The reason you have round leaves Mike and "mitten like leaves and that they are so differently shaped from the 5 lobed ones yet they are all the same fig variety is all about the male and female/hermaphroditic nature of the common ficus carica. Male leaves are the round and female are the angular and the mitten style are the 6 to 7 gradations of normality between what we call male/female. That is why there are often 7 varieties of leaf shapes on any one common fig plant. Even though a fig plant may accentuate its "male leaves and another cutting will accentuate its"female" leaves both are still hermaphroditic! I used to think the fig was just creative or artistic or out of the box experimental but now I think it is just expressing all variations of sexuality of gender as its normality. Normality of 60 million years! Ficus carica is under the mulberry family. Look at male mulberry trees Mike and see the rounder leaves. They notice the fruit bearing leaf styles/ female and angular. Every variety has its own unique leaf style and design Mike. I have 92 varieties here in the high desert of New Mexico with our 400 year tradition of growing them here. The figman of NM
Wow, Lloyd, 92 varieties! I guess you've earned the title 'Figman of New Mexico'. Thanks for all the great info, I love learning about this plant and it's been a lot of fun to propagate and grow. Thanks for hanging out on the channel here and welcome to the family.
Lloyd Kreitzer 🦋 Thank You so much Sir for sharing your wonderful knowledge about Fig trees and their leaves. I learned so much from your eloquent explanation. So much appreciated!! Thank You 🙏 🌿 😊 Lupita Macedo ( California )
My sister would bend a fig branch to the ground cover part of it in topsoil and lay a brick on top. In the fall she would cut it from the tree and dig it up to be replanted. I have 2 on my property from her. Of course she was one of them people if u handed her a rock she could grow u a gravel road. Miss you big sis until we meet again.
She was a true gardener! You're describing layering, which is another propagation technique that can be used on a lot of different plants including rhododendrons. Thanks for sharing about your sister.
Hello Simple truth, I would hereby like to thank your sister for the great tip, I'm keen on a fig tree myself and know someone who has one growing in his garden. We are half past July and I am wondering if it is the good moment to try this technique ? I'm from Belgium so the climate is different over here ......
Thank you for the video! I'm dirt girl from Tennessee and love this stuff! I have two mature fig trees, that produce well, and people are always asking me for cuttings. I just potted up a lot in 1 gallon pots of peat and compost in the greenhouse hoping they do as well as yours! Thanks again, enjoyed your video and your enthusiasm!
my grandfather used to tell me, that when he was in Italy, sometimes they would accidently break a limb off a fig when plowing the land, he used to just take and stick that limb in the ground and it would take. obviously no root hormones back in the day, just turned the soil good first, and kept it good and wet the first while... after that didnt even water anymore and they always took... maybe its different in other climates... cause i live in Canada (eastern Ontario) and its hardbwork to get a good amount of figs. And some yrs they start really well, then decide to drop the first crop of figs... they are tricky little devils! lol glad to see your enthusiasm towards this stuff
I'm glad you made this video.I did an experiment myself this year with around 20 or so fig cuttings and a pile of compost.My results were very good ,just like yours. People just go insane with trying to root these things in the winter.Good video.
Hi Mike, the heat generated within the heap you stuck them in would have been the main reason they rooted so well provide a huge amount of bottom heat.
I thought the same at first but then dug down to see and there wasn't much heat in the pile because it had already been sitting there about 9 months. I'm wondering if the urine in the cow manure had something to do with it? Next winter I'll recreate the experiment in this soil and in regular soil and see what we get.
Hi Mike, those are definitely two different varieties. I've been growing fig trees from cuttings for 5 years now and they are the easiest things to grow in a wide variety of ways. They don't need rooting hormones or cutting of the bark to the cambium, or even any exceptionally nutrient rich soil; they root from the little nodes or nodules you can see all over the twigs. You are lucky you have an exceptionally warm climate which will allow them to root very, very fast without any help, which is what this video shows. Fantastic poly tunnel you have by the way!
Yeah, compared to rhododendrons, these figs are a piece of cake to root. Our yearly temps are fairly mild ranging from about 12 degrees F up to the high 90's but the majority of the time it's between 30 and 60 degrees F. I love coastal climates. The poly tunnel has been great for me. I'll make a video about it one of these days.
I have been watching "everything fig" while stressing out how to prune a fig tree I bought. It is 10 ft x 6 ft and has no shape & sparse leaves. It has a braded trunk that is stuck into a med size put with not a lot of soil. After watching all these videos re: pruning I ran into yours & felt better about the whole thing. Worse case I kill the tree pruning it but have learned how to get cuttings to grow without a lot of fuss. Thanks for your info & happy growing.
Fantastic observation regarding the fig rooting. It reminds me of a growing technique called " benign neglect" which is to place the plant in a favorable area and let nature take it's course. Sometime this fails but more often than expected it succeeds. I'm just taking a shot here but would suggest the difference in rooting of the pampered fig cuttings and the stuck cuttings may be due in part to the abundance of soil microbes in the composted manure. In nature plants do not grow in isolation. A tree growing in the forest shares the soil with many species of bacteria and fungi. Plants have adapted to utilize these organisms to their benefit. Many people do not realize that good soil is not just mineral material. It contains billions of microorganisms per ounce, many of which grow in symbiotic relationships with plants and each other. Many of these soil organisms can not be grown in isolation in sterile media and as such are still largely unknown to science. There are several potential benefits from the microbe population including breaking down the manure into nutrients the plant can use, producing heat, assisting with nutrient and water uptake, and competing with or creating an environment that does not favor the growth of potentially pathogenic organisms. It would take a tremendous effort to isolate the beneficial bacteria and fungi and to determine what role each one might play in development of the plant roots. As such, it may be a long time before this theory can be proven. But it certainly throws into question the recommendations I have seen to "sterilize" cuttings prior to rooting. We live in a world of microbes. Unless the rooting media, containers, and tools are also sterilized this is probably ineffective at best and potentially counter productive at worst. I love to experiment with planting techniques and am going to try to replicate your results.
I couldn't agree with you more. I've always believed that there's some some force in that soil much greater than me that is doing a lot of work down there that I can't even see or understand. To show this, I generally get better rooting results when the cuttings are stuck in an open bed of material and their roots can all get intertwined vs a system where they are all isolated in individual pots. Have you read the book, 'Teaming with Microbes'? Awesome book that I highly recommend and goes into great detail about what you're talking about. I agree about the sterilization. I never sterilize anything and think this is a complete waste of time. We are not only surrounded by but also, to a great extent, made up of microbes. We should focus on living in harmony with them and not trying to kill them. I've stuck cuttings with dirt still on them and they root just fine. Thanks for you're totally awesome comment!
Thanks Mike. I really enjoy your enthusiasm and insights into gardening. I will just mention what I believe is another great friend of the gardener - the earthworm. Worms carry soil microbes within them, transporting them throughout the garden bed while opening the soil to the air and assisting in breaking down organic materials. I once read a description of the composite bulk of earthworms within an acre of soil as a super organism weighing several pounds tilling and improving the soil day and night. Again, if you think about the massive old trees growing out in the woods, they do just fine without human intervention but they have the help of earthworms and soil microorganisms. I'm not aware of any scientific quantification of the value of earthworms but my intuition is that they are hugely beneficial to plant growth. I always try to include a few with every plant I pot up and I think they improve plant health and growth. Maintaining a healthy worm population is one more good reason to avoid the use of pesticides.
I guess same can be said about humans..those living in sterile developed environments are not perse healthier or stronger than those who are not..guess those going from sterile to non sterile might be a problem adjusting
I agree 100% and I think there's just more to it than we as humans understand yet. I talked a little about microbes and not sterilizing cuttings in my last video: ua-cam.com/video/Gr4qn7Ir2Ac/v-deo.html Thanks for the comment!
You are a fountain of fig wisdom, but man, you sometimes do butcher those roots!! I watched your propagation vid a few days ago and i learned a lot of new stuff from you. You explain stuff well and in a very detailed way. Cheers!
Thanks a lot! I only butcher roots for you guys on video so we can see all those cool roots. When you see me root my Black Madeira I can guarantee you won't see much of those roots, haha.
Amazing , you're very lucky. I did everything right ,used hormone on the cuttings and put them in water .Some I stuck them into soil and regularly watered , but I lost all of them .Only one came through beautifully .Of course they weren't fig trees ,they were some flower cuttings .But the principle is the same . I can't figger it out.Was it because you stuck them in to a manure pile .Was it because of the season and was it humid . Cuttings work best and almost effortlessly in the monsoon season with the rain water rich with nutrients .
I am from Provence and Fig trees are everywhere. They are like weed ;) You just stick them into the ground and they root straight away or you can put them in a glass of water and a couple of days later you''ll start to see some roots.Very easy and delicious!
I checked the fig cutting I'd put on top of the fridge to root, (from 2 months ago) and all had rooted. I took them out and put them around the edge of one of the 'medium age' compost piles, along with about 10 more clippings. I'm going to have enough trees for a fig farm, if I'm not careful. I'm also trying this method with grape vines, apple cuttings, persimmon, pomegranates, and plums. We have a horse ranch, so we have a lot of compost piles, in various stages. I'll let you know how this goes. So far? It's a miracle.
I am glad we came across your channel! Not only is it informative, it is very encouraging and confirming what we are attempting in a very similar setup (w/0 rooting hormone) and with the same results. Here, we are doing some crepe myrtle. Just to try. ;) At one point, it appeared to be a failure, so the culling began. But wait!! Major roots - success! Was it a one-time fluke maybe? Well, seeing your success only confirms it is a most likely method. New sub, now. Edit to add: we are attempting this in an 8 foot cattle trough half filled with wood chips, manure, and compost.
Thank you for the wonderful comment. It warms my heart to help confirm your propagation beliefs and trials. That's what this channel is all about. I wonder if the manure is assisting with the rooting? I've read that urine has been used for thousands of years as a rooting hormone and there's definitely urine in the cow manure. Sounds like you have a good setup.
You may be on to something there with the urine. I did purposefully include human urine that had soaked in a container of flat pieces of charcoal, then poured directly onto the compost pile. It had sat there for a few months. So, it is interesting that you brought that up. I had totally forgotten about the urine! I was practicing activating charcoal and had heard about peeponics, too. So, I jut experimented. lol
I'm not familiar with activated charcoal. I'll have to look that one up. I think we're definitely on to something with the cow manure. I may try an experiment propagating rhododendrons in cow manure and see how they come out.
Hi Mike, that was cool video the Fig which you were showing with strange leaf .. that is White Fig ... the fruit from outside is green and pale yellowish and inside is white for some and other light pink ..thanks
Hi Mike, thanks for replying I do agree with you sometimes you cant determine which type of Fig it is, I will join the fig group soon thanks for that Mike ... keep up the good work .. regards,
That is amazing!! can't understand why people pamper their plants, just stick them in the ground and forget about them.😃 That's what grandparents did back in the day without using rooting hormones.👍 I enjoyed this video! Thank you for sharing.😀🤗👍
I think it's because there is more stored energy in the thicker diameter cuttings than in the more slender ones, that you got such good root growth on the thicker ones.
Hey Mike, Just an fyi, manure piles are a nature heat source. If you ever dug into a manure pile in the middle of winter there will be a large amount of steam coming out of the hole you just dug, the newer the manure pile the hotter it will be. Hope this answers your your comment that you made in this video.
I think that had something to do with it. I'm going to try an experiment next winter/spring where I put the cuttings in a manure pile and also just in regular pots without the added heat and see what happens.
Nice, I do it all the time. Airation is key and mousture retention is key. I do it with Blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, grape, pear, apple, well. Pretty much any one-two year old woody growth. I know right! I would never buy a heating pad. But you're still kinda cool if you do. You're more of a scientist than you may think Mike.
I WILL TRY IT IN MY COMPOST NOW AND FOREVER! I do cuttings all in my yard and prepare a space at the root of each type of plant which works at lower rates of success but great for my property. Obviously the heat from the compost is AMPING UP the results allowing a healthy root development. Super cool stuff. Thank you GOD
mike, got them planted in a old worm bed misted them in after planting them now it is up to me keeping them watered and mother nature so keep your fingers crossed that I did it right
Here is my theory; last year WE planted 4 fig trees that came up from SEED. We have many large fig trees on our property, different types. When I eat figs I do not eat the skin, so I toss the uneaten bits in my cold compost. I took out 4 seedling last Spring that came up, of 2016, ALL had that round looking leaf. Seems like many figs when true babies do not have the FIG leaf at first. None developed that true fig leaf until they were about 2-3 feet tall, then the leaves changed. NOW, no joke, those 4 trees are 8-15 feet tall and ALL with fruit. (you can check out my video if you want with all the details there on WHY we think they go so big so fast). One so far is "compost food" 2 are great, and waiting for the fruit to ripen on the last one. Thanks for this video, Robbie
Thanks for sharing videos, keep them coming. Those are some nice big fig trees you've got there! I'm working on an area to put mine in the ground so they can get that big eventually.
I love these figs! I'm learning that the leaves can start out a little different when they're young or at the beginning of the spring when they first start emerging.
I think you answered your own question by watching the video, lol. The cuttings were stuck in composted cow manure that was no longer warm (so no bottom heat) and as you can see in the video, they didn't get burned. That whole "burning the plants" thing with too much nitrogen is due to over fertilization with chemical fertilizers. I've used this manure for all kinds of projects from rooting cuttings to growing plants in pots.
Man, you're hard on cuttings. New roots on cuttings are very fragile and tugging isn't a good idea. It's pretty easy to tell if a cutting has struck without tugging on it. Assuming that the cutting isn't dead, some, maybe all, of the buds will open because of the stored up energy in the cutting. At that point, it's highly unlikely that there is much, if any, root formation. As soon as the leafed out buds start to grow, that's an indication of root development. To be safe, I like to see 2-3 inches of new growth before I feel comfortable disturbing the cutting. We are far too impatient when it comes to Nature. By adjusting to her rhythms and one will be much more relaxed not to mention getting better results . Nice results though. Well done, Nature. LOL
Thanks for the comment, this was just an experiment and I had no intention of keeping all of these cuttings. We're having fun here, not impatient or anxious. I waited 2 months for the results. Heck, I happily and patiently wait 1.5 years for the rhododendron cuttings. Leaves don't necessarily mean roots. Check out my vid here and see all the fig leaves without roots: ua-cam.com/video/lKG-bhWulMY/v-deo.html
Oh my, I wish I had lived close enough to come get the ones you threw away. I am obsessed with figs and they are about $10.99 EACH here, the trees, not the figs. You can't even buy figs here. If you don't grow them yourself, you can't get them. I could eat my weight in figs. Seriously.
The ones you planted outside have different leaves due to the amount of sunlight. Many species of trees and plants have leaf variations due to lighting. The larger leaves from the potted figs are called shade leaves to absorb maximum sunlight. The figs you stuck in the manure didn't have to create as much surface area on the leaves to conduct photosynthesis
Great video on fig culture. A couple of questions about your greenhouse: What are the dimensions of the greenhouse, and its height in the middle. Looks like it is made from pvc pipe; is it 3/4" or 1" pvc pipe, and is it two 10' lengths joined together or some other length? I am planning to build a similar one, and want to get tips and ideas from others on their designs. Thanks.
Thanks for the question, Chandra. The greenhouse is 12' x 64' and a little over 7 foot at the peak. I built if with 10' lengths of steel pipe and bent them myself. I concreted the anchor posts in the ground every 4 foot. Total cost was $2000 and took me a whole summer to build because I had a newborn at my feet. I plan to make a video soon about all the details of how I built it.
Thanks for your quick response. I am designing mine with 3/4" pvc pipe, not as big as yours, only about 12x30' size. Another question about your figs; what climate zone are you in?, and are your figs in ground or in containers. I am in NJ, zone 6b, and a first time fig grower; have few small plants, about a foot tall, in 1-gal containers. They will grow enough to probably go into 3 or 4 gal pots before winter arrives. I am still not sure how best to keep them alive thru their first NJ winter. Any tips? Thanks again for posting your informative video.
I'm new to the fig thing too and have only been posting videos on the figs since this past winter. We're in the same boat when it comes to figuring out how to overwinter them but I've been reading and talking to people about it and I think mine are going to go in the well pump house where I have a heat lamp to take the edge off the cold when we hit freezing weather. I'm in zone 8b so I don't need quite as much protection as you but I've got a black madeira KK that I'm a little worried about so I'll take extra special care of him. You're close by Nick who has a channel called 'PA Figs' and you probably have similar weather. He may have some good advice and videos about how to overwinter them. I think all his go in the garage.
Can I use this method now in the month of august and keep them in pots thru the winter or should I wait until spring. I have access to a lot of horse manure
For figs, you'll have to wait until the new growth hardens off in the late fall / early winter. I'm going to start taking my cuttings of figs next winter when it gets closer to spring but I know a lot of people start in the late fall so if I find someone selling cuttings of a variety I want this fall, I may start sooner.
Mike, I’ve been watching your channel for a few years sorta off and on because I don’t have the time I’d like to do more. I’m a musician and I travel a lot but I love fishing and gardening. Also I’ve never commented before but this morning 5/20/23 I saw something I would be interested in knowing what you think of it. I don’t remember who, but they were propagating roses and mentioned something, almost in just a passing way, that I thought was really interesting and I’m going to ask for your opinion. It might not be a new thing to you but it was to me and I’d never given it any consideration before because I just thought that’s the way it was. Quickly, a few years ago I saw someone, I believe in Oklahoma, talk about these self watering planters and part of the process involved “air pruning” which was better for the roots. Now then I’ve done it and seen you do it without even passing comment and that was removing plants from pots and their roots simply circling around and around. This gentleman had some square pots with holes all around the sides which he claimed prevented roots from strangling themselves by air pruning and preventing that circulating around. I know what air pruning is but never thought about it in any way except in one of those self watering pots. You were talking about figs roots growing wider and becoming entangled so you used cups but still filled your tote with growing medium. This other guy said he got these pots with holes to prevent that but the were pretty expensive. After viewing both videos I was wondering what you thought about putting holes in the nursery pots in the totes while rooting and if they would air layer also. I’m heading out to root some cuttings now and I’m going to use pots in totes with lids except this time I’m drilling holes in the pots just to see if I can stop the roots from circling and becoming root bound. What do you think and what’s so expensive about pots with holes. Any comments on that. Love your shows. I went from being just a subscriber to receiving all notifications. I’m from the southeast, Alabama (war Eagle), and not much fir bark around here but coco choir works well and I agree, sand will work but it’s really too heavy. Again - love your show, adios.
Hey Glenn, I appreciate your question. Yes, I'm very familiar with air pruning pots. I've even created my own here with laundry baskets and burlap (never filmed any of it but sometimes I just play around for the sake of playing around). The reason I don't use them in propagating is because I usually pot the plants up as soon as they're fully rooted. If you were going to leave them in the pot for awhile then it would be very beneficial. They are expensive and that's part of the problem as well. I've gone as far as drilling holes all around black nursery pots to create my own air pruning pots and they work well. If you've got the time, then drill some holes! I have some air pruning pots that I was planning on doing a video experiment with this summer but this house build is really consuming me right now so we'll see if I get to it. Good luck on your projects!
Can you propagate fig suckers? And will they bring fruit? I have an old fig tree that was cut down to the stump and shoots are coming out. It needs a new sunnier location so was wondering if I can propagate those shoots/suckers?
May I ask when will be a good time to propagate figs? Usually people prune their tree in late autumn and I will be able to get some cuttings but I don't know is it a good time to propagate them. Thanks.
Ali, you really can't say what kind if fig it is until you get the fruit, and still hard to say what kind of fig it is with out a comparison. Believe me I know. Check out the fig groups on facebook, and ask questions there if you don't quite believe me. Fig addiction, rafeds fig group, california fig group, to just name a few, and happy figging
Hi Ross: A couple of questions on grafting figs. As mentioned earlier, I am in NJ (zone 6b or 7), and have a few small fig plants (it would be inappropriate to call them "trees" at this stage, I think), about two feet tall with main stems just about 3/8"-1/2" in thickness, and was wondering if I could graft branches of two varieties together while they are still growing individually so I have two varieties on one plant, or I need to wait until the plants are a bit more mature. Also, similarly, would I succeed in grafting cuttings at this stage or, again, should wait for a while until the plants a bit bigger. Lastly, how would grafting work if done in the Fall when the plants go into dormancy; will the graft 'take' during the fall/winter months? Thanks for any tips and insights.
Personally, I would graft in the early spring when the sap starts flowing and you have all summer for the union to heal but I'm not Ross and he has more experience at grafting figs than I do. I think you're looking for Ross Raddi.
Sorry, Mike; I have been watching both yours and Ross Raddi's videos on fig culture, and in my excitement in learning all I can by asking questions I got mixed up between you two. Thanks for your comments on grafting.
Dear friend, if you take the cuttings from the fruit trees that bring fruits already, the little cutting during their first spring time bring fruit, best time a couple of weeks before the spring to be set in soil with roots, and rain water makes miraculous growth strength than their mother fruit tree. Love: Changiz.
As a rooting hormone I have been dipping the bottom cut end into honey and then putting each cutting into a plastic cup with drain holes. I use coco coir as my growing medium. I then bottom water them sparingly. No humidity dome. I get near 100% germination. I am trying some cuttings with no rooting agent to see if it is really necessary.
I like where you're going with it. I am convinced that humidity for figs is unnecessary and can be counterproductive. I also like the honey idea. More and more I'm trying to get away from chemical use and looking for alternatives and will probably try this honey idea in the near future.
I lost two of my recent batch of Ishia cuttings to mold. I tried using the high humidity method. I guess it is back to the minimalist method, after all it works so good.
I have some fig cuttings that I started inside with bottom heat. A few had a bunch of roots filling their cups, so I up potted them and 2 of them died pretty quickly. I have a tub full of cuttings that are still growing in cups that I moved to my greenhouse and a few of them have lost their leaves, but are still alive. I really want to up pot them or plant them in the ground because some of the roots are turning brown and I'm worried they aren't doing well in the cups. I was told to keep them in the shade, because the sun exposure will damage them. My question is how long do you keep your cuttings in the cups and when and how do you transfer them to larger pots? I started mine in their cups in early February.
Great video thank you, about the leaves the 3 lobe one is not really a normal fig leaf, when I had my fig trees in the house for the winter some of them got some new leaves that looked like that, but it is not really what they should look like.
mike, is now a good time to propagate figs? I was at a guy's house yesterday and ask him if I could get some cutting and the next thing I knew he gave me a whole limb so I made cuttings and got them in water till I can put them in the dirt
Likely the fig was grafted. Could be one or multiple grafts. This could give one tree multiple leaf types. Sometimes the base as well as the graft form a v at the base if the base branch is not cut out. It will create a V with two types of figs. It is unlimited how many fig varieties can be grafted on a single root stock.
Have you ever tried drying the fig leaves, crumble them up, boil to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, add raw honey and enjoy. Delicious and smells wonderful!! Helps in losing belly fat and other benefits!!
@@MikeKincaid79 Check out "Moroccan Organic Bazaar" ua-cam.com/video/u2zVEsLLpDg/v-deo.html Down in the description all the health benefits from fig leaf tea. I've been losing my gut drinking this tea with raw honey. Good for 2 years, and smells wonderful. I'm propagating more fig stems and going to try a Chicago blend of tea this year. I'm not sure which variety I have, though would like to know. Have any ideas where I can find out Mike?
I'd really like to pick your brain about how you overwinter figs in our area. I just bought a black Madeira KK from PA Figs and want to make sure it makes it through the winter. Can I just leave it in the hoop house unheated or will it have to come inside my house? I tried looking up cold hardiness of figs but don't get many specifics, especially in our region.
last yr it went in the greenhouse unheated. however I have yet to see any fruit. the yr before it was in the garage. I purposely woke it up in january by bringing it in the house by south window. I was eating bm figs by early sept. bms require alonger season. But it's so worth it. your mind will be blown with your first taste
pot them all up then compare fruit when they bear fruit. The stresses in the weather forced more temperature difference between the exposed stalks and at the root zones verses the babied ones, more wood juices mixed with manure in the big pile + rooting hormones, possibly more electro valance in the big pile plus the root web communication from food webs shared among grass and tree roots near the pile. What ever the reasons, they liked the pile more than the plastic cups in a tub.
Just like I said on one of your other videos. Figs are easy. stick the cutting into dirt up to two inches across and they will root for you. No hard work needed. As for the leaf pattern. They do have different leafs at different ages.I have noticed my desert king does it the most with fresh cuttings.
This is the only way I do cuttings. I'm so bad with rotting softwood cuttings that I now only do hardwood. And I only stick in the dirt outside to avoid my overwatering them or other mistakes. It's like 100% with crape myrtles and roses. Haven't tried figs yet.
hey mike i live in new york and i have a fig tree thats from italy. actually my fig tree was a twig i cut from my grandfathers tree thats about 20 years old. when it was a little baby tree the leaves were completely round with no lobes, but this year the leaves look just like the parent tree with big long defined lobes. im pretty sure the leaf pattern is based on age.
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback. I'll keep an eye on these guys as they get older. That's really cool that you were able to get a cutting of your grandfather's fig. Carrying on a family member's name through plants is a special thing.
I think the leaf shape is variable, depending on what part of the plant it's taken from. Old, mature growth, vs. lower down to the ground. May also depend upon the size of the cutting as well?
BTW, you might be interested in visiting my Facebook page on Broadleaf Evergreens! It'd be great to have you there. Even though I created it mainly for East Coast mid-Atlantic, you might find some of the posts interesting. Out here rhodies are much more challenging. Love them though. Cheers! facebook.com/groups/BroadleafEvergreens/
Not sure, haven't tried that many yet as I've only been at the figs for 2 years now. I will say that I have a brown turkey and tried it for the first time last year and it was the best fig I've had yet.
Hey Mike, can I ask you a question about trees. It seems like you know a lot about everything, been learning a lot from you too!! My mother n law had bought a HYBIRD POPLAR and boy does it grow. I took cuttings from that same tree, my question is will it be a HYBIRD POPLAR?
Hi, i think, when you place it in a greenhouse, there is glass between the sun and the plant, so it's leaves grow round to catch every ray it can. When placed in direct sunlight, the plant grows fingers when the sun is too bright.
Hi... I'm from over the pond in southeast united kingdom, has a semi Mediterranean climate, OK my problem is, I've been growing, which also propagating easily, but none of my figs have had any buds let alone any fruit, any ideas as to why this has happened or been happening, incidentally my original fig is and has always been healthy albeit big also gets fed and pruned... I'd be greatful for any help, before I finally give up and remove them, I feel 5 years is long enough to wait too bite into my own fig... great videos by the way, really enjoy watching them.
I'm glad you like the videos. I'm not an expert with figs, just getting into them this year. Maybe someone who knows figs better can chime in here and answer your question.
What's their position? Full sun? Shade? Type (Common, San Pedro, Smyrna etc). Do you know if it's self fertile? Do you know if it has a name e.g. Brown Turkey, Black Mission etc. Do you feed it? What do you feed it and how often? Is it in the ground or a container?
The figs are fun. They propagate easy and look really cool with their big leaves. I was able to pick up an Olympian this year as well, the local nursery got in about 10 of them in 1 gallon pots and I got in there quick before they all got snatched up.
I enjoyed watching.your.video re.fig tree.planting thru cuttings.i hope to watch some more.i pray my friend will be bring me home cuttings of a fig tree. Sure i will follow your instructions in the video.God bless..
It's an unknown fig from a local piece of property. If you're interested, I've got the whole story about it here: ua-cam.com/video/lKG-bhWulMY/v-deo.html Here's part 2: ua-cam.com/video/soybyKG5snA/v-deo.html
I need to know what to do to keep this fig tree alive and kicking just moved it from my neighbors yard because they were going to just let it go.can send a pic
I wonder if the urine in the cow manure has something to do with the rooting. I've read that urine has been used for thousands of years as a rooting hormone. I get this material from a local dairy by the dump truck load because they consider it garbage and want to get rid of it. Great for me and my family because it is beautiful material to use in the gardens, full of worms. The dairy has a gigantic open barn with no walls that they keep all of their mother cows in. Through the year they put down a layer of fine wood shavings and then the cows poop and pee on it for a month or so and then they put down another layer of wood shavings and then more poop and pee. The whole time, the cows are walking on it and mixing. The layers continue all year until it gets about 2 feet deep. Every fall they get a dozer and push all of this stuff out into a huge pile about 50 feet wide by 20 or 30 feet high and then it sits there composting and collecting worms. I go there with the dump truck and load up on all this stuff I can. Hauled 30 loads at 8 yards a load last year.
I'm not sure what it is but it sure works well. I have some farms by me and will ask them for a similar mix. I also believe root foundation is critically important.
It is my first time growing a mission fig tree, I got it from a friend from my Church. I was getting suckers from the mother plant, I too the suckers away from the mother plant. and some of them have taken and others suckers have not. The mother mission fig tree is growing like crazy.. The mother fig tree and it already has fruit on it. I am so exacted.
Hey Greg, I built it from scratch using top rail fence posts. I bent the hoops myself. Took me all summer to build about 8 years ago because I had a newborn at my side. The total cost was 2000 dollars and that included concreting each support post in the ground and all of the gravel for the base. I intent to make a video about how I did it and all of the details as soon as my kids get back in school in a couple weeks. I'm amazed I was able to make as many videos as I did with them running around here this summer, haha. The dimensions are 12' by 64' and I think the height at the center is about 7.5'.
The reason you have round leaves Mike and "mitten like leaves and that they are so differently shaped from the 5 lobed ones yet they are all the same fig variety is all about the male and female/hermaphroditic nature of the common ficus carica. Male leaves are the round and female are the angular and the mitten style are the 6 to 7 gradations of normality between what we call male/female. That is why there are often 7 varieties of leaf shapes on any one common fig plant. Even though a fig plant may accentuate its "male leaves and another cutting will accentuate its"female" leaves both are still hermaphroditic! I used to think the fig was just creative or artistic or out of the box experimental but now I think it is just expressing all variations of sexuality of gender as its normality. Normality of 60 million years! Ficus carica is under the mulberry family. Look at male mulberry trees Mike and see the rounder leaves. They notice the fruit bearing leaf styles/ female and angular. Every variety has its own unique leaf style and design Mike. I have 92 varieties here in the high desert of New Mexico with our 400 year tradition of growing them here. The figman of NM
Wow, Lloyd, 92 varieties! I guess you've earned the title 'Figman of New Mexico'. Thanks for all the great info, I love learning about this plant and it's been a lot of fun to propagate and grow. Thanks for hanging out on the channel here and welcome to the family.
Thank you, you have solved my confusion.
Mr. Fig Man 😁 Where in beautiful New Mexico do you live?
Lloyd Kreitzer 🦋 Thank You so much Sir for sharing your wonderful knowledge about Fig trees and their leaves. I learned so much from your eloquent explanation. So much appreciated!! Thank You 🙏 🌿 😊
Lupita Macedo ( California )
Excellent commentary Lloyd
My sister would bend a fig branch to the ground cover part of it in topsoil and lay a brick on top. In the fall she would cut it from the tree and dig it up to be replanted. I have 2 on my property from her. Of course she was one of them people if u handed her a rock she could grow u a gravel road. Miss you big sis until we meet again.
She was a true gardener! You're describing layering, which is another propagation technique that can be used on a lot of different plants including rhododendrons. Thanks for sharing about your sister.
Beautiful. A lovely memory.
Hello Simple truth, I would hereby like to thank your sister for the great tip, I'm keen on a fig tree myself and know someone who has one growing in his garden. We are half past July and I am wondering if it is the good moment to try this technique ? I'm from Belgium so the climate is different over here ......
Your sister sounds awesome, that's too cool!
Thank you for the video! I'm dirt girl from Tennessee and love this stuff! I have two mature fig trees, that produce well, and people are always asking me for cuttings. I just potted up a lot in 1 gallon pots of peat and compost in the greenhouse hoping they do as well as yours! Thanks again, enjoyed your video and your enthusiasm!
Thanks Renea! Glad you enjoyed the video and I'm sure your figs will do well. All you have to do is just show them a little love.
That's pretty impressive how well they've rooted, good stuff!
Yeah, I was pretty amazed! Not bad for doing very little.
Hey Mike,thank you for your quick response, you have a great day.thanks again.
my grandfather used to tell me, that when he was in Italy, sometimes they would accidently break a limb off a fig when plowing the land, he used to just take and stick that limb in the ground and it would take. obviously no root hormones back in the day, just turned the soil good first, and kept it good and wet the first while...
after that didnt even water anymore and they always took...
maybe its different in other climates... cause i live in Canada (eastern Ontario) and its hardbwork to get a good amount of figs. And some yrs they start really well, then decide to drop the first crop of figs...
they are tricky little devils!
lol
glad to see your enthusiasm towards this stuff
That's a cool story about your grandpa, thanks for sharing. I'll try it without rooting hormone next year and see what we get.
I'm glad you made this video.I did an experiment myself this year with around 20 or
so fig cuttings and a pile of compost.My
results were very good ,just like yours.
People just go insane with trying to root these
things in the winter.Good video.
Thanks! I really like how this experiment turned out. Sure does make for a lot less work and care of the cuttings.
soucato rangecpconuttree
Hi Mike, the heat generated within the heap you stuck them in would have been the main reason they rooted so well provide a huge amount of bottom heat.
I thought the same at first but then dug down to see and there wasn't much heat in the pile because it had already been sitting there about 9 months. I'm wondering if the urine in the cow manure had something to do with it? Next winter I'll recreate the experiment in this soil and in regular soil and see what we get.
Hi Mike, those are definitely two different varieties. I've been growing fig trees from cuttings for 5 years now and they are the easiest things to grow in a wide variety of ways. They don't need rooting hormones or cutting of the bark to the cambium, or even any exceptionally nutrient rich soil; they root from the little nodes or nodules you can see all over the twigs. You are lucky you have an exceptionally warm climate which will allow them to root very, very fast without any help, which is what this video shows. Fantastic poly tunnel you have by the way!
Yeah, compared to rhododendrons, these figs are a piece of cake to root. Our yearly temps are fairly mild ranging from about 12 degrees F up to the high 90's but the majority of the time it's between 30 and 60 degrees F. I love coastal climates. The poly tunnel has been great for me. I'll make a video about it one of these days.
Hi Im from phillippines. Your video helps me a lot. Thanks
Awesome! Glad to help.
I have been watching "everything fig" while stressing out how to prune a fig tree I bought. It is 10 ft x 6 ft and has no shape & sparse leaves. It has a braded trunk that is stuck into a med size put with not a lot of soil. After watching all these videos re: pruning I ran into yours & felt better about the whole thing. Worse case I kill the tree pruning it but have learned how to get cuttings to grow without a lot of fuss. Thanks for your info & happy growing.
No Stress Ellen, these trees can withstand heavy pruning and if you don't like the prune job then it will grow back quickly. have fun!
Mike Kincaid
Well lets hope so cause it's still waiting on me to get the nerve to do it!
Fantastic observation regarding the fig rooting. It reminds me of a growing technique called " benign neglect" which is to place the plant in a favorable area and let nature take it's course. Sometime this fails but more often than expected it succeeds.
I'm just taking a shot here but would suggest the difference in rooting of the pampered fig cuttings and the stuck cuttings may be due in part to the abundance of soil microbes in the composted manure. In nature plants do not grow in isolation. A tree growing in the forest shares the soil with many species of bacteria and fungi. Plants have adapted to utilize these organisms to their benefit. Many people do not realize that good soil is not just mineral material. It contains billions of microorganisms per ounce, many of which grow in symbiotic relationships with plants and each other. Many of these soil organisms can not be grown in isolation in sterile media and as such are still largely unknown to science. There are several potential benefits from the microbe population including breaking down the manure into nutrients the plant can use, producing heat, assisting with nutrient and water uptake, and competing with or creating an environment that does not favor the growth of potentially pathogenic organisms. It would take a tremendous effort to isolate the beneficial bacteria and fungi and to determine what role each one might play in development of the plant roots. As such, it may be a long time before this theory can be proven. But it certainly throws into question the recommendations I have seen to "sterilize" cuttings prior to rooting. We live in a world of microbes. Unless the rooting media, containers, and tools are also sterilized this is probably ineffective at best and potentially counter productive at worst. I love to experiment with planting techniques and am going to try to replicate your results.
I couldn't agree with you more. I've always believed that there's some some force in that soil much greater than me that is doing a lot of work down there that I can't even see or understand. To show this, I generally get better rooting results when the cuttings are stuck in an open bed of material and their roots can all get intertwined vs a system where they are all isolated in individual pots. Have you read the book, 'Teaming with Microbes'? Awesome book that I highly recommend and goes into great detail about what you're talking about. I agree about the sterilization. I never sterilize anything and think this is a complete waste of time. We are not only surrounded by but also, to a great extent, made up of microbes. We should focus on living in harmony with them and not trying to kill them. I've stuck cuttings with dirt still on them and they root just fine. Thanks for you're totally awesome comment!
Thanks Mike. I really enjoy your enthusiasm and insights into gardening. I will just mention what I believe is another great friend of the gardener - the earthworm. Worms carry soil microbes within them, transporting them throughout the garden bed while opening the soil to the air and assisting in breaking down organic materials. I once read a description of the composite bulk of earthworms within an acre of soil as a super organism weighing several pounds tilling and improving the soil day and night. Again, if you think about the massive old trees growing out in the woods, they do just fine without human intervention but they have the help of earthworms and soil microorganisms. I'm not aware of any scientific quantification of the value of earthworms but my intuition is that they are hugely beneficial to plant growth. I always try to include a few with every plant I pot up and I think they improve plant health and growth. Maintaining a healthy worm population is one more good reason to avoid the use of pesticides.
I love how you talk about the worms tilling the soil day and night. We work so hard tilling the soil and these worms do it effortlessly for us.
I guess same can be said about humans..those living in sterile developed environments are not perse healthier or stronger than those who are not..guess those going from sterile to non sterile might be a problem adjusting
I agree 100% and I think there's just more to it than we as humans understand yet. I talked a little about microbes and not sterilizing cuttings in my last video: ua-cam.com/video/Gr4qn7Ir2Ac/v-deo.html Thanks for the comment!
You are a fountain of fig wisdom, but man, you sometimes do butcher those roots!! I watched your propagation vid a few days ago and i learned a lot of new stuff from you. You explain stuff well and in a very detailed way. Cheers!
Thanks a lot! I only butcher roots for you guys on video so we can see all those cool roots. When you see me root my Black Madeira I can guarantee you won't see much of those roots, haha.
Man, that big fig is cool. So much growth!
It sure it cool. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it even though I've got a bunch already. Should turn into an amazing tree.
Amazing , you're very lucky. I did everything right ,used hormone on the cuttings and put them in water .Some I stuck them into soil and regularly watered , but I lost all of them .Only one came through beautifully .Of course they weren't fig trees ,they were some flower cuttings .But the principle is the same . I can't figger it out.Was it because you stuck them in to a manure pile .Was it because of the season and was it humid . Cuttings work best and almost effortlessly in the monsoon season with the rain water rich with nutrients .
Different plants are propagated in different ways. What are you trying to propagate?
who can outdo nature? sometimes it is our interference that prevent plants from growing. Congratulations!!!!!!
Thanks! I agree wholeheartedly.
I am from Provence and Fig trees are everywhere. They are like weed ;) You just stick them into the ground and they root straight away or you can put them in a glass of water and a couple of days later you''ll start to see some roots.Very easy and delicious!
I'm just glad I discovered them. So fun and easy to propagate and you get a reward of fruit at the end!
I checked the fig cutting I'd put on top of the fridge to root, (from 2 months ago) and all had rooted. I took them out and put them around the edge of one of the 'medium age' compost piles, along with about 10 more clippings. I'm going to have enough trees for a fig farm, if I'm not careful.
I'm also trying this method with grape vines, apple cuttings, persimmon, pomegranates, and plums. We have a horse ranch, so we have a lot of compost piles, in various stages.
I'll let you know how this goes. So far? It's a miracle.
I like the top of the fridge idea, nice and warm up there. Look forward to hearing how they end up.
I am glad we came across your channel! Not only is it informative, it is very encouraging and confirming what we are attempting in a very similar setup (w/0 rooting hormone) and with the same results. Here, we are doing some crepe myrtle. Just to try. ;) At one point, it appeared to be a failure, so the culling began. But wait!! Major roots - success! Was it a one-time fluke maybe? Well, seeing your success only confirms it is a most likely method. New sub, now.
Edit to add: we are attempting this in an 8 foot cattle trough half filled with wood chips, manure, and compost.
Thank you for the wonderful comment. It warms my heart to help confirm your propagation beliefs and trials. That's what this channel is all about. I wonder if the manure is assisting with the rooting? I've read that urine has been used for thousands of years as a rooting hormone and there's definitely urine in the cow manure. Sounds like you have a good setup.
You may be on to something there with the urine. I did purposefully include human urine that had soaked in a container of flat pieces of charcoal, then poured directly onto the compost pile. It had sat there for a few months. So, it is interesting that you brought that up. I had totally forgotten about the urine! I was practicing activating charcoal and had heard about peeponics, too. So, I jut experimented. lol
I'm not familiar with activated charcoal. I'll have to look that one up. I think we're definitely on to something with the cow manure. I may try an experiment propagating rhododendrons in cow manure and see how they come out.
Hi Mike, that was cool video the Fig which you were showing with strange leaf .. that is White Fig ... the fruit from outside is green and pale yellowish and inside is white for some and other light pink ..thanks
Thanks for sharing Ali. I posted a video of what the figs are looking like on the parent plant if you're interested.
Hi Mike, thanks for replying I do agree with you sometimes you cant determine which type of Fig it is, I will join the fig group soon thanks for that Mike ... keep up the good work .. regards,
The heat might have been stronger to begin with but as you said the high nitrogen content would help too
That is amazing!! can't understand why people pamper their plants, just stick them in the ground and forget about them.😃
That's what grandparents did back in the day without using rooting hormones.👍
I enjoyed this video!
Thank you for sharing.😀🤗👍
Thanks Debra, glad you enjoyed it!
@@MikeKincaid79
😊
Enjoyed your video. Haven’t got answers but, will try propagating figs.
It's a lot of fun and they root quickly!
My Sister in-law are visiting my Nephews she will bring me some Figs branches or cutting, I can’t wait to eat some healthy fresh figs,
I think it's because there is more stored energy in the thicker diameter cuttings than in the more slender ones, that you got such good root growth on the thicker ones.
I think so too.
Hey Mike, Just an fyi, manure piles are a nature heat source. If you ever dug into a manure pile in the middle of winter there will be a large amount of steam coming out of the hole you just dug, the newer the manure pile the hotter it will be. Hope this answers your your comment that you made in this video.
I think that had something to do with it. I'm going to try an experiment next winter/spring where I put the cuttings in a manure pile and also just in regular pots without the added heat and see what happens.
Nice, I do it all the time. Airation is key and mousture retention is key. I do it with Blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, grape, pear, apple, well. Pretty much any one-two year old woody growth. I know right! I would never buy a heating pad. But you're still kinda cool if you do. You're more of a scientist than you may think Mike.
I WILL TRY IT IN MY COMPOST NOW AND FOREVER! I do cuttings all in my yard and prepare a space at the root of each type of plant which works at lower rates of success but great for my property.
Obviously the heat from the compost is AMPING UP the results allowing a healthy root development. Super cool stuff. Thank you GOD
Isn't gardening so much fun!
GREAT VID. I got a 3 ft. fig branch, cut from a neighbor. What do I do with the end of it, and put it in what , with what? need help please
Type my channel name into UA-cam and include 'rooting figs'. You'll find a ton of videos all about what to do with the cuttings!
two quick questions if they have big leaves cut them down some and do I use a rooting powder?
Remove leaves, rooting hormone will increase your odds.
mike,
got them planted in a old worm bed misted them in after planting them now it is up to me keeping them watered and mother nature so keep your fingers crossed that I did it right
fig leaves change shape as they mature
Thanks, I'm starting to see it as the weather warms up and the new growth is coming on.
Here is my theory; last year WE planted 4 fig trees that came up from SEED. We have many large fig trees on our property, different types. When I eat figs I do not eat the skin, so I toss the uneaten bits in my cold compost. I took out 4 seedling last Spring that came up, of 2016, ALL had that round looking leaf. Seems like many figs when true babies do not have the FIG leaf at first. None developed that true fig leaf until they were about 2-3 feet tall, then the leaves changed. NOW, no joke, those 4 trees are 8-15 feet tall and ALL with fruit. (you can check out my video if you want with all the details there on WHY we think they go so big so fast). One so far is "compost food" 2 are great, and waiting for the fruit to ripen on the last one. Thanks for this video, Robbie
Thanks for sharing videos, keep them coming. Those are some nice big fig trees you've got there! I'm working on an area to put mine in the ground so they can get that big eventually.
Its plain old mother nature at work, RE: the fig leafs. Some leaves are "Male and some are Female." I am amazed at how they grew in your garden. WOW!
I love these figs! I'm learning that the leaves can start out a little different when they're young or at the beginning of the spring when they first start emerging.
what cut of the tree will should be used ? how about if dont have the bottom heat ,and you mean to stuck them in cow manure , wont they get burned?
I think you answered your own question by watching the video, lol. The cuttings were stuck in composted cow manure that was no longer warm (so no bottom heat) and as you can see in the video, they didn't get burned. That whole "burning the plants" thing with too much nitrogen is due to over fertilization with chemical fertilizers. I've used this manure for all kinds of projects from rooting cuttings to growing plants in pots.
Man, you're hard on cuttings. New roots on cuttings are very fragile and tugging isn't a good idea. It's pretty easy to tell if a cutting has struck without tugging on it. Assuming that the cutting isn't dead, some, maybe all, of the buds will open because of the stored up energy in the cutting. At that point, it's highly unlikely that there is much, if any, root formation. As soon as the leafed out buds start to grow, that's an indication of root development. To be safe, I like to see 2-3 inches of new growth before I feel comfortable disturbing the cutting. We are far too impatient when it comes to Nature. By adjusting to her rhythms and one will be much more relaxed not to mention getting better results . Nice results though. Well done, Nature. LOL
Thanks for the comment, this was just an experiment and I had no intention of keeping all of these cuttings. We're having fun here, not impatient or anxious. I waited 2 months for the results. Heck, I happily and patiently wait 1.5 years for the rhododendron cuttings. Leaves don't necessarily mean roots. Check out my vid here and see all the fig leaves without roots: ua-cam.com/video/lKG-bhWulMY/v-deo.html
Oh my, I wish I had lived close enough to come get the ones you threw away. I am obsessed with figs and they are about $10.99 EACH here, the trees, not the figs. You can't even buy figs here. If you don't grow them yourself, you can't get them. I could eat my weight in figs. Seriously.
After reading all these posts I have come to understand that it does not take a doctor to do must of this. I think Mike did a fine job.
The ones you planted outside have different leaves due to the amount of sunlight. Many species of trees and plants have leaf variations due to lighting. The larger leaves from the potted figs are called shade leaves to absorb maximum sunlight. The figs you stuck in the manure didn't have to create as much surface area on the leaves to conduct photosynthesis
Sounds reasonable, thanks Mark!
Great video on fig culture. A couple of questions about your greenhouse: What are the dimensions of the greenhouse, and its height in the middle. Looks like it is made from pvc pipe; is it 3/4" or 1" pvc pipe, and is it two 10' lengths joined together or some other length? I am planning to build a similar one, and want to get tips and ideas from others on their designs. Thanks.
Thanks for the question, Chandra. The greenhouse is 12' x 64' and a little over 7 foot at the peak. I built if with 10' lengths of steel pipe and bent them myself. I concreted the anchor posts in the ground every 4 foot. Total cost was $2000 and took me a whole summer to build because I had a newborn at my feet. I plan to make a video soon about all the details of how I built it.
Thanks for your quick response. I am designing mine with 3/4" pvc pipe, not as big as yours, only about 12x30' size. Another question about your figs; what climate zone are you in?, and are your figs in ground or in containers. I am in NJ, zone 6b, and a first time fig grower; have few small plants, about a foot tall, in 1-gal containers. They will grow enough to probably go into 3 or 4 gal pots before winter arrives. I am still not sure how best to keep them alive thru their first NJ winter. Any tips? Thanks again for posting your informative video.
I'm new to the fig thing too and have only been posting videos on the figs since this past winter. We're in the same boat when it comes to figuring out how to overwinter them but I've been reading and talking to people about it and I think mine are going to go in the well pump house where I have a heat lamp to take the edge off the cold when we hit freezing weather. I'm in zone 8b so I don't need quite as much protection as you but I've got a black madeira KK that I'm a little worried about so I'll take extra special care of him. You're close by Nick who has a channel called 'PA Figs' and you probably have similar weather. He may have some good advice and videos about how to overwinter them. I think all his go in the garage.
Can I use this method now in the month of august and keep them in pots thru the winter or should I wait until spring. I have access to a lot of horse manure
For figs, you'll have to wait until the new growth hardens off in the late fall / early winter. I'm going to start taking my cuttings of figs next winter when it gets closer to spring but I know a lot of people start in the late fall so if I find someone selling cuttings of a variety I want this fall, I may start sooner.
By the way, start stockpiling that manure as soon as possible and let it start composting now. The stuff is gold!
You've got green thumbs, Mike!
I think it's genetic, lol
Mike, I’ve been watching your channel for a few years sorta off and on because I don’t have the time I’d like to do more. I’m a musician and I travel a lot but I love fishing and gardening. Also I’ve never commented before but this morning 5/20/23 I saw something I would be interested in knowing what you think of it. I don’t remember who, but they were propagating roses and mentioned something, almost in just a passing way, that I thought was really interesting and I’m going to ask for your opinion. It might not be a new thing to you but it was to me and I’d never given it any consideration before because I just thought that’s the way it was. Quickly, a few years ago I saw someone, I believe in Oklahoma, talk about these self watering planters and part of the process involved “air pruning” which was better for the roots. Now then I’ve done it and seen you do it without even passing comment and that was removing plants from pots and their roots simply circling around and around. This gentleman had some square pots with holes all around the sides which he claimed prevented roots from strangling themselves by air pruning and preventing that circulating around. I know what air pruning is but never thought about it in any way except in one of those self watering pots. You were talking about figs roots growing wider and becoming entangled so you used cups but still filled your tote with growing medium. This other guy said he got these pots with holes to prevent that but the were pretty expensive. After viewing both videos I was wondering what you thought about putting holes in the nursery pots in the totes while rooting and if they would air layer also. I’m heading out to root some cuttings now and I’m going to use pots in totes with lids except this time I’m drilling holes in the pots just to see if I can stop the roots from circling and becoming root bound. What do you think and what’s so expensive about pots with holes. Any comments on that. Love your shows. I went from being just a subscriber to receiving all notifications. I’m from the southeast, Alabama (war Eagle), and not much fir bark around here but coco choir works well and I agree, sand will work but it’s really too heavy. Again - love your show, adios.
Hey Glenn, I appreciate your question. Yes, I'm very familiar with air pruning pots. I've even created my own here with laundry baskets and burlap (never filmed any of it but sometimes I just play around for the sake of playing around). The reason I don't use them in propagating is because I usually pot the plants up as soon as they're fully rooted. If you were going to leave them in the pot for awhile then it would be very beneficial. They are expensive and that's part of the problem as well. I've gone as far as drilling holes all around black nursery pots to create my own air pruning pots and they work well. If you've got the time, then drill some holes! I have some air pruning pots that I was planning on doing a video experiment with this summer but this house build is really consuming me right now so we'll see if I get to it. Good luck on your projects!
Can you propagate fig suckers? And will they bring fruit? I have an old fig tree that was cut down to the stump and shoots are coming out. It needs a new sunnier location so was wondering if I can propagate those shoots/suckers?
Absolutely! And yes, you'll get fruit.
was there much shade near your manure pile? Seems to me cuttings work better in shade.
About 50/50. I'm going to try this again next year and that sounds like a good test, thanks.
Wow! They look like two different plants,
You ain't kidding.
Cheers Mike, I will try that out now. I have a fig that I want to propagate and move. Thanks heaps! :)
Have fun with it!
May I ask when will be a good time to propagate figs? Usually people prune their tree in late autumn and I will be able to get some cuttings but I don't know is it a good time to propagate them. Thanks.
After the new wood begins to lignify and harden. I usually start after the leaves fall off.
the other fig leaf pattern which is thin .. this ficus carica Turkey fig
Here's a video of what the figs from these cuttings look like: ua-cam.com/video/wd_1UVuWkFg/v-deo.html
Ali, you really can't say what kind if fig it is until you get the fruit, and still hard to say what kind of fig it is with out a comparison. Believe me I know. Check out the fig groups on facebook, and ask questions there if you don't quite believe me. Fig addiction, rafeds fig group, california fig group, to just name a few, and happy figging
Excellent job. I've got some propagating to do.
Awesome! I'm sure looking forward to next spring.
Thank you so much, I shall buy some bags of manures! Is it a horse, cow, goat, manure? Please specify which animal manure from, thanks!
This was cow manure.
Hi Ross: A couple of questions on grafting figs. As mentioned earlier, I am in NJ (zone 6b or 7), and have a few small fig plants (it would be inappropriate to call them "trees" at this stage, I think), about two feet tall with main stems just about 3/8"-1/2" in thickness, and was wondering if I could graft branches of two varieties together while they are still growing individually so I have two varieties on one plant, or I need to wait until the plants are a bit more mature. Also, similarly, would I succeed in grafting cuttings at this stage or, again, should wait for a while until the plants a bit bigger. Lastly, how would grafting work if done in the Fall when the plants go into dormancy; will the graft 'take' during the fall/winter months? Thanks for any tips and insights.
Personally, I would graft in the early spring when the sap starts flowing and you have all summer for the union to heal but I'm not Ross and he has more experience at grafting figs than I do. I think you're looking for Ross Raddi.
Sorry, Mike; I have been watching both yours and Ross Raddi's videos on fig culture, and in my excitement in learning all I can by asking questions I got mixed up between you two. Thanks for your comments on grafting.
Dear friend, if you take the cuttings from the fruit trees that bring fruits already, the little cutting during their first spring time bring fruit, best time a couple of weeks before the spring to be set in soil with roots, and rain water makes miraculous growth strength than their mother fruit tree. Love: Changiz.
You're very right .Rain water is great, contains a lot of nutrients . Plants come alive after rains .
Hey Mike !can you tell us what soil are you using,please help,thank you,
This soil was a mixture of composted cow manure mixed with shavings.
As a rooting hormone I have been dipping the bottom cut end into honey and then putting each cutting into a plastic cup with drain holes. I use coco coir as my growing medium. I then bottom water them sparingly. No humidity dome. I get near 100% germination. I am trying some cuttings with no rooting agent to see if it is really necessary.
I like where you're going with it. I am convinced that humidity for figs is unnecessary and can be counterproductive. I also like the honey idea. More and more I'm trying to get away from chemical use and looking for alternatives and will probably try this honey idea in the near future.
I lost two of my recent batch of Ishia cuttings to mold. I tried using the high humidity method. I guess it is back to the minimalist method, after all it works so good.
I have some fig cuttings that I started inside with bottom heat. A few had a bunch of roots filling their cups, so I up potted them and 2 of them died pretty quickly. I have a tub full of cuttings that are still growing in cups that I moved to my greenhouse and a few of them have lost their leaves, but are still alive. I really want to up pot them or plant them in the ground because some of the roots are turning brown and I'm worried they aren't doing well in the cups. I was told to keep them in the shade, because the sun exposure will damage them. My question is how long do you keep your cuttings in the cups and when and how do you transfer them to larger pots? I started mine in their cups in early February.
Get them in bigger pots and outdoors as soon as possible for more natural air flow and lighting. Not too soon though, you don't want them freezing.
It's a grafted tree for sure . The round leaf usually has very small fruit . Someone grafted a larger fruit variety on the round leaf one.
Great video thank you, about the leaves the 3 lobe one is not really a normal fig leaf, when I had my fig trees in the house for the winter some of them got some new leaves that looked like that, but it is not really what they should look like.
Thanks, it's been a month or so now and the new leaves are starting to grow out into 5 lobed leaves.
mike,
is now a good time to propagate figs? I was at a guy's house yesterday and ask him if I could get some cutting and the next thing I knew he gave me a whole limb so I made cuttings and got them in water till I can put them in the dirt
Absolutely, you can root figs now! Use the older wood. Current season wood may be a little too green still.
Likely the fig was grafted. Could be one or multiple grafts. This could give one tree multiple leaf types. Sometimes the base as well as the graft form a v at the base if the base branch is not cut out. It will create a V with two types of figs. It is unlimited how many fig varieties can be grafted on a single root stock.
I thought the same thing! It would be a lovely tree, imagine the multicoloured harvest!
very nice video.
leaves grows in a different shape depends on the environment.
the round one it's not getting good sunlight
Thanks Johny!
Have you ever tried drying the fig leaves, crumble them up, boil to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, add raw honey and enjoy. Delicious and smells wonderful!! Helps in losing belly fat and other benefits!!
Never heard of that. I'll have to look into it more, thanks.
@@MikeKincaid79 Check out "Moroccan Organic Bazaar" ua-cam.com/video/u2zVEsLLpDg/v-deo.html
Down in the description all the health benefits from fig leaf tea.
I've been losing my gut drinking this tea with raw honey. Good for 2 years, and smells wonderful. I'm propagating more fig stems and going to try a Chicago blend of tea this year. I'm not sure which variety I have, though would like to know. Have any ideas where I can find out Mike?
I am so jealous of your pile of dirt and pile of poop I wish I had a big mound for planting and working it to my garden
If you have a local dairy in your area, you may be able to make that happen :)
Nice work Mike
Thanks Ben. I'm having a lot of fun with these figs.
What city are you in Mike?
I'm in Yelm, about an hour south of Seattle.
I'd really like to pick your brain about how you overwinter figs in our area. I just bought a black Madeira KK from PA Figs and want to make sure it makes it through the winter. Can I just leave it in the hoop house unheated or will it have to come inside my house? I tried looking up cold hardiness of figs but don't get many specifics, especially in our region.
last yr it went in the greenhouse unheated. however I have yet to see any fruit. the yr before it was in the garage. I purposely woke it up in january by bringing it in the house by south window. I was eating bm figs by early sept. bms require alonger season. But it's so worth it. your mind will be blown with your first taste
Is it a pile of straight manure or soil and manure ?
It's a mixture of manure and wood shavings.
After the cutting get rooted, when the leaf (bud) should be seen? How much time? its to be sure the cuttings are not dead...
It all depends on how much light you have them under and how warm the environment is. Could be a week or 2 and it could be a month or 2.
Mike Kincaid thanks for always responds.
pot them all up then compare fruit when they bear fruit. The stresses in the weather forced more temperature difference between the exposed stalks and at the root zones verses the babied ones, more wood juices mixed with manure in the big pile + rooting hormones, possibly more electro valance in the big pile plus the root web communication from food webs shared among grass and tree roots near the pile. What ever the reasons, they liked the pile more than the plastic cups in a tub.
They sure did like that pile.
Just like I said on one of your other videos. Figs are easy. stick the cutting into dirt up to two inches across and they will root for you. No hard work needed. As for the leaf pattern. They do have different leafs at different ages.I have noticed my desert king does it the most with fresh cuttings.
Heck, maybe it's a Desert King. That variety seems to be pretty common in Washington.
This is the only way I do cuttings. I'm so bad with rotting softwood cuttings that I now only do hardwood. And I only stick in the dirt outside to avoid my overwatering them or other mistakes. It's like 100% with crape myrtles and roses. Haven't tried figs yet.
It's a great method and a sure way to get new plants, just takes a little longer.
hey mike i live in new york and i have a fig tree thats from italy. actually my fig tree was a twig i cut from my grandfathers tree thats about 20 years old. when it was a little baby tree the leaves were completely round with no lobes, but this year the leaves look just like the parent tree with big long defined lobes. im pretty sure the leaf pattern is based on age.
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback. I'll keep an eye on these guys as they get older. That's really cool that you were able to get a cutting of your grandfather's fig. Carrying on a family member's name through plants is a special thing.
I'm wondering what the roots would look like if you had scrapped the bark off of 2 inches of the bottom before sticking them in the ground?
Get's me excited just thinking about it. Sounds like a good experiment for next year.
I think the leaf shape is variable, depending on what part of the plant it's taken from. Old, mature growth, vs. lower down to the ground. May also depend upon the size of the cutting as well?
Thanks Dave. Seems like the temp may have something to do with it too. I'll keep an eye on them and see how they look when more mature.
Yes, definitely compare as both plants get larger. I think you'll not be able to tell them apart. Great videos and enthusiasm!
BTW, you might be interested in visiting my Facebook page on Broadleaf Evergreens! It'd be great to have you there. Even though I created it mainly for East Coast mid-Atlantic, you might find some of the posts interesting.
Out here rhodies are much more challenging. Love them though.
Cheers!
facebook.com/groups/BroadleafEvergreens/
Awesome page! Just sent a request to join, thanks.
Sometimes mother nature knows best if you just let her do what she does
I agree 100%
Love the video, as far as the leaf pattern 😵😵😵😱😱😱😰😰😰I don't know, sorry
Wow, you're going back into the archives, Glenda! I had a lot of fun with this one. Reminds me of just getting started with figs.
@@MikeKincaid79 I plan to see them all 😊
Hi you did not say what month did you bury them in manure?
Can't remember exactly but it was late winter when the wood was still dormant. Probably March.
We have brown turkey figs in the uk. What's the best, sweetest tasting figs?
Not sure, haven't tried that many yet as I've only been at the figs for 2 years now. I will say that I have a brown turkey and tried it for the first time last year and it was the best fig I've had yet.
What season can we do that....can we November?
Yes, now is a great time!
Nice for share, how long time we wait to see those roots!
about a month or 2
Hey Mike, can I ask you a question about trees. It seems like you know a lot about everything, been learning a lot from you too!! My mother n law had bought a HYBIRD POPLAR and boy does it grow. I took cuttings from that same tree, my question is will it be a HYBIRD POPLAR?
Absolutely, Thomas! If the cuttings root, they will be exact clones of the parent hybrid tree.
Thank you
Hi, i think, when you place it in a greenhouse, there is glass between the sun and the plant, so it's leaves grow round to catch every ray it can.
When placed in direct sunlight, the plant grows fingers when the sun is too bright.
I think you're right. I've got more of them in the sun this year and am getting similar results to what you described. Thanks!
Do you ever share any cuttings? I would love to try some cuttings in my greenhouse.
Just had a run of them on Ebay, I may do more this winter if time allows
Enjoyed your video, thanks for the info...I will grow figs this year.....
TheFinder
Figs are a lot of fun and they propagate so easily.
Hi... I'm from over the pond in southeast united kingdom, has a semi Mediterranean climate, OK my problem is, I've been growing, which also propagating easily, but none of my figs have had any buds let alone any fruit, any ideas as to why this has happened or been happening, incidentally my original fig is and has always been healthy albeit big also gets fed and pruned... I'd be greatful for any help, before I finally give up and remove them, I feel 5 years is long enough to wait too bite into my own fig...
great videos by the way, really enjoy watching them.
I'm glad you like the videos. I'm not an expert with figs, just getting into them this year. Maybe someone who knows figs better can chime in here and answer your question.
Richard Cottenham How many nodes do your cuttings have on them?.
What's their position? Full sun? Shade? Type (Common, San Pedro, Smyrna etc). Do you know if it's self fertile? Do you know if it has a name e.g. Brown Turkey, Black Mission etc. Do you feed it? What do you feed it and how often? Is it in the ground or a container?
Hey Mike I am wishing to get some of ur figs and rhododendrons I live in Canada do u ship here
If it's legal, I'll ship just about anywhere. I put the figs up for sale on the auction sites in the fall and winter.
@@MikeKincaid79 where is this so I can keep an eye out lol
Ebay and Figbid
The heat from the compost pile was the factor in causing the cuttings to root successfully. I have foxes sleeping on my compost piles on cold days.
Yeah, I've seen deer sleeping out on mine. Either way, I know what's getting stuck in that pile next year.
The figs are fun. They propagate easy and look really cool with their big leaves. I was able to pick up an Olympian this year as well, the local nursery got in about 10 of them in 1 gallon pots and I got in there quick before they all got snatched up.
Great video, I may try this method using potting soil with some of the cuttings I bought off eBay!! Thanks, Mike!!!
Sure did work great around here!
I enjoyed watching.your.video re.fig tree.planting thru cuttings.i hope to watch some more.i pray my friend will be bring me home cuttings of a fig tree. Sure i will follow your instructions in the video.God bless..
dear,,, how make soil media....
I don't make it, they cows do.
Can you propagate pancies?
I don't see why not. Maybe I need to do a video on it.
What variant this fig?
It's an unknown fig from a local piece of property. If you're interested, I've got the whole story about it here: ua-cam.com/video/lKG-bhWulMY/v-deo.html Here's part 2: ua-cam.com/video/soybyKG5snA/v-deo.html
I need to know what to do to keep this fig tree alive and kicking just moved it from my neighbors yard because they were going to just let it go.can send a pic
I'd love to see a pic! Join our Facebook group 'I Love Plant Propagation' and post the pic there! facebook.com/groups/346884795717132/
your rooting success has got to be the soil/ manure mixture. Please tell me more about it
I wonder if the urine in the cow manure has something to do with the rooting. I've read that urine has been used for thousands of years as a rooting hormone. I get this material from a local dairy by the dump truck load because they consider it garbage and want to get rid of it. Great for me and my family because it is beautiful material to use in the gardens, full of worms. The dairy has a gigantic open barn with no walls that they keep all of their mother cows in. Through the year they put down a layer of fine wood shavings and then the cows poop and pee on it for a month or so and then they put down another layer of wood shavings and then more poop and pee. The whole time, the cows are walking on it and mixing. The layers continue all year until it gets about 2 feet deep. Every fall they get a dozer and push all of this stuff out into a huge pile about 50 feet wide by 20 or 30 feet high and then it sits there composting and collecting worms. I go there with the dump truck and load up on all this stuff I can. Hauled 30 loads at 8 yards a load last year.
I'm not sure what it is but it sure works well. I have some farms by me and will ask them for a similar mix. I also believe root foundation is critically important.
It is my first time growing a mission fig tree, I got it from a friend from my Church. I was getting suckers from the mother plant, I too the suckers away from the mother plant. and some of them have taken and others suckers have not. The mother mission fig tree is growing like crazy.. The mother fig tree and it already has fruit on it. I am so exacted.
That's awesome, Danie! I can't wait to get my Black Mission tree in the ground.
wowww so great job..... how if i ask for a few cutting ?
Sometime this winter I'll set up a way to buy a small box of cuttings. I'll let everyone know when the time comes.
great Mike, hopefully i won't missed ... :-) thank you :-)
جميل
شكر
6:45 It could be what is known in the trade as a “botanical sport”
Turns out that figs do this throughout their stages of growth.
can sawdust?
Sawdust will work
@@MikeKincaid79 thank you, sorry if I was hard?
Hi I'm new to your Channel love what you're doing. So you can basically grow any kind of plant from cuttings
Just about
Mike How do you dry figs like the kind you buy in the store just air dry them
Never done it but that's my intention when I start getting a good crop going. I'm going to lay them out in the sun and protect from the birds.
What kind of manure was that?
What kind of manure is it?
cow manure
Mike, I like the size of your greenhouse. Can you tell me who the maker is and dimensions
Hey Greg, I built it from scratch using top rail fence posts. I bent the hoops myself. Took me all summer to build about 8 years ago because I had a newborn at my side. The total cost was 2000 dollars and that included concreting each support post in the ground and all of the gravel for the base. I intent to make a video about how I did it and all of the details as soon as my kids get back in school in a couple weeks. I'm amazed I was able to make as many videos as I did with them running around here this summer, haha. The dimensions are 12' by 64' and I think the height at the center is about 7.5'.
What type of manure?
cow manure mixed with wood shavings and composted