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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] invasive figs?

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  • From: Lon Rombough <lonrom@hevanet.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] invasive figs?
  • Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 09:54:30 -0800

And yes, you can grow seedlings from Smyrna and Calimyrna, the two main types that use caprifigs and wasps for pollination. I've done it, though it was mostly for curiosity. The trees died of neglect before I got them in the ground. Just take seed out of the dried fig and spread it on soil in a pot or flat, cover it lightly, and keep it moist but NOT wet. According to the fig breeding literature, you MIGHT get some of the "common" type that don't need pollination among the seedlings.
The pollinated type figs have richer flavor than the common ones, especially when dried. The oily, developed seeds add flavor, for one thing.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003.
On Feb 9, 2005, at 9:20 AM, lee reich wrote:

California does produce the kinds of figs (Smyrna, e.g.) that need the wasp for pollination and then bear seeded fruits. The techniques and wasps were introduced around the turn of the 19th century. These California figs are branded Calimyrna.

Lee Reich
www.leereich.com


On Feb 9, 2005, at 11:57 AM, Diane Whitehead wrote:

I have just read Invasive Plants, Weeds of the Global Garden, by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The title is a bit grander than the content, which is about North America, with about half of the plants mentioned causing problems only in Florida.

California has a few problems, too, though, including Ficus carica, the edible fig. According to John M. Randall of the Nature Conservancy, Davis, California, it has invaded riparian habitats including streamsides and canal banks in the Central Valley, the south coast and the Channel Islands.

>From what I remember from reading, only wild figs have viable seeds, and they require a specialized wasp to fertilize them. The figs we grow in North America are ones that produce fruit without the wasp, and without viable seeds.

Am I incorrect? Could I remove the seeds from my figs and grow them?




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