A very large and dense Black fig ! A nice fruit on any table.
Although being grown and ripen by a very young tree, rooted in the spring of 2013, the first two fruit gave respectively 132 and 136 grams - it's big! for size, let's say 3 and 1/2 x 2 and 1/2 inch average
Zidi is a full Smyrna type! a Caducous fig .  Without pollination by the Blastophaga or manually it will never ripe!.. no mid-term.

I could have left the figs hanging on the branch for another day or so but, it was too risky as birds know when they are better.
It tastes  good, not too far from other dark Smyrnas from here and/or  North Africa. As the tree ages the figs will certainly gain further qualities. Half a ripe Zidi is more than a mouthful !
Sweet, very much true crunchy, remembering the flavors from that ice cream grandma prepared with the mix of myrtillus ,wild strawberries and passion fruit I used to bring  her for that purpose.

I exhort my fellow forum members, particularly in California , not to wait any longer and to give it a try. (it could ripe elsewhere !)
I am sure it will be fun growing and tasting - eating these figs..
Francisco


Rooted in April, by October 2013 it had created a nice short canopy and strong roots

 

By May 27/2014, some fig lets develop sufficiently and indicate to be ready to accept pollination.
At this stage the Zidi shows a very hairy skin which absorbs the glare from its shiny dark green skin underneath

 


By the end of May the first wasps trying to get to the fig are caught in the webs of minute
spider predators... nevertheless, with more or less help, they always manage to go their job done.
On this particular tree, all figs were pollinated.

 

Approx a month later, by the end of June the green emerald skin colors confirm that the fruit has been caprificated, and is gaining volume at a good pace. Instead of the white speckles sported by other varieties, Zidi appears to show small protruding whitish granules under the skin


 

Days after, the shallow ribs on the fruit get more visibility as they start getting  darker tones and the fruit increases volume very rapidly

 

The final profiles take shape now as well as coloring 

 

 



   

 

 

This is such a great post! Thank you for sharing.

Too funny, I just got done doing a search about this variety not 1 minute ago! It looks great, thanks for sharing. Too bad we are waspless here.

You've done it again, Francisco! Another beauty added to my list. Thank you.

Great pictorial Francisco, good to see when the figs are ready for pollination. Such a large juicy fig, I really must get some caprifigs and try and pollinate mine. Mike in Hanover, VA

That looks gorgeous and the description is sounding so tantalizing I also must figure out a way to collect pollen so I can pollinate figs manually and improve my common figs but add gems like this.

If memory serves me correctly, this fig originally comes from north africa, possibly Tunisia if I am remembering correctly, which I may not be.

Ate a lot if this fig while I was in Morocco. Very tasty. To the best of my knowledge, fig grows in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

Francisco, very very nice. I can taste it. Thanks for sharing.

Cool! Thanks for the post! Mine is still tiny with 3 leaves, maybe the next summer I am lucky to see a fig or two.

I have a couple Zidi plants, super large leaves, real nice and no fig wasps. If I do not get any brebas then it will make a wonderful root stock to graft my slow growers on. It is a vigorous grower.

Thank you all for your time looking at this post and commenting.

waynea,
Unfortunately caducous figs (all Smyrna types) do not ripe any brebas . Eventually they may 'color' one in a couple of thousands.

For those with the figs but no wasp...
Last year my brother sent to a good friend living far up north a small carton with live wasps to pollinate some of his figs.. and it worked !

Good luck
Francisco

Francisco, I think you told me there used to be fig wasps in Florida, I still have the article. I think they could be reintroduced. There must have been something else besides the cold nights that wiped them out. Probably the over use of pesticides on produce, citrus and cane.

waynea,
Will you please send me the article?

Francisco,
Beautiful as usual. I appreciate the chronology. How were those wasps packaged in the carton? Via figs?

To my CA fig friends,
Got wasps?

Wow! What a great looking fig. Thanks for the great pictures.

Nice

Very nice, great pics!

[QUOTE=JD]waynea, Will you please send me the article? Francisco, Beautiful as usual. I appreciate the chronology. How were those wasps packaged in the carton? Via figs? To my CA fig friends, Got wasps?[/QUOTE]

Yeap! 
It is just too hard to catch them, too tiny :D

Nice post, Francisco. My Zidi is growing well now but didn't form fruit early enough, I think. There are fruits on them now and I wonder if some wasps may have been still flying around a couple of weeks after the profichi dropped.

Francisco, where are the wasps now? Profichi have all dropped besides a few that dried on the tree. No mammoni yet except maybe some that are the size of peas. Leaves me wondering....again like last year.

Harvey, I think in your area they go back to Capistrano :) But seriously, that's a good question. Do We even understand that much about their life cycle?

wow, Francisco, that is very impressive size fig.

I'm so glad I have rooted few, thanks to generous donor Mike Gorsky, thank you Mike :)
I am also looking forward to se how Marabout turns out that Harvey donated to me...
Harvey Wasps are already in Pea size figs all around you...after they emerge, they will enter the Pea size capri figs again for winter all the way to late spring (through the dormancy period).

Francisco, you leave me speechless. What a great documentary of a very special fig.  I got a Zidi from Richard Watts to pay back a trade I made  for another person here... I never heard if that tree grew for him... wonder if he even saw this post.. I better go bug him to find out...

i am amazed.

Mine is from Richard also Grasa. It's growing nicely with slight fmv, i can't wait to try it.

Thank you fellows.

I appreciate all your comments and look forward to answer (if I may) your questions.

For the past two or three years I have been much interested on everything related to this fig and been digging around to find as much info as possible. Got first a big question mark reading many posts in this forum and arguments on % of persistence versus % of caduccity , % in-between, etc,
From Tunisia I was assured that this was a 100% Smyrna and there was no half way  in between.
The wasps had to be present, seen or not seen, these figs will never mature without pollen going inside, be it by wasps or manually. It may eventually color, but the result is not a fig.
Also found that this cultivar grows in North African farms, particularly in Tunisia, but also in Algeria and Morocco, where the Caprifig is omnipresent.

There are apparently 3 or 4 strains of Zidi in Tunisia. with more or less different shapes, sizes, ºbrix, weights, and colors of skin and pulp.
The fig cultivated around Djebba (NW) is said to be the best with average weight around the 100+   gramms and showing red pulps if pollinated by a particular Caprifig (Djebba2).
Other places farming Zidi are Mahmdia (NE), Monastir (centre east) and Tataouine (SE).

@waynea, Spraying pesticides will certainly kill these insects ..and slowly but steadily will kill all of us!

@JD, first clean to remove sap from the fig skins, pack the figs tight (egg type packg carton) ..use imagination and avoid fruit jumping around.. dispatch next day delivery..this works within Europe.

@Harvey, There may be a few hiding somewhere - Your tree may have a few Mammoni, some ready to take wasps, other too small but if not caprificated with your wasps, neighbor wasps will show up.
Since Eisen's time that question appears...no Mammoni crop ..where are the wasps ??.. and by Christmas time the Caprifig shows a nice load of fat Mamme full of larvae !.. same here.

@Aaron,  yes, Marabout is also a Tunisian cultivar . As for wasps you must have plenty! If not pay a quick visit to the creek and you are in Paradise!

@Grasa, thank you very much, will tell you...it'fun to grow and ripe Zidi and you are not that far from a few ripe Profichi's. fellow members in the Central Valley could make it easily.
Armando is very quite...hum ..think he is preparing a surprise .
Hope Gina's Zidi  is doing fine and managed full pollination this year.

Next move is to duplicate the Zidi project,  this time with Black Bursa ! It's already well rooted and coming up nice and strong ! (Thank you Vladis)
May be Aug 1st/2015 -if am still around- we will be talking another great black Smyrna.

Francisco

Thanks Francesco for a beautiful tutorial. I am learning a lot . Like Harvey I was wondering where the wasps went ( hopefully in some of my figs) since the Mammoni figs are not growing. I can see the fig buds but they do not grow:-( Francesco I hope you...and us, will be around for a long time, you are a valuable member and we learn a lot from you.

JD,
PM has been sent in case you do not return to this thread. If you find anyone to send any wasps, we can always winter them down here. For the rest of you, here is Francisco's message:

waynea,

Apparently several families of figs and their specific fig wasps co-habit in Florida !
The environment and climate seem to be fine for both trees and insects...So why not the ficus carica wasp ?? I believe having already read somewhere that in the long past there were wasp colonies in Texas, Louisiana and Florida  (?)

see these links...

http://www.freshfromflorida.com/content/download/10688/140419/ent296.pdf

https://www.google.pt/search?q=fig+wasps+in+florida&client=firefox-a&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=ktzDU5XWKMKk0QWapYH4Ag&ved=0CEMQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=586

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2010/01/figs-kill-wasp-larvae-when-wasps-do-not-pollinate-figs

Francisco

 

Thanks, Francisco.  I look and look and don't see any larger mammoni and only a few small pea sized ones are forming now.  I know of one other caprifig neaby, about a half mile away from this tree, but it doesn't have any mammoni yet.

Aaron, wasps are not in fruit the size of a pea.  There is zero opening for them to enter and no cavity inside the fruit.

Last summer around this time I recall seeing wasps flying around, again when the tree had no mammoni of sufficient size.  I figured they were looking for a new home.  Yesterday I did not see any flying around but maybe they were just smarter than me and resting since it had been 103F (98F at the time I checked).

I am curious about the lifespan of a wasp.  Perhaps they can live for quite a while and feed on fig leaves or decaying fruit or ???

I believe the best time for the wasp collection is a Spring /early Summer. Now, it must be an entire caprifig plant, correct? There is a possibility of the wasp entering your figs but you need to have an established caprifig and what exactly needs to be shipped?

Thank you for your comments and providing this exchange of practical experiences.

For some reason, speaking of wasps, 2014 was an exceptional year and this has been confirmed by all my friends in this region. They showed up (on the ripe Profichi's) during the last week of May when the norm was 16th to 24th of June...and this date is the same in the norther hemisphere from Turkey, ME, the Med and o California. 19th century botanists, all over these places were always in agreement in this matter.

My Odel caprifig had a nice load of Profichi's but just 2 or 3 Mammoni showed up and I saw by the end of May, several wasps busy getting into the fig (will show pics).. these few Mammoni have already ripen and the insects went somewhere !!?... in line with what Harvey said, the next crop (Mamme) is already popping out, just very few on this years wood and like Harvey said for his Mammoni, too small to offer enough cavity volume and galls to accept and provide room/shelter for the wasps+their load of eggs (no pollen now!).

However I am confident that in the wild the trees will develop the right crops in time and the wasp will show up to do their job as strongly as in previous seasons.
The weather has been fantastic, extremely mild and no Summer excesses. Anyway, there are enough Caprifigs to keep the system going .
However if you  need your Caprifigs healthy and productive to pollinate your smyrnas, keep a good follow up, register what you observe and gain experience and confidence
Around my place the talk about this subject is as important as the talk about the edible figs.

Francisco

Francisco, I'm even more confused now.  You already had mammoni and now have mamme developing?  I thought the new fruits I see now are mammoni, known to be a fruit in the fall.  I have not noticed other fruits besides these after the profichi.

Harvey,
The wild fig crop sequence is not unfortunately, an arithmetic progression with precise, well defined, and unchanging  intervals... It's Nature working and adapting itself to unknown influences of a number of changing variables. Back in April/May of current year I was gladly looking at my Profichis which have never been so voluminous, big as Lampeira brebas and commenting to my friends,,,this year we shall have plenty of wasps.. but far to figure out that they would  leave the figs almost about a month ahead of time !!!

Mammoni is typical on several years of a 'no show' or just a few figs...

(see what Eisen said on this subject)...if you have the book, this chapter is very interesting reading..

..../Quote

Characteristics of the various crops of the caprifig.

—In the foregoing it has already been pointed out that the various crops of the
caprifig differ from one another in several respects. Here it is only
necessary to generalize. The Profichi form in autumn, remain on
the trees over winter, and come to maturity in June and Jul3\ This
crop contains many male flowers and gall flowers, but no true female
flowers, as seeds have never been found in this crop. The time of
maturity is June and July.
The mammoni appear in June or earlier, and mature in July and
August, according to climatic conditions. They contain both male
flowers and female flowers, and a large number of gall flowers. The
mamme or wintering flgs produce male flowers and numerous gall
flowers, but no female flowers. The female flowers are thus found
only in the mammoni.
The various crops of the caprifig do not always succeed each other
continuously. There is frequently" a lapse of time between the falling
of the profichi and the appearance of the mammoni. No account has
here been taken of the female caprifig tree, as yet almost unknown.--
..../ Unquote

What you see now on your tree, to be Mammoni , has to be coming from a leaf axil on 2014
green wood. If not they are probably the first Mamme on 2014 hardened wood.

On the attached picture dated May29th/2014 you see a Mammoni fig being visited by wasps from nearby Profichi. This fig has already matured and the wasps vanished
This same tree has now started to grow on this year's harden wood new tiny buttons which I believe to be the very first Mamme figs.

Francisco,
Excellent photos, and it looks like an outstanding fig.  I especially appreciate the rich set of info about caprifigs.  Great post.

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a

Francisco,
It was fascinating to see the progression. Thanks for sharing!

Francisco, I do not have Eisen's book.  Some of his work is reported in the 1900 Yearbook of Agriculture which you've posted a link to before, I believe.  On page 86 it refers to the mammoni maturing in August but then on page 88 it refers to some of the mammoni remaining over the winter along with the new mamme crop.  In fact, the book states that the over-wintering mammoni contained wasps.  Then, on page 96 the book refers to insufficient mammoni being ready when the profichi were maturing so they went to Niles to acquire some later Profichi with which to populate the mammoni in Fresno that were ready later.  Pages 96-99 are the most interesting to me with discussions of four generations of wasps and even the discussion that they consider the possibility that mammoni and mamme are the same crop, just at different times.

I have this book saved as a PDF but this link should provide it for those who do not have it already (not loading for me right now, may need to re-boot my computer): http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/IND43620476/PDF

Here are the dates reported in this book:

I'll have to postpone further discussion until after tomorrow for we are having our Holy Ghost Festa! :)

I just love this subject ;)

Thanks for sharing Francisco. 
I remember the Zidi tree at the wolfskil orchard in Davis, ca. It's a very large tree, figs are huge and excellent tasting. It didn't seem to be very productive. 
As far as the wasps I always wondered how they overwinter, and where do they go between different crop season. I read Eisen's book but  i've ended up with more questions.

This thread has turned out to be a very informative one. Thanks to all who contributed.

I have to go to the Church Parking Lot Capri trees to check myself, to see where those Wasps are hiding now...(to answer Harvey)
I need a magnifier glasses to wear... 

I think there are unlimited fig varieties in the world. I am astonished every time I see fig pictures in this great forum.

Harvey,

The issuing periods of Blastophaga are coincident in Fresno, Naples and in the south of Portugal
(following Eisen's chart) - those dates are about similar on those 3 regions.
It should be very much the same around Sacramento and  slightly delayed for the San Francisco Bay area.

Bass,

this was my very first experience with a Zidi fig, rooted in the spring of 2013 on my standard universal media   enriched with worm castings or fish meal, micro nutrients, lime, and  diluted (5-8-10) every other week-
Produced 5 figs (none pruned) all pollinated and grown.
Assume that as any other fig, if given proper cultivation and nutrients will be a prolific fig, same as other Smyrnas but somehow less than Violeta, which is  in this particular aspect a real champion.

As for your question on where the wasp spends winter I have to say that during this period there are no wasps as such but larvae and/or pupa inside the many Mamme figs, the third Caprifig crop.

Here they are  on Feb 15-2014 - these Mamme on previous year's wood, are big, rough fruit, very hard with a dry thick insulating spongy flesh, its cavity full of gall flowers (from 300 to 700) inside which a larva is slowly metamorphosing to become a wasp as spring starts --see Harvey's chart ...by the end of March

 

Francisco and Harvey

OK...i got them...:)

Harvey this is for your question. Although...at your last comment: I stand corrected. Look what I found today...They are busy making babies...look at those new hatchlings...

I see different stages of Capri on this tree all year long, it never stops.
 

The ripe Capri are full of wasp hatchlings.
 

They are young, no wings yet :/


Even eggs amongst the wasp hatchlings...
  

Aaron, does it get cold enough there for the tree to go dormant?  I'm guessing so since Jon's go dormant.  But I wonder if your mild climate changes the cropping pattern.  Some of this can be due to genetics of your particular sample as well....maybe a good thing to have a stretched out season?  Is there pollen present in these fruits?  I can't really tell from the photos.  Maybe these are mammoni that will continue to keep providing a nest for the new wasp generations.

Aaron,

Very nice pictures!
I believe that on the tree/figs you are showing us, given the mild climatic conditions the 3 (or 4 !) caprifig crops may well overlap . With certain varieties and in mild conditions this can be observed here as well.

On your 1st picture it would be interesting to see where exactly those figs are anchored..
- On the hardened wood of 2013 and/or the new growth side of current season ?
..the green smaller fig should be on the new wood on a leaf axil..(?)
with this well clear could then have a better idea of what crop these figs are..

On the remaining pictures you have a lot of adult, dead or dying male wasps!!
They are exactly that golden/honey color and are wingless
After inseminating the females and opening a tunnel through the syconium and eye for the females to escape, they simply die inside the fig.. sometimes outside just crawling around the ostiole...
By this time all female (black and winged) wasps have left the fig.
Your picture does not show any and this is absolutely normal! - they have all gone .

female wasp, by the time they hatch from the galls they come complete and in one piece, wings included. they do not grow wings outside the galls.

Francisco

OK, good to know about the end-stage life time of males... I thought those brown ones were the new generation, since, they all still actively moving in my hand. Thaks for clarifying this Francisco.
I did see several winged ones but very little...

Here's a picture of the branch and location of ripe ones ...I hope it helps you to determine what generation of the Capri are the ripe ones.

Well, I certaintly would not want to be a male wasp, sounds worse than a male scorpion or a male sea horse.  (Could not resist commenting)

If males die inside, where do the new young males come from to help the young girls that escape to continue their life cycle?  Could be that like all species these little creatures are adapting to mild and possible someday, survive in cold weather also?  I say that, because I have tiny ants that every year come up when it is hot.... could be that they hide inside in the ground or in trunks... could wasps also do that?

Aaron, have you try eating those capri figs? Are they eatable?

Grasa,
I have an entire thread on Glendale Eatable Capri Fig
New Type of a Fig?
Yes, they were the sweeter ones and juicy.

Edit: Grasa,
        The capri in above posts had  sweetness of barely 3-4 max, but the capri in the thread above were sweeter...more like 5-6...

Aaron,
Good. Thanks for going back to the tree to find the position of the figs.
They are all Mammoni apparently split in two sub-crops - the redish ones being the early Mammoni and the greens, apparently still developing to keep wasps  until the very first Mammes are born and  receptive. It would be interesting to keep an eye on this tree to register next developments-

Grasa,

In every wasp generation, ( 3 or even 4 every season) the male wasps do their job and die.
The winged females,their bellies full of fertile eggs,  once inseminated leave the decaying fig to find the next Caprifig crop where they lay their eggs inside those modified female flowers, called galls... dying a few hours afterwards.

Around 3 months after, those eggs hatch another colony of wasps (repeating the cycle), ... fully developed, yellowish.  wingless males hatch first (approx 20% of the total insects), go to every gall, crack the tiny shells with their mandibles, inseminate the females still inside the gall, then start opening an escape route from the inside-up to the fig eye, cutting its scales so the ladies may be free to fly out and find the next caprifig crop for an exact repetition of the cycle

What matters to the  pollination of the female fig flowers (Smyrnas, San Pedro, others) is to understand  when and where wasps carry the male flower pollen.

This happens when the  caprifig crop (Profichi) is ripe , by May/June.
This time the winged female wasps, over and above their  load of eggs, leave the fig completely smeared with male pollen taken from the Profichi male flowers just under the fig eye.
Profichi is the only caprifig with the good pollen.
On all other wasp cycles there is no male pollen involved (and there are no edible figs to pollinate)

Grasa,
Cradle rape, LOL

Those wingless males are the bad boys, but somehow we are grateful of their existence :)

[QUOTE=Aaron4USA]Francisco and Harvey

OK...i got them...:)

Harvey this is for your question. Although...at your last comment: I stand corrected. Look what I found today...They are busy making babies...look at those new hatchlings...

I see different stages of Capri on this tree all year long, it never stops.
 

The ripe Capri are full of wasp hatchlings.
 

They are young, no wings yet :/


Even eggs amongst the wasp hatchlings...
  



 GREAT PICTURES AARON.... THANKS...
WISH I STILL LIVED IN BUENA PARK!!

Vic,
thanks for the compliments, you do have the choice of coming back.
Buena Park is still waiting :)