bonechickcris:

I think you should do a quick search on this forum regarding growing edible figs from seeds.

I know that the seeds hold a great deal of sentimental value to you and your family, but go back and read my first sentence.

Sorry. I truly wish you luck and happy growing. I hope you find what you are searching for.

Best regards,

Frank

Thank you Frank!

Yes, I did do some seaching on our forum. I know that there are chances that the seeds may not self pollinate, but I was wondering if maybe someone knew more of a ratio?
I know that I have seen several fig varieties over at the figs4fun forum that were from seedlings, so I know that it is possible to get self-fruited varieties from seed.

I know there is info on how to start seedlings too, but I was more interested in finding info that pertained to the germinating of aged seeds specifically. I guess I could try to find a site based on germination that may help?

It is more so that it is such a "gold mine find" to me to find these seeds since the tree (and my Grandma) are both deceased. So I can only try to explain how it feels to find this, like as if you lost a loved one, and 20 years later, you found a long letter or video made by that loved one for you, that you never saw before. Almost like they have come back to life in a small way.

So, to get something to germinate, even if not the exact fruit, would make me happy, to know that it at least was part of something that no longer exists.

Again, thank you for the help! Christy

bonechickchris:

Sites explaining the different methods used to germinate seeds will probably have all the information that you need. Since figs are sort of "tropical", the seeds probably need to be kept warm to germinate. Depending on the amount of seed, you could probably sow them in a clear-topped, shoe-storage box, place on top of your refrig. ... where it's warm. This set-up will act like a mini-greenhouse. But please, check-out germination sites for better methods. I'd keep some seeds in reserve in case damp-off hits the new plantlets. You might want to use a sterile medium, also.

I fully understand why you must pursue this course/quest. I pray that you succeed, and triumph in your botanical, and spiritual endeavors. May you reap what you sow! God-Bless!!

Frank

I think the problem is not that they won't germinate, it's that figs from seed rarely produce anything edible, much less fruit resembling the parent tree. Sadly, I have personal experience in this. I have 2 trees now four years old which were volunteers in my back yard. I have them in pots and have been carefully training them to espalier. One of them fruited this year and last, the other fruited for the first time this year. Both of them had beautiful fruit, one produced about 20 green fruit, the other was actually a very pretty red fruit.

HOWEVER both of them were nasty dried-out things on the inside, which is what all the knowledge on growing figs says will happen when you try to grow figs from seed--dried out nasty fruit. I tasted them, and they had a faint fig flavor, but were in no way sweet. I am going to try and sell them as ornamentals at this point, or just throw them out and quit wasting my time, space and water.

This is why figs are started from scions (cuttings) by experienced growers, so you know exactly what you are getting. Don't waste 4 years of your life only to be disappointed like I was!

Carla in Sac

I can't help with how to germinate them, but Please try to germinate them Christy. If one sprouts and gives you a tree, edible fruit or not, it is a part of your past and therefore a success!

When my parents sold the farm I grew up on, 31years ago, I rooted and/or dug up bushes and trees that I had grown up with. I planted them here and there around my property.

The farm is gone, my parents are gone, but the memories live on in those bushes and trees.

I brought some seeds home with me from a fig I got at a street market in Munich Germany. I put them on a wet paper towel and folded it over on top of them and put it in a zip sandwich bag, After a couple of weeks I had sprouts :>) I planted them in peat cups using a fine peat potting medium, the sprouts were very small, I cut the sprouts out of the paper towel so as not damage any of the roots that had grown into the paper.... there were small bits of paper planted with the sprouts. They are about 2 inches tall now, If I can figure out how to post photos I will.
I've got a question for the EXPERTS.... "If you only get edible figs from trees that you start from cuttings, what would you get if you started a tree from cuttings off a tree that you started with seed ?"

Figs that weren't pollinated unfortunately will not germinate. Unless they are pollinated by a fig wasp the seeds are usually hollow, the fig wasp is available in the Mediterranean and was imported into parts of California. Not available in the east coast.
Seedlings rarely will produce the same quality fig as the parent. In Carla's experience they could possibly be Male figs.

Bass

Since fig trees make sucker sprouts from the bottom of the trunk, it is difficult not to push these off on neighbors and friends so they can have their own trees. I feel that if you facebook around among old relatives, neighbors and friends, you could find someone who took a sucker from that tree and have it in their yard. The cajun posters on this forum talk about the "cajun" fig that may have mutated from some root stock and was handed from house to house, as a result growing in many homesteads in Louidiana. Anway, best of luck to you in your search. I know how you feel, I have sentimental attachments to plants. and I think of my friends when I tend the plants.

hrhcsh,

a cutting is just a clone of the parent plant. If the parent plant has inedible figs, so will the clone.