I messed up and mixed a lot of my figs up when I planted them out for the summer(had to get them out in a hurry,they were starting to suffer inside), and they thrived after being planted in a garden bed. My labeling turned out to be insufficient, lol. The ones whose identities are in question are: Giant Amber, White Ischia, Genoa, Brown Turkey, Celeste, Alma, I think maybe one or two other varieties. Sizes are between 4-12 inches tall, with nice root systems. I plan to list them as unknown variety, and list the varieties they may be(or is that not a good idea?) I don't want to add to the fig confusion(like my "Celeste" tree that my mom bought me, that ripened one delicious, small PURPLE fig a few days ago), so I can just hold on to these till they are identifiable by variety if necessary.

One whose identity is certain is a VDB. It seems to be a healthy plant, approximately 3 inches tall, has probably 10 or so leaves spread out from center. If it has good enough roots to sell(I haven't checked yet), what would a fair asking price be for this fig?

I also have a labeled Genoa that is about 6-7 inches tall. It is small, but seems pretty healthy. What would be a fair price for this one?

Thanks for your input!
Carrie

Since the figs in question were received as moldy cuttings, which I paid to ship (I am very thankful that they offer this service to the public, and they do a great job, by the way). I very carefully disinfected them and tried rooting using the plastic baggie method. At least once a week(for about 2 months) I had to repeat the process, to keep mold from destroying all the cuttings. I incurred the expense of all the containers, supplies, perlite, and potting soil to care for these cuttings. Each day, as some rooted well enough to pot up, I had to carefully detangle all roots, treat remaining cuttings, and re-bag them. When it started looking like the reluctant ones were not going to root in the bags, I made a greenhouse for them. Every day, I carefully watererd, inspected, and treated for mold as required, spending an enormous amount of time and not a little money, nurturing the cuttings, until they were ready to go outside. Then I daily checked for water/other needs, and in the Texas summer heat, that is quite a task. I guess all of this is to say: no, I really don't see an ethical delimma in doing what I am doing.

Obviously you (garyandjessie) do think there is a problem with that, though I don't understand your view, I respect it. I honestly never thought about it that way before. I will give it some more thought.

Anybody else have an opinion on this, one way or another? And for all, would you feel differently if one were to sell cuttings (or trees) that were taken as cuttings from trees that were rooted from cuttings from UCD?(I mean get a cutting from UCD, root it, grow the tree. Then take cuttings from that established tree and sell cuttings, or rooted cuttings)?

Thank you all for your input.

Unless the UCD cuttings came with a "non transferable title", I would not worry about selling the plants on ebay once you know for sure what it is!

I guarantee the UCD cuttings/plants have been sold in the past!

Regards

Cecil

Dan

Dan- I only ask for cuttings to try to root out myself. I wouldn't turn around and sell them, I agree that doesn't seem right to do. I also don't order cuttings of varieties I know I already have.

I am glad to see most everyone feels the same as I do, that it is ok to try to recover some of the costs in producing the plants.
Thanks all!
Carrie

If I were you I wouldn't worry about what garyandjessie

Says, Hell I never heard of them Guy's??????????????

thats my 000.2 cents

Cecil

should a student feel guilty for making money using the knowledge acquired at their institution of learning?

should someone feel bad about rooting cuttings from one source and later trading them for other cuttings?

in any case, i really don't think so. these are not exactly the same situation, but really, i think they are in the same spirit.
i think if someone has provided you a resource, and you're able to turn that single resource into many more resources you can to benefit from, more power to you.

i doubt i would personally sell them (more likely to give away free), but admit that i would understand how/why someone would do this, it would definitely help to cut down on the cost of supplies to keep such a habit.

In the UC Davis order form, it states that:

The germplasm in the Davis genebank is maintained primarily for plant breeding and other research purposes. The genebank is not an alternative to commercial nursery sources, and unlike most nurseries, it cannot certify that its material is disease-free. Whenever possible, non-researchers should obtain planting material from commercial sources, or seedsavers/heirloom plant sources, etc. which can be identified on the internet. Requesters should understand that a single shipment costs the repository $50 to process and requests made because material is "free" compromises our ability to maintain and provide this important plant material for future food security.

I feel that your discussion should be based on the UC Davis statement.

I see "Whenever possible, non-researchers should obtain planting material from commercial sources, or seedsavers/heirloom plant sources, etc. which can be identified on the internet."
To me, that means that one should not just request cuttings because they are "free", but to exhaust other potential sources before requesting cuttings. I believe I did that. I looked many places, including ebay, and doing general searches, I think I searched pretty thoroughly for the varieties(and quantity of varieties) I was wanting, (that was my first step when starting to look for cuttings). When I saw that the quantity and variety wasn't as diverse, and truthfully, the price was prohibitive, I requested from UCD. I put my honest purpose for requesting the cuttings on the order form, and if they were unable or unwilling to send me any cuttings based on that, I would not be offended. I would be disappointed, but I would understand.
Carrie