Hello Everyone,
I am new to the the forum and am a fig beginner. I only have two Brown Turkeys (planted against a south-facing wall and protected in winter) but plan to expand my collection. My husband and I run a backyard nursery that specialises in grapes, berries and other small fruit plants. We are in Zone 6 and this limits our fig choices.

Jon and I were talking about growing figs from seeds. I noticed that growing figs from seeds have not been touched in the forum, so I think that its a good idea to talk about it here so that there is a reference to it for those interested.

Jon said -
` I don't think fig seeds would be a problem, but they do not come true to the parent. So there is no telling what you would get. Half would be male caprifigs, The rest might or might no have fruit, and most would not be great. I keep about 10 seedlings each year, just for fun, and have one winner, one promising, and one maybe.`
 
How are the fruit from your seedling trees, Jon? How long did it take from seedling to fruit bearing?
 
I have actually tried to germinate my Brown Turkey seeds but they did not germinate. An old German nursery guide book (G. Krüessmann 1954) states that fig seedlings from figs grown in Germany will not bear fruit.

Has anyone else tried their hands at breeding fig plants?

Juliana
Austria

Hello Jules,
figs require pollination in order to have viable seeds. A special insect known as the fig wasp is needed to pollinate the fig otherwise the seeds are empty inside. That insect only lives in the warmer parts of the mediterranean and has been imported into California in 1900. So if you're in Austria you can't get viable seeds since the wasp is not available there.

Hi Jules,

there is also this previous post on this subject

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2471900&highlight=seeds

Thanks for the info. Looks like I have a long way to go.
Juliana

Some seedlings are slow growing and fruited in 4-5th year, one fruited 2nd year (not normal), some have still not fruited after 10 years.

I could get seeds from the supermarket figs but they come from the south and I doubt that they can take our winters (even if potted and put in the cellar). Although the seedling is not true to parent, and is likely not to bear fruit, my general thinking is that it is more likely that seeds from hardy figs would be more hardy than seeds from imported southern figs.

I think its worth a try. Good thing to know that my own seeds are useless. We dont have the fig wasp. A fig tree without fruit is ....half a tree.

Some fig varieties are really so old. Its really interesting to read about them as described by someone a hundered years ago.

It appears to me that time has stood still for figs. Given that its difficult to control cross pollination (its left to the female fig wasp), everything is left to chance. I am reminded of the days of E W Bull who planted more than 22, 000 seedlings and came up with the Concord grape. Since then, there are so many new varieties in the grape world.

In figs, the trend here (Austria) is just to discover a fig, name it and market it....People do not check what it could be.

Juliana

I recently won a bid on Ebay for an Anatolian seed mix lol 7 varieties i believe assuming those seeds are viable they should germinate but wont come true from seed right? could either get something that fruits  or get plants that look nice but no fruit correct?

Maybe if you are 1/1000+ lucky! As the NY lottery commercial goes, you'll never know...
Good luck.

LMAO thanks gorgi thats the way I like it nice and blunt. Well on the bright side I can always learn how to graft with them thats if they even germinate.

Nelson,

I bought some seeds, too, just because I want to play.

Same here its my hobby really, I have germinated allot of different tropical fruits this year would like to give fig seeds a try and just see what happens.

i would say that going from seed you'd have to be prepared to graft, otherwise the cycle is just too long. while you do get that wonderful mixing of genes, the numbers you'd have to grow and the energy you'd have to put in it is just more than i can attempt. hats off to you guys trying it.

My seeds arrived today.

Would you start the seeds now or in spring? I know they need light to germinate and a temperature of 25 deg. Celsius. I am not sure to do it now or later.

Hey Jon did you get yours off Ebay as well? I have to check the mail today to see if they arrived.

Yes, they were from Ebay. If you keep them warm (in a plastic storage box with a 25 watt bulb) they should be good to go now.

Thanks Jon the seeds are just sprinkled on top of the soil right not buried?

Nelson,  Figs grown from seeds will almost never ripen fruit unless pollinated.  The figs will form, but shortly after the period when they require pollination, they will drop.  So whether you have a male or a female fig seedling, there will be no ripe fruit.
As Herman mentioned there are exceptions - figs fertilized by persistent caprifigs (the reason for the "almost" in the above paragraph).  But there are very few of these caprifigs, and they are used mainly for breeding.  The chances that your seeds had one of these as a father are astronomically small.
So to get ripe fruit on the female seedlings, you will either have to live within the fig wasp's habitat (as Jon does in southern California) or hand pollinate all the figs you want to eat. 

Juliana, The "seeds" from you Brown Turkeys were not seeds,as Bass mentioned.  They are cenocarps - hollow shells without a seed embryo - and incapable of germinating . 
The German nursery guide is correct.  But only because caprifigs (the seed fathers) determine weather a seedling fig will drop or ripen unpollinated fruit.  And most of these males are non - persistent, so their progeny drop fruit.  But if you acquire a persistent caprifig, and hand pollinate, you can produce seedlings that will not drop fruit (in Germany or anywhere else).
The University of California at Davis has several available.  I don't know what their policy is on shipping cutings overseas, but if you want to pursue breeding, it might be worth checking.
But be warned it is a very long process with no guarantee of good results.  That's why most of us are involved in finding existing varieties that will do well in our areas, and not creating more from seed.

Thank you Fignut I understand now.

Thanks Jon for the tip.
Thanks Fignut for your reply. I have read all I can about figs repeatedly but it is still difficult to understand. But slowly, very slowly, thanks to experienced fig fans, I am starting to see some light. Its really fascinating. Even if I don`t get the fig of my dreams from the seeds I plan to plant, I will certainly learn a lot from the whole process.
Is hand pollination really possible?
Juliana

Got my seeds yesterday time to start sowing.

Good luck Nelson

Thanks Cecil I dont have high expectations but always have fun growing things from seed and when it dosn't work out thats when the grafting begins lol.

Fun is what it is all about!

woohoooo  OMG i know i know 99% of you dont believe in growing from seed but I put my seed tray on the heat mat yesterday and I took a peak today and two have germinated seems the Pink patlican and Balli are in the lead.

Congrats Nelson

That is almost like being a new Dad

Good on you Nelson. I saw the seeds on sale on ebay. Those figs look gorgeous. No wonder you were tempted. Anatolia...native land of figs. sigh.

Cecil ain't that the truth the heat mat really helped I just started these a week ago what joy lol. Yup Jules those were it the anatolian mix.

Oh and on another note in march I will be a Daddy hehehe.

Then Super Congrats!
On the fixing to be a New Dad

Thank you Cecil I appreciate it

Jules ,
in future i look forward to hearing how things are going . A+ for at least trying !
Nelson,
Congradulations !

Thanks Martin, I wonder if these seedlings will start sprouting like weeds before i left work i took another peek and I could see quite a few have a tap root going down already oh well step one has begon fruit set well thats a whole other chapter. Actually I just realized something theres 70 seeds in there if they all germinate what then lol hmm didnt think this far ahead.

Nelson,
i dont know diddly squat qbout fig seeds but thinking when i sprout too many veggie plants in trays i pick out the strongest looking ones .
Best Luck

Oh Martin these little guys are growing like weeds they are double the size from yesterday.

I have two question when should I take the tray from the heat mat & when can they be transfered to their own containers? I know its too early now just wondering.

Thanks

Hi all,

Justine Welcome !
Yes thats 100% Italian fig plant, well maybe not italian i could not help myself.  ; )
Seriously its a fig plant though.
If it were me and my plant i would take care to make sure it comes back next year and not harmed to see if it bears figs since it seems to be a voulenteer fig plant.
If all goes well let us know what happens next season.

Hello Martin and 'grazie' for the welcome to the forum! ;-)

Justine ,
i sent PM to help.

Fignut, you are 100% right. As it is, its already difficult to find a reliable variant to give me a reasonable crop with the right taste, flavour & be hardy, let alone for me to attempt to grow from seeds.  Anyway, its an adventure for some & as always, isn't it true if we don't explore how could progress be achieved. I know a few things like I don't have lots of time left & I wish I had discover how great fresh figs taste when I was a teenager living in Australia with its milder winters. Its a little too late for me to try every figgie variants but thanks to so many contributors & kind fig friends, I am narrowing my priorities.

Hello Justine

Amazing a volunteer fig in your non Blastophagus psenes area. Adriano of `a fig in every household in Canada` fame also has a volunteer fig. It was mentioned in an article that Bass shared with everyone about Adriano.

I did check my fig seeds and they were hollow mainly (as Fignut mentioned). I did the seed viability test - and most seeds floated in water. If you still have figs, and have time, could you check whether the seeds from your own fig bushes floated or sank in water? Those wasps are really tiny. To fly such a long way...????

Hi paully - I suspect that my dream fig is Hardy Chicago but....I shall wait until I can find a regional source that is reliable.

Update to my posting last September!

Wouldn't it be great to get updates on Justine's volunteer and Nelson's seedlings from over a year ago?

This is like an episode from "All My Children".

Frank my seedling was already pruned back mid summer as it had surpased 7ft will take pics shortly. I also have 3 kadota seedlings and an Unkown seedling that grew in one of my pots no idea what it is .

Hi there!

Thanks to both for the updates. I'm glad to hear of your children's progress. Don't give up on them because one never knows what genetic characteristics will eventually dominate.
Case in point:
I sprouted some fig seeds more than 15 years ago while living in NJ. When we moved to Florida I brought along the most vigorous sprout and planted it inground. The little thing loved his new home and took off like a rocket. Within the first year it was easily 10 feet tall dwarfing the rest of my fig trees.
It took several years before the first rudimentary figs started forming. These little nubs withered and fell off immediately. As the years passed, the errand specimen continued to grow into the prettiest thing you'd hope to see in a fig tree. It had the classic branched round canopied shape on a huge solid trunk.
I had the perfect looking fig tree loaded with small green fruits that would never reach maturity. Fortunately, I did not have the heart to chop it down because two years ago, the figs started to ripen for the first time and have done so ever since.
I wish that I could tell you that the resulting figs are the largest, juciest, sweetest fruit I've ever tasted. Nope, they are your regular run of the mill Celestes.

And so, ends another episode of As The World Turns.

That is truly amazing FMD, thank you for sharing. Where did you get the seeds from?

Sorry, hoosier, that was a long time ago and I was experimenting with a lot of different figs at the time. However, in retrospect it had to have been a Celeste, I would think.

But you grew the figs and did not pollinate them right? This sounds like apomixis to me. I have been doing my own experiments to try and achieve this, but now it looks like it can just happen on it's own. Here is the info I have found so far. And Ingevald's thread that predates mine.

I certainly was not pollinating my figs at the time. Until today, I had no idea what apomixis was. As a matter of  fact, I still don't.. But I will refer you and everyone else to Europe where thousands of fig trees  grow in cement cracks of bridges and  overpasses and actually produce edible figs. I can assure you they were not planted from cuttings. Who knows.

Good to hear, I will be looking for viable seeds in unpollinated figs before I eat them then. Apomixis is basically a female plant cloning itself through seed, but there can be some mutation during cellular division, resulting in a slightly different plant. The big plus here is the lack of fig mosaic virus in the seedlings. I would like my UC Davis trees more if they did not suffer from the disease or carry it. But probably only certain varieties are able to produce seeds this way. And 13 years is a long time to wait!