Fruits and Nuts: A great year for figs, 1 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
Hi, all!

I came to the "Forums" looking if there was a Fig Forum--and then ran across
this Thread. It is OK--I will ask you all....

Most of the Posts here are from warmer regions--eg. FL, GA, TX, etc.
I live in Baltimore, MD. Zone 7a. We can have nasty winters--like last year.

I do not have any Fig trees, but my neighbor had a humongous one--
up to her 2nd floor windows. They are from Spain--and someone brought a
cutting of this Fig they have had in a suitcase 35 yrs. ago.
I do not know the name of it. She just always called it her "Spanish Fig".
They are sooo honey sweet--green when ripe--Med. sized--pear-shaped fruit.

Her husband passed away 4 years ago. This was HIS tree. He always took care of it.
Last summer it did not produce too many figs. She was away in Spain and i was
attending to her garden a bit. There were not many to eat.....bummer! I love them!

I took a few cuttings to root--(this was in fall of 2012) just for fun and to share on DG
if they rooted and grew. Well--one of them made it.
I took good care of it--kept it under my seed set-up lights and it made it through it's first
winter (under the lights) like a champ. It grew well, and by spring I had a nice-sized
healthy cutting, slowly leafing out.

It was all MINE--still--all during the summer of 2013. I was going to pass it on to someone
at our Spring Swap.
When my neighbor returned from her 3 months in Spain, she decided that she no
longer wanted the huge tree rubbing against her house and had it cut down--to the ground.
It was an impetuous decision, but that is how she operates....Then, usually, has regrets.

Early this summer, we were talking sitting at my patio table. The harsh winter had taken it's toll.
Any new growth (since she had it cut down) had frozen to the ground.
She was close to tears--as all her children had also lost their young Fig trees, passed down
and grown from cuttings from their father's tree. Now they had nothing to "carry on" with.
I had to bite my tongue not to say--"SO? Why did you have it cut down????"

This touched me--and I got up and brought her the one cutting that I had nurtured and
grown and said--"This is yours!"...It was now about 12" tall and healthy. She cried with joy.
And then--all the dead figs grew back from the roots into monster bushes.

My cutting is now 3' tall and sturdy in a 1gal pot. I will still give it to her to pass on
to whomever she wants to--but none of them are gardeners. It will be up to me
to tell them how to care for it through the coming winter. I am NOT keeping it!

SO--NOW I get to the reason I wrote to you all. Thanks for reading all this so far.

I will be taking cuttings again off of many of the new grown stems--as there is
NO way she can allow all these to grow out. it has to be selectively pruned NOW!
Yes! I will root the tops of most of the cuttings again. Maybe even the stems below the tops.

My question is:
1--Should a well growing, healthy, rooted fig cutting be still brought into the house for the
second winter????? See pic #1.
Somewhere--someone had written that that is what needs to be done.
I realize that IF they plant this new Fig I have grown in the garden it will need to be
wrapped in something and insulated so it can make it through this coming, equally
nasty winter.

2--OR--should I tell whomever takes this new fig I have rooted that it still needs to be
taken inside as a houseplant and grown as such until next spring?

Your opinions, please.....and thanks for reading my long Post.

Gita

1--The Fig cutting I have grown--now about 3' tall---2 years old.

2--The new growth from the roots since it was frost-killed.
Several of these stems will be cut back to the ground and I will get them
to start to root new cuttings. Getting late! She better make up her mind
about which ones I cana cut back!