I want to plant a fig tree. I had one at my last home that I purchased from Cornelius and it was labelled Texas Everbearing. They were wonderful, brown, sweet and perfect in preserves. I bought one last year labelled as Texas Everbearing and it was either mislabelled or my original one was, because they are not the same. This one is a large purple one without much flavor. I've also heard Celeste is a good one for here. Does anyone on here know which the sweet brown fruited one is? Any recommendations on which type to plant? Also, are they easy to root from cuttings? I'll just get a bit of my old one and root it if that's easily done.
Crow
Fig Tree
Crow, I can't help with the ID, but can with your propagating question. I attended a class hosted by our local AgriLife agent. He said figs are easy to root from dormant cuttings. He described two ways to do it.
1) Take 15" - 18" cuttings when the tree is dormant. Use plant ties to bind the cuttings together, Bury them upside down in slightly damp soil for about 6 - 8 weeks to callous. Uncover them and plant the ones that callous in individual pots or in the ground.
2) Take 15" - 18" cuttings when the tree is dormant and plant several to a pot. Place the pot in a protected area outside to root.
If the fig has started to leaf out, it is too late to take cuttings. Try air layering. The last two links list varieties to try. I hope this helps.
http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/fruit/figs.html
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/fruit/figs/figs.html
http://www.urbanharvest.org/advice/fruitgardening/figs_summer.html
Figs root very easily. I take about 8" cuttings (three nodes on top, three on bottom) and stick them in potting soil and protect the same as I would any other cutting (depending on the time of year). I've rooted them when they still had leaves, the leaves fell off and few weeks later put out a new set. I say go and get cuttings from your favorite :0)
I believe you are talking about the turkey fig. That is all I know them by and I have rooted them in the late summer with leaves and like coco said they lose those and get more. They are so sweet I love them.
Thanks to all for the info. I've rooted lots of stuff, but didn't know if fruit trees might be different. I'll give it a try and see what happens! My grandmother taught me most of what I know about gardening and I absorbed most of it. She was a wonderful gardner and had a number of fruit trees including peaches, pears, figs, plums and cherries. She actually had several cherry varieties growing on one tree where she grafted different kinds onto the hardiest root stock. I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention on her "rooting and grafting of fruit trees" lecture day. Thanks again.
Crow
You'll have no problem rooting them. I wish I had paid more attention to my elders. Tho, lately I've been asking my mother a lot of questions. I feel like a two year old again. "why", "why", "why".....He response has been funny. She say's she doesn't know why they did things the way they did, they just did.lol
I'd give anything to be able to talk to my parents again. Not about plants and gardening, but about so many other things. Anyway, a friend of mine used to enjoy figs from a fig tree where she lived then. She loved those figs! After she moved to a house she had built, someone gave her a fig tree, but it wasn't the same, not as good. She finally went back and did cuttings from the fig tree at the other place, because she couldn't find out what it was called. I wonder if that one was the same kind you're talking about, Crow. The fig called Brown Turkey is another name for Texas Everbearing, I think.
Well, that would explain a lot if the Brown Turkey is also called Texas Everbearing! I was at Lowe's yesterday buying more bird seed and they had some new fruit trees just come in. I bought a 5 gallon Brown Turkey. They had Celest too, but from the descriptions, I think the Brown Turkey may be what I had and what my grandmother had. I'll plant it and find out. If it's not the right one, I'm sure the birds will still like them!
I know what you mean about talking to your parents too, Linda. My grandmother practically raised me. Everyone in the small town I grew up in said we were clones and I was the extra appendage off her right arm. I miss her so very much. It's funny how, even though she passed away 30 years ago, there's never a day goes by I don't think of her. She gave me my love of gardening, my cooking skills, my love of all children, and these little short fat legs I have. The short legs were more than compensated for. Okay, enough of being maudlin, I have to go plant a fig tree :)
Thanks again all.
Crow
Here's an interesting fig site to browse through http://home.planters.net/~thegivans/id-figs.html
Very informative site, Cocoa. Thanks for the link.