Cuttings generally fail to establish or grow very slowly in my climate, I graft edible figs on native fig species to produce enough branches, then I air layer them.
In Texas, I keep my figs in my shed over winter. I also plant my grafted figs where the graft point is below the soil, so there's a possibility the scion will also put out some roots and possibly send up some suckers for easy air layering. Last season a grafted Smith and Figo Preto outgrew all the rest, and at the bases they were of similar caliper to trees two years older. I'm becoming quite the fan of grafting.
The freeze here in Texas killed many of my fruit trees however my brown turkey fig was not affected at all as my pear and plum either my avocados full of flowers,ruby red grapefruit, orange trees,Myers lemons all died. I’ve replaced many this year it was devastating.
Some cuttings root more easily than others. Grafting probably has a higher success rate than rooting, but after the graft is successful, you either have to air layer the new graft, remove it and re-plant it, or take cuttings and root it. Otherwise, you risk that dieback.
I graft some figs in the Atlanta area because it allows me to have more varieties in a small space. I’ve never experienced die back but I baby my plants 👍
Are they planted in-ground or grown in containers? If they're in-ground, it's only a matter of time, unfortunately. You'd want to protect them well, similar to how I protect my avocado and citrus trees.
I live in South Texas and my fig trees thrived after the deep freeze February 2021. I bought 2 dwarf ones afterwards. All citrus trees died. These are 15 year old fig trees that survived the freeze
Figs are substantially hardier than any citrus, aside from deciduous citrus like Trifoliate. Did you have any dieback on your figs? If you’re in South Texas, I assume you didn’t see single digits and negatives. If all you saw were teens, figs should sustain minimal dieback as long as it got above freezing in the morning.
@@TheMillennialGardener it got down to 19° F. Zero die back. I planted dwarf figs in pots after that. The cold weather made the fig trees produce thousands of figs... All my citrus got toasted. Oh well life goes on.
Excellent points. I'm in CA 9b collecting fig varieties to propagate and sell, so I'm starting off with rooting all the cuttings to avoid the problems you mentioned here. I'm renting a room from a buddy of mine and if his yard didn't have such a bad vole problem I would plant some figs in-ground - for now I continue to grow in containers. However, I have a few friends with massive 20+ year old fig trees, so once mine get bigger I plan to take a few cuttings to graft onto those massive trees, to both get fruit and cuttings from them, possibly faster than rooting them and growing them in containers myself. Of course I'll be doing both, this way it saves me some space, spreads the genetics out to different microclimates, and benefits my friends as well, as they'll get to try a new variety.
My neighbor in central Texas has a giant in ground brown turkey fig. About 15 years old now. It made it though the Texas freeze no problem . I got some cuttings. They are going in the ground ASAP . Thanks for the videos !
You make some great points as for the potential drawbacks of grafting fig trees. I do graft some of mine (mainly for one of the purposes you mentioned), which is to ensure success whenever I acquire a more expensive variety & have no backup cutting on hand. On occasion I will also graft a low vigor variety that I really enjoy onto a more vigorous rootstock as well. You are correct though, without a backup you do run the risk of losing that variety completely if some kind of unforeseen incident occurs. I do think grafting could also be a great choice for someone who does not have a lot room but really wants to add more varieties, ya know what I mean? Very helpful points to consider though before you decide whether or not to graft your fig trees though 👍🏼 On a another note, the same thing just happened to my BFF! Im so mad, I love that variety! I believe mine was most likely due to temps, but it wasn’t even that cold! 28 degrees should not have caused a well lignified fig tree to die back like it did, but it seems BFF is just very sensitive. Glad I took cuttings prior, but Im sure it will regrow from below the soil line anyway.
My personal opinion is if you don’t have a lot of room, plant them in ground high density with 2 ft spacing. I think it is enough. I grow them at 6 ft spacing, and that is more than enough for crazy production. Sometimes, I think I could’ve gone closer! Even at 2 ft spacing, you’ll get much more production than a multi-grafted fig in a container. If you’re in a frost free place, graft away, but it is just too risky for freeze prone zones in my opinion. I would feel better if my BFF died back due to cold. This no-explanation dieback scares me. It makes me worry it is some rare pest or disease issue. As long as it comes back, I’ll be happy, but it seems to always happen to the rare ones 😂
I was going to graft Onto my brown turkey but I believe one was grafted and the other was a tissue culture I decided not because I found the brown turkey to be excellent tasting I think all figs are delicious if grown in the right weather and picked at best ripeness
Cold air isn’t the only thing that causes dieback. Drought stress and pest damage can do so, as well. And in the case of my Bass’s Favorite, it decided to die back for no reason at all. Any time you graft a fig, you run the risk of losing that variety, because they die back so much more than most trees.
Grafting is not for everyone, it depends on the weather. I live in Phoenix area 9b and I have about 7 fig trees planted, but one of them is already a mature fig tree over 12 years old. I want to graft there, in reality it is a lot of expense of good fertilizer and water for many trees, another point, I have other fruit trees, pears, pomegranates, olive trees, guavas, oranges, lemons, tangerines, tangelos, so I can have fruit longer .
Even in 9b Phoenix, you're prone to years where it can dip into the low 20's. The challenge with a place like Phoenix is you're prone to those sudden hard freezes, but the trees don't get to slip into dormancy well, because the average highs are so warm. I would sooner plant a "fig hedge" where you jam a whole wall of fig trees as close as 24 inches apart. Obviously, if it's too late for that, it is what it is, but it's definitely a risk. In 9b, you'd certainly have far less risk than I have in 8a.
I definitely do not graft my figs. I've got 5 varieties right now, and they're sitting nicely in the greenhouse I built based off of your mini hoop house for your garden bed. I didn't want to have any die back this year, so I can increase their size quicker. Great video! Thanks for your content! Can't wait to see what apple varieties you get! I recommend at least 1 golden delicious as they are the only self fertilizing apple variety.
How is the greenhouse working out for you? I can’t wait to get my apple and peach trees. The ship date isn’t until spring, and the suspense is killing me!
@@TheMillennialGardener The greenhouse has been a huge life saver. The citrus, figs, avocados, moringa, mangos, and other tropicals are in there right now in pots. I built the greenhouse to fit a maximum of 48 2' wide pots. Do you plan to espalier your peach/apple trees or are you potting them? Can't wait to see your video for them!
Fig trees here (zone 9 East Texas) freeze back during COLD weather. The roots will grow back and make a bush. Great fig production. If you want to graft or not freeze back to ground level, rake your leaves & mulch onto the base and as high as you want to preserve the root stock. Keep your grafts as low as possible and mulch high enough to prevent freezing the new grafts and enjoy your fig grafts.
I’ve been able to maintain cordons here in Zone 8a, but some trees always get a little dieback. I’m sure placing some straw bales against them would help, but I don’t have a truck, so it is too much work. The challenge with Texas is figs often struggle to fall into dormancy due to inconsistent cold. Usually, it gets cold here long enough that the trees can achieve dormancy.
I decided to graft my fig in about 2 more years as of right now I am waiting for my cutting turned into healthy big tree in the pot with multiple branches so I can cut it off and graft onto the tree already in the ground, so even if the grafting is failed or died back I still had that mother fig tree variety in the pot.
I do have a couple varieties that are on a root stock . I had cuttings of these that didn't survive so the ones on the root stock are the only ones I have now. I plan to take cuttings of these so that I can plant these directly in the ground and not have problems like you're talking about! I agree with you that you are taking a risk if you have if you have your desirable varieties above a graft
Here in California zone 9b we don’t get hard freezes so dieback from cold isn’t a concern but it still seems my figs do a little better on their own roots - a little more vigorous from what it appears. I do however have the in-ground black madeira on vigorous rootstock combo as well as a multigrafted tree with several varieties in one. Aside from those two reasons, there doesn’t seem to be another reason to graft figs.
I know hard freezes and dieback don't happen often in Zone 9b, but if you check your 30-year history, they do occur. For example, in terms of 100-year histories, even downtown San Diego has fallen to about 20 degrees. It's not the norm, but in terms of 10-year, 20-year and 30-year histories, even Miami gets hard freezes. It's always good to be prepared for the outlier years. That being said, cold isn't all that can cause dieback on figs. Drought and pest damage can, too.
Your information is so awesome. The only fig I want is the Black Missioñ and the variety you buy in packages from turkey. I like dried figs. Two years ago Costco had dried Mission that had been coated in dark chocolate that were to die for. Haven't seen them since so I will have to get a tree and make my own. I ate one time had the cream colored large fruited Italian fig. It was very good and sweet but started splitting as it ripened bring the ants and etc. For that reason wouldn't have it again. Otherwise a great tree and heavy producer. One tree had more fruit than you could use. Never watered it and produced baby plants on it's own. I guess you would call that self seeding.
If you like Black Mission figs, I strongly recommend the fig Galicia Negra. It is a "Black Mission type" fig, in the sense that it appears to be very closely related to the common commercially grown Black Mission. However, it is vastly superior. It is larger, richer in flavor, and it's just incredible. I have a video on it here and this fig is at the 13:00 mark: th-cam.com/video/icgrwc716zo/w-d-xo.html The classic Turkish fig you love is a smyrna type fig, so it requires pollination to ripen. You can only grow that if you live in certain areas of California that colonize the fig wasp, and you'd need to start a caprifig wasp colony.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you for that very interesting information. By the way IV Organic channel has a free give away of Fig wood every year about this time. He is really into figs. He is big on graphing them. He has eight graphs on one tree.
Even for those in CA or warm areas, I would not graft on BT. Graft on a tree that you like. Because shoots and other growth will happen. It's better to have those mistakes result in figs you like and not some okay or meh variety.
It's not the rootstock that you graft on that I'm hammering home. 'Brown Turkey' was just a filler example, because it's easy to find, costs next to nothing and is vigorous. My problem is the concept of grafting figs, in general. It doesn't pay in most circumstances.
I’m in this process since I suck at rooting figs grafts work fine for me Cuttings of everything else work fine Stone fruit, citrus, berries etc but I have issues with figs
I’m glad it was helpful. It was such a cold January that Dale got to wear his entire wardrobe! We had 3 warm 70 degree days, now it is back to winter tomorrow!
@@TheMillennialGardener We got 2 inches of sleet...of coure it turned to ice. We were supposed to hit a low of 18 last night and for the next few nights. Praise the Lord, we got out of the 20s today. The sun came out and melted a lot of the ice. Not the storm of last year that killed so much in Texas. I was prepared this time...covered everything.😄 I really enjoy your tutorial...I'm learning a lot from a trusted source. You have the evidence to back what you share.🙂👍 And it brings me joy to see Dale! Thanks for sharing your fur baby with us.🙂
In Wilmington Nc and need trying to get a micro orchard in my backyard. I have a brown turkey we planted 4-5 years ago and yet to produce. I was debating on using the well established plant as rootstock for grafting but now I’m not sure
They're everywhere, here. Literally, everywhere. I hardly even notice them anymore. My yard is like the Garden of Eden to them. I may have the largest population of Carolina Anole lizards in NC 😅
I have 3 grapefruit and3 tangerine trees that are from seed...they died to the ground that frozen winter..now they are regrowing and are about 6 ft tall sprouts ten or more sprouts per tree ...my question is should i cull some of the sprouts or keep them all...the fruits were all fabulous and juicy but i wonder if havingso many ne sprouts per tree will affect the fruit size a d juiciness of the fruit...
So far, it hasn't come back. The roots still look somewhat alive. I just removed it, tried to pull off the dieoff and re-potted it. It's not looking good. I don't know what could've gone wrong 😰
I am in SoCal and never get die back. I want to graft so I have a bunch of varieties in a small area. I think it really depends on your weather and available space.
Consider how small the frost-free regions of the US are. 99% of the land mass sees hard frosts and freezes regularly. The overwhelming majority of the population of the US should not graft in-ground fig trees since they are so prone to dieback. Fig trees have died back in non-freezing temperatures as well. With the new boring pests infecting California, fig trees are at great risk, too, so cold is not the only thing that may lead to fig trees requiring amputations.
Great video! I don’t have any grafted at the moment, but I don’t think I’ll add any after watching this video. The probability of an accidental die-back is just to high where I live (in my opinion). Even our garage has gotten around 0F this winter.
In MA, dieback is all but guaranteed! The winters you don't have dieback will be the exception. Dieback will be the norm. If you grow in containers, you may be able to have a fun, multi-grafted tree as a novelty, but don't expect a lot of fruit, since a tree in a container can really only sustain something like 4-5 fruiting branches. There's a law of diminishing returns there, where if you only have 1 branch worth of figs...well...that isn't much.
Great education on fig grafting. We have a healthy, vigorous seemingly wild fig tree that has inedible fruits so far. Is it a good idea to graft edible fig scions on it? Thank you.
How about the tropics, southeast asia, to be specific? I m planning big on fig trees. However, i come from a subtropical country where we have figs grown almost everywhere, and they get really big and huge
Ambrosia beetle maybe. they bore into center wood and kill the tree . i have lost a few one year here in southwestern ,pa. they had about 2" trunks also on them.dead to medium.on your bass's favorite fig i just rooted that variety.
Im going to try grafting next season, here in Australia the winter is mild less chance of die back. Some of my tree's are slow growers want to see if grafting would help. Just wondering if you're going to root prune that Bass's favourite? How often do you root prune your tree's in those buckets?
If you're in Perth, Gold Coast or Brisbane where it pretty much never freezes, you'll probably be fine. If you're inland or live around the capital, you would want to stay away from grafting. Keep in mind that drought stress can also cause dieback. I know Australia's summers can be very unpredictable, so if you live in a region that can be threatened by fire or drought, grafting is still a risk.
I am going to have to cut back the Bass's Favorite to the soil line and start all over again. I will not root prune much, if at all. I may just fluff up the bottom some and refresh the mulch, then see where it goes.
Ive had some success with it in Perth.......pencil thickness and scion with 3 to 4 buds on it......wrap scion in buddy tape...cleft graft will work and try to match scion to branch thickness.....come spring the sap will flow and it should come to life....i have 3 types on my fig tree growing right now....good luck.
I enjoyed your video a lot. However, I live on the central Gulf Coast of Florida, where freezing is a minimal risk, but nematodes are a real problem with in ground trees. According to what I have gathered after extensive reading, it looks likely that LSU Purple, Texas A&M Alma, and Zidi (and possibly a few others) may well offer some resistance to RK nematodes. I’d love your thoughts.
I've never seen any information showing any fig trees to be more RKN-resistant than others. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but I've just never seen any evidence. What I know about RKN's is that your nematode pressure is directly proportional to how sandy and low in organic matter your soil is. The way you keep nematodes away is by turning sand into rich, black loam. I've seen Florida fig growers fix this issue by finding a planting spot that's rich in organic matter (like the forest floor thanks to years of leaf-drop), then dumping a huge mound of compost and planting the tree on the compost mound. The rich organic matter and compost helps keep them away. You can also do things like amend the soil with crab and lobster shell meal, which includes a nutrient called chitin that keeps RKN's away.
Millennial Garner I had a very important question to ask and one of the parts in my garden I accidentally spilled a little tiny bit of gasoline in the soil where I was going to plant a tree because I was mowing the lawn any tips for what I should do and should I still plant the tree love your content ❤️
I'm not sure. It's nothing I've ever dealt with before. How tiny is tiny? Like literally a few drops? If so, I wouldn't worry about it much and just dig up that little spot and throw the dirt away. If it were several cups, I would probably put down some type of natural kitty litter for absorption, let it sit for a couple days, dig down the whole area 6 inches or so, and discard that soil. Then, fill it back in with clean dirt or compost. Gasoline evaporates quickly, but it still leaves traces behind. Nature has been through a whole lot worse than spilling a cup of gasoline, so I doubt it'll cause any issues months later.
It wasn’t even a full cup maybe less than it won’t affect my soil in any way and will I be able to plant anything in the proximity of where it was maybe a month from now
Travis, yes, water the area really well, and that will help contaminants work through the soil and into the water table. Gasoline evaporates, so only the impurities are left. If you spilled actual oil, on the other hand, that would be a real problem, and you would want to find a different spot to plant.
Do you discuss where to plant fig trees in-ground in relation to a wall/house in any of your videos? I am putting in a Violette de Bordeaux this spring and am wondering how close is too close to plant it to my south facing wall. Thank you!
Fig trees have aggressive root systems and can be pretty invasive, so I recommend exercising caution when planting next to a wall of your house. I know some people plant them very close, and I know some people espalier their figs against a wall. However, I'd be a little nervous with figs. Take note I have no issue planting a trifoliate-grafted citrus tree or semi-dwarf avocado against my house, but those trees have smaller, less invasive roots. Figs are...they're aggressive. I would want to keep the tree at least 6 feet away from the foundation, but the more you can, the better. I know that's pretty far, and possibly further than you'd like. However, figs near structures kind of bother me more than some other trees.
I don't care for it. Air layers have to be set in late spring/summer and aren't ready for removal until the fall. That means you have to find a way to overwinter the air layer from fall all the way through winter and into the spring. I have no interest in babying a fig for 6 months straight. Air layering may be fine if you live in a frost-free climate, or you have a heated greenhouse where you can keep it for half a year until the following spring. For most people, it's not worth the time.
@@TheMillennialGardener thanks, yeah, I received five air layered ones from three separate nurseries. All of them may be done for. And I haven't lost one yet that's from a cutting. Thought something was up. Thanks for the confirmation!!
Getting your figs rootbound is how you make them produce. It's a good thing. The plants won't fruit well until they have nowhere for their roots to go. The key to getting great production early in a fig tree's life is to not transplant them into too large of a pot. If you do that, they won't grow up much and fruit much until they feel they've established enough roots. All you have to do is prune the tree, then cut the roots back a little bit while they're dormant in between seasons and re-pot them. You can see that here: th-cam.com/video/-oOwNiZzGmM/w-d-xo.html
@@TheMillennialGardener O ok. Ill check out that video. I'm using 15 gallon pots for all my fruit trees currently (peaches, pears, apples) . Maybe my pots are too big then. I was thinking they looked a little small lol
I‘d rather graft a hard to root cutting and then, after the graft took, airlayer it to be on it’s own rootstock. You said you would graft it and make 2 or 3 cuttings of it the next year and try your luck again with rooting a hard to root variety.
That's what I do. If you have hard to root varieties it's a no brainer. I made several 3ft tall BM ucd trees last year from single node grafts. Turn one cutting into several trees.
That's a completely fine thing, and basically what I was alluding to. The only reason I have grafted figs is as an insurance policy in case a very expensive cutting failed. Whether you grow out that graft to be very tall and take many cuttings from it, or air layer it, that's your choice.
I'm in zone 9 inland Los Angeles and I've never had a fig die back even in low 20's weather, maybe because the cold dips only last for 1-4 hours, figs are hardy to 10 degrees?
Figs are hardy to 10-15 degrees when fully dormant. If your fig trees wake up and you get a late freeze, 28 degrees can kill them all the way back to the trunk (ask me how I know). Because California gets the cold air from the western jet stream over the northern Pacific, they have the benefit of a very gradual cooling period, so figs usually get a slow and steady descent into dormancy. It isn’t like that in the Southeast, where we can go 2 weeks where it is 60-75 degrees every day from the warm Gulf air, then out of nowhere get a huge plunge into the low 20’s. That type of pattern causes figs to wake up, and then they get slaughtered by an Arctic outbreak. Figs are very prone to dieback off the west coast.
Yes, but even the hardiest avocados are only hardy to Zone 9. I substantially protect my avocado here in Zone 8. In Zone 7, it would be virtually impossible without a lot of protection, and you can never make a mistake doing this. You will need a heated structure to do so with some level of automation, as well as a passive heating solution as backup in case your power goes out. If you want to proceed, I have many videos on this subject, but it's a lifelong commitment. th-cam.com/video/7iBohqx9ch8/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/O5pc_GYjyKI/w-d-xo.html
I have bought grafted fig trees. Two Genoa and two Brown Turkey, all died despite my best attempts to keep them alive. But why did I buy the grafted ones? Because that was all there was in the nursery. These dead trees died the same way, slowly and steadily died back. I noticed for the last couple of years, the same nursery no longer sells grafted fig trees. Judging by the trees, they are all propagated from cuttings. I now have a vibrant Brown Turkey fig tree which wouldn't stop sending up root suckers. From these suckers, I have 4 new plants. I think I am giving up on pruning the root suckers. I gather that they are just part and parcel of what a fig tree is.
Is there any chance that you might have a few of those Caribbean Pepper seeds? My Brother is a retired Agronomist and grows Peppers.He would greatly appreciate growing a few of those peppers.Thanks much and peace from MN
I didn't save any seed at all last year, so I only have a handful left to start a new batch this season for myself. However, I believe this has been determined to be a Trinidad Pimento pepper. It certainly matches from the photos.
Will you cut it back now or just leave the dead top part? I’m also in 8a, but PNW and we had a week of bad weather a few weeks back and not sure how to tell with the 2 in ground ones that I planted back in October if they took any damage. Was just gonna see how they start off soon here in spring.
I will cut the dead part off in a couple weeks. I'm in no big rush since it isn't hurting anything. All my container trees are going to need fertilizing and fresh mulch come March, so I'll take care of it then. This video will help you assess damage: th-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/w-d-xo.html
I have a question. A friend of mine has 4 15' - 20' tall fig trees, and he told me that they stopped producing figs (or some do very little). What is the problem here, and how can he fix it? Could it be because he doesn't prune it much/or at all? Is it because of old age? If it's from old age, can he start a new tree from taking cutting from that tree, or it's not a good idea? Maybe you want to make a video response on this. Thank you.
I do not know. Where does your friend live? And by "stopped producing," does that mean they don't produce any figs at all, ever? Or does that mean that they do make figs, but they all drop before they ripen? Those would be two very different problems. If the tree isn't bearing any fruit at all - not even making figlets - are the trees otherwise healthy? If the trees look healthy, grow lush, green leaves every year, etc., that's very unusual that they won't fruit.
@The Millennial Gardener I'm talking about, once they produced lots of delicious figs, and now they stopped producing. One of the trees produces very little, which years ago it produced a lot. The tree looks very healthy and it's very tall. The fig trees are located in NY, Queens zone 7b. They get wrapped up every winter. Could it be that nutrients are depleted, or the tree is old? Could it be that the tree is not pruned enough and it's very tall?
The other reason to graft is because you want to limit the number of trees you have but want more varieties. Putting multiple varieties on one tree through grafting serves that purpose. Otherwise, I only graft in order to increase vigor (a graft will fruit sooner on a string existing fig) or increase the odds of success vs. rooting cuttings. In the case of the later, air layering off the grafted limb makes sense.
But if you go that method and the tree dies back for whatever reason, then you lose them all. I don't see the advantages to this method. If you grow a multi-grafted tree in a container, since a container only can support around 4 fruiting branches, you're going to get hardly any figs per graft. That's a lot of risk for such low production. You'd be better off just planting the individual varieties in smaller containers. For in-ground plantings, just plant the trees closer together. If you want 3 times more varieties, plant them 3 times closer together. You can plant your figs 18-24" apart if you want and just grow a "fig tree hedge." Even spaced that closely together, they'll all produce more than they will in a container. Better cultural practices can take care of these problems. I see the "frankenfig" tree as a poor solution in almost all cases. You'd have to have a very specific situation where you can cordon them sort of like one of those 6-way grafted apple trees with a 3-tier espalier and each half of each tear gets its own 6 ft length cordon, but in a perfect climate where the tree will never die back for it to make sense, and that's just not 99% of us.
That's one of the exceptions I mention at the end of the video. Grafting as a means to propagate, then relocate to its own roots, is totally reasonable for anyone, in my opinion.
I disagree. As a person that owns over 50 fig varieties, I have never found a fig tree that isn't vigorous. While some are more vigorous than others, they are all extremely vigorous. Even my slowest growing figs grow faster than any of my other fruit trees. I don't see gains to be had with vigor, especially for a backyard gardener.
All of my Figs, kadota brown turkeys have swelling yellow buds at the tips of branches Now its Feb 4th that's how I know they're all alive by the yellow buds
No, sir. I’m happy to report that Dale does not dig, chew or self harvest anything. When we first rescued him, he had all those problems. We cook almost all his meals fresh with food from the garden, bone broth and fresh meat, so his diet is so good now that I think he is 100% food secure and doesn’t lack nutrition, so he doesn’t do any of that stuff anymore. I think dogs that do that are either missing nutrients and probiotics from a diet of kibble, or they’re having food security issues. That’s just my opinion.
@@TheMillennialGardener That's great and makes sense. Nice looking dog. Our son's rescue dog seems to have a real desire to eat romaine lettuce but I think it's just related to the crunch texture and that fact that she sees Michael eating it. She also can destroy some chew toils pretty quickly but some durable ones have kept her occupied for quite a while.
Not really. I haven't found any significant difference between cold hardiness or size of fig trees. Some are more vigorous than others, but in the long run, they're all about the same. Fig trees are kept small by annual pruning practices. Figs can be cut back pretty aggressively every season to keep them smaller.
I really enjoy figs. They’re probably my favorite fruit, and they aren’t one you can buy in stores, so you must grow them to eat them. You can also grow 20 different figs and none taste the same. You can’t really do that with any other fruit.
I am from Pakistan there are too much wild figs in my farm can I graft any good kinds of figs in these plants.. Can any one guide me.. I am from Pakistan belong to snowy area..
Much of Florida is prone to hard freezes. Just last week, Florida got a hard freeze all the way as far south as Port Charlotte. Dieback is possible in much of Florida, especially north of Orlando. It depends where you're at.
Something I'm planning to do: graft a desirable variety onto a Brown Turkey or Celeste, grow until the graft is quite healthy and vigorous, then uppot/plant deep enough for the graft point to be under soil. Hopefully the grafted tissue will start to put out roots under soil in addition to the rootstock's roots. In the case of dieback, the hope is that any new branches that come up will be from the grafted variety.
I don't know if I'm onboard with this. In my experience, fig trees like being planted high, not buried deep. It's my key to vigor. Figs love sending surface roots, so you're best planting the root ball a few inches exposed, then dumping a raised mound of compost and mulch around it so it can immediately send surface roots though organic matter. I detail that here: th-cam.com/video/6_-aLxCOI8U/w-d-xo.html I would actually recommend instead of doing this, after the graft takes, you can airlayer the tree off and plant it next year.
Fig trees take up too much yard space I have 3 brown turkeys 3 yrs old in ground and a kadota 20 yrs old In ground, just boughT a violet De bordeax, little ruby dwarf, leticia, and lsu gold, that are tissue culture that I'm growing in pots, they grew inside this winter many new leaves I didn't know that figs are not deciduous if you keep the temps high they keep their leaves evergreen in tropical conditions.
You've never seen an apple tree on a full-sized rootstock or grown from seed. Apple trees on standard rootstocks are 30' fall. Most commercial plantings don't plant full-size, and will go with more like a 2/3 rootstock. Most backyard gardeners will grow a 1/2 or dwarf-sized apple. Problem with most dwarf apples is they require permanent staking. I specifically went with G.210 rootstock, but it's generally considered one of the most dwarfing roostocks you can grow that is free-standing and doesn't require permanent staking. The amount of apple rootstocks available would blow your mind.
You can watch Jim Kovaleski's apple trees in Maine. His are something like 30-40 feet tall: th-cam.com/video/Re3DshL6_QY/w-d-xo.html These are probably standard sized roostocks.
Main reason to graft fruit trees is to get the right variety! Even your rootstock variety can be self-pollinating, there is still a risk/chance the seeds you plant to be cross-pollinationed and you won't get the right variety.
With figs, that is not an issue, since common figs do not require pollination, and pollination is only done by the fig wasp (which is only found in a few regions of California). No need to worry with figs.
Do you graft your fig trees, or do you avoid grafting figs for the reasons in this video? Let us know in the comments below!
I have found that layering a fig is so easy , and they grow so fast.
It seems to make grafting an unnecessary labor
Cuttings generally fail to establish or grow very slowly in my climate, I graft edible figs on native fig species to produce enough branches, then I air layer them.
No to grafting figs. It is easy enough to root cuttings
You can lose the fig graft when tree goes dormant and frost kills the top of fig tree and the roots are alive
@@mastergardenerlivingstontr7672correct.
In Texas, I keep my figs in my shed over winter. I also plant my grafted figs where the graft point is below the soil, so there's a possibility the scion will also put out some roots and possibly send up some suckers for easy air layering. Last season a grafted Smith and Figo Preto outgrew all the rest, and at the bases they were of similar caliper to trees two years older. I'm becoming quite the fan of grafting.
The freeze here in Texas killed many of my fruit trees however my brown turkey fig was not affected at all as my pear and plum either my avocados full of flowers,ruby red grapefruit, orange trees,Myers lemons all died. I’ve replaced many this year it was devastating.
Awww I hope all gets well that’s unfortunate that sucks to hear :(
Thanks. I never thought about grafting a fig tree TBH. They root so easily. I even got a single leaf to grow roots last year (just for fun).
Some cuttings root more easily than others. Grafting probably has a higher success rate than rooting, but after the graft is successful, you either have to air layer the new graft, remove it and re-plant it, or take cuttings and root it. Otherwise, you risk that dieback.
I graft some figs in the Atlanta area because it allows me to have more varieties in a small space. I’ve never experienced die back but I baby my plants 👍
Are they planted in-ground or grown in containers? If they're in-ground, it's only a matter of time, unfortunately. You'd want to protect them well, similar to how I protect my avocado and citrus trees.
I live in South Texas and my fig trees thrived after the deep freeze February 2021. I bought 2 dwarf ones afterwards. All citrus trees died. These are 15 year old fig trees that survived the freeze
Figs are substantially hardier than any citrus, aside from deciduous citrus like Trifoliate. Did you have any dieback on your figs? If you’re in South Texas, I assume you didn’t see single digits and negatives. If all you saw were teens, figs should sustain minimal dieback as long as it got above freezing in the morning.
@@TheMillennialGardener it got down to 19° F. Zero die back. I planted dwarf figs in pots after that. The cold weather made the fig trees produce thousands of figs... All my citrus got toasted. Oh well life goes on.
Excellent points. I'm in CA 9b collecting fig varieties to propagate and sell, so I'm starting off with rooting all the cuttings to avoid the problems you mentioned here. I'm renting a room from a buddy of mine and if his yard didn't have such a bad vole problem I would plant some figs in-ground - for now I continue to grow in containers. However, I have a few friends with massive 20+ year old fig trees, so once mine get bigger I plan to take a few cuttings to graft onto those massive trees, to both get fruit and cuttings from them, possibly faster than rooting them and growing them in containers myself. Of course I'll be doing both, this way it saves me some space, spreads the genetics out to different microclimates, and benefits my friends as well, as they'll get to try a new variety.
My neighbor in central Texas has a giant in ground brown turkey fig. About 15 years old now. It made it though the Texas freeze no problem . I got some cuttings. They are going in the ground ASAP . Thanks for the videos !
You make some great points as for the potential drawbacks of grafting fig trees. I do graft some of mine (mainly for one of the purposes you mentioned), which is to ensure success whenever I acquire a more expensive variety & have no backup cutting on hand. On occasion I will also graft a low vigor variety that I really enjoy onto a more vigorous rootstock as well. You are correct though, without a backup you do run the risk of losing that variety completely if some kind of unforeseen incident occurs. I do think grafting could also be a great choice for someone who does not have a lot room but really wants to add more varieties, ya know what I mean? Very helpful points to consider though before you decide whether or not to graft your fig trees though 👍🏼
On a another note, the same thing just happened to my BFF! Im so mad, I love that variety! I believe mine was most likely due to temps, but it wasn’t even that cold! 28 degrees should not have caused a well lignified fig tree to die back like it did, but it seems BFF is just very sensitive. Glad I took cuttings prior, but Im sure it will regrow from below the soil line anyway.
My personal opinion is if you don’t have a lot of room, plant them in ground high density with 2 ft spacing. I think it is enough. I grow them at 6 ft spacing, and that is more than enough for crazy production. Sometimes, I think I could’ve gone closer! Even at 2 ft spacing, you’ll get much more production than a multi-grafted fig in a container. If you’re in a frost free place, graft away, but it is just too risky for freeze prone zones in my opinion.
I would feel better if my BFF died back due to cold. This no-explanation dieback scares me. It makes me worry it is some rare pest or disease issue. As long as it comes back, I’ll be happy, but it seems to always happen to the rare ones 😂
I was going to graft Onto my brown turkey but I believe one was grafted and the other was a tissue culture I decided not because I found the brown turkey to be excellent tasting I think all figs are delicious if grown in the right weather and picked at best ripeness
Excellent advice for areas prone to die back due to cold temperature but not to areas where it's never cold enough for die back to happen.
Cold air isn’t the only thing that causes dieback. Drought stress and pest damage can do so, as well. And in the case of my Bass’s Favorite, it decided to die back for no reason at all. Any time you graft a fig, you run the risk of losing that variety, because they die back so much more than most trees.
Grafting is not for everyone, it depends on the weather. I live in Phoenix area 9b and I have about 7 fig trees planted, but one of them is already a mature fig tree over 12 years old. I want to graft there, in reality it is a lot of expense of good fertilizer and water for many trees, another point, I have other fruit trees, pears, pomegranates, olive trees, guavas, oranges, lemons, tangerines, tangelos, so I can have fruit longer .
Even in 9b Phoenix, you're prone to years where it can dip into the low 20's. The challenge with a place like Phoenix is you're prone to those sudden hard freezes, but the trees don't get to slip into dormancy well, because the average highs are so warm. I would sooner plant a "fig hedge" where you jam a whole wall of fig trees as close as 24 inches apart. Obviously, if it's too late for that, it is what it is, but it's definitely a risk. In 9b, you'd certainly have far less risk than I have in 8a.
I definitely do not graft my figs. I've got 5 varieties right now, and they're sitting nicely in the greenhouse I built based off of your mini hoop house for your garden bed. I didn't want to have any die back this year, so I can increase their size quicker. Great video! Thanks for your content! Can't wait to see what apple varieties you get! I recommend at least 1 golden delicious as they are the only self fertilizing apple variety.
How is the greenhouse working out for you? I can’t wait to get my apple and peach trees. The ship date isn’t until spring, and the suspense is killing me!
@@TheMillennialGardener The greenhouse has been a huge life saver. The citrus, figs, avocados, moringa, mangos, and other tropicals are in there right now in pots. I built the greenhouse to fit a maximum of 48 2' wide pots.
Do you plan to espalier your peach/apple trees or are you potting them? Can't wait to see your video for them!
@@knucklessg1 awesome! Are you heating it with lights?
Yes, I plan on growing the apples and peaches as 3-tier espalier trees! High density 😊
Fig trees here (zone 9 East Texas) freeze back during COLD weather. The roots will grow back and make a bush. Great fig production.
If you want to graft or not freeze back to ground level, rake your leaves & mulch onto the base and as high as you want to preserve the root stock. Keep your grafts as low as possible and mulch high enough to prevent freezing the new grafts and enjoy your fig grafts.
I’ve been able to maintain cordons here in Zone 8a, but some trees always get a little dieback. I’m sure placing some straw bales against them would help, but I don’t have a truck, so it is too much work. The challenge with Texas is figs often struggle to fall into dormancy due to inconsistent cold. Usually, it gets cold here long enough that the trees can achieve dormancy.
I decided to graft my fig in about 2 more years as of right now I am waiting for my cutting turned into healthy big tree in the pot with multiple branches so I can cut it off and graft onto the tree already in the ground, so even if the grafting is failed or died back I still had that mother fig tree variety in the pot.
I do have a couple varieties that are on a root stock . I had cuttings of these that didn't survive so the ones on the root stock are the only ones I have now. I plan to take cuttings of these so that I can plant these directly in the ground and not have problems like you're talking about! I agree with you that you are taking a risk if you have if you have your desirable varieties above a graft
Here in California zone 9b we don’t get hard freezes so dieback from cold isn’t a concern but it still seems my figs do a little better on their own roots - a little more vigorous from what it appears. I do however have the in-ground black madeira on vigorous rootstock combo as well as a multigrafted tree with several varieties in one. Aside from those two reasons, there doesn’t seem to be another reason to graft figs.
I know hard freezes and dieback don't happen often in Zone 9b, but if you check your 30-year history, they do occur. For example, in terms of 100-year histories, even downtown San Diego has fallen to about 20 degrees. It's not the norm, but in terms of 10-year, 20-year and 30-year histories, even Miami gets hard freezes. It's always good to be prepared for the outlier years. That being said, cold isn't all that can cause dieback on figs. Drought and pest damage can, too.
Your information is so awesome. The only fig I want is the Black Missioñ and the variety you buy in packages from turkey. I like dried figs. Two years ago Costco had dried Mission that had been coated in dark chocolate that were to die for. Haven't seen them since so I will have to get a tree and make my own. I ate one time had the cream colored large fruited Italian fig. It was very good and sweet but started splitting as it ripened bring the ants and etc. For that reason wouldn't have it again. Otherwise a great tree and heavy producer. One tree had more fruit than you could use. Never watered it and produced baby plants on it's own. I guess you would call that self seeding.
If you like Black Mission figs, I strongly recommend the fig Galicia Negra. It is a "Black Mission type" fig, in the sense that it appears to be very closely related to the common commercially grown Black Mission. However, it is vastly superior. It is larger, richer in flavor, and it's just incredible. I have a video on it here and this fig is at the 13:00 mark: th-cam.com/video/icgrwc716zo/w-d-xo.html
The classic Turkish fig you love is a smyrna type fig, so it requires pollination to ripen. You can only grow that if you live in certain areas of California that colonize the fig wasp, and you'd need to start a caprifig wasp colony.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you for that very interesting information. By the way IV Organic channel has a free give away of Fig wood every year about this time. He is really into figs. He is big on graphing them. He has eight graphs on one tree.
@@kimhicks4781 it's more for ornamental reasons, you wouldn't want to do that on a larger scale and can spread FMV, etc.
Thank you for another great educational video, LOVE the short clip of Dale, sweet bonus!!
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Even for those in CA or warm areas, I would not graft on BT. Graft on a tree that you like. Because shoots and other growth will happen. It's better to have those mistakes result in figs you like and not some okay or meh variety.
It's not the rootstock that you graft on that I'm hammering home. 'Brown Turkey' was just a filler example, because it's easy to find, costs next to nothing and is vigorous. My problem is the concept of grafting figs, in general. It doesn't pay in most circumstances.
Great tips and ideas, thanks!!
I’m in this process since I suck at rooting figs grafts work fine for me
Cuttings of everything else work fine
Stone fruit, citrus, berries etc but I have issues with figs
Wow, more great info I needed. Thanks!🙂
I see Dale's staying warm...cute sweater.🙂
I’m glad it was helpful. It was such a cold January that Dale got to wear his entire wardrobe! We had 3 warm 70 degree days, now it is back to winter tomorrow!
@@TheMillennialGardener We got 2 inches of sleet...of coure it turned to ice. We were supposed to hit a low of 18 last night and for the next few nights. Praise the Lord, we got out of the 20s today. The sun came out and melted a lot of the ice. Not the storm of last year that killed so much in Texas. I was prepared this time...covered everything.😄
I really enjoy your tutorial...I'm learning a lot from a trusted source. You have the evidence to back what you share.🙂👍
And it brings me joy to see Dale! Thanks for sharing your fur baby with us.🙂
In Wilmington Nc and need trying to get a micro orchard in my backyard. I have a brown turkey we planted 4-5 years ago and yet to produce. I was debating on using the well established plant as rootstock for grafting but now I’m not sure
Did you see the lizard pop out of the bucket, when you pulled out the Bass’s favorite?
Great video!
They're everywhere, here. Literally, everywhere. I hardly even notice them anymore. My yard is like the Garden of Eden to them. I may have the largest population of Carolina Anole lizards in NC 😅
The reason I was thinking of grafting was to conserve space to have many different cultivars its mostly about conserving space,
I have 3 grapefruit and3 tangerine trees that are from seed...they died to the ground that frozen winter..now they are regrowing and are about 6 ft tall sprouts ten or more sprouts per tree ...my question is should i cull some of the sprouts or keep them all...the fruits were all fabulous and juicy but i wonder if havingso many ne sprouts per tree will affect the fruit size a d juiciness of the fruit...
Excellent points. Please do an update on that Bass's Favorite. Like to see how it fairs after the die back.
So far, it hasn't come back. The roots still look somewhat alive. I just removed it, tried to pull off the dieoff and re-potted it. It's not looking good. I don't know what could've gone wrong 😰
@@TheMillennialGardener o no. sorry to hear that. fingers crossed it's still good!
I am in SoCal and never get die back. I want to graft so I have a bunch of varieties in a small area. I think it really depends on your weather and available space.
Consider how small the frost-free regions of the US are. 99% of the land mass sees hard frosts and freezes regularly. The overwhelming majority of the population of the US should not graft in-ground fig trees since they are so prone to dieback. Fig trees have died back in non-freezing temperatures as well. With the new boring pests infecting California, fig trees are at great risk, too, so cold is not the only thing that may lead to fig trees requiring amputations.
Grafting a cutting on a brown Turky is the way to go and then you can air layer that shoot. I think it’s much better than growing a cutting.
Dale did exactly what I said our Rainey does lol!!! I love his adventures.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for watching! 🐕
Great video! I don’t have any grafted at the moment, but I don’t think I’ll add any after watching this video. The probability of an accidental die-back is just to high where I live (in my opinion). Even our garage has gotten around 0F this winter.
In MA, dieback is all but guaranteed! The winters you don't have dieback will be the exception. Dieback will be the norm. If you grow in containers, you may be able to have a fun, multi-grafted tree as a novelty, but don't expect a lot of fruit, since a tree in a container can really only sustain something like 4-5 fruiting branches. There's a law of diminishing returns there, where if you only have 1 branch worth of figs...well...that isn't much.
I have a well-developed fig with a poor variety, never producing. I'll graft on it to get the benefit of a big well developed root system.
Great education on fig grafting. We have a healthy, vigorous seemingly wild fig tree that has inedible fruits so far. Is it a good idea to graft edible fig scions on it? Thank you.
Great, helpful information. Thank you😊👍
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!
How about the tropics, southeast asia, to be specific? I m planning big on fig trees. However, i come from a subtropical country where we have figs grown almost everywhere, and they get really big and huge
Ambrosia beetle maybe. they bore into center wood and kill the tree . i have lost a few one year here in southwestern ,pa. they had about 2" trunks also on them.dead to medium.on your bass's favorite fig i just rooted that variety.
Hi Millennial Gardner, I got Ficazzana Black Fig, do you know other name for this fig?
I have not heard of that fig variety. I suggest searching it on the websites Ourfigs, FigDatabase and FigVarieties.
Here in Pakistan ficus palmata is the standard rootstock.....it's just more adapted to climate and soil here
Im going to try grafting next season, here in Australia the winter is mild less chance of die back. Some of my tree's are slow growers want to see if grafting would help. Just wondering if you're going to root prune that Bass's favourite? How often do you root prune your tree's in those buckets?
If you're in Perth, Gold Coast or Brisbane where it pretty much never freezes, you'll probably be fine. If you're inland or live around the capital, you would want to stay away from grafting. Keep in mind that drought stress can also cause dieback. I know Australia's summers can be very unpredictable, so if you live in a region that can be threatened by fire or drought, grafting is still a risk.
I am going to have to cut back the Bass's Favorite to the soil line and start all over again. I will not root prune much, if at all. I may just fluff up the bottom some and refresh the mulch, then see where it goes.
Ive had some success with it in Perth.......pencil thickness and scion with 3 to 4 buds on it......wrap scion in buddy tape...cleft graft will work and try to match scion to branch thickness.....come spring the sap will flow and it should come to life....i have 3 types on my fig tree growing right now....good luck.
I enjoyed your video a lot. However, I live on the central Gulf Coast of Florida, where freezing is a minimal risk, but nematodes are a real problem with in ground trees.
According to what I have gathered after extensive reading, it looks likely that LSU Purple, Texas A&M Alma, and Zidi (and possibly a few others) may well offer some resistance to RK nematodes. I’d love your thoughts.
I've never seen any information showing any fig trees to be more RKN-resistant than others. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but I've just never seen any evidence. What I know about RKN's is that your nematode pressure is directly proportional to how sandy and low in organic matter your soil is. The way you keep nematodes away is by turning sand into rich, black loam. I've seen Florida fig growers fix this issue by finding a planting spot that's rich in organic matter (like the forest floor thanks to years of leaf-drop), then dumping a huge mound of compost and planting the tree on the compost mound. The rich organic matter and compost helps keep them away. You can also do things like amend the soil with crab and lobster shell meal, which includes a nutrient called chitin that keeps RKN's away.
Millennial Garner I had a very important question to ask and one of the parts in my garden I accidentally spilled a little tiny bit of gasoline in the soil where I was going to plant a tree because I was mowing the lawn any tips for what I should do and should I still plant the tree love your content ❤️
I'm not sure. It's nothing I've ever dealt with before. How tiny is tiny? Like literally a few drops? If so, I wouldn't worry about it much and just dig up that little spot and throw the dirt away.
If it were several cups, I would probably put down some type of natural kitty litter for absorption, let it sit for a couple days, dig down the whole area 6 inches or so, and discard that soil. Then, fill it back in with clean dirt or compost. Gasoline evaporates quickly, but it still leaves traces behind. Nature has been through a whole lot worse than spilling a cup of gasoline, so I doubt it'll cause any issues months later.
It wasn’t even a full cup maybe less than it won’t affect my soil in any way and will I be able to plant anything in the proximity of where it was maybe a month from now
Travis, yes, water the area really well, and that will help contaminants work through the soil and into the water table. Gasoline evaporates, so only the impurities are left. If you spilled actual oil, on the other hand, that would be a real problem, and you would want to find a different spot to plant.
Wow, in Mexico there are really tall apple trees and pear trees, mangos avocados etc are also very tall in many areas.
Mexico has a very diverse climate. Maybe more diverse than the US in the central region. Lots of potential growing zones.
Could Celeste rootstock keep the fig trees dwarf ?
Do you discuss where to plant fig trees in-ground in relation to a wall/house in any of your videos? I am putting in a Violette de Bordeaux this spring and am wondering how close is too close to plant it to my south facing wall. Thank you!
Fig trees have aggressive root systems and can be pretty invasive, so I recommend exercising caution when planting next to a wall of your house. I know some people plant them very close, and I know some people espalier their figs against a wall. However, I'd be a little nervous with figs. Take note I have no issue planting a trifoliate-grafted citrus tree or semi-dwarf avocado against my house, but those trees have smaller, less invasive roots. Figs are...they're aggressive.
I would want to keep the tree at least 6 feet away from the foundation, but the more you can, the better. I know that's pretty far, and possibly further than you'd like. However, figs near structures kind of bother me more than some other trees.
Great insights. Do you have thoughts on air layering figs? The air layered ones I received had massive die back.
I don't care for it. Air layers have to be set in late spring/summer and aren't ready for removal until the fall. That means you have to find a way to overwinter the air layer from fall all the way through winter and into the spring. I have no interest in babying a fig for 6 months straight. Air layering may be fine if you live in a frost-free climate, or you have a heated greenhouse where you can keep it for half a year until the following spring. For most people, it's not worth the time.
@@TheMillennialGardener thanks, yeah, I received five air layered ones from three separate nurseries. All of them may be done for. And I haven't lost one yet that's from a cutting. Thought something was up. Thanks for the confirmation!!
@@TheMillennialGardener neither do i !
8:00 That looks pretty root bound. I don't know much about fig trees but I think it may like a bigger pot.
Getting your figs rootbound is how you make them produce. It's a good thing. The plants won't fruit well until they have nowhere for their roots to go. The key to getting great production early in a fig tree's life is to not transplant them into too large of a pot. If you do that, they won't grow up much and fruit much until they feel they've established enough roots. All you have to do is prune the tree, then cut the roots back a little bit while they're dormant in between seasons and re-pot them. You can see that here: th-cam.com/video/-oOwNiZzGmM/w-d-xo.html
@@TheMillennialGardener O ok. Ill check out that video. I'm using 15 gallon pots for all my fruit trees currently (peaches, pears, apples) . Maybe my pots are too big then. I was thinking they looked a little small lol
Thank you for excellent information.
You’re welcome! Thank you for watching!
I‘d rather graft a hard to root cutting and then, after the graft took, airlayer it to be on it’s own rootstock. You said you would graft it and make 2 or 3 cuttings of it the next year and try your luck again with rooting a hard to root variety.
That's what I do.
If you have hard to root varieties it's a no brainer. I made several 3ft tall BM ucd trees last year from single node grafts.
Turn one cutting into several trees.
That's a completely fine thing, and basically what I was alluding to. The only reason I have grafted figs is as an insurance policy in case a very expensive cutting failed. Whether you grow out that graft to be very tall and take many cuttings from it, or air layer it, that's your choice.
I'm in zone 9 inland Los Angeles and I've never had a fig die back even in low 20's weather, maybe because the cold dips only last for 1-4 hours, figs are hardy to 10 degrees?
Figs are hardy to 10-15 degrees when fully dormant. If your fig trees wake up and you get a late freeze, 28 degrees can kill them all the way back to the trunk (ask me how I know). Because California gets the cold air from the western jet stream over the northern Pacific, they have the benefit of a very gradual cooling period, so figs usually get a slow and steady descent into dormancy.
It isn’t like that in the Southeast, where we can go 2 weeks where it is 60-75 degrees every day from the warm Gulf air, then out of nowhere get a huge plunge into the low 20’s. That type of pattern causes figs to wake up, and then they get slaughtered by an Arctic outbreak.
Figs are very prone to dieback off the west coast.
Wait, did you say you had an avocado tree in NC - I am in GA (zone 7) and cannot find an avocado to grow in my area - please help...
Yes, but even the hardiest avocados are only hardy to Zone 9. I substantially protect my avocado here in Zone 8. In Zone 7, it would be virtually impossible without a lot of protection, and you can never make a mistake doing this. You will need a heated structure to do so with some level of automation, as well as a passive heating solution as backup in case your power goes out. If you want to proceed, I have many videos on this subject, but it's a lifelong commitment.
th-cam.com/video/7iBohqx9ch8/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/O5pc_GYjyKI/w-d-xo.html
I have bought grafted fig trees. Two Genoa and two Brown Turkey, all died despite my best attempts to keep them alive. But why did I buy the grafted ones? Because that was all there was in the nursery. These dead trees died the same way, slowly and steadily died back.
I noticed for the last couple of years, the same nursery no longer sells grafted fig trees. Judging by the trees, they are all propagated from cuttings. I now have a vibrant Brown Turkey fig tree which wouldn't stop sending up root suckers. From these suckers, I have 4 new plants. I think I am giving up on pruning the root suckers. I gather that they are just part and parcel of what a fig tree is.
Is there any chance that you might have a few of those Caribbean Pepper seeds? My Brother is a retired Agronomist and grows Peppers.He would greatly appreciate growing a few of those peppers.Thanks much and peace from MN
I didn't save any seed at all last year, so I only have a handful left to start a new batch this season for myself. However, I believe this has been determined to be a Trinidad Pimento pepper. It certainly matches from the photos.
@@TheMillennialGardener ok thanks I’ll look for it
Will you cut it back now or just leave the dead top part?
I’m also in 8a, but PNW and we had a week of bad weather a few weeks back and not sure how to tell with the 2 in ground ones that I planted back in October if they took any damage. Was just gonna see how they start off soon here in spring.
I will cut the dead part off in a couple weeks. I'm in no big rush since it isn't hurting anything. All my container trees are going to need fertilizing and fresh mulch come March, so I'll take care of it then. This video will help you assess damage: th-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/w-d-xo.html
I have a question.
A friend of mine has 4 15' - 20' tall fig trees, and he told me that they stopped producing figs (or some do very little).
What is the problem here, and how can he fix it?
Could it be because he doesn't prune it much/or at all?
Is it because of old age?
If it's from old age, can he start a new tree from taking cutting from that tree, or it's not a good idea?
Maybe you want to make a video response on this.
Thank you.
I do not know. Where does your friend live? And by "stopped producing," does that mean they don't produce any figs at all, ever? Or does that mean that they do make figs, but they all drop before they ripen? Those would be two very different problems.
If the tree isn't bearing any fruit at all - not even making figlets - are the trees otherwise healthy? If the trees look healthy, grow lush, green leaves every year, etc., that's very unusual that they won't fruit.
@The Millennial Gardener I'm talking about, once they produced lots of delicious figs, and now they stopped producing.
One of the trees produces very little, which years ago it produced a lot.
The tree looks very healthy and it's very tall.
The fig trees are located in NY, Queens zone 7b.
They get wrapped up every winter.
Could it be that nutrients are depleted, or the tree is old?
Could it be that the tree is not pruned enough and it's very tall?
@@TheMillennialGardener 👆
I'm approach grafting most of my fig trees but leaving the root system on each. Gonna create a monster lol
The other reason to graft is because you want to limit the number of trees you have but want more varieties. Putting multiple varieties on one tree through grafting serves that purpose. Otherwise, I only graft in order to increase vigor (a graft will fruit sooner on a string existing fig) or increase the odds of success vs. rooting cuttings. In the case of the later, air layering off the grafted limb makes sense.
But if you go that method and the tree dies back for whatever reason, then you lose them all. I don't see the advantages to this method.
If you grow a multi-grafted tree in a container, since a container only can support around 4 fruiting branches, you're going to get hardly any figs per graft. That's a lot of risk for such low production. You'd be better off just planting the individual varieties in smaller containers.
For in-ground plantings, just plant the trees closer together. If you want 3 times more varieties, plant them 3 times closer together. You can plant your figs 18-24" apart if you want and just grow a "fig tree hedge." Even spaced that closely together, they'll all produce more than they will in a container.
Better cultural practices can take care of these problems. I see the "frankenfig" tree as a poor solution in almost all cases. You'd have to have a very specific situation where you can cordon them sort of like one of those 6-way grafted apple trees with a 3-tier espalier and each half of each tear gets its own 6 ft length cordon, but in a perfect climate where the tree will never die back for it to make sense, and that's just not 99% of us.
Figoholics mentioned putting the graft one foot below ground for weak varieties.
I graft then air layer above the graft, then the grafted variety is on its own roots.
That's one of the exceptions I mention at the end of the video. Grafting as a means to propagate, then relocate to its own roots, is totally reasonable for anyone, in my opinion.
Some varieties root slowly. It's better to graft them on more vigorous rootstock
I disagree. As a person that owns over 50 fig varieties, I have never found a fig tree that isn't vigorous. While some are more vigorous than others, they are all extremely vigorous. Even my slowest growing figs grow faster than any of my other fruit trees. I don't see gains to be had with vigor, especially for a backyard gardener.
All of my Figs, kadota brown turkeys have swelling yellow buds at the tips of branches Now its Feb 4th that's how I know they're all alive by the yellow buds
Has Dale acquired a taste for chewing on fig trees? :)
No, sir. I’m happy to report that Dale does not dig, chew or self harvest anything. When we first rescued him, he had all those problems. We cook almost all his meals fresh with food from the garden, bone broth and fresh meat, so his diet is so good now that I think he is 100% food secure and doesn’t lack nutrition, so he doesn’t do any of that stuff anymore. I think dogs that do that are either missing nutrients and probiotics from a diet of kibble, or they’re having food security issues. That’s just my opinion.
@@TheMillennialGardener That's great and makes sense. Nice looking dog. Our son's rescue dog seems to have a real desire to eat romaine lettuce but I think it's just related to the crunch texture and that fact that she sees Michael eating it. She also can destroy some chew toils pretty quickly but some durable ones have kept her occupied for quite a while.
Chicago hardy is supposed to be small? 🤔
Not really. I haven't found any significant difference between cold hardiness or size of fig trees. Some are more vigorous than others, but in the long run, they're all about the same. Fig trees are kept small by annual pruning practices. Figs can be cut back pretty aggressively every season to keep them smaller.
I was thinking if you we’re moving and you had massive trees grafted on one tree you could take them all with you easy
You grow a lot of fig trees. I never ate much figs before, what makes you want to grow so many fig trees?
I really enjoy figs. They’re probably my favorite fruit, and they aren’t one you can buy in stores, so you must grow them to eat them. You can also grow 20 different figs and none taste the same. You can’t really do that with any other fruit.
@@TheMillennialGardener Interesting. I never thought about figs like that. Maybe ill plant some after this winter here in St. louis.
Totally agree. Thx!
Thank you for watching!
I am from Pakistan there are too much wild figs in my farm can I graft any good kinds of figs in these plants.. Can any one guide me.. I am from Pakistan belong to snowy area..
Horizontal style 👍👍
Do you mean the espalier form? I'm a big fan!
Dale, banisher of all things squeaky!
He has surgical precision at tearing those squeaky things out. The stuffies with the squeakers don’t last 30 seconds.
What if you live in Florida?
Much of Florida is prone to hard freezes. Just last week, Florida got a hard freeze all the way as far south as Port Charlotte. Dieback is possible in much of Florida, especially north of Orlando. It depends where you're at.
Would you graft mulberry?
I don't grow mulberries, but if you want a named variety, it's going to either have to be grafted or rooted from a cutting.
Something I'm planning to do: graft a desirable variety onto a Brown Turkey or Celeste, grow until the graft is quite healthy and vigorous, then uppot/plant deep enough for the graft point to be under soil. Hopefully the grafted tissue will start to put out roots under soil in addition to the rootstock's roots. In the case of dieback, the hope is that any new branches that come up will be from the grafted variety.
I don't know if I'm onboard with this. In my experience, fig trees like being planted high, not buried deep. It's my key to vigor. Figs love sending surface roots, so you're best planting the root ball a few inches exposed, then dumping a raised mound of compost and mulch around it so it can immediately send surface roots though organic matter. I detail that here: th-cam.com/video/6_-aLxCOI8U/w-d-xo.html
I would actually recommend instead of doing this, after the graft takes, you can airlayer the tree off and plant it next year.
Fig trees take up too much yard space I have 3 brown turkeys 3 yrs old in ground and a kadota 20 yrs old In ground, just boughT a violet De bordeax, little ruby dwarf, leticia, and lsu gold, that are tissue culture that I'm growing in pots, they grew inside this winter many new leaves I didn't know that figs are not deciduous if you keep the temps high they keep their leaves evergreen in tropical conditions.
👍 👍
Thanks for watching!
I have never seen a 30 ' apple tree
You've never seen an apple tree on a full-sized rootstock or grown from seed. Apple trees on standard rootstocks are 30' fall. Most commercial plantings don't plant full-size, and will go with more like a 2/3 rootstock. Most backyard gardeners will grow a 1/2 or dwarf-sized apple. Problem with most dwarf apples is they require permanent staking. I specifically went with G.210 rootstock, but it's generally considered one of the most dwarfing roostocks you can grow that is free-standing and doesn't require permanent staking. The amount of apple rootstocks available would blow your mind.
You can watch Jim Kovaleski's apple trees in Maine. His are something like 30-40 feet tall: th-cam.com/video/Re3DshL6_QY/w-d-xo.html
These are probably standard sized roostocks.
@@TheMillennialGardener
You know 30' is the height of a 3 story building?
I have never seen a 30' apple tree and I know trees
Main reason to graft fruit trees is to get the right variety! Even your rootstock variety can be self-pollinating, there is still a risk/chance the seeds you plant to be cross-pollinationed and you won't get the right variety.
With figs, that is not an issue, since common figs do not require pollination, and pollination is only done by the fig wasp (which is only found in a few regions of California). No need to worry with figs.