This week's harvest second try

Lady Lily, I salute you! You are such an inspiration, and a sweetheart for sharing as you do. As do ALL of our DG friends!

It's a privilege to be a part of this family!

Linda

P.S. Uh, Steph, lmk when you wanna make a road trip to go visit Calalily. We can split the gas and stay at the condo!. Been trying to get down to Calalily's operation for two years now!

This has been a lovely spring, hasn't it?

It sure is getting hot now. Pulled the last of the cauliflower and broccoli. Figs are getting ripe and every bird in the neighborhood knows it!

Growing up, our next door neighbor had a very nice fig tree along the fenceline. Our dogs LOVED to eat the figs that fell off on our side. LOL

I don't think Duke (our black lab) has tried figs yet. I hope he doesn't like them!

Duke likes Bush's Baked Beans!

Last night's dash & grab before the birds nailed me, gonna get them suckers!!!

This mornings cuke raid, will still get another 3 or 4 for Saturday's Farmers' Market debut....

Have another half doz. cukes chillin' out in fridge for Sat. morning...

Hopefully about a half doz. zukes should be ready to go Sat., maybe a few squash also....

Linda, I love the Bush's commercials! I hope our Duke never eats baked beans, he sleeps beside the bed!

Kevcarr, when you refrigerate cukes and zucchini, be sure they don't dehydrate.

All our dogs love figs......

I love figs!

I do too!

I bought 3 new trees this weekend, two year old plants with green figs. She didn't know the variety, said they were large white figs with a purple blush and very sweet.

How much were they? And how big do they get?

They were $12 each plant. They will eventually get 12-15 ft tall.

That's do-able in my yard!

I found all kinds of figs on Ebay, just have to figure out which seller is best. I really want a Black Mission fig.

Gymgirl, figs are so easy to root from cuttings you should hit some of your neighbors up for some cuttings and root your own. I learned this on a post by Calalily about fig trees early this spring. I went out and took a cutting and followed TAMU's instructions for taking and rooting fig tree cuttings. I tried one and now it is over a foot tall.

The variety I have is the Texas White Everbearing. This is the first year for it to bear figs. It is growing in a 13 gal black nursery pot. It has tripled in size this year so I am sure the roots have started growing outside the pot. I plan to build a mound of mulch around it made from my wood chipper.

Growing up in San Antonio, almost every older home had at least one fig tree/bush and one pecan tree. LOL

TRock,
I'd been admiring my neighbor's 15 ft. fig tree across the street. Nice and compact.

Last month, after some heavy rains, the whole thing just fell over. She was ecstatic. I was heartbroken. She had wanted it gone a looooooooong time, and finally got her wish. But, before it was hauled off, she took a cutting for me.

It has since died. At least, it looks dead.. I stuck it in a 10 gallon pot filled with old potting mix, and put it under the patio cover. It looks dead...

I've had at least three attempts at starting a fig tree from a cutting, and no success. I need instructions.

Thank you.

Gymgirl here is Calalily's thread http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1232550/?hl=figs#top

At TAMU http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/fruit/figs/figs.html

Thanks, TRock, et al!

I've tagged the instructions. It's too late now, right?

I was weeding around my young fig plants in the back yard last month and accidentally broke off one of the shoots. It already had a couple of tiny roots attached at the base because I keep the plants mulched right up to the trunk (unlike most of the other types of fruit trees). I stuck the broken shoot in a nursery can and threw in some cheap potting soil, put it downstairs on the seeding counter (which is temporarily empty) and hooked the timer back up to turn the lights on 12 hours/day. I put a "dome" over it to retain humidity and promptly forgot about it. Two weeks later (more or less) I was downstairs looking for something else and noticed the lights were on, and when I removed the dome the plant had four new leaves and was firmly rooted in. Easy, yes.

-Rich

Gymgirl - I have had the best luck with cuttings by putting them in small containers until well-rooted. I think your problem was putting a single cutting in a 10-gallon container.

Soil should be moist, but not wet

Take several 4" to 6" cuttings and place them slightly apart in a small container - fill the container with cuttings. Set the cuttings just deep enough so they don't fall over. I like 3" to 4" pots.

Put the container where it can get bright light, but no sun.

Cover the container with clear plastic, but don't let the plastic come in contact with the cuttings. I use thin bamboo stakes to keep the plastic off the cuttings.

Secure the plastic covering around the container with an elastic band or string

Every few days, remove the plastic and then replace it to give the cuttings fresh air

Rose cuttings take about 12 weeks before they can be removed - other cuttings could take more or less time.

You should not need to add much, if any, water during this time as the plastic will keep it from evaporating

I usually do this in late February early March. You will have to adjust to your own climate, but I have found doing so when winter is about to end is a good time.

I don't use rooting hormone

When I lived in South Florida, I "air-layered" lots of things. Everything there grows really fast!