A Word of Warning: from one newbie to the others

[SarinaP]

Most of you know that I'm a complete noob--I have one mature fig tree (but over 20 rooted cuttings, yay!) and have jumped in with all the enthusiasm of a charging bull in a china shop. I've discovered a vendor that you might want to be a bit careful of--French Fig Farm. My issue with them is that they seem to be really expensive and not 100% certain of their stock. This winter, I msg'd them about possibly buying I-258 cuttings from them--they have them listed on their site as "sold out." They indicated that they didn't have any to sell because what they had bought turned out to not be an I-258. Makes me wonder how long it took them to figure this out/if they had sold any without being 100% sure... if they hadn't, then why was it on their website as sold out? They said that they have since bought it from a "reputable vendor" and would be offering plants and maybe cuttings as the new tree is able to produce. I went back to their site today and it's still there, listed as "sold out" along with lots of very expensive plants. The whole thing just leaves me feeling a big uneasy.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, in my limited experience, you probably shouldn't buy fully grown trees for $200+ if you're not 100% sure about what you're getting. Maybe it's more prudent to buy less "valuable" trees from your local nursery or reputable fig nurseries while you're learning about this new hobby. To me, buying or trading for cuttings takes longer but is, in the long term, a safer bet as long as you're getting them from someone trustworthy. If they turn out not to be what you thought, at least you won't be out hundreds of dollars. Anyone else come across vendors that make them feel a little wary?

[SarinaP]

BTW, my "expensive" comment stemmed from a Ronde de Bordeaux that they are selling in a 20-gallon container for $299.00. A very generous member sent me a 1-gallon RdB for Christmas for free...

[SarinaP]

I get that, I do, and have said as much below. You could also plant a 2nd year tree as easily as a 3rd or 4th year tree in a 20 gallon container. To consider it from that standpoint makes perfect sense--people pay thousands for fully grown palm trees in Florida so that they're all the same height. My post is just meant as a warning to newbies that figs aren't as easy as some other fruit to be 100% sure about and to be careful. Ian's comment below was the sort of response I was hoping for, to learn more about the vendors who are out there. Maybe I'm naive in thinking that other newbies might find this helpful.

[Rewton]

To me, seeing the plant grow and develop from a 1 gal to 20 gal container is half the fun.

[WillsC]

Steve I agree completely.

[The Figster]

Buyer Beware at all times.
I feel I was duped by that renowned purveyor of quality plant material TyTyGa! This was last spring and for my birthday I bought 2 fig plants. If I had done just 15 minutes of research on this website I would have avoided this experience.

1 This grower has a notorious track record
2 Their plants were over priced for what I received
3 They missed their shipping date by weeks
4 The plants I selected based on their recommendation from their website, are unsuitable for my area.

Newbies, do this

Sign on as an Ourfigs member and introduce your self. PLEASE indicate your state and growing zone. This helps with advice but it also lets potential neighbors reach out to you.
Then buy 1 or 2 common trees for your area. Ideally in 3 gallon pots or larger as these should provide fruit the first year
Then learn to root cuttings.
Then go big game hunting for the more choice varieties.
You will have a lot of fun, interact with great people, and save your money

happy spring

Ian

[Sarahkt]

It's because for every person who does their homework before buying (or not buying), there's probably someone else who buys without knowing any better.

[Jamie0507]

SarinaP I know their videos are just straight up creepy right??!! Haha! Yep I bought a couple "cherry trees" from them last year.. DOA and they would not refund my money.. Told me they werent dead they were just "dormant".. I guess when you scratch the bark and see nothing but brown that's tyty's version of dormant.. I planted the dead sticks & everything just so I could take a pic of it "never leaving dormancy.. Like ever.." Lol but even then they said they'd refund me but it never showed up in my account.. Lesson learned from that point on.. Those videos though.. Super freaking creepy is an understatement! 😉

[Sarahkt]

If you call your credit card company you can have them reverse the charges. I did that after buying some fruit trees from a scam e-nursery -- among other trees, the prize plant was a "5-in-1 grafted apple tree" that arrived with NO branches. And it was dead.

Emailed the nursery for a week with no reply, called them repeatedly to get a voice mail box that was full... Credit card company came to the rescue.

[Visceral]

Sarina,
In my opinion, if French Fig Farm can find buyers at those prices more power to them. There are people with more money than time who want a fig tree now. And if they ship an incorrect variety, I'd hope they would correct the mistake. I've read about other reputable places sending out plants that turned out to not be what they were labeled, so I think it's more common than we'd all like it to be. And if you've ever bought ANY plants from the big box stores, odds are good you've gotten a mislabeled variety.

[SarinaP]

Excellent point--they are in the NYC area so I suppose $300 for a mature fig tree isn't expensive up there. I guess my advice was more for fig newbies who might think that $300 is the norm rather than a high price. Thank you for your input.

[Visceral]

I wish you had posted this about a year ago when I started looking at figs The advice I got and took was to go to my local nursery and buy full sized plants, which of course are much more expensive than a cutting. And since there were no fruits on them when I bought them, I'm still not sure if what I have is correct. I'd rather buy from someone here that has seen the mother tree fruit or at least someone I can trust would make it right if I didn't get what I ordered when mine eventually fruit.

[hammerwood]

The French Fig Farm is owned and operated by a guy named Rich. To say he is a bit of an ass would perhaps be kind. He used to post on Figs4Fun and was never short of opinions. You'll find many members of Ourfigs that are familiar with him and probably not many with kind words. He is however a true fig enthusiasts who like so many others has tried to turn his hobby into a small business for himself. Perhaps its just me, but I have purchased from him and cannot complain about the quality of product nor the price.

[SarinaP]

Good point--I went back to the site to see if he had cuttings for sale that I didn't yet have, so I wouldn't mind buying something less expensive from them, I just can't wrap my head around listing something as sold out if you already admitted that you didn't have it.

[DBJohnson]

My guess (emphasis on GUESS) is that it may be a hassle to change the webpage to remove it. Since they have acquired the variety elsewhere (supposedly from a reliable source), it may be easier to just list their inventory as zero (aka "sold out&quot rather than remove it now and add it back later.

That's just my guess from having managed inventories before. This is by no means me attempting to influence one way or the other...just some insight into how his inventory system/website likely works.

[jmaler]

http://www.ourfigs.com/forum/figs-home/67806-any-one-purchased-from-french-fig-farm

[SarinaP]

Right... I msg'd Wills this morning about whether I should make a separate post, as this is more of a warning based on what I saw today... that the I-258 is still on the website as sold out, that the 20-gallon plants are $199+, etc. I'm not trying to run them out of town, I just want newbies to be aware of these points, and not just about them in particular.

[PA Figs]

SarinaP, I'm going to give Rich the benefit of doubt and recommend you do the same until you speak with him. He is likely marking it as "Sold Out", because there is no "Waiting to verify this is the correct variety" option in his webpage setup Assuming that is correct, I give him major kudos for marking it sold out until he can verify the variety is true. There are too many folks out there selling varieties as "true" prior to having them fruit. I'm fine if people sell/trade prior to fruit as long as they tell the buyer that, at which point it is the buyer's decision to take the risk or not.

Personally, I don't care if the tree is being sold for $7 or for $300, the buyer can make up his mind as to what it is worth to them. I know I've paid a lot for cuttings from trusted sources who can show their tree has fruited and is true to name. I have also paid nothing for the same thing through friends and people I have gotten to know on the forums, facebook, etc. But each time, it was my choice to spend that money or accept the gift. Either way, if it hasn't fruited for me, I do my best to disclose that to people when I trade/sell. With all of the fake and unverified items being sold on eBay and the forums, I fear there is going to be a lot of upset people this summer and next.

[SarinaP]

That's just it, there was no disclosure, that's why I msg'd him in the first place about buying cuttings of it.

I don't want to argue, we're just going to have to agree to disagree. I don't see the integrity of listing something on your website that you don't have as sold out. The more accurate description perhaps would be "coming soon" or "available in..."

[PA Figs]

Coming soon would definitely be a better description agreed

[SarinaP]

I think we need a Fig Kelly Blue Book... or Purple Book, perhaps.

[PA Figs]

Maybe start a new thread with "What would you pay for..." I imagine the answers would vary considerably.

[don_sanders]

I haven't heard any good things about the site or the owner. I'll avoid it and take my chances elsewhere.

[WillsC]

I would not buy water from him if I was on fire.......I don't trust him. That is all I am going to say on it.

[newnandawg]

Never had any good feelings about him so I have not purchased from him nor will I.

[dkirtexas]

A tip to all,

USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION, ON BOTH FORUMS!

There is a lot of useful information concerning sellers.

[SarinaP]

The proprietor has been in touch and would like me to clarify the following:

1. They did not sell any I-258 that later turned out to be UNK
2. Bryant was right, "sold out" on their page means inventory of zero
3. Sold out items on their page with only fig leaf photos may be varieties they have acquired and are attempting to grow and propagate for future sales. They have not yet given me a definite answer of which types they actually have or are sure of enough to sell.

I, for one, am still confused. I do not understand why a vendor would list items that they are not selling as sold out instead of "coming soon." I stand by my original post that newbies should be careful and ask lots of questions. This is all more complicated than it seems!

[Charlie]

Lots of online nurseries list items as sold out all the time. I guess it gives them content and also gives the looker an impression that since they're sold out of an item, people must be buying it, so it must be good and you get on their waiting list or mailing list for a future sale. I know this because I'm probably on every nursery waiting list lol since summer of 2014. There is one online nursery that has actually contacted me about fig trees I went on a list for, Almost Eden. Now either those others have longer waiting list and stay sold out as soon as they get stock or they don't actually have the item, just website content.

[SarinaP]

That's so interesting--how do you keep track of all the waiting lists? This completely baffles me.

[Taverna78]

Are you look for something that not any one member has to sell? Most online store has mostly common fig.... What you looking for ?

[SarinaP]

I was just looking in general--I'm still learning so was looking at prices of plants, cuttings, etc. At my local nurseries, the common varieties are usually BT and Hardy Chicago for $20 or so for a 1-gallon. We don't get much variety of plants.

[Taverna78]

Be happy you have store with fig in you area ahahahaha! Around here only fig in store is fig Newton or nasty frozen fig. Sometime is fresh but taste terrible and is very expense. Maybe $2 each.

I hope with all good new luck my trees will grown well tis year and then I can eat Fig like pig and then make many baby tree and cutting for members here
The trees I wake up early from winter are grown very very fast....

[SarinaP]

That's awesome! Fingers crossed that we all have a great season!