New member Ingevald...Welcome

[AscPete]

Ingevald (Byron),

Welcome to Our Figs forum Community.

And I'd like to say thank you again for all the informative topics and posts that you've shared on the forums. Especially the info on Japanese Fig Culture, which has been instrumental in my fig growing and harvesting successes.
Happy Gardening...

[F. Bennett]

Welcome, Byron!

[Ingevald]

I appreciate the welcome. I'm up to my eyeballs in various projects this spring, not to mention repotting and other activities involved with getting the figs ready for the season! I've not had as much "forum time" and research time as I have had in the past but will certainly post interesting things that I come across.

I've really enjoyed reading through what is posted so far on this forum. I've appreciated the posts on container soils, fmv stuff, nutrient supply, stepover fig culture, posts about specific varieties, etc. What I am also appreciating about many of the posts is that the posts contain some very useful dense and distilled information. Links to other articles and papers are always appreciated for more in-depth reading!

Byron (aka Ingevald) northeast Kansas

p.s. If you have wondered about the "Ingevald" handle that I have used, it is the name of a very distant Swedish ancestor. I named my Scandinavian music ensemble "Ingevalds Spelmän" after that ancestor - I like the name. Also, if you are curious about the avatar I use, it is a picture of a "Shirazi" fig, a small dried fig from Iran. They are a delicious treat.

[Harborseal]

Hi, Byron! Nice to 'see' you! My plants are a month ahead of last year because it was warm and we got no frost in April. Did yours leaf out early?

[AscPete]

Hello Byron,
I'm in the same boat...
I've been bare rooting and up potting fig trees for the past few days and it seems like I'm falling behind
and I haven't had time to start the garden or trim the fruit trees and bushed... What's worse is that the day time temps are into the 70's and everything is in bloom, except mulberries.

[newnandawg]

Welcome Byron!

[Darkman]

Welcome Byron! Looking forward to your reports. Good to see you here.

[Ingevald]

In northeast Kansas, like other regions of North America, we have to be very careful when selecting the time to move the figs outside (especially if there are a lot of them to move). If brought out too early due to a false sense of warmer weather, they could get zapped by a cold snap and that would result in a crisis. Fortunately I haven't had to deal with that issue and tend to be a bit conservative when it comes to the "haul it out" time.
I enjoy this time of year, watching the pale leaves turn green and to watch them fill out with leaves.

It wasn't too bad in my garage this year, but most had broken dormancy and had grown up to two inches with a few small pale leaves. One year I did not get them out till the second week of May due to cold weather but the cyclical warm days had prompted them to really grow in the dark garage. Then there was the year, perhaps 3 or 4 years ago when spring started around March 2nd and stayed very warm from that time forward. I moved them out early that year for a long growing season.

As far as container growing is concerned, I really enjoy looking at the moveable orchard that Bill Muzychko http://figs4fun.com/bills_figs.html has developed. I don't have the storage capacity or else I would be growing them in larger pots and using the special two wheeled dolly to move them around. As it is right now, they are jammed into the garage, stacked almost to the ceiling with just enough room to lightly water them.

I may have had one casualty this year and that is about the average. Usually a pot that was buried too deeply doesn't get enough water and I loose a plant. However, I have also learned to hang on to the "dead" plants because I have had some amazing resurrection experiences, with some coming to life as late as mid July. So far, no major packrat issues!

One other update - You may have seen a "stepover" fig project that I started in our community orchard last year http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox....4805?&trail=50 I screwed up on the winter protection (inadequate) and it froze to the ground. I am re-doing it this year and will add more insulation!! I am certain that this will work and am impressed that others are experimenting with this way of managing figs.


Byron

[Taverna78]

Ciao new friend I hope you are well

[WillsC]

Byron,

Welcome, glad you joined up.

[Rui]

Welcome, Byron. Good to see you here, and looking forward to your posts.

[drphil69]

Welcome Byron, I do remember your step over community tree, sorry it didn't make it. We had another bad winter, and with a heater malfunction my figs saw 12F one night and 14 or 15F another. It looks like most of them made it, still waiting on a couple to awaken.