I mentioned last summer about the remains of an old fig tree I found at an empty house in our town. The stump is 8 in across, but someone cut it down. All that remained were some first year shoots. I took some cuttings, but so far none have rooted.

Anyway, since we had such a long cold winter this year I decided to stopped by and see if the bush survived. Not only is it already starting to bud, but there are lots of brebas on it! Some of the shoots with brebas are smaller than pencil sized, but they survived the winter, unprotected of course, and are already starting to produce.

A very cold hardy, breba producing green fig. I have got to start at least one of these! I don't know if it is too late in the spring, but I just took some more cuttings today and will try to root them.

Great find!  congrats!
if you have luck, spread the wealth!!

can you bring a bottle without the bottom and shove one of the 'whips' through the bottle (neck first- so it stands upside down) fill it with soil and leave it there.  then all you have to do is check for roots forming and cut it. you will have a tree for sure.


or

find who owns it, and don't want (since they cut it down) perhaps you have permission to remove the stump.... you dig large to collect good roots and will have tons of cuttings for us... (!)

As soon as I have time I am going to call the realtor so see if they will give me permission to start some airlayers. I think I could just weigh a few down with rocks and cover with soil. But, since the house is in the middle of a neighborhood I am afraid to do too much messing around the place lest someone call the cops on me. If I can do this, I will certainly share with others! 

Where's your ninja suit?

I've gotten too old and fat for my ninja suit. Now I use a 12 gauge ;-)

Daniel, ask permission to remove the stump , they don't care.... You'll end up with an amazing tee, ready to feed you with figs. after you get permission to dig it out, go to Home depot or U-Hall, and hire some illegals to dig the tree for you for 10-12 bucks /hr... with less then 100 bucks you'll have yourself an amazing tree.
also...pics, pics, pics.... we need to see PICTURES :)

Daniel, how cold was the winter low there this year?  You've got me wondering how much cold the overwintering breba buds can handle.

We had 0F, maybe -2F one night, and several other nights in single digits. I know this is nothing compared to what you folks suffered up north, but for the south that was a hard winter. Overall, probably the coldest winter in 30-40 years, maybe more.

[QUOTE=Aaron4USA]Daniel, ask permission to remove the stump , they don't care.... You'll end up with an amazing tee, ready to feed you with figs. after you get permission to dig it out, go to Home depot or U-Hall, and hire some illegals to dig the tree for you for 10-12 bucks /hr... with less then 100 bucks you'll have yourself an amazing tree.
also...pics, pics, pics.... we need to see PICTURES :)[/QUOTE]

You don't think its too late in the year to move the whole tree? I will be out of town until April 13, so Sat. April 19 would be the soonest I could do it, assuming they will give me permission.

Also, how big of a rootball do you think I would need to get for it to be viable?

2-3 feet square or I should say cube... length, width, depth.
 you know...Suzi (DesertDance) just did such a transplant, I'd get in touch with her if I were you. She'll give you personal expertise on it. She moved her old VdB.
As far as I am concerned about the timing, it's still ok, because in your are trees are still asleep, right?

Without a huge tree digger, you should dig a foot away from the stump and soon you find a good size root, follow it, removing the soil and loosening the root, if you get some 3 feet of roots you are fine, make sure to make a sharp root pruning. it helps it restart the rooting.  You should find at least 3 or 4 branches of roots... then the others you just prune them. 

At my tree, it is impossible to try to remove dirt with it, my soil is like gravel, you dig and it breaks... if yours is the same, have some buckets of water, soon you dig  enough, water pour water and it helps you find which way the roots go.   I just dug up my black madeira that i had grafted onto my tree's roots. it was interesting. I did not find lateral root for at least a foot from the graft, but found lots of arms and more ramifications. with water, I was able to get several thinner roots.

Best luck.

hey there Daniel, any updates on your newly found tree?

Aaron he typed -I will be out of town until April 13, so Sat. April 19 would be the soonest I could do it, assuming they will give me permission.

Aaron,

The owner of that property lives out of state, but I did talk to the realtor who is showing the house, he promised to get me the name of the family member who is caring for the yard. I hope to call them later in the month. I know it will be pushing it to transplant, but it is still very cool here so I think I will be OK, assuming they allow it. I'll let  you know when I know something.

I'm looking forward to seeing this become a reality for you Daniel...so exciting.

Good news, I just talked to the property owner and he gave me the go ahead to dig out the fig! I will be traveling all week, but I should have time next week to give it a try. The weather is staying cool here so the transplant shock should not be too bad.

I am going to take a 3-4' circle of roots, as deep as I can get  it. Then I am going to set it into an oversized hole with mulched manure and mycorrhizal fungi. I will post pictures when the big day comes.

yeay!  congrats on Permission!  Now the hard work...

Good for you, after digging it out you should cut some of the canopy for the less roots it will have
at its new like when a fig tree is root pruned well otherwise it can drop much of its new crop.

This i have experienced.

yeah and send them to us, LOL

Hi Genedaniels,
No root shoots? Or young stems coming directly from the dirt ?
If so, take those, as they are far easier to handle. I just removed 3 on my "Dalmatie". I could even take those with 2 small roots each .
So already better chances for making them a tree !

You should water the tree a lot afterwards - each day - , as she's setting the brebas, she's already awaken and needs water to sustain the growth of both stems and fruits.
Good luck !
By the way, wasn't you yard already full ? Or do you have a yard with space, but not planting more fig trees ?
How do you manage that ? Information needed for the figoolics group :)

As for space in my yard, I still have room for more fig trees - of course! Who needs grass when you can grow figs?!

Actually I do have lots of space, I just have to think carefully because one side of my yard stays quite wet in spring/fall. I have lots lots of berries and still plans for more berry beds so I have to think about how to best use the space on the high side and/or raised beds. But space for figs is a top priority. This big dig-out tree is going near the properly line on the high side of the yard where it can get full sun and room to grow.

Daniel, remember to document every step with before, during and afters with pictorial evidence. This will be your "The Story of A Big Old Fig Tree", don't mess it up :)

Well, my attempt to salvage the cold hardy fig almost became a fiasco.

I was preparing to dig it up, but as I cleared away all the debris from around the stump I could see, suddenly it became clear there was not one, but SEVERAL large old stumps clustered in there! This must have been a HUGE fig bush before they cut it down. It would take a backhoe to get that one. Forget that.

But as cleared around the area I found that years ago one of the limbs had naturally airlayered and was now a separate "bush" about one foot from the main one. I was able to dig that one up with about 5 gal worth of roots and it is now safely in my back yard. Also, in the process I found 3 small clumps of airlayered branches with nice roots. So those are now all safely in 3 gal pots.

This must be one seriously coldhardy fig. Even tiny branches, 1/4 diameter, survived this winter unprotected (lows close to 0F). In fact, several of these small branches have brebas on them. Its new growth is much further along than my figs that I protected this winter. Some is already 2 in long and our lows are still in the 30s some nights.

Also, I plan to keep a close eye on the mother bush. Until someone buys the house, I plan to pinch it and "maintain" it as if it were my own. The owners are in Florida, and he made it clear that he does not care, he just wants the house to sell. Until then I have an "off site" fig tree ;-) 

Congratulations!

Great story, I really enjoined it. Now can you vandalize the place to make it really look bad so it won't sell. Just kidding

i'm glad it worked out for you Daniel.

Congrats Gene!! Keep us informed of your progress! :)

If the place has not sold by next fall, will you offer cuttings to the forum from your 'offsite' tree  ;)

[QUOTE=eboone]If the place has not sold by next fall, will you offer cuttings to the forum from your 'offsite' tree  ;)[/QUOTE]

Absolutely

Jackpot! Keep us posted! Any photos?

Love it -- your very own off-site fig tree! Nice going, and send some pix!

Very exciting Gene!

[QUOTE=GeneDaniels]Well, my attempt to salvage the cold hardy fig almost became a fiasco.

I was preparing to dig it up, but as I cleared away all the debris from around the stump I could see, suddenly it became clear there was not one, but SEVERAL large old stumps clustered in there! This must have been a HUGE fig bush before they cut it down. It would take a backhoe to get that one. Forget that.

But as cleared around the area I found that years ago one of the limbs had naturally airlayered and was now a separate "bush" about one foot from the main one. I was able to dig that one up with about 5 gal worth of roots and it is now safely in my back yard. Also, in the process I found 3 small clumps of airlayered branches with nice roots. So those are now all safely in 3 gal pots.

This must be one seriously coldhardy fig. Even tiny branches, 1/4 diameter, survived this winter unprotected (lows close to 0F). In fact, several of these small branches have brebas on them. Its new growth is much further along than my figs that I protected this winter. Some is already 2 in long and our lows are still in the 30s some nights.

Also, I plan to keep a close eye on the mother bush. Until someone buys the house, I plan to pinch it and "maintain" it as if it were my own. The owners are in Florida, and he made it clear that he does not care, he just wants the house to sell. Until then I have an "off site" fig tree ;-) [/QUOTE]

Interesting story.

A sort of update on the cold hardy green fig.

Back in the fall I took a half dozen long cuttings off the same bush. I wanted to do a trial-run of an article I read. I buried them in my compost pile until a month ago. Then I pulled them out and laid them in shallow trenches filled with 1/2 sand, 1/2 potting soil. Then I covered them with 1 inch of potting soil. Now those dudes are popping up everywhere! I think every cutting I buried is showing signs of growth. Not only those, but I stuck the "scraps" from digging up the rootball in soil too, and those are growing. This is one vigorous variety!

Unless some catastrophe strikes, I will have 10-15 rooted young trees from this unknown variety by season end. I know a couple of friends who might want one, but any ideas what to do with the rest of them? (State law prevents me from selling them at the farmer's market)

Mybe we can help ? :) 

If you're shipping 'em, just say the word on what you are asking!  I think a lot of us would be interested  :)

Hi Gene. Since it seems to be SO hardy, you may want to save some for rootstock and try grafting to it. Nice story; Gary in CA

I would be very interested in trading some of these once they are well-rooted for rooted younglings of other varieties. I am thinking middle or end of May I should have several ready to trade as barerooted plants. If anyone has a trade in mind, send me a PM.

On second thought, that is probably way too soon. What if we think about trading rooted plants in the fall?

The little "clump" of the unknown fig is doing really nicely. It has 5-6 pencil sized trunks about 12 inches tall. Each of these small trunks has an off-shoot at EVERY SINGLE node! Some of these already have 4 and 5 leaves. The plant is obviously quite vigorous. I am going to make some kind of support to tie all these small trunks because at the rate they are growing they will get top heavy and will fall over.

What would you use? A wire cage? 3-4 small stakes?

I would use stakes.  Keep it simple.  Buy a roll of velcro tape at HD and cut off 2" pieces.  I use that instead of rope or ties.  They work great and they're reusable.

Do you have a name for this 'off-site' fig tree?  Maybe 'Off-Site (Unk)' would be a good name.

Nice story, and I'd definitely be interested in one of your trees. 

I went back today to see my "off site" fig. That bush is growing like crazy! I pinched back to 5 or 6 leaves on all the dozens and dozens of new growth coming out. Some are shoots coming straight out of the rootball, but there are also lots of branches growing on the shoots from last year.

My fear is that the owners will send a lawncare company over and when they mow they will just weedwack the bush to the ground. But there is not much I can do but hope for the best. If it makes it through the summer I will certainly gather cuttings for any forum members who want them

Gene - do you think you could put a little sign on the shoots that says "do not mow"?

The whole "who takes care of the place" thing is a bit weird. The owner lives in FL, but his sister lives near-by the house and makes sure the place is presentable for buyers; mowing, etc. I have not talked to the sister, only the owner in FL. So I don't want to mess around the place too much lest I raise neighbor's suspicions and end up completely losing access to the tree. I am hoping that if I just stop by for a few min at a time to "manage" the tree and pick when ripe, then I can keep my strange situation going all year.

Also, the clump that is forming from the old bush is quite large. Someone would have to be deliberate to take it down. I am hoping that since it would require extra work to take it down, the lawn care people will leave it alone ;-)

Here is a pic of the clump from the "UNK Jacksonville Green" I dug up. It seems very happy and is starting to put on lots of growth:

 
 
It is about 18 inches tall and has 5 slender trunks.

A green tomato cage at the off site one might help.  Please add me to your list.  :)

What a nice story. So much love for a left behind fig tree.
I'd use rebar from HD.
It'll never break,you'll never have to replace it and it's cheap. 

Here is a pic of the little guy I transplanted. She has 6-8 little figs on it right now:
 

Great effort to save that fig. Hope it is tasty for you. You have some standing water next to your transplant, but the fig looks great. I look forward to hearing your taste report. Mike in Hanover, VA

I took the pic a couple hours after a VERY heavy thunderstorm. That area is a little wet, but not too bad usually.