I was in HD a little while back, and I heard the manager of the garden area talking to another employee. She was saying that the expandable hose that they sell had an almost 90% return rate (her words).

Wonder why they still carry them then......

CliffH

I have a question for all you out there with more experience than I have in rooting cuttings (that should be almost everyone reading this...).

I had a batch of cuttings ($$ on eBay) get completely covered in mold while in the moss bin/box. The question that I have is; what do I do with the moss after throwing the cuttings away?

a.)  Throw the moss away as well.
b.)  Spray the moss with some agent to kill the fungus, and let it dry. Then reuse it.
c.)  Just let the moss dry thoroughly, and then reuse it as is.

What would you do? I am worried about the mold being spawned on new cuttings by the moss.


CliffH.

Native Black is fairly easy to find here, thanks to the Brazos Citrus wholesaler south of the city. I had planned to wait until new spring inventory to pick one up. But at a 2-for-1 sale, I couldn't say no today.

I can post pics. But they are kind of small (about 3ft). Plan to put them both in the same hole.

Cliff

I was running errands this morning, and stopped at a nursery a little outside of my normal area. I was looking for a Uncle Corky's Delight tree for a fellow forum member. I had seen this variety there a couple of times earlier in the summer. Not this time though.

What I did find, most unexpectantly and happily, was a nice looking Panache Tiger fig tree (picture below). It was hidden away behind the nursery office building. They were sell it for half-off this late in the year. So, end up only paying $25 for this nice tree! It is very well rooted. We had to dig several pencil sized roots out of the ground to move the pot.

Also picked up a couple of Native Black trees for buy-one-get-one-free....

CliffH

I went out to check the trees before going to work this morning, and I found these black spotted leaves. Only these three leaves so far. This is all on new growth on small trees from cuttings rooted this last spring. I have never seen this before on any plant. Any idea or help on what this might be, and the cause.

Cliff H.

I thoroughly agree with Andrew's post and comments! I feel that Jame is trying to offer a service to fig forum members, allowing us to get variety that many could not otherwise afford or acquire. At the prices listed, he is not trying to start some grand business for big profits. He is offering many of us new collectors a great chance to improve our collection at the expense of his effort and time. I have ordered both cuttings and trees, and don't mind waiting. If I didn't want to wait, I could pay eBay prices.

Thank you James for all the hard work. Please ignore the negative comments, try not to let them get you down, and continue your good work.



CliffH

CliffH.

I recently saw a posting for Brooklyn White figs. Some had red flesh inside. Could this actually be a Brooklyn White? The leaves are fairly close to many posted pics too.


Thanks,
CliffH

Does anyone know anything about a Purple Passion fig from the Houston area? I know there were few older post on this fig. Anyone have any new reports or info? Would it be worth having when the tree matures? Is is really a different fig than a BT offshoot?

I was just looking from some updates or any new comments. I was offered a small tree, and was wondering if it is worth the effort to go get it, and the space that it will take up.

Thanks,
CliffH

Sorry for the delayed posting of pics. We've been trying to help some family in Denham Springs, that got flooded out, as much as we can. We bought a pickup truck's load worth of used furniture and beds to temporarily get them started.

So, here are my pics. Please remember these are experiments to see the benefits of air pruning. I have never tried anything like these pots (or grow-bags) before. I have no results to post. All are recent re-pots and up-pots.

The first pic is of my one suggestion for using the reusable grocery bags. The ones like you could buy at Wal-Mart. But I bought mine off eBay for less than a buck a bag. There are several videos on-line for using these in gardening. For fig trees this would definitely be only for a season or two.

The rest are items that I found at .99 cent stores, dollar stores, etc (my wife loves these places). Basically anything that is the size I want. Then I line them, if the holes are large enough to need it, with landscapers fabric. Items cost from .20 cent to a buck a piece.

I also get square 5 gallon bucket from a local donut franchise for .50 each. I have several design trials of these going too, including a SWP/SIP design.

I will say that all the trees put into the bags, and then kept in a shallow water tray, have exploded in growth.

Your tree looks pretty young. All the figs that came off my smaller potted figs were pretty bland. So much so, that I even threw some away. But as posted; water, sunlight and heat have a whole lot to do with it too. I was not impressed with our one larger (~7yr old) BM at first. But 7-10 days of higher temps with very little rain drastically improved the taste of the figs. I normally waited until the skin cracked (not split) to pick the Black Missions.

CliffH

Let's create a cookbook of everyone's favorite fig recipes. My wife uses an electronic cookbook program called Living Cookbook. I'll get her to show me how to use it, and then I will start adding recipe posted here. She says that her program can export in several different formats (MasterCook, FoodDataExchang, HTML, Plain Text, etc).

The idea would be to collect the recipes given here, upload the e-cookbook to Google docs or something, and then post links to download the files with the collected recipes in various formats for these cookbook programs.

I'll start by searching the forum for earlier posted recipes, and maybe grabing a few off the Internet, to get things started.

What do you thing? Come on, let's share your favorite fig recipes here! Pictures of the dish would be great too!

CliffH.

This gives me any idea. My wife uses an electronic cookbook program. I think that I'll get her to show me how to use it, and then I will start another thread asking for everyone's fig recipes.

The idea is that I will collect them, upload the e-cookbook to Google docs or something, and then put links to download the collected recipes in various formats for these cookbook programs.


CliffH

I'm going to revive this post because I am trying to determine if there truly is an "Banana" fig to be found. I have been visiting many nurseries around the Houston area, and asking about this fig (including nurseries in Seabrook).

Like many of you, I have read a description that states that the Banana fig originated in Seabrook Texas. That it is "yellow fig with pale strawberry flesh", "closed eye", and "local fig not grown anywhere else in the US". This definitely does not sound like a Kadota.

However, after many discussion with nursery people I have arrived at the conclusion that most people in Houston use the term "banana fig" to describe the Kadota variety. I have had people at very reputable nurseries, including their "fig experts", tell me that they have never heard of the Kadota fig. I showed most the pictures posted above. They said that was the correct fig and the one they were selling, but their's is a Banana Fig and not a Kadota. Most never heard of this name. 

I am still searching and hoping.....

CliffH

I posted a couple of weeks ago about repeatedly getting incorrectly labeled fig trees from nurseries.

https://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/so-very-very-tired-of-mislabeled-trees-8195045?pid=1292994354

Now I am hoping that, with some additional pictures (main crop fruit), I might be able to find out what they actually sold me labeled as an "Alma". The tree was from Creekside Nursery (wholesaler) NE of Houston. But I believe that the actual grower may have been Dave Wilson Nursery.

The fig is yellowish-green when ripe, with dark red flesh inside. The one unusual thing, in my brief experience with figs, is that the skin on all the figs so far is very tough. Almost like soft leather. Just the green outside skin.

The taste on the figs from these young trees is unremarkable. Slightly sweet, with the barest hint of berry (on very ripe fruit). But over-all pretty blah and no flavor stands out. No seed crunch at all.

Any ideas beyond a "verte type"?

Thanks,
CliffH

I purchased a tree a while back that was supposed to be LSU Purple. I have known for a several weeks that it was not (only after it was in the ground). Don't know what it is. Maybe BT.

So this week I purchased my discounted "Alma". Nice looking tree, and enough figs to bend the branched down (on a nursery tree). Friday morning I pulled out the complete unknown, and planted my "Alma" in that sunny spot.

Flash forward a couple of days, plus some pretty good rains, and I see one of the larger figs on this new "Alma" is starting to split. Looking closer, I can see red pulp inside!! So, how can this be an Alma?

It looks like I replaced one mislabeled tree, with another mislabel tree!! Really frustated!

Here are a few pics on my new "Alma" for whatever it is. It is a little under-ripe, but it was splitting so I picked it.

I do plan to contact the wholesale grower to see they can tell me what it is. Anyone here with an idea?

CliffH.

Attention fignuts near the Houston area who are interested in LSU varieties.

I hit up some smaller nurseries while I was out running errands this morning. I found a nursery with about 8 - 10 older mature [LSU] Jack Lilly fig trees. The nursery has had them for at least 3 - 4 years. The manager said that they came for a large nursery in southern Louisiana, but could not remember the name.

The trunks are around 2" wide, or some were larger. Best of all they only wanted $35 a tree. They also had some Banana/Kodata trees that were the same size and price.

The soda bottle in the pics is a 2 liter for scale....


CliffH

I hate continuing to post mainly asking for ID help. But I am very new to the fig obsession. I am spending some time looking at surround neighbors for fig trees that I could propagate.

So here is are pictures of the latest find that I can't ID. At first I thought it was a Kadota, or what they sell as a "Banana" fig down here. But I haven't seen the pinkish-purple striping on these two figs before. The figs on this new tree are a little bigger than a gold ball. The figs attracted a ton of bees and wasp.

The taste was rich, with a brown sugar taste.


Thanks for looking!
CliffH

I have the same thing happen with poison ivy and fire ant bites. I get nothing on my hands or other skin areas that gets more exposure to the sun and wind. But on the inside of my arms and other tender areas I get an reaction. I get the rashes and small blisters from the any bites. It does seem to take a day or two to show up too.


CliffH

I certainly considered BT as a possibility. But most of the mature leaves only have 1 to 3 lobes. It's mainly just the young leaves on the sucker growth that has more than 3 lobes. The eye also looked different than I expected on a BT. Very tight and no color showing. I had read that BT has an "eye which has a reddish color from very early stage". This is also a very tall and upright tree.

I am hoping for something better than Brown Turkey. I will see about going back to get some ripe fruit to help with confirming an ID.


CliffH