Hi, I’m from Tallahassee, Florida and am now the proud owner of my second fig tree. I was walking around the garden section at Lowes today and noticed some Magnolia Fig tree’s in the top rack of the “dying plant sale cart” for $1. I couldn’t resist the temptation to nurse one back to health so I picked up the best looking one I could find and brought it home.

The tops of the two largest branches are sort of withered back a bit. I suspect it’s from frost damage, as it’s dropped into the upper teens here a couple of times recently and I doubt they roll the sale cart inside at night. Should I trim these off now, or wait till it comes out of dormancy in the spring?

I watered it a bit tonight and will move it inside when it’s cold out till spring, anything else I can do to help it come back?

First, Magnolia doesn't look like the fig in the picture ;)

Second, I would just leave it be.  Let it grow out in the spring, grow for a fewcouple months months, wait to see where it dies back to, then trim it accordingly down to just above the freshest, strongest growth.

That's about what I would have suggested Jason. Just let it start growing in the spring & then trim back the parts that look dead. The fresh new growth will be a good contrast to the stuff that needs to be trimmed out anyway.

Also, Jason hinted at something that will likely prove to be true - the tree will likely NOT be what it is labled as. I base this primarily on all the comments made here about how the fig trees purchased at these "big box" stores tend to not be what they are labled as.
But it will be interesting to see what it does turn out to be hex. Keep us posted on it.

By the way -  WELCOME TO THE F4F FORUM!

Hey Hex,

I also reside in Tallahassee and I grabbed one of those $1 “dying plant sale cart”  magnolia fig trees; but before they were dying and on sale (less than four bucks). Here is what magnolia looks like http://figs4fun.com/Thumbnail_Magnolia.html

I echo what Jason and Bill have advised: wait until spring and the next growing cycle before you do anything.

JD

The picture is not of magnolia, so you have a mystery fig, for now. Let it be and trim it after it leafs out in the Spring and you know for sure what is good and what is not. If possible, keep in in a greenhouse, or indoors to prevent further damage, and maybe encourage some healing and new growth before is gets worse. For a buck, unless it is a Brown Turkey, you will get you money's worth, no matter what it is.

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm looking forward to see what this little guy does. I've got a few scion on the way to play with as well, so the next couple of years should be interesting.

Along with my newly found fig obsession, I grow container citrus, rabbit eye blueberries, peaches, and have a raised bed where I grow a summer vegitable garden.

I think my next hobby is going to be raising cats, maybe they can fend off the 2 squirrel nests that have recently taken roost in the trees just on the other side of my fence... :-/

Pellet guns work great for that!

I got my Magnolia from a local nursery but was told it may not be a Magnolia.
Nonetheless, It is a good producer and a good looking show piece.

I like the way the branches weep on mine.

Here's a couple pics,


[IMG]http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz88/rkinaia/IMG00033-20100907-1333.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz88/rkinaia/IMG00036-20100907-1411.jpg[/IMG]

Rafed you could probably fit a dime in that cavity !
I wont comment on good looking , hey if she can cook good does it matter ?

 :)

Martin,

Your mind is somewhere else this morning. LOL
What did you put in that coffee?

thanks for the pics Rafed, I stopped by lowes in my 'hood and found 3 in 1 gallon pots marked down to $2.50 each... they were in excellent condition. I couldn't walk away empty handed... I'll grow them till they have some fruit and then give them to some friends and relatives... It is an addiction.... my wife reminds me so all the time...lol

Growing stuff I can eat has been a fasination of mine since I was a child. It's sort of become an addiction of mine as well. My grandparents had fruit trees all over their house down in Miami when I was growing up. We would visit and they always seemed to have some sort of fresh fruit or Avocado to eat. I think that's where it started.

I just clipped a ripe persian lime off my tree, grabbed a handful of Kentucky Colonel mint out of the garden, and made me a Mojito:

1-2 tbsp agave nectar (simple syrup works too, but I'm lazy)
2 oz of clear rum (I like Don Q Cristal)
Juice of one fresh lime
1 can of Sprite
Couple of springs of fresh mint

I hope my in ground tree gives me some figs this year. This will be its third spring in the ground coming up. I just have to beat the vermine to them as they ripen.

Rafed, what you have is a Black Spanish.  I got one of those.  The figs are HUGE but have no taste.  To me, they are the worse tasting fig!  My figs look exactly like yours in the photo.  My tree goes on the cull pile come spring.  cheers,

Dennis,

Believe it or not the first year I had this tree the fig meat was whitish and tasted like honey dew of sort.

This past season is what you see. I can't explain the difference in meat color but the taste was rather simple and mild, Not great but ok.
But then again, I was competing with the squirrels so I didn't give them time to fully ripen.

Did the branches on yours weep? Were the figs growing in clusters ( close to each other )?

Maybe you should give it another season or two to let it mature. They say things get better with age, Ok so I'm not talking about myself.

looks about like my typical brown turkey, especially with a big void like that.  then again, spanish black/black spanish is a synonym for brown turkey, so ...

The tree it self is not like any other B/T.

Look,,,,,,,,,,,

[IMG]http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz88/rkinaia/6-18-2010pics028.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz88/rkinaia/gardenpics056.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz88/rkinaia/DSC01422.jpg[/IMG]

Notice how the branches weep?

Wow, that is a weird one. Have you tried rooting other branches to see if this is just an anomaly?

Jason,

This tree is going on its' third season with me. As of last Summer the same nursery was selling the same "Magnolia" labeled fig. All the Magnolias were identical to mine.

The question now is what is the real name?
Or can just be another Magnolia variant?


 

Rafed,

It is interesting.  Reminded me of this:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0922514226580.html

Which I saved a link to a while ago.

Rafed, my Black Spanish does not weep...at least it hasn't yet. Mine does  cluster and the figs are large.  I am having second thoughts about getting rid of it.  What I might do is plant it out on the edge of the road near my house.  The figs are beautiful in color and size but the taste just makes you mad!  cheers!

It's been a while since I've checked in. This little guy came back strong! I just kept it in the garage mostly and give it some water every now and then - until early March when I took it outside for good. It's been a warm spring here in Tallahassee - that may have contributed to it doing so well.

Looks good!  Just a note:  while the branches are still green, they are still able to be shaped.  Depending on what shape you want to go with, you may want to consider staking branches now before the start to harden.

Feel free to prune any of the lower leaves also, just to open up the base.  It's not going to kill a tree that healthy.

From the "container" it looks like the same figs I purchased at Lowe's last year for $5 each. Mine  were propagated by Dewar Nurseries out of Apopka, Florida. Check to see if you have that little ID label on the side of your container with the propagation information. Both of mine  were labeled "Ischia", with a white/green fig pictured on the hanging tag. However, the fig trees themselves had completely different leaf patterns. One of them had pink leaf stems. That is what really caught my attention. IMO, sometimes this is indicative of a very good tasting fig. I buy all the pink leaf stem fig trees that I find.........no matter what the label. I especially look for pink leaf stemmed figs in yards and in private collections. I recently posted pictures of my excellent tasting closed eye unknown Black fig which the owner told me came from Southern France......it has those pink leaf stems!!!!

Yesterday, I visited Lowe's and they again had figs coming from this same nursery in Florida. They were labeled Magnolia and Brown Turkey.......both had different leaf patterns (no pink stems). The Magnolia had a tag just like the one in your picture. The leaf pattern was how a Magnolia should be. The Magnolia plants had a few figs on them. The eyes were already partly open and the entrance to the eye was already red in color. They were asking $10 for some really nice looking healthy plants.

I will be treating the two different looking "Ischias" that I bought last year......as unknowns until I can get a better ID on them. I'm hoping the pink stem one turns out to be another good "find". Time will tell.......

FYI......I purchased an Alma labeled fig tree from Lowe's a few years ago. This one came from a nursery in Texas. It produced lousy tasting dark PURPLE figs that tasted so bad I had to spit them out.  It went to fig heaven. Darn lucky I did not send it to fig hell.

Also, should you find any figs at Lowe's that are labeled with a hanging yellow identification tag as coming from "Saxon Becnel Nursery" (a very reliable Louisiana wholesale nursery).......you can trust that those will be true to its label.


Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Rafed....  Which nursery?  Telly's?

~Chills

Chills,

Some how I missed this question but yes, It was at Telly's.

I also bought one of these infamous "Magnolia" fig trees in November of 2010. I also live in Tallahassee. The tree was re-potted and is now 6 feet tall and figless.

Does anyone know what the fig pictured on the tag really is?

The main reason I took a chance on it was because of the picture.

Last year, my wife and I were in Sorrento Italy and came across these beautiful large dark flat-faced figs in a grocery store. They were not fully ripe and therefore didn't have much of a taste but the unique shape, coloring and size of the fig got me to want to grow my very own tree.

What a disappointment if it turns out to be  Brown Turkey or Celeste wanna-be !

Hey FMD, welcome to the forum!!

See:  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=5090983

It is just my opinion that the fig pictured on the tag would be Violette Soleis (or one of its two dozen synonyms).  I seriously doubt that is what you actually bought - it may actually be Magnolia as indicated, but the fig pictured on the tag is DEFINITELY not Magnolia!

Thank you sattellitehead for the references.

Trying to figure out fig names and origins is like trying to herd a litter of kittens. None of the pictures or descriptions I looked at resemble the fig I saw in Sorrento.

Here's how I would describe it:

If one took a black jack or negronne fig and  sat on it, you would have the Sorrento fig. I would estimate the circumference to be 2-3 times the height of the fig.

Some years ago, on two different occasions, once a bought a Brown Turkey and later a Black Mission, from Loews. They tuned out to be Brown Turkey, the two of them!
Sal

A couple of years ago I was looking for Mysore raspberries and one day while in Lowes there they were.  The only problem is the tag showed a inch long scarlet red raspberry and Mysore fruit is small, button shaped and black.   I took the plant home anyway as it looked right and when it fruited it was a mysore with the nice black fruit.  I decided to email corporate Lowes to let them know of their mistake.  They assured me they had on staff botanical experts and all plant tags are reviewed blah blah blah.  After a few emails back and forth with their "expert" he finally admitted the picture on the fruit was wrong and they would correct it.  

Fast forward a year......


I am back in lowes and what do I see the Mysores with the new tag.  This time it shows the fruit as button shaped and the right size but still a bright red fruit instead of black.....  They either don't care or they just use whatever picture the marketing department feels will sell the most plants.  How this isn't false advertising is beyond me.  

I am amazed at the constant complaints we have about mislabeled nursery stock. The annual inspections my family's greenhouses go through each year are non trivial in terms of checking for tags and patented stock, but I guess they do not check the accuracy of the actual plant nor do the college students who come as inspectors have enough background to know. I do have a collection like many here of UNK - inknowns usually gathered from trades from others, but with the understanding that the figs is good.  I like the idea of chasing ones that have unique stem color and or leaves, thats what I look for and what catches my eyes when seeing one in a yard

I think the problem is the labeling might be right, but the marketers pick out a "more appealing" image, which confuses consumers who do their homework. Is it deceptive? I think so. People that want a particular variety are frustrated by it and people that didn't know and purchased it become confused when it performs but doesn't match the tag. So retailers do no favors by allowing this.

In a separate note, I can see how inexperienced workers can help confuse things.

Hello all,

I've been registered for a while, but this is my first forum post. Does anyone have an updates on the performance or identity of these 'Magnolia'-labelled trees from Lowes? My local store (Mobile, AL area) has continued offering them at $10, but I've been hesitant to buy one without knowing more about them.

I've noticed the same problem of mismatched label images with tropical hibiscus. They rarely match the picture, and I never buy one on a day it isn't flowering for that reason.

Daniel

Hi Daniel - nice to see a new post-er to the forum!  I purchased my first tree last winter from a small local chain garden center - it was mislabeled also!    I don't blame the retailer and maybe not even the wholesaler growing for the retailer.  The wholesaler is most likely buying small trees in bulk to let them grow and then sell to the retailer. 

This is slightly OT, but I bought Elberta peach tree from Lowes and fast forward three years it turned out to be a white nectarine. I knew I had been hornswoggled when I saw the first blossoms. It's an OK tree, but not what I wanted. I have purchased three peach trees from them over the years, two were true to name.

Thanks for the welcome Jo-Ann :)

I was at Lowes again earlier this week, and found the same plants were still there. They were marked down to $8 from the earlier $10, but what really caught my eye was fruit--2 breba figs. They currently have about 2 inches of fresh growth on the ends of the branches, but the figs are clearly located on older wood, probably produced last fall. I've course I had to buy it, so now I'm waiting for my figs to ripen.

I don't get any break. Not even BT at our Lowes or HD.

I just bought one at lowes, same tag.  Anyone have updates on this tree?

Of the 2 brebas I mentioned earlier, one fell off while still green. The second became slightly purple, soft, and appeared ripe. However, it was tasteless and had a spongy interior very similar to an eggplant. The good thing it has started producing main-season figs.

thanks.  Keep us updated!

[QUOTE=bullet08]I don't get any break. Not even BT at our Lowes or HD.[/QUOTE]

Our HD has figs LABELED Brown Turkey and Black Mission for $15.00. They are in a one gallon pot and are about four feet tall.

After 3 years planted  in ground my Lowes labelled Magnolia is finally putting out. It is a massive tree. Let's hope the figs are massively good tasting.

Those look like Brunswick leaves.

Today, I have 4 Magnolia fig trees. I like the dark bronze purplish color. I don't think Magnolia is the same tree as Brunswick. I think it has the same characteristic as Brunswick. The leaf patterns on my 4 trees look exactly like Rafed's picture. Brunswick leaves are very distinct and unique.