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by when should figlets be formed?
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Posted by marcantonio zone 7 long island (italo61@aol.com) on Sat, Jun 27, 09 at 16:06
| hi.
i notice some of my trees here on long island
have barely visible or no figlets on the branches
buy when should figs be formed so that they
reach maturity.
marcantonio |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: by when should figlets be formed?
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| Marc, Hope all is well. I think the rule of thumb for figs to mature is 60-90days. |
RE: by when should figlets be formed?
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This is because Some figs are early,cropper,some are late,some are younger some are older,some were retarded by frost,and so forth.
Even early cropper,when young are late to form embryos.
Any fruits that are formed before 15 of July should have enough time to get ripe,if the Sommer is normal as it should be in your zone.
If it is an abnormal cold rainy Sommer,then a lots of them will never ripe.
H2 |
RE: by when should figlets be formed?
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| Herman, in your opinion when should a Hardy Chicago form initials in order to ripen in the north east? I know there are many factors and there are no guarantees. I am just looking for a ball park date. I have 3 Hardy Chicago’s. One from you, one from Hirts, and one from Lowes, they all look the same to me and none are showing initials, while I have 40 or so other plants showing main crop initials. Thanks
Vinnie |
RE: by when should figlets be formed?
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Vinnie:My old Hardy Chicago has fruits the size of a pea seed now.
Of course it only have visible embryos,on the branches that grew first,and I pinched them after the sixth leaf.
The youngest branches do not have any embryo,on.
My tree is a little late this year do to very cold and rainy Spring,and June month.
Yet I still think it will have the first ripe fruits on the 15th of August,and the latest on the 20th of August if the weather stay rainy like this.
Marseilles vs black and Sal's (Gene)are ahead with fruits,(main crop) as large as a large cherry.
H2 |
RE: by when should figlets be formed?
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Herman:
My Marseilles VS, Gene's Sals and a Chicago Hardy are all at the same stage, large cherry size. These are all two year old figs. A Paradiso, Maggie's type, not Gene's, has one fig almost golf ball size but because of the late freeze it has many green stalks with only bumps showing. A Violetta, probably four years old, has many figs larger than cherries, but the kid taking care of them while I was gone let all the leaves burn off and I have no idea what will happen next. I think I should be about a month ahead of you, but the late freeze set us all on the same schedule I think.
Ox
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RE: by when should figlets be formed?
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| Herman thanks for the reply. I am pinching away on all my fig trees but I can't seem to encourage my Hardy Chicago's to push initials. Hopefully they will start to form soon. |
RE: by when should figlets be formed?
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I have a related question.
I used modification to the leaf pinching routine and started pinching at the 5th and sometimes at the 4th leaf for my Zone 5a. Now, I have enough fig embryos and some are the size of fat peas or small cherries (I know 'enough fig' is realative term but enough for the 3rd year trees and comapring to last year ripened crop). I would really like to discard any embryo forming after the first week of July which will have less chance of ripening and thining early will help. I was thinking of using a black marker and mark all the figs formed by then with a mark near the fig and remove all others forming later as soon as they have a neck to twist. Any other idea? Is there a downside to this thinking? |
RE: by when should figlets be formed?
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Herman, good information on main crop figs forming after 15th July. Well, for now I can call it "Happy Days Are Here Again" because most of my trees are loaded with main crop figlets.
Ottawan - I have been pinching mostly at 5th leaf and I am not sure whether pinching at 5th leaf helped in speeding main crop productivity. I never paid any particular attention to pinching & productivity of main crop figlets. I was only interested in more branching activities & keeping them low/small. If it did, my wife is most happy. OK, I won't promise anyone the Jupiter. Its yours whenever you want it. Good thing you wrote, I told my wife not to water too much, just a small drink -- too heavy for mailing. It's growing wonderfully. |
RE: by when should figlets be formed?
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Ottawan:Your Ideea is good,I say go ahead and use it.
If you are able to pinpoint all the figs that are not going to ripe,In Fact,Then,you got the magic touch!!!!
H2 |
RE: by when should figlets be formed?
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| Thank Herman. I hope it gives me reasonable number of ripe figs this year. Hi Paully, Pinching at 5th gives me fewer fig embryos and a few days earlier (& every day counts). Also, there is less additional extension of the branch so it has to feed nutrients to fewer figs. I have more than enough baby figs and I have the feeling that even if half of these ripen for my Zone 5a then I have made it. I have been pinching at 4th leaf for a week now since it is getting closer to my own set deadline of 'end of 1st week of July' for the last embryos (& then pinching when the fig embryo forms a neck).
If I am still left with a lot of green figs by frost time then the end of June will become my deadline for a normal summer years (for the last fig embryos). Experimenting will help with techniques and finding the right cultivars for my location. |
RE: by when should figlets be formed?
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| Ottawan - in addition to pinching at 5th leaf, I also pinch off some figlets. Hopefully your exercise will bear some good results & this would be of immense value in my zone where I would start pinching after 4th leaf. Remember to post your results. I am trying to harvest all my figs by 1st week Oct. Thereafter, with insufficient heat units the ripe figs taste is unacceptable. Maybe only good for making jam. |
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