AusBonsai

rescued these two figs from a roof guttering

the big one needed some big thick bulbous roots cut
i like the potential of the small one
if they survive to next summer i'll be a good find i reckon?

They have potential defiantly ! But I'd be keeping an eye on them in those pots, looks like the roots will be very exposed to insects and the elements

they'll definitely survive. the smaller one has interesting movement already

Should be ok, like the potential of the second one, let them settle for a bit then gradually start to feed.

Hah! OK, I feel extremely foolish right now, but I didn't think ficus grew from seeds... Foolish I know, but our neighbor has a fully mature 30/40meter ficus in his backyard that bombards our backyard with their nuts/seed-pods/what-ever leaving us a Silo bin of these pods but none of them have ever produced any seedlings!

Are we lucky that we don't have a Forrest in our backyard or are ficuses monoecious?


Cheers
Elmar

my understanding is they have to go through a bird /bat/possum etc gut (or ferment) to germinate
this gutter was no where near a fig tree but they are every where is brisbane. there was a mango tree about 50 m near by and i got a couple mangos out of the guttering as well - i blame possums or crows. the gutter was full of leaf litter from a lilly pilly tree - hadn't been cleaned out in years ( there did seem a lot of lilly pilly that had germinated but died)

CoGRedeMptioN wrote:Hah! OK, I feel extremely foolish right now, but I didn't think ficus grew from seeds... Foolish I know, but our neighbor has a fully mature 30/40meter ficus in his backyard that bombards our backyard with their nuts/seed-pods/what-ever leaving us a Silo bin of these pods but none of them have ever produced any seedlings!

Are we lucky that we don't have a Forrest in our backyard or are ficuses monoecious?


Cheers
Elmar

My understanding is that each type of fig requires its own unique species of wasp for the job.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus#Mu ... _fig_wasps

I'm not sure that's always the case though as I have pulled several figs grown from seed out of my yard, and I'm pretty sure we don't have the wasps that should be required for the task around here.

lackhand wrote: My understanding is that each type of fig requires its own unique species of wasp for the job.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus#Mu ... _fig_wasps

I'm not sure that's always the case though as I have pulled several figs grown from seed out of my yard, and I'm pretty sure we don't have the wasps that should be required for the task around here.

Did you buy the seed or did you extract the seed from the figs?

The wasps actually fertilise the flowers and are quite tiny. They enter through a very small hole at the base of the fig as the flowers are all on the inside of the fig. Wherever figs grow naturally these wasps would also be there but I doubt you would ever see them or if you did, realise what they are.

As for germination, I have had success with fresh fruits and regurgitated seed (there is a correct term for this that has slipped my mind, but basically a few types of birds eat the fruit and regurgitate them). The regurgitated seed has germinated for me more easily, but fresh seed has germinated too. My best results have been in a foam box with seed spread on top of the mix and then covered with a sheet of glass.

I also have many come up naturally in my pots, more so in the orchids which reside under some large lilly pilly trees.

Try mashing up some figs and putting them in some water in a plastic chinese takeaway container. Then put that in a sunny position for a week so the figs ferment a bit. Then dry them out and get the seeds out. See if you have any success with germination.

paulofoz wrote:Try mashing up some figs and putting them in some water in a plastic chinese takeaway container. Then put that in a sunny position for a week so the figs ferment a bit. Then dry them out and get the seeds out. See if you have any success with germination.

We're talking ficus seed pods, yes!?!? Not the fruit figs...


Cheers
Elmar

The figs you know as a fruit are just a different species of Ficus. Australian figs aren't the tastiest, although the sandpaper figs are considered edible.

Figs very easy to germinate from fresh seed. Either ferment it like Paulfoz outlined and spread on top of the potting mix or just squash the fruit on top of the potting mix.
I was told fig seed will only germinate with light so do not cover it up like other seed.

I have some Pjs in my igloo that produce fruit. Last year I planted some to see if the seed is fertile - ended up with a forest. Not sure whether I have PJ fig wasps in my igloo here in Yackandandah but the fruit has obviously been fertilised somehow.

Jarad wrote:

lackhand wrote: My understanding is that each type of fig requires its own unique species of wasp for the job.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus#Mu ... _fig_wasps

I'm not sure that's always the case though as I have pulled several figs grown from seed out of my yard, and I'm pretty sure we don't have the wasps that should be required for the task around here.

Did you buy the seed or did you extract the seed from the figs?

I did nothing. Seed came from a tree in my yard (F. microcarpa nitida). No treatment or encouragement by me at all, just saw them growing and though hey, those look like ficus. I dug the seedlings and kept them in a pot just to see, but they're definitely ficus. So either we have the wasps here in the US (doubtful) or maybe the birds eat them and then spread seed around (more likely). M

update on these two
the little one i have done little with - wired to two branches and decided to experiment with air layering the top off... i did this because there was an obvious reverse taper before the top branches
i am thinking just to wait an see what grows the bigger one - again i have no idea. . an i have done nothing but feed it
i decided to try an different air layer method for fun ..the base has thickened up a bit -sorry for poor photo - so i think eventually something will emerge?

am i being lazy or patient?