Thread: Fruit, Nut, and Vine Grafting, Tree Propagation, Tree Care

Here is a bowl of Dolgo crab apples getting chopped prior to juicing them out for jelly.

Originally Posted by SuperDave336

John I’m wondering if you have any knowledge, experience or tips you could share on figs? If possible I’m wanting to go to where my grandparents lived and take cuttings from those fig trees. I know one was a brown turkey fig the other I’m unsure. Possibly Celeste or black mission fig. I’m thinking of everything they had and grew that might be the best for me with limited grow space I have. Muscadine and scuppernong grapes, Asian and American persimmons and pecans I’m not sure about. Figs should grow in containers that I can move.

I have a few exotics I propagated that can't be planted even where I live, they are all in pots. What hurts is when the temps go from 40 degree nights to 2-3 weeks of 65 degree nights with 80 degree days. The sap starts flowing then a late freeze comes and freezes the sap in the trees. Brown Turkey, Celeste, Hardy Chicago, Violette de Bordeaux are the top cold Zone performers in the ground. My Missions are in containers. If you stay with the four above when you get to a place to plant all of those can be transplanted into the ground without a hitch. The cutting harvesting of figs are done when dormant, February is the usual month for that. You want the cuttings 8-9in long and at least as big in diameter as your pinky finger. Storage is in a ziploc bag I use the freezer bags, then placed in a refrigerator with a very wrung out wet paper towel, very wrung out. You roll the bag and cuttings so most of the air is removed then place in the warmest area of the refrigerator. Storage temps are better in the upper 30's than closer to freezing. Usually the bottom of a fridge is the coldest. Place a thermometer around inside and figure out the best spot well before putting your cuttings inside. I have a little trouble with rooting due to our humidity, cuttings rot. I just read that the rooting hormones promote rot. You can look up the "Fig Pop" method of rooting as this is the method I'm switching to. The large figs I have in pots were in the ground and froze in the super late freeze this year. I used my backhoe to dig up the roots and potted to save the plants. Most will be replanted this fall in a better location. 5 gallon buckets are very popular for container figs. You cut the figs back to 18 inches or so each winter as figs grow fruit on new growth. Breba crops are grown on numerous figs Hardy Chicago does not, but breba figs grow on last years wood. My exotics do grow Breba crops so a balanced pruning is required so I get 2 crops. Very northern zones do not have a long enough growing season to ripen two crops unless you can move the plants inside when a freeze comes.

Here is a link to a video with the best root pruning figs in 5 gallon buckets to maintain size and production.
Up Potting Fig Trees - YouTube