By now you all probably have seen the picture of my "One and Only" in ground tree that's 7 years old.
I had seen so many things on it from Different leave patterns to only few branches that carry FMV. I Conducted experiments on the poor thing like... Pinching the tips, bending the branches...you name it I have do it to her.

And this year, finally, she gave me 2 figs. TWO! my first TWO figs.
The tree was from a seed most probably, that I pulled from Glendale courthouse Ivy bed in summer of 2007.

Here's some pictorial history on her...
Excuse the size of the pictures , since that has become a standard for my pictures.

                 

The taste was very complex, to my surprise, very strong figgie fragrance and well sweetened pul had a very syrupy , not juicy texture. The skin was also very sweet.
Was not caprified (to my surprise...)
Overall, something tells me it was worth waiting 7 years...
I think every Fig deserves all the time they need to prove their worthiness :)

Hopefully she produce more figs for you in the coming years.

You should send me cuttings to test cold hardiness. :)  

I don't see why not Charlie... no problem sharing.

Cool! Thanks :)

Very Nice, I don't know if I can wait that long. Congratulations my Friend, Looks like a winner.

Thanks Armando, that thang had become a permanent fixture in the garden... sometimes I would forget it's even a tree. LOL Time goes by anyway.

**So, if cuttings taken from it or air layered it would be as if it was a regular fig cutting or one would have to wait again several years to see fruit?

[QUOTE=Aaron4USA]Thanks Armando, that thang had become a permanent fixture in the garden... sometimes I would forget it's even a tree. LOL Time goes by anyway.

**So, if cuttings taken from it or air layered it would be as if it was a regular fig cutting or one would have to wait again several years to see fruit?[/QUOTE]

**No, you’ve done the waiting, we will eat the fruit :)

Аарон, привет. В НБС (Никитский Ботанический Сад), Ялта учёные в прошлом веке активно проводили различные научные эксперименты с инжирами. Коллекция инжиров в НБС тогда составляла более 370 сортов со всего мира. Эти учёные, в результате научных экспериментов установили, что максимальной урожайности инжиры достигают в 7-8 летнем возрасте. Я делаю вывод, что ваш сеянец очень неудачный, раз дал к 7 годам только 2 фиги. У меня есть несколько 5 -летних сеянцев, начали плодоношение с 3-4 лет, урожайность низкая. Я теперь использую эти мощные, сильные сеянцы для прививания сортовыми инжирами.

Vladik,

Я понимаю , что вы говорите , и понимаю, что это даже неагрессивный растет разнообразие, но это был эксперимент . Надеюсь , что это улучшит временем и производить больше инжир в следующем году .

Is that tree getting enough sunlight?  It looks somewhat shielded with those tall trees next to it.  You may get lots more figs otherwise.

Hi Frank,
this tree gets about 8hrs of sun everyday, when I took the picture it was early morning. The sun goes from Left to Right of the tree.

Aaron, I was wondering to, if you were to graft it onto another tree, would it take a lot of years...???  I grafted the Preto Cutting onto a Mission in January and got 2 figs in late August.  Maybe someone could chime in on this.

Aaron, did those figs form up high on the shrub?  It may be that all the nodes below the nodes that produced figs are immature wood.  If you take cuttings for rooting or grafting they should probably be from above the nodes that the figs were formed at to insure that the propagation wood is mature.  This would help to avoid long waits again with the new trees.  That would be my take on that Armando...only propagate from known mature portions of the plant.

Yes Greg, the figs were at the top branches in the middle high part in the pic...

Congratulations Aron,  Yes I too wonder about that tree is it a pine tree ? Not many plants like to grow around pine trees.

Aaron, Perhaps your tree is struggling for being planted next to a huge tree and having a tough time spreading its roots.

@Moonlight and Sas
The fig is planted under Palm trees and they are surrounded with California Oaks (which are protected species ) and further there are very old Pine trees. Figs are known to grow at tightest crevices and they have no problem surviving. The reason it took to long to fruit is (this is my assumption) because it was from a seed not from a cutting.

Aaron,

This is a nice fig. Congrats!
I do share what is being said about the proximity of bigger trees. All those root systems are competing for the available water and nutrients... the smaller ones will always loose.
Sorry but if you wish to see a stronger and more productive fig, one option shall be to relocate it to a sunny/free area and the timing for that is approaching... If you do it and compensate the little tree with a special fertigation diet, I am confident that it will be very happy  and give you in return a good deal of figs this coming season.

Francisco
Portugal

[QUOTE=lampo]Aaron,

This is a nice fig. Congrats!
I do share what is being said about the proximity of bigger trees. All those root systems are competing for the available water and nutrients... the smaller ones will always loose.
Sorry but if you wish to see a stronger and more productive fig, one option shall be to relocate it to a sunny/free area and the timing for that is approaching... If you do it and compensate the little tree with a special fertigation diet, I am confident that it will be very happy  and give you in return a good deal of figs this coming season.

Francisco
Portugal[/QUOTE]

Relocation might not be a bad ideal.

If he does juice it up with some nutrients wouldn't the larger trees just rob the fig?

Something to have in mind Francisco.
I was also thinking to Air Layer the top nice part with triple branching and have a nice starter which I know was fruiting and leave the rest to Nature to take it's course. 
I am planning to keep all my trees bellow human hight in a bush style, for convenience.

Edit: Maybe I should do both Relocate and Air-Layer.
        I'm asking my friend Rafael to see when he can plan relocating it for me, (I am too lazy, LOL)

Aaron, I agree with your plan of air layering the top mature wood and then relocating that air layer.  Personally I'd leave the mother in place unless you need that space for something else....I'm lazy too!

I would get that air layer going as insurance before relocating that tree. Congratulations on a unique tree.
I recently relocated a tree from pot to in ground and cut out a shoot growing out of the root ball. The root system on the shoot was not that great. The tree with the largest root ball just kept going but the shoot died instantly. So I'm treating it like a cutting now and trying to root it again. You can see the shoot that died instantly  in the picture. If the tree was dormant perhaps that shoot might have made it.

 

so, they say..., one doesn't need to remove a ring of Cambium at the air-layer area  in order for the branch to root, is it a fact or assumption? Should I or shouldn't I remove the ring of Cambium at the Air-Layer area?

If I were you, I would take a couple of cuttings in the spring and try to root them the old fashion way. You're an expert at doing that now.

[QUOTE=Aaron4USA]so, they say..., one doesn't need to remove a ring of Cambium at the air-layer area  in order for the branch to root, is it a fact or assumption? Should I or shouldn't I remove the ring of Cambium at the Air-Layer area?[/QUOTE]

Aaron, I've done about a dozen air layers on figs and half a dozen on mulberry. Sometimes I girdle the branch, sometimes I don't. It seems to work either way. I noticed that on my mulberry, the 2 that I did not girdle (out of 6 total) took a little longer to root, but they did root. Also, I have tried with and without Clonex Rooting Gel. Again, seems to make no difference.

Only time I lost an air layer was when I made the medium too wet and the branch rotted.

I think you could literally grab a handful of dirt from the ground and wrap it around a branch with an old plastic bag and it would work most of the time. Just do it.

I didn't ring the last air layers done on 9/7 and they all have roots.  

Paul, thanks, I think I'll do like that...just rap the medium around the branch with no cutting or scraping.

[QUOTE=Aaron4USA]so, they say..., one doesn't need to remove a ring of Cambium at the air-layer area  in order for the branch to root, is it a fact or assumption? Should I or shouldn't I remove the ring of Cambium at the Air-Layer area?[/QUOTE]

Apparently not necessary for figs, but removing the ring forces all the sugars flowing down the cambium to go into root production, since they cannot travel further down the branch.  In theory you should get better roots.

Hi Aaron4usa,
I would airlayer a fruiting branch to be sure that the airlayer keeps on fruiting.
Airlayering a non fruiting branch may lead you to a non fruiting tree in the first years of life of the new tree.
I airlayer between May and July here in Zone 7.
I never girdle and airlayers do root - just leave them the time to do - but each one as his own way of doing .
So the choice is yours.

That's a sad looking plant for being 7 years old.

Pretty everything about it's placement is wrong considering my 10 month old plants are nearly that large (in ground in PA and in pots) and others on the forum have grown from seed and gotten fruit in under 2 years.

Yea I don't like it either, but it's an 8 footer and this year it surprised me. So, I am doing something about it.

WHO TAKES A FIG TREE FROM A COURTHOUSE?

Guilty!!

But It was worth it.

ok, so... this is what I did..

just sliced the honey jar from top to bottom and made a hole under it so the branch can be comfy both on top opening and bottom one. 
filled it with potting soil and slide the branch in the jar and taped it, almost but not completely air tight. Tapped it a bit to make the soil settle. 
That's it.
Didn't water it. The soil was moist but not wet.
Should I compact the soil?
I don't know what I'm doing.
I didn't scrape the branch nor girdled it. Didn't want to take any chance spoiling the branch.

What you guys think?


   

I'll bet it roots just fine, even without girdling the wood.  I would add foil around the cup so the sun doesn't burn the roots up.  I would also ensure the top doesn't allow for too much rainwater to enter.
I moisten the mix beforehand and never add water thereafter.  I don't compact the mix, but I tap it pretty good just to make it snug.  Monitor the dampness of the soil though, as your climate is different than mine.  Also, you will need 4-8 weeks of active growing to achieve roots.  Then, after removing the air layer, a couple weeks of acclimation to the pot will make it more stable before it goes dormant.

Looks good to me and what Frank said.

Hi,
I water twice a week my ground layers ... Just check that water can escape at the bottom as this is not an house for a fish .
The idea is that the tree will make roots to take the water at that place.

Thanks guys.