$2 cuttings, 17 varieties

[GreenFin]

Hi everybody,

My outdoor in-ground fig orchard is going to be going dormant soon (first frost is usually in mid-October), so I'm lining up new homes for the cuttings now. I've got wood available for 17 varieties, and I'm selling them all for $2 per cutting.

I set up a basic site at http://www.FigCuttings.com to streamline the ordering process, so rather than pm'ing or emailing your order to me, simply scroll through the varieties there and click the 'add to cart' buttons to order whatever you want.

I've tallied how much wood can be pruned from each tree, and have listed a safe estimate of how many cuttings will be available. When those safe estimates are reached, I'll remove the 'add to cart' buttons for those varieties so that I won't oversell my available inventory.

I can't ship internationally or to California, I apologize.

Happy figging

[GreenFin]

And btw, let me say wow this forum is really coming along! I've had a busy year with work and family and haven't done much fig foruming since last winter, and it's pretty cool to see all the improvements. I especially love the varieties list/pages, that's a great feature.

[Kelby]

Nice setup!

[JohnnyK]

Thanks for the offer. My order has been placed.

[pacifica]

Are you accepting order for Canada as well ?

[GreenFin]

Are you accepting order for Canada as well ?

No, sorry. Too expensive and too much red tape.

[GreenFin]

UPDATE -- We finally got frosted a couple of nights ago, so I'm anticipating clipping and shipping in about 2 weeks, which would be around Nov 14th. That'll give the trees a bit of time to lose their leaves while still allowing me to get them pruned before freezing temps hit and damage the wood.

I also can ship to California now.

[greenfig]

Nice!
Pretty much everything is sold out!
It seems you a busy time going through the orders

[GreenFin]

Thanks, and yes, it'll take a lot of time. I like pruning and sending out cuttings, though, so at least it'll be enjoyable time

I should have some extras of all of those varieties after I prune and get an exact count on how many cuttings there are, so they'll all become available again in a couple of weeks until I sell out for real. Then around January I'll prune my potted greenhouse varieties and offer them.

My collection is actually kind of small for how long I've been figging, especially compared to a lot of other members. I'm going to ramp that up this winter, though. I think I have about 40 varieties on my wish list, and I'm sure there are lots more to add that I've either forgotten or just haven't read about yet.

[GreenFin]

UPDATE

All the orders were shipped out over the past couple of days, so you should all receive your cuttings early next week.

I've still got a lot of extra cuttings available from many varieties, since I did such a heavy pruning. Here's the current list:

Alma
Black Jack
California Brown Turkey
Conadria
Gino's Black
Hardy Chicago
Improved Celeste
Italian Honey
Latarolla
Marseilles Black VS
Nero 600m
Panache
RdB
Salce
Strawberry Verte
Texas Everbearing
Uncle Corky's (needs fig wasp)
VdB
White Marseilles

You can see the listings and place orders at www.figcuttings.com (Californians welcome)

[joann1536]

I just shot you an order from CA... Glad you can now send here. Thanks!

[GreenFin]

Sure thing, JoAnn. Your cuttings will ship out tomorrow, so they should be there around Wednesday

[JohnnyK]

I just got my order in the mail yesterday. Thanks a lot... I appreciate it. Im also looking forward to see what other varieties you'll have available this winter.

[spin]

I take it GreenFin got banned from not delivering what people ordered?

[Johnson1]

The issue with GreenFin extended well beyond this offer. Not wishing to stir things up but suffice to say the Atty Gen in his state became involved.

[nickawwad]

I know there was a lot of variation in experiences/outcomes, I was one of the lucky in that James refunded me fully my money

[YATAMA]

Entire episode was a textbook case on how to NOT run a new business I am just curious as to what he's doing these days and how it's working out.Myself,having once started a real successful biz with zero probs because I got hands on guidance from the old boys who knew the game and how to avoid trouble,,I suspect thinking you"know it all" when you really have no idea dooms the majority of new businesses which apparently generally fail. But if one can make it work, running your own biz can be a quite satisfying experience, no boss except yourself and your customers!Ask Wills. he runs a good game.

[DCoonsis]

GreenFin still has his business. I don't know how he's doing but I've bought from him and he's got reasonable prices, much lower than the other competitors. What ever happened in the past I'm glad I didn't know cause he seems like a pretty good guy. I think everybody deserves a second chance in everything, after all we only live once. Why hold a grudge for life, it's only gonna eat you little by little. It's best to let by gones be by gones...IMHO

[Ben_in_NoFLA]

hopefully he learned from his mistakes. I certainly learned to wait over a year for a prepaid order and received nothing, eventually got my refund,
Competition is good, I hope he gets his s**t together and is able to build a reputable business. He will also learn that it is much harder to establish a good reputation after he crapped all over it instead of starting fresh with a clean slate. I would likely not order for a couple of years and see how things develop before committing any funds.

[AscPete]

spin ,

GreenFin was not banned for his $2.00 Cuttings Offering.
1. Offered $2.00 Cuttings on the old Figs4Fun Forum starting in 2014, it received 100% Positive Feedback.
2. Offered Cutting here and at F4F in 2015 with similar feedback.


The problems occurred after he offered $7.00 plants on the Forums and on his website in 2016. OurFigs Administrator and Moderators prohibited the $7.00 Fig Tree Offer on our forum.
1. Fig Forum members were informed that their payments would be financing the operations as "start-up funds".
2. Optimistic projections were made about establishing and cloning "plant stock".
3. Greenhouses / Tunnels were needed and constructed to increase the growing season due to the colder zone.
4. Website "only" customers were not aware of the "Start-up Funding" and were given optimistic delivery dates.
5. Delivery dates were exceeded by more than one year, uninformed web customers joined the fig forums and complained publicly.
6. Several customers pursued legal action to recover their funds, others waited patiently.
7. The "Ban" occurred after he attempted to blame his customers and others for his failure to deliver the purchased plants.


Those are basically the facts that are documented on the Fig Forums. Personally I would not hesitate to order cuttings from his website, my experience had also been positive.

[Mangoman]

I could never order cuttings or anything else from a guy who has stiffed so many people out of their hard earned money. There is a guy named Wills who gave us this site to enjoy, who gets the mass of my business, not counting trades of course!

[spin]

Okay, thanks. Found his website and I'll pass on ordering anything.

[Seaj]

I will admit i have purchased from the figcutting site! Being new to figs i made a purchase from him then found out he was banned. I reached out and told him to cancel my order, explaining that i didnt want to take a chance on getting burned. He explained everything and told me he is bound by law and his past issues to not break anymore crimes. I did my research on the public records regarding the case and made a decision to proceed. the trees i got are doing great today! I feel everyone in life who has learned from a poor decision should be allowed to have a second chance. I have also purchased several figs from Wills site, however my being new to figs i wanted to build my collection and couldn't find everything i wanted on the site. The way i see it, If its for sale and you want it buy it! I buy where i can, and have paid as much as $400 for some of the figs because it was something i wanted and for sale in one place (figbid)! Btw not knowing what to expect i got figs of different container sizes and 7 and 3 gal were all cut back to the bases! The cuttings in the cups were much better and some of them are now holding figs!

[Michael]

As apparently a fairly new figger, what did you buy for $400?

[Seaj]

@ Michael my Thermalito, was about 400, my Exqusito,Robert Golden Rainbow, Col de Dama Rimada, Calderona, Martincena Rimada, Col Littman Black Cross cost between 200-350

[Enscribe]

I have purchased cuttings from him in 2018 and earlier this year with zero issues. I had no knowledge of this and have had only positive experiences.

It sure seems that the crowd funded fig orchard start up is not a good idea, lol.

[Johnson1]

This post originates from 2015, I would let the number of positive reviews speak for themselves. Besides nice plants it always helps to get correct varieties. Long term refunds are problematic.

[lewi]

James Sperman can go to H#ll as far as I am concerned. He took a lot of people for a ride, many of them in Asia, one who spent almost TEN THOUSAND for hundreds of trees....all the while promising us trees for 7 dollars....when he claimed he did not have enough to fill almost any orders.

Maybe he learned it's not that easy to steal from so many people, maybe he will try again when his other pinky toe gets banged up.

You are praising someone who cheated me and many others.

Further this individual I hold responsible for shutting down an earlier fig forum / community FIGS4FUN. His actions led to a big mess on that board.

[arachyd]

I'm probably one of the most patient people around. I lost patience after about 1 3/4 years when I saw excuse after excuse and ever-changing delivery dates at the same time people started posting how they'd just ordered and got their order quickly. Some of them ordered what I'd paid for more than a year previously. That was the last straw because it showed he had NOT learned from his mistakes. He was still running the same game but honoring some new orders probably to get people to give positive reviews and to stay out of jail. I ordered online and was given no clue that this was a start-up venture/gamble. He replied multiple times to my angry emails that he needed my order information again. It took 2 years to get my trees. They would have been worth a lot had I gotten them when I was supposed to. Now they are a lot more common and not nearly so valuable. I will never order from him again because I truly believe he's only doing good now because he's being watched.

[lewi]

Well said.