's going to be the first one to get it to fruiting ;)

My tablet takes really cruddy pictures, but these guys are coming right along. I decided to pot up just the one tonight and give the others a few more days to grow longer roots. The potted one has a gallon plastic bag fastened over the top for humidity, and to keep out any fungus gnats that came in with my tropicals. I hope to eliminate the last of those before the "humidity domes" come off.

Congratulations, Danielle! Yours look healthy and vigorous....can't wait to get my cuttings from Matt started, too. And seeing your success with the sphagnum moss gives me hope that it will work for me.

A thin sprinkling of Diatomaceous Earth (food grade) over the soil worked almost immediately when I found some fungus gnats buzzing around my TC fig plants and avocado tree a couple weeks ago; I haven't seen any since.
Best wishes for your little guys! :)

Wow, the roots are looking great!

[QUOTE=Windowsill_Gardens]My tablet takes really cruddy pictures, but these guys are coming right along. I decided to pot up just the one tonight and give the others a few more days to grow longer roots. The potted one has a gallon plastic bag fastened over the top for humidity, and to keep out any fungus gnats that came in with my tropicals. I hope to eliminate the last of those before the "humidity domes" come off. [/QUOTE]

Hubba Hubba those are some nice roots! Great Job Danielle, that's some super quick rooting you got done. I'm super jealous a lot of people are starting these already and i have to wait till mid January.

I'm going to modify thread title so that its more appropriate, so that this goes from spreading the cuttings to growing the Tree. So please don't be shocked when the thread looks a little different.

Well, here's an update on the Unknown Sheepshead cuttings now in VA...
Two are still refrigerated, for backup and also so I can give each growing plant the best of care with my limited experience at this point. Also, I figure that spring will have the benefit of being an easier time to grow them.

The other three cuttings are in a large baggie with damp sphagnum moss, on a table near one of my heaters to stay nice and warm. Each of these cuttings has leaf buds showing, and I can also see root buds!

I'll probably be potting them in plastic cups with humidity cover this week....very exciting!
Wonder if it would be better to wait until actual roots develop before potting, even if they start leafing out in the moss??
Thanks again, Matt....i'm loving my small pieces of Brooklyn.

One cutting in 50-50 composted cow manure and pearlite.

A better pic taken moments ago...

Lewi, your cutting looks very nice and healthy. Where do you get the composted cow manure? Do you buy it bagged or are there cattle nearby where you can get it that way?

The compost I get around here is "black Kow". Seasonally available at Wal-Mart cheaper...paid a little extra at a feed store...because I hesitated in buying.

Thank you, Matt! This fig really has a strong desire to root and grow. Lewi, that cutting looks great! I've never seen "black Kow" at my local Wal-mart, but I'll have to be on the lookout for it. LJFiggy, sounds like everything's good there, and I hope that your lil' figgies are sending out lots of lovely roots!

Four out of my five are potted. Also have three Strawberry Verte potted and one Salce. My last Unknown Sheepshead is a very thin terminal cutting that is trying to leaf out, so I'm going to move it under the lights to see if that gives it the energy to push out some good roots. I've been keeping most of my older potted cuttings in the upstairs bathroom. Southern exposure, some humidity, and gets quite warm. I'm using a squirt bottle and watering with a solution of 4 parts water, 1 part hydrogen peroxide, and sometimes very diluted fertilizer. I might repot one tomorrow because I really don't like the mix that one is in, but this variety is impressively vigorous.

This is the first one that I potted up, so you can see how the big sister of the bunch is developing. I'm clearing out some old sweet potatoes so I can use the lower shelf as they grow taller. I'll try to post a full family portrait soon.

Danielle, what a beautiful little fig! Your good results inspire and will help me remember to add hp when I water~ I keep forgetting in the busyness of taking care of all these little ones. Yes, at this stage they are a handful. But as i'm sitting here eating a cup of cherries, part of a very small bag from Walmart which cost nearly $8.00, it will definitely be worth it! Not to mention, picking fruit fresh off the tree or bush will be immeasurably more healthy.

What size pot is the "big sister" of the bunch in?  :)
Your growing set up sounds good. I have the still-small tissue culture figs from Well Spring Gardens on a table in front of patio door windows, probably facing SE. With these are several cuttings which were farthest along~ LSU Purple (2), one LSU Gold, and Unknowns from Solberi, all in cups with humidity covering at least some of the time. Several have roots that are clearly visible and doing a dance against the clear sides.

The Unknown Sheepshead, Celeste, Panache, RdB, LSU Gold, and remaining LSU Purple are all rooting in small bags according to the double bag technique of Mai. I waited until all had root buds, many also with leaf buds, before enclosing the lower portions in the small bags. I didn't have the large bags for humidity she recommended, so put all in a box with clear plastic wrap over the top and sides enclosed. I keep the box in front of a S window on a table, near one of the heaters, and move it to the kitchen stove every night, under the light there.

I ordered a clip-on shop lamp, with grow light bulb, and large bags on Amazon. When these arrive, will be moving figs in all stages under the lamp!

For now, I can't check on any of the individual little bags in the box, as they are all happily (I hope) packed in there, with just their little stems poking up. It looks like several are leafing out more. For me, this is very challenging, as I like checking for each bit of change a hundred times a day if i'm not too busy! hehe

Anyway, your progress is great! And Lewi, thanks for the info on the composted manure, I may be getting some myself. Unless I can manage a trip out to a pasture and find some that is perfectly aged. I grew up out in the country and was always handed a large bucket and given the job of searching my gf's pasture for "cow patties" which had to be aged just so. We had the most amazing garden as a result!

Danielle, looking forward to your family portrait...

Joy - thanks for the updates, cant wait to see your progress.
Lewi - leafing out beautifully :)
Danielle - Rockstar!!!! The two week growth you had is incredibly, i'm extremely jealous. That's definitely the most advanced cutting i have seen so far. 

Keep it up guys, love seeing the progress of these guys. 

Matt

I was reading Mai's bag technique, and it sounds fantastic. I'm tempted to take a couple cuttings from one of my dormant trees just to try it out. Sounds like it has been working great for you, Joy. Looking forward to hearing more in future updates.

Thanks, Matt. The tree is doing all the hard work. ;) Projects like this are what gets me through the winter.

"Big Sister" is in a 5.5" pot, and before taking her out of the humidity dome she already had roots that had reached the edge of the pot. They were trying to grow into the air, so I buried them when taking off the baggy. I'll pot her up to a twelve inch once she has a developed enough root system. I checked on the cutting that was in the potting mix that I didn't like, and it had lost roots. Still has one and a swelling bud, but that mix just wasn't airy and consistent enough. So I returned it to the sphagnum to get it back to a point where I feel it's ready to return to the soil. Hopefully, I caught it in time. The ones in my regular mix all seem very happy, and they got to soak in some natural sun today.

A little hydrogen peroxide can be a beautiful thing. Helped me save a Meyer Lemon a few years back, and it earned a place in my heart forever. It's also been part of my treatment for killing fungus gnat eggs in the tropicals. Between that and letting the pots dry out really well before watering, I could only find three fungus gnats in the grow room... and I had to ruffle up the potting soil to make them show themselves. I eliminated them from the other plant rooms already.

Here's the group in the window at present. On the left is Salce. The two pots next to him are both Unknown Sheepshead. Next two are Strawberry Verte, and "Big Sister" is on the right.

Your little figs are wonderful, Danielle! Just healthy and happy with their sunny view, and seeing them gave me a big smile. I don't recall if you've shared your soil mix, but would be interested in knowing what you use in the pots.

It's also good to know how the peroxide works against fungus gnats. I remember years ago reading about a gardener who always used diluted hp, saying how much it boosted growth in his garden. Obviously, it's also working for your plants.

Mai wrote about saving/rooting cuttings that had even become rotten at the end with her technique, so it would surely work if you needed it for yours (which doesn't sound that bad). Maybe you could include that cutting with your dormant ones if you decide to try the double bagging. I'll keep you all updated on the progress of mine, including the Unk. Sheepshead, for now still all bundled up in their humidity box. 

When the larger Ziploc bags arrive from Amazon, I'll be relocating all cuttings from the box into a bag for humidity, and will then be able to really check progress on Unk. Sheepshead cuttings. When they have a healthy root system, I plan to pot them all up.  Due to limited growing space in my house right now, maybe it's better that they can get a good start in very small area shortly before spring.

And Matt, thanks for encouragement :) Hope to have a camera soon to record progress, because words just don't show the full picture.

I just use standard old Miracle Grow/peat based mix. I sterilize and reuse mix, and sometimes coir or mulch might get mixed in. I'm really used to using it, so it's easy for me to gauge moisture with that one. The plants do seem to like a little HP, but good temperatures for growing really help too in my experience. I am using the microclimates in my house to try to keep them warm and encourage them to grow.

The bottom part of the cutting that I'm trying to rescue isn't rotted. It looks like the very bottom of that one dried out too much. It was in a sandy gritty mix that I tried for my citrus in the past. Got the recipe from my uncle. It seems to get wet too fast and then dry too fast for cuttings. It's getting dumped. I'm giving the cutting a night in sphagnum before deciding where to trim, but Mai's technique might be a great method to try. I still want to experiment with some cuttings that aren't stressed to give the method a fair shot in case this one is more damaged than I can see.

Looking forward to pictures once you get your camera! With the right pots you can fit a lot of plants into a pretty small area. Grower's pots are great for that. When is spring in your area?

Yes, i'm also trying to use microclimates in my house...In this cold weather it can be challenging keeping them warm enough, and agree the right temperature is really important. Thanks for describing the type of soil you use, and your experience with the sandy mix.  Hopefully your cutting will pull through just fine.

There was nearly an explosion of growth yesterday from the cuttings in the bags here. Leaves just popped out all over, and out of 16 or so, all but two or three are now showing growth. (The Unknown Sheepshead cuttings are in the bags, too.) It's really exciting to see the progress, as I know you understand!

I needed regular light bulbs around here anyway, so bought some daylight bulbs at Walmart. Usually I don't like that cool blue-ish hue, but am using them in the room with the cuttings and over the kitchen stove because I think it will help. I did some reading on grow bulbs, etc., and there was some speculation on the regular daylight type being beneficial. So, until the actual grow light arrives from Amazon, they'll hopefully still benefit. If not, maybe I will :) I'll just sit under one of them and pretend i'm sunning on a beach.

I think the last frost here in VA is usually around the beginning of May, and it can't come soon enough! What about your area?

Always exciting when the plants decide to give us a little growth spurt. My last frost is normally mid May. My plants are doing well. I think I picked up a sinus infection from my father though, so I'm getting ready to see the nurse practitioner. Hope all's well with you and the little figgies.

Hope you are able to take good care of yourself and feel better soon....glad your figgies are doing well.

Today the clip on lamp, bulb, and large Ziploc bags arrived from Amazon, so I set up the lamp in the room with one of my heaters. Next I transferred all cuttings from makeshift box with saran covering I had put together (due to not having the large bags yet). I covered each of their little root bags with newspaper as Mai recommended at this stage and placed them into three smaller cardboard boxes- each then enclosed in a large bag. Any water from condensation will be absorbed by the cardboard box, so no cuttings are resting in it.

While transferring, I was able to really look them over well. Out of the sixteen or so bagged cuttings, all but about three are leafing out well. I saw thick healthy roots through several through the bags, yay! The two Unknown Sheepshead cuttings i'm rooting are both leafing out.

Out of all the cuttings, one showed absolutely no signs of anything, and another had a ring of mold around its middle. This I cleaned off with peroxide, and hope I can save it.

Now they all look happy in new greenhouse bags, where they will hopefully stay until ready for gallon pots. Whew, these baby trees are an effort of love and learning.

Please keep us updated on yourself and figgy family.....

After a round of antibiotics, I'm feeling much better. It was a sinus/ear infection. Blech. The trees are doing well. The three Sheepshead figs in pots are putting on good growth. They all seem to be growing in the same shape for some reason. One new branch coming from near the base and two branches coming out from the top node. I did lose one of the remaining cuttings. The really thin filler one just didn't seem to be able to put out strong enough roots to take off and finally succumbed, but the other one that I returned to the bag has been trimmed back and still looks like it could put out new roots. Fingers crossed for it. Still beating back a handful of fungus gnats. I might just check Amazon for some diatomacious earth to finish off these stubborn survivors.

I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better!....

It sounds like you have some strong little Sheepshead trees coming along, and that they are nearly out of the woods, so to speak, as far as cuttings go.

Out of all the double bagged cuttings that I have rooting, two of the Sheepshead showed evidence of at least a little rooting visible through the root bags, and healthy leafing out. There was also an LSU Purple (vigorous rooter), and Celeste~ I took all four of these out of the large humidity bags and put them near the window and grow light. At this point, i'm misting them every few hours because they are still delicate from being in their little greenhouses. I hope it's not too soon for them to be out.

One thing I discovered that constituted a close call was that I had noticed some browned leaves on several of the cuttings in the big bags. I couldn't figure out what was wrong because I air them out every day, etc. Yesterday afternoon I came in to check on them and discovered that sun from the window was directly shining on the bags, and I'm pretty sure this was too strong because not only was this afternoon sun, but the bags must have amplified the heat some. So I quickly moved them to a more shady spot and hope they will all be okay. I now suspect that the brown leaf edges were caused by sun exposure. Whew, I never thought raising these little ones to adulthood would be so tricky!

Cinnamon powder is also a strong deterrent against the fungus gnats. I put a thin layer of it over the DE in every planter, because for one thing I like the natural earthy color better, and it also adds additional protection. I'm guessing they don't like getting their little feet in it!

And even in the big humidity bags, I sprinkled a bit of cinnamon because it's a mold/fungus inhibitor. The one that had housed the cutting with "fur" around its middle smelled faintly moldy, but after I sprinkled in a little cinnamon, that hasn't been a problem. I get organic cinnamon powder in bulk inexpensively online.

The food grade DE that I use was a good price through Amazon; think I got about three pounds of it, but a little goes a very long way, and a half pound or pound would probably be plenty for your plants for a long time. Let me know if you want me to look up the brand I purchased.

Sounds like yours are coming right along. That had to be a scary moment with the leaves. Humidity problems can look similar, but when I had too much humidity I could see the condensation on the bag. With that strong sun, it would be very easy to get leaf burn. Plus, without a developed root system, the plants would have a harder time pulling up enough moisture for the leaves to handle that heat and sun.

You might want to cut back on misting. Figs are prone to fig rust which can easily occur with indoor growing conditions. Wet leaves and lack of air circulation can cause it, and then you would need to remove the infected leaves to prevent it spreading. I lost a few leaves to excess moisture inside my humidity bags, but it's nice to avoid the setbacks as much as possible.

Sheepshead and Strawberry Verte were tied for being fast rooters for me. Salce put out roots really well too, but the roots were more delicate and the Salce cuttings had problems with mold. My SV and Salce cuttings got held up at one of the post office sorting centers, and I suspect the Salce was more sensitive to it. They still did great, and I have two plants that are coming along really well for them too.

I found seven gnats yesterday in the grow room, and I managed to kill five of them. I think they were hiding in my paprika peppers. I'll try reapplying cinnamon. The gnats don't like it, and it covers up the figs' eau de cat smell as a bonus. LOL It gives me something to use while waiting for DE.

Latest photos. In the longshot from left to right: The first two are Sheepshead (little brother, then big sister), as is the next one in the front on the wooden crate (my shorthand for that one is weedy cousin), the red pot behind that is Salce, the next three are Strawberry Verte, and the one in the big black pot in the back is the other Salce. As you can see the Sheepsheads have tons of leaves compared to the other figs. Also, little brother has more or less caught up to big sister. It looks like the time for potting up is fast approaching.

Danielle- glad your feeling better. I just gover an upper respiratory infection as well. Hate being sick. Your cuttings look amazing, I love seeing your updates of the sheepshead cuttings, they really are superstars.

Joy- keep us updated, glad the cuttings are doing well for you guys.

If your having gnat problems, check out mosquito dunks or bites on amazon. The active ingredient bti kills gnat larva, this with yellow stick paper and your golden.

I finally commenced my rooting, just the coir bin so far as I haven't had time to do remaining coir rehydration for bag method and lastly will be cloner, need to get more hydrogen peroxide before I start. Got 4 sheepshead cuttings and 27 other cuttings in bins so far.

Danielle, your plants are just beautiful and healthy looking. Big brother and sister Sheepshead, and even weedy cousin :), are strong growers. I don't know anything about Salce variety, and will have to look it up. But I have also experienced those cuttings with the extremely delicate roots and tendency to mold issues. Your Strawberry Verte are coming right along, too.

I have cut back on the misting of the new cuttings fresh from humidity bags....Also, I have tried to periodically mist with h peroxide when I do, in order to avoid the fungal issues.

For me, the LSU Purple have been the most amazingly vigorous of growers, putting out literally bunches of roots as well as leaves. Sheepshead are also doing well with their lovely emerald green leaves. LSU Gold seems much less vigorous, and how I hope at least one of the two will pull through! Celeste has been putting out heavy and strong white roots, and is now starting to leaf out....i have no doubt that there will be multiple hardy Celeste trees resulting. There are Unknown cuttings that I got from another board member which are now starting to swell buds and root out. And remaining in the humidity bags are a lot of cuttings, most of which are vigorously leafing out. But I still see no root development evident through their small bags. This does make me nervous....and I will wait to see roots before bringing them out. The few that had burned leaves still have green buds evident, so I have great hope they will continue despite this setback.

I confess to periodically checking them all daily, and even touching their leaves and wishing them well....

Your eau de cat scented leaves made me LOL.....haven't you noticed a nice, rather floral scent coming from some of the leaves?? hehe You're right, the cinnamon definitely gives them spice.

The weather here has taken a cold turn, and the temporary plant room here is warmest in the house. I went out and bought another small heater to get through the low teens expected. Can't wait for spring...Thanks for sharing your photos, love seeing all of them.

Matt.. thanks for the encouragement. I hope to be getting a camera soon in order to record visual progress, too. Yes, the Sheepshead is a strong grower and survivor, which is especially good for me due to current inexperience.

It sounds like you are going to have a lot of trees going soon!

[QUOTE=sppsp]I checked on my cuttings today. I was excited to see two cuttings have small roots and I just put them in cups. (sorry I didn't snap any pictures).[/QUOTE]

Yay, yes this is exciting.... i'm glad for you.

Matt- Thank you, and I'm glad you're feeling better too. Looking forward to seeing your progress as we go. It's been a blast growing these cuttings out, and I hope you have as much fun as we've been having. I checked through soil, leaves, and light fixtures again today and could only find four gnats, all of which I managed to kill. I'll check again before turning out the lights. I think I have about 18 pots in the grow room, some growing fruits/veg and some in reserve for future use. So that's the room that always takes the longest to clear. I'll have to add some dunks to my war chest for future. I hear great things about them. Sounds like you're going to have lots of trees this season. I'm jealous of your cloner already.

Sppsp- Congrats on your roots! Awesome job! No worries about the photos. I didn't snap many at that point either, because I was so nervous about getting them potted up quickly and without damaging the little roots.

Joy- Thank you, and I can't wait until you've got your new camera so I can enjoy piccies of your fig trees too. It sounds like Mai's method is working beautifully for you. LSU Purple and Celeste seem to get lots of raves for being strong growers. Sounds like they're living up to their reputation. Unk. Sheepshead sure is!

I totally understand about checking on the figs periodically. I go in a few times a day at least, kill any gnats I see, and basically just enjoy the growing plants. We've got snow on the ground outside, temps in the teens, and wind gusts of up to 50mph outside. Makes the grow room and those young plants all the more enticing and reassuring. So I putter around checking every leaf and every pot, but truthfully there's very little that the figs need me to do for them currently, while there's a lot they do for me.

Almost all fig leaves smell like kitty parfum to me. Salce is the first one that hasn't. It's got a coconut kinda smell instead. As long as the room isn't super tiny, the smell isn't noticeable. Even in a small room it passes quickly. When I had all the figs in the small bathroom window, my mother went in there and immediately asked what smelled like cat pee. Guess, I inherited her sense of smell. LOL.

I'm guessing it has roots now ;)

[QUOTE=Lewi]I'm guessing it has roots now ;)[/QUOTE]

Looks great Lewi! Beautiful pics btw. What medium are you using?

I so far have 8 cuttings going for sheepshead (3 in bag method, 5 in coir) and will get some more in the cloner once that is up and running. They have only been rooting a few days now, and i don't want to disturb my coir bin to check for roots since there is ALOT of coir in there and would prefer longer roots anyway. Should have cloner up in next 48hrs, very excited about it. Pics to follow

Matt

I followed Jon's advice for a 50/50 mix of compost and pearlite. I use Black Kow compost (seems they only distribute it as far north as Virginia).

I had some failures with some hollier tip cuttings in this medium, and some diffrent dried out cuttings from a separate vendor...both now attempting a rescue with Mai-Lolita's bag method.( low moisture)

Too much cold and wet led to rot...warmer February expected...

Either way the sheepshead looks to be a winner...I have been whacking away at some brush by the homesite to make a nice cozy spot for it. I really love the look of the leafes on it. :)

Maybe some relative-neighbor-friend in Brooklyn could ask the nice old Italiano Ladies what kind of fig it is?

Tell them a "ginocci head" who lived 2 years in Nicolosi just neeeds to know :)

I am behind on many things right now...I will catch up!  Next week I'm starting a batch of cuttings and this one I am looking forward to starting!

Lewi - awesome stuff, cant wait to see it once warmer temps hit. There are no old school neighbors left on the block, all new blood. The old ladies kept to themselves, only really dealt with one neighbor who helped them with odd stuff. That neighbor has long since moved. I will be back over at the house during chinese new year, so ill check to see how the property is doing.

Meg - i'm patiently waiting...heheh. I also started later than expected, but we all have things come up.

Here is some progress shots on my cuttings from my coir bin. This is 18 days worth of growth. Far surpassing my other cuttings in this method. Was able to put 3 of my sheepshead cuttings into cups. The ones in the baggie method are doing well and the cloner cuttings are showing root initials already.

Here's one of mine, getting there! I still have it in high humidity. I'm slowly weening it now. Very slowly, a few more weeks.
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Lewi - Sorry to hear about some of your other varieties succumbing, but your Sheepshead look like they are really thriving. Matt - Those roots are to die for! Sheepshead roots amazingly fast, and the roots are very strong. Yours are looking fantastic. Drew - That's a stunner. Looks like it's really loving the humidity and leafing out beautifully. Quick update: My rescued cutting has a couple of new roots starting. Hopefully, I can pot it back up very soon. I'm a bit behind at the moment, but I'm getting all of my established cuttings potted up into 12" containers. I'll snap pics in a few days.

Matt, Nice roots. So far I'm still a "stick am in the dirt "guy...but I'm learning to appreciate the finer things in life like "cloners" and "chior." Windowsill g., Only had problems with thin tip cuttings and dried out cuttings. Either i or the Mrs. overwaterd ..and they were too cold.. Sheepshead is indeed an easy rooter (only rooting one of the 3...waiting till spring). In terms of sucess in rooting LSU Gold is a close second this winter. I did manage to get a bud in one really dry cutting with mai's bag method ( 2014 cutting?)...its now sitting as a single node in a jiffey pot with moisture control potting soil. I cut it out because it was leafing out in the platic bag where I was expecting roots! First pic is a very fragile Brooklyn white. The second is a cropped sheepshead Ukn Pic.

Drew - awesome progress dude! Why did you have in humidity if you parafilmed it? I chose not to do any humidity domes, because transitioning them to RH is a pain from what i hear.

Danielle - Thanks for the update! Hopefully it makes it~!

Lewi - those leaves are awesome!!!!! One healthy looking plant with beautiful growth :)

I just took one of the dormant plants i grew from green cuttings last summer out of the garage and put in my laundry room, hoping to get a jump start on the season with it and hopefully have some fruits early. Its only a few inches tall, but hopefully the root system will be well ahead of these cuttings.

Thanks again everyone here who have been updating with progress, i really appreciate it!!!! Hopefully once spring comes, we'll have a larger group of participants.

Matt,

You have done an amazing job sharing and spreading this fig to nearly every corner of the country!!  Bravo my friend!!!

I sure can't wait to give try some fruit, most likely next year in my climate.... But who knows.

Yep, just what Scott said. Well done Matty , I can't wait to get mine started. Everyone's pics look great ,very strong work!! From the way the baby leaves look it looks so Chicago Hardyish ........it's not funny.

[QUOTE=COGardener]Matt,

You have done an amazing job sharing and spreading this fig to nearly every corner of the country!!  Bravo my friend!!!

I sure can't wait to give try some fruit, most likely next year in my climate.... But who knows.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Scott, hopefully Andy got you a bit head start of the plants they get supersized for you. 

[QUOTE=ChrisK]Yep, just what Scott said. Well done Matty , I can't wait to get mine started. Everyone's pics look great ,very strong work!! From the way the baby leaves look it looks so Chicago Hardyish ........it's not funny. [/QUOTE]

Thanks Chris. Very Mt. Etna like indeed, hopefully a unique taste profile. 

The remaining tree is still there, just visited during Chinese new years this weekend and the plot was still empty. The limbs looked good (the ones i left or couldn't get at), so all these freezes and snow we had didn't do too much damage. But then again, until this upcoming week, we haven't had temps under 25 degrees.

[QUOTE=Brooklynmatty]Drew - awesome progress dude! Why did you have in humidity if you parafilmed it? I chose not to do any humidity domes, because transitioning them to RH is a pain from what i hear.
[/QUOTE]

Well yes probably overkill. I had some bad cuttings from others, dry, stored too long etc. So i was not taking any chances. The one pictured I will pass on to a friend. I'm going to keep one only as I have limited room. The one I'm keeping is adjusted already to regular room temps. Here it is. It's ahead because it was put directly in soil. Sometimes those just take off, sometimes it doesn't work. It worked well here!
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Here are some updates on my sheepshead cuttings, these were put in coir bin on 1/17 and then transferred to these cups on 2/5. The roots are loving the airy medium, cant overwater these puppies ;)

The 3 in front are sheepshead
 

beautiful root development, some secondary roots growing. Some are lignifying because i pre-wet the medium and left too many air gaps. I did it differently the second time around.
 

Some of my other cuttings, all started on 1/17 as well, the coir cups are not doing well and will probably move them into my 5-1-1 medium.
 

Everybody's trees are looking fantastic!

Here are a few pictures from the potting up. This is "Big Sister" going into a 12inch pot. The roots have filled the old pot very nicely, and I caught it before the roots started wrapping around the bottom. I have moved her for now into a west facing window in the guest room.

The rooting cutting has been doing great, and it's putting out good roots now. Time to pot it again.

Planted the Sheepshead today, it is protected in a recycled wire cage to protect it from...Sheep...and other critters.

Looks great Lewi! I'm happy to see she is going outside for some, i have snow in my forecast for the first day of spring :( :( 

My plants are nice and healthy - i didn't get as many growing as i would've hoped. I lost a bunch due to my poor storage of some in the fridge and they molded before i even began to root them. Was hoping to use some of them as rootstock for next year's grafting attempts since these are super vigorous. I'm waiting till my plants can go outside so i can put some slow release fertilizer on and get them really going :)

Would love to see who can get them to fruit first :-D

Thanks Matt... It's getting down to the high 30's at night here (predicted)...so a bit of a delay in potting up the rest of the cuttings...typical spring here with ups and downs. I wish you success with this year's spring rooting. :) Edited to fix auto correct error, adjust the predicted temps lower, and add that the young and green in ground sheepshead will be given winter protection for the next 2 nights...

1. After many rooting fails, a few times I would get to around this and the clipping would just die. This looks like my first successful rooting. 

 

I only kept one rooted cutting, I should have kept two, one for backup! I transferred mine to a bigger pot, but it's not happy from the cold conditions. Hopefully it will warm up around here soon.
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Peter - looks good dude
Drew- Holy cow, thats huge, it looks amazing man! Very jealous, your definitely at the forefront of growing these guys.

Everybody's cuttings look great!  Mine are doing good as well.  I will try to post pics tonight.

Cool thread, too bad I missed out on the initial distribution =(

How have people's plants been growing?

[QUOTE=binbin9]Cool thread, too bad I missed out on the initial distribution =(

How have people's plants been growing?[/QUOTE]

Ben - i'll get you some in the fall. 

The reports are slowly trickling in and peoples cuttings are fairing well from what i heard. I have reports from some close friends in Michigan that some are 2-6ft tall. I'm still waiting on some pictures :)

Mine are slowly progressing as i got a late jump on rooting. I will have pics this weekend when i bring my plants outside. I sadly only have 5 growing right now, even though i sent out about 200 cuttings - so there should be plenty viable ones out there.

Brooklyn unknown has a fig scent , trying to figure out what it reminds me of.

It would be most interesting when we get some fruit. Matt, I just officially joined the Brooklyn fig rescue club. Your cuttings were put in a five gallon pot, left outside most of the winter getting whatever rain/humidity provided by Mother Nature. Just had to move to pot as Bugs Bunny was feasting on those delicate new shoots. I will let the cuttings grow this season and try to separate when dormant. Thank You for this wonderful project. There's plenty of suspense as we anticipate what the fruit will look like. Hopefully I will report on my findings as they become available.

Looking forward to fruit some day :-J

nice Meg!  this Brooklyn unknown is a robust variety, it acclimated well and it is is in one gallon pot and is about two feet tall already. Cant wait to see what it produces ;)

PereC, two feet is awesome! I finally got mine into soil in late January but now its growing really well. Its in a 1 gallon pot.

These are the last cuttings...all are looking good...they were potted up after being in the refrigerator in early May. Not One Dud. :) Thanks again Matty. The vigor in these cuttings is amazing.

I am so kicking myself now, I used to own a tree svc in Brooklyn NY. I had access to so many fig cuttings its ridiculous and ran them all through the chipper. If I was only collecting back then...

Update from 5/29:

Was at the in-laws for memorial day, and the plot is still empty but the tree did survive the winter, looks like most of the branches i left untouched had little to no die back. I might do some airlayer this year next time i head over there. Last time i was there, it didn't look like it recovered, but i was wrong. I know i promised some pics of my plants, but been so busy and haven't had a chance to do so - i need to weed through my 1 gallons to sort the Unk Sheepshead to a certain area to take photos. Here is a pic of the mother plant, overwhelmed by weeds.



Hope everyone else's plants are doing well, the heat we've been getting the last two weeks finally woke up most of my plants and finally getting some growth since they kinda went into a slump for the past 2 months since inside.

Thank You for the update.

Hey everyone, hope everyone had a great 4th of July. Just wanted to provide an update with some pictures of my Sheepshead trees growing very nicely, as well as the mother tree as of 7/4. 

I have one or 2 figlets forming on some of my plants, not on my oldest one (green cutting from last year). But that one has vigorous growth and is exploding with new suckers every week. Its a very bushy plant so far from my experience.

Please post your photos of your progress, would love to see who has the largest trees so far.

 
   
 
 
 

Matt

Mine was slow to take off, and has finally started growing fast. I gave one away, and I recently found a stored cutting, and it rooted! Wow! So I have two now, if the cutting keeps growing. Here's my main plant.
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Peter and Drew - they look awesome. Thanks for the update guys! I hope you guys have some figlets forming already on your plants. Sadly i think most of my sheepshead plants have gotten infected with my mite issue, still hoping i will get something. The trees are growing very good though, just the figlets are dropping due to necrosis.

Hope others are having just as much luck as you guys, hope to see more pictures as time goes on from others.

Wanted to give a quick update. I have my Unk. Sheepshead going strong outside. They have figlets forming on them. Here are a couple of quick pics from my tablet. The first shot shows off one of the figlets on a branch of big sister. The next two show little brother who has gotten quite bushy. You can see a few small figlets tucked within all the foliage. Looks good for coaxing some ripe fruit from them by the end of the season.

These pics are from last week...I pulled many figlets (more than in the pic)...and will be pulling more, no doubt. I left a few on the tree to ripen (hopefully) but the tree is too young to eat from...my 8 y/o daughter is having a grand time helping to tend the tree.

Danielle - looks fantastic, keep up the great work.

Lewi - Holy Moly!!!! Your plant is growing more tree form than anyone else i spoken to and it looks magnificent. You're defintely going to have lots of ripe fruit soon i think, you might be the winner of first to fruit. Jealous of your weather!

Update on mother plant - visited her yesterday 8/7/16 and walked through a forest of 5ft weeds to go and see her. She is forming LOTS and LOTs of suckers and figs. Hopefully will get some fruit next month when i go and visit her.

 
 
 

hope more people have updates soon as well. May the Fig be with you!

Mother tree looking good Matt...please do let us know @the taste. Please post juicy pics. :~0

As for the tree shape...I prune early and often....my tree was starting to look like drew51's and I took off all lower branches...filled in the wound with wood glue when I saw pests making a home there. Add in a little fertilizer and the fact that I took a risk putting it inground in March.

I donated one small sheepshead unk. tree to a local library...we will see if the volunteer gardener plants it there, or keeps it to himself.;)

Mother tree is looking good indeed. Makes me feel like I really need to figure out some good ways that I could overwinter an in-ground tree here. ;)

Lewi that's cool that you donated an Unk. Sheepshead. It would be really neat for it to be grown in a public place, but it's just great to hear that the variety is continuing to spread to others either way. Your tree is looking fantastic, and your helper is adorable.

My figs are looking good here. Unk. Sheepshead seems to be only a couple days behind my Hardy Chicago. We've had an unusually hot summer, and the trees are loving it. Hopefully, the late season doesn't crap out on us.

Matt,

I picked my now baby trees up from Andy yesterday, they are looking great!!!

I can't wait to give them a try... hopefully next year!

I'd love some cuttings if any become available. They look like they're doing very well.

Will keep everyone posted on mother tree, should back there in a few weeks to see how it progressed. Hopefully critters wont eat them all.

Glad everyone is having success and seeing some good growth! I also agree that i hope this heat keeps up for another month or 2, so we can still get some harvests. I have so many plants that haven't produced yet.

Arachyd - ill keep you posted in winter time.

Thank you. I would appreciate it so much. We need to preserve as many of the good ones as possible.

Danielle thank you for the compliments on my daughter...she really does help out. :) Still waiting for the small figs in the sheepshead to swell up...they seem to take forever when you are waiting in anticipation.