Here's an old article I found ("Caprification of Smyrna Figs") in the South African Agricultural Journal, published some time in 1911(?):
http://journals.co.za/docserver/fulltext/ajusa/3/2/103.pdf?expires=1533667986&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=DEFAEAF7BC1C29816BB59BF2093CA1DB
The article can be downloaded as a 10 page PDF from this link.
See page 254:
"...
On hearing of the success in California, the Cape Department of Agriculture was not long in getting an importation of trees direct from Mr Geo. C Roeding, which consisted of a parcel of 140 Smyrna and Capri trees of different varieties (Calimyrna, Kassaba and Bardacik, mostly Calimyrna, and Capri's No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3, which three varieties keep on them figs all the year round. This was in 1902/03.
Two lots went to Constantia District, one to Elsenburg, and one to Grahamstown.
In July 1907, Mr Lounsbury, then Chief Government Entomologist of the Cape, but now Chief Entomologist of the Union, was in America, and as both our Capri and Calimyrna had reached fruiting stage, he arranged to have some of the Blastophaga sent on at the right season. In November 1907, Mr Mally, Assistant Government Entomologist (Cape), on his return from California, got four twigs of Capri from Mr Roeding with fruit containing wasps. They were wrapped in damp moss and kept chilled until landing on 4th January 1908.
..."
It's not clear who or what in Grahamstown received the "one lot" (presumably about 35) of smyrna and capri fig trees imported from the USA, let alone what happened to them? Clearly the fig wasp could have been introduced at any time after the Grahamstown trees were established. I suppose evidence is that the fig wasp still seems to be around, more than a century after all these happenings, even though wild (or cultivated) caprifigs aren't obviously visible around town...
The article also gives a useful table of the observed emergence of the wasps at Elsenburg, but it's not specified for which variety of caprifig:
1st crop Profichi Enter 2nd week of September
Emerge 2nd week of January 4 months
2nd crop Mammoni Enter 2nd week of January
Emerge 2nd week of March 2 months
3rd crop Mammae Enter 2nd week of March
Emerge 2nd week of September 6 months
[12 months]
Presumably there's a time spread of emergence according to the variety of caprifig?
The Smyrna or San Pedro type figs will need to be receptive during the wasp emergence.
It's not clear if this 12 month cycle involves all 3 types of caprifig, or whether one fig type will sustain the wasp lifecycle?
[Please, if anyone has more information or references, leave a comment?]
Showing posts with label fruit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fruit. Show all posts
Tuesday, 7 August 2018
Wednesday, 1 August 2018
Fig tree collection has doubled - now a certified "figaholic"
The new bare root trees arrived 30th June.
After transplanting, I've reached 55 large pots (5 gal/20 liter) and 17 black plastic bags of duplicates plus 3 varieties of cutting I'm trying to root, making at least 30 different varieties altogether. I ran out of space long ago.
Yellow labels are known varieties from Stark Ayres in Cape Town, brown labels are sourced in PE, Grahamstown and Kenton and pretty much "unknown".
Blue labels in green pots are the new bare root trees purchased from Gerhard at Giving Trees in Vereeniging (another "figaholic" but one who actually owns and runs a commercial nursery so it's a sort of job requirement), and are correctly identified.
As if that wasn't enough, the most recent bare rooted batch arrived from Gerhard on 30 July, making an extra 3 pots, 2 black bags and umpteen extra cuttings:
A duplicate Cape Black and Ficazzana Black (Smyrna type) into bags:
Cape Black, Ficazzana Black and Malta Black (latter two Smyrna types) in pots but before labelling and cutting back:
Collection at present consists of:
After transplanting, I've reached 55 large pots (5 gal/20 liter) and 17 black plastic bags of duplicates plus 3 varieties of cutting I'm trying to root, making at least 30 different varieties altogether. I ran out of space long ago.
Yellow labels are known varieties from Stark Ayres in Cape Town, brown labels are sourced in PE, Grahamstown and Kenton and pretty much "unknown".
Blue labels in green pots are the new bare root trees purchased from Gerhard at Giving Trees in Vereeniging (another "figaholic" but one who actually owns and runs a commercial nursery so it's a sort of job requirement), and are correctly identified.
As if that wasn't enough, the most recent bare rooted batch arrived from Gerhard on 30 July, making an extra 3 pots, 2 black bags and umpteen extra cuttings:
A duplicate Cape Black and Ficazzana Black (Smyrna type) into bags:
Cape Black, Ficazzana Black and Malta Black (latter two Smyrna types) in pots but before labelling and cutting back:
Collection at present consists of:
Common figs: Adam, Alma, Blackjack, Black Mission, Cape Black, Cape Brown, Cape White, Col de Dame Grise, Col de Dame Noire, Dalmatie, Deanna, Dauphine, Kadota, Noire de Barbentane, Noire de Caromb, Parisian, Pastiliere, Tangiers (Zidi?), Ronde de Bordeaux, Roxo de Valinhos, Tena, Tiger, White Genoa, Violette de Bordeaux
Cuttings:Sucre Verte (cuttings), Sultane (cuttings), Tangiers (both a tree from Starke Ayres and cuttings from Gerhard - tree may be a Zidi)
Smyrna: Black Malta, Ficazzana Black, Smyrna/Calimyrna, Caprifig Roeding 3 and a seedling fig from my garden
Unknown: Assorted local Avignon and Toulouse (which may or may not be Dauphine and Ronde de Bordeaux respectively) and several claiming to be Cape Brown, Kadota and Adam but most certainly aren't, plus "Black" and "Violet" figs. Also some cuttings from friends with so far unidentified trees.
I'm happy to trade cuttings or duplicates when these trees are larger. Please leave a comment.
Rooting fig cuttings
I've been trying to root fig cuttings with limited success (two out of perhaps forty) but at last seem to be getting somewhere.
The first "method" was pretty arbitrary - stick some cuttings into a black plastic bag of compost placed where they get occasionally misted. The cuttings stayed alive for a very long time but did nothing. They eventually rotted due to drowning. The compost had compacted and wasn't draining.
The second method was putting some cuttings into an aluminium tray in mixed vermiculite and sand in a Ziploc bag and leaving it outside for a few months without additional water. When opened up, about 50% of the short two node cuttings had rooted and got a few leaves. These were transplanted into a small plastic pot of compost, and one cutting of each variety seems to have taken.
The third method was to use transparent plastic cups filled with vermiculite, coarse sand and bark mulch. Most cuttings were about three nodes. These were left outside under occasional misting, and a few - to my surprise - rooted. Siimilarly transplanted to small pots of compost, where a few have taken.
The fourth method is the so-called "fig-pop" where a 10cm x 50cm plastic bag has about 20cm of mixed vermiculite, sand and compressed/reconstituted coir and the cutting placed in it. The base is pricked with a tooth pick for drainage, and the top folded over and stapled after drenching with water.
Over time, the mix has varied, the best results favouring 50/50 vermiculite/coir and leaving out the sand.
Initially they were left inside in a darkened room, but developed mold after a few days, Taking them outside into the light and leaving them there seemed to sort that out.
I've had mixed success with this... initially nothing much happened and a fair number died because of lack of moisture, After topping them up with water and ignoring them for a few months, quite a few have developed roots and grown leaves, but the roots are not yet that extensive.
The fifth, and so far "best" method, is the third method with the addition of putting the plastic cups into large transparent plastic storage boxes - a mini greenhouse sort of arrangement - and leaving them outside to control mold.
The issue now is how moist to keep the cups and whether to leave the boxes in the sun - it's starting to warm up. The developing roots clearly don't like the sun, so I've started putting the cups with developed roots into darker cups.
In a week or so, the next step will be to "up-pot" the established cuttings. It's still a bit cold for that, though.
Then the decision as to what to actually do with perhaps several hundred small fig trees. My problem is that every pruned branch from my collection of trees gets converted into several three or four node cuttings.
The first "method" was pretty arbitrary - stick some cuttings into a black plastic bag of compost placed where they get occasionally misted. The cuttings stayed alive for a very long time but did nothing. They eventually rotted due to drowning. The compost had compacted and wasn't draining.
The second method was putting some cuttings into an aluminium tray in mixed vermiculite and sand in a Ziploc bag and leaving it outside for a few months without additional water. When opened up, about 50% of the short two node cuttings had rooted and got a few leaves. These were transplanted into a small plastic pot of compost, and one cutting of each variety seems to have taken.
The third method was to use transparent plastic cups filled with vermiculite, coarse sand and bark mulch. Most cuttings were about three nodes. These were left outside under occasional misting, and a few - to my surprise - rooted. Siimilarly transplanted to small pots of compost, where a few have taken.
The fourth method is the so-called "fig-pop" where a 10cm x 50cm plastic bag has about 20cm of mixed vermiculite, sand and compressed/reconstituted coir and the cutting placed in it. The base is pricked with a tooth pick for drainage, and the top folded over and stapled after drenching with water.
Over time, the mix has varied, the best results favouring 50/50 vermiculite/coir and leaving out the sand.
Initially they were left inside in a darkened room, but developed mold after a few days, Taking them outside into the light and leaving them there seemed to sort that out.
I've had mixed success with this... initially nothing much happened and a fair number died because of lack of moisture, After topping them up with water and ignoring them for a few months, quite a few have developed roots and grown leaves, but the roots are not yet that extensive.
The fifth, and so far "best" method, is the third method with the addition of putting the plastic cups into large transparent plastic storage boxes - a mini greenhouse sort of arrangement - and leaving them outside to control mold.
The issue now is how moist to keep the cups and whether to leave the boxes in the sun - it's starting to warm up. The developing roots clearly don't like the sun, so I've started putting the cups with developed roots into darker cups.
In a week or so, the next step will be to "up-pot" the established cuttings. It's still a bit cold for that, though.
Then the decision as to what to actually do with perhaps several hundred small fig trees. My problem is that every pruned branch from my collection of trees gets converted into several three or four node cuttings.
Saturday, 27 May 2017
Fig tree expansion
I've managed to find some properly labelled fig trees at the Starke Ayres garden centre in Cape Town.
I now at last have a real "Adams" fig tree, and a proper "Kadota", to replace the ones I bought at the Sunnyside nursery in Grahamstown. Comparing the trees, small as they are, it's obvious they're different, and the ones from Starke Ayres match other pictures from the web of the Adams and Kadota.
Additionally, assuming the labels are accurate, I got nice healthy specimens of "Deanna", "Parisian", "Black Mission", and "Tangier". Tangier is apparently a Smyrna fig variety that needs to be pollinated, so it might not be very successful.
The new arrivals survived the trip from Cape Town in the back of an open bakkie without suffering much wind damage and still have to be put into pots.
Together with the seven trees I already had, this makes thirteeen in pots in total, plus the old original planted in the ground. So, there are three of uncertain parentage -- the fake Kadota and Adams and the old original. Identifying these will be a challenge...
The older ones -- with labels from Sunnyside, so might be misleading -- are "White Genoa", "Cape Brown", "Cape White", "Avignon" and "Black Toulouse". The White Genoa is from 2015 or so, while the others are from late 2016 or early 2017.
In addition to all the above, I have a bird propagated fig seedling that I found in the garden and transplanted into a large black bag. It's doing well, but too young to fruit. The new Deanna is a very tall and sturdy whip, so it might be possible to prune it way back and try to propagate from the cut off bit.
Black Mission.... I messed up by trying to detach the sucker and half broke the main plants connection to the root mass. After transplanting, it's badly wilted.
Planted the sucker in small pot.
Kadota
.
Parisian
Adam... the real one.
Deanna
Tangier
I now at last have a real "Adams" fig tree, and a proper "Kadota", to replace the ones I bought at the Sunnyside nursery in Grahamstown. Comparing the trees, small as they are, it's obvious they're different, and the ones from Starke Ayres match other pictures from the web of the Adams and Kadota.
Additionally, assuming the labels are accurate, I got nice healthy specimens of "Deanna", "Parisian", "Black Mission", and "Tangier". Tangier is apparently a Smyrna fig variety that needs to be pollinated, so it might not be very successful.
The new arrivals survived the trip from Cape Town in the back of an open bakkie without suffering much wind damage and still have to be put into pots.
The older ones -- with labels from Sunnyside, so might be misleading -- are "White Genoa", "Cape Brown", "Cape White", "Avignon" and "Black Toulouse". The White Genoa is from 2015 or so, while the others are from late 2016 or early 2017.
In addition to all the above, I have a bird propagated fig seedling that I found in the garden and transplanted into a large black bag. It's doing well, but too young to fruit. The new Deanna is a very tall and sturdy whip, so it might be possible to prune it way back and try to propagate from the cut off bit.
Black Mission.... I messed up by trying to detach the sucker and half broke the main plants connection to the root mass. After transplanting, it's badly wilted.
Planted the sucker in small pot.
Kadota
Parisian
Adam... the real one.
Deanna
Tangier
Monday, 20 February 2017
Fig wasp - in Grahamstown?
We have a neglected fig tree (preliminarily identified as a Cape White) which is perhaps 25 years old, all tangled up between a mulberry tree and the boundary wall and fence. A few weeks ago, I spotted a seedling which could only[?] have come from this tree and which has now been transplanted into a bag.
My understanding is that figs will only produce seeds (and thus seedlings) if pollinated by a fig wasp.
Coincidentally, in conversation a few weks ago with a friend who has a large fig tree in his garden, and a son studying entomology at Rhodes, he mentioned that his fig tree is covered with wasps and that his son is considering studying them for his honours project. Now Rhodes has a well established Ento department, and students have been involved with fig wasps in the past, so it's not at all unlikely that there's well established colonies of escaped wasps in this area.
A day or so ago, I noticed a small (~8 to 10mm long) black wasp on one of the leaves of my Cape Brown fig tree, and wondered if it might be a fig wasp. Not having the slightest idea what size fig wasps are or what they look like, I assumed this was more likely some transient visitor.
Today, overcast and drizzly, I was inspecting the status of the fig trees I have planted in pots, and noticed the same wasp on the Cape Brown:
The photo is a bit blurry, but you can see that it looks like it's trying to insert an ovipositor into the ostiole of the fig - or am I imagining this and it's just the rear leg?
Initially it was tucked in at the base of the baby fig (15 to 20mm diameter), sheltering from the drizzle, but as I moved some leaf stems out of the way to try and get a picture, it began moving around, doing it's best to keep away from me. It then climbed onto the baby fig, and then started wandering around on the neighbouring leaves.
Eventually I managed to get a fairly clear shot of it.
At no stage did it try to fly away, and it seems like it's hanging around this particular tree waiting for something to happen. This baby Cape Brown has the largest of the newly developing figs, so presumably it's nearly the right size for the wasp to lay eggs in it?
The nearby White Genoa has much smaller figs:
These are only 3 to 4mm in diameter at present, and no wasps hanging around.
The Kadota has a few small figs growing:
but these are even smaller, only 1 or 2mm across -- and it looks like they might be twinning.
I'll follow up with the entomologist son of my friend to see if he can help identify the wasp. If it is a fig wasp -- which seems possible -- what does this mean? Are there different species of fig wasp? Is this some local species adapted to wild figs or is it the same sort you get in other commercial fig areas? Am I going to get better figs because of them? Or can I grow other more complicated Smyrna type figs? Or is this something that's going to ruin my crop?
Update 21:43
Google doesn't show any fig wasps -- and there are many -- that look like this. So, what is it? And what is it doing on my figs? What pollinated the fig that produced the seedling tree?
Lots of questions!
Update 2017/05/29:
I'm slowly getting better at identifying figs. It looks like the large established fig tree in the garden is a Calimyrna variation of some sort, i.e. a Smyrna type fig requiring caprification. i.e. the fact that this tree is setting fruit and producing seedlings means there are fig wasps about. I just haven't seen any real ones. Yet....
My understanding is that figs will only produce seeds (and thus seedlings) if pollinated by a fig wasp.
Coincidentally, in conversation a few weks ago with a friend who has a large fig tree in his garden, and a son studying entomology at Rhodes, he mentioned that his fig tree is covered with wasps and that his son is considering studying them for his honours project. Now Rhodes has a well established Ento department, and students have been involved with fig wasps in the past, so it's not at all unlikely that there's well established colonies of escaped wasps in this area.
A day or so ago, I noticed a small (~8 to 10mm long) black wasp on one of the leaves of my Cape Brown fig tree, and wondered if it might be a fig wasp. Not having the slightest idea what size fig wasps are or what they look like, I assumed this was more likely some transient visitor.
Today, overcast and drizzly, I was inspecting the status of the fig trees I have planted in pots, and noticed the same wasp on the Cape Brown:
The photo is a bit blurry, but you can see that it looks like it's trying to insert an ovipositor into the ostiole of the fig - or am I imagining this and it's just the rear leg?
Initially it was tucked in at the base of the baby fig (15 to 20mm diameter), sheltering from the drizzle, but as I moved some leaf stems out of the way to try and get a picture, it began moving around, doing it's best to keep away from me. It then climbed onto the baby fig, and then started wandering around on the neighbouring leaves.
Eventually I managed to get a fairly clear shot of it.
At no stage did it try to fly away, and it seems like it's hanging around this particular tree waiting for something to happen. This baby Cape Brown has the largest of the newly developing figs, so presumably it's nearly the right size for the wasp to lay eggs in it?
The nearby White Genoa has much smaller figs:
These are only 3 to 4mm in diameter at present, and no wasps hanging around.
The Kadota has a few small figs growing:
but these are even smaller, only 1 or 2mm across -- and it looks like they might be twinning.
I'll follow up with the entomologist son of my friend to see if he can help identify the wasp. If it is a fig wasp -- which seems possible -- what does this mean? Are there different species of fig wasp? Is this some local species adapted to wild figs or is it the same sort you get in other commercial fig areas? Am I going to get better figs because of them? Or can I grow other more complicated Smyrna type figs? Or is this something that's going to ruin my crop?
Update 21:43
Google doesn't show any fig wasps -- and there are many -- that look like this. So, what is it? And what is it doing on my figs? What pollinated the fig that produced the seedling tree?
Lots of questions!
Update 2017/05/29:
I'm slowly getting better at identifying figs. It looks like the large established fig tree in the garden is a Calimyrna variation of some sort, i.e. a Smyrna type fig requiring caprification. i.e. the fact that this tree is setting fruit and producing seedlings means there are fig wasps about. I just haven't seen any real ones. Yet....
Thursday, 19 January 2017
Unknown 2 fig
The 7th fig of the collection.
It's not clear this is actually an Adam - the leaves look a lot like the Avignon and the Toulouse, while the Adam is supposed to have hardly any indentations...
It's said the Adam and the Avignon are the same? Even though the Avignon is supposedly a San Pedro type?
Update 2017/05/27:
This is not an Adams fig. I purchased a proper one a few days ago and it looks nothing like this impostor... which leaves the question of trying to work out what it really is.
It's not clear this is actually an Adam - the leaves look a lot like the Avignon and the Toulouse, while the Adam is supposed to have hardly any indentations...
It's said the Adam and the Avignon are the same? Even though the Avignon is supposedly a San Pedro type?
Update 2017/05/27:
This is not an Adams fig. I purchased a proper one a few days ago and it looks nothing like this impostor... which leaves the question of trying to work out what it really is.
Black Toulouse fig [Ronde de Bordeaux?]
In its medium size pot, even though this fig could bear heavily...
Moved to a new position:
Cape Brown fig [Osbornes prolific]
It seems to be affected by the fig mosaic virus, but then this variety suffers badly.
Before transplanting. Note the low side shoot.
In its 45cm pot.
Discoloured leaves from fig mosaic virus.
Update 2017/02/08:
Update 2017/02/20:
Before transplanting. Note the low side shoot.
In its 45cm pot.
Discoloured leaves from fig mosaic virus.
Update 2017/02/08:
Update 2017/02/20:
Tuesday, 10 January 2017
Cape White fig tree [Blanche or White Marseilles]
Yet another addition to the forest of figs in pots. A nice healthy specimen of a Cape White fig..
Properly known elsewhere as a Marseillaise. Or "testicles of the pope"!
Recommended for growing in pots and for drying.
Update 2017/01/16:
Description from "The Fig" by Ira Condit (1947):
"Marseilles (White Marseilles, Lemon). Marseilles is probably of French origin. It is illustrated in color by Brookshaw (1812) from fruit grown in the garden of the Episcopal Palace at Lambeth, England. In England the tree grows well in pots or as an outdoor standard and bears both a first and second crop. The following three varieties were included in the Chiswick collection and proved to be identical to Marseilles: Figuier Blanche No. 18904, Vigassotte Bianco No. 18864, and Quarteria No. 18866. It is of no commercial value in California.
Breba crop small; figs medium, turbinate with short, thick neck and short stalk; eye medium, open; flecks small, green; color yellowish green; pulp white; seeds large, conspicuous. Figs of second crop much the same as brebas; spherical to oblate, without neck; stalk slender up to Y* inch long; quality fair."
Update 2017/01/19:
Moved to a 45cm pot. The smaller pot went to the Black Toulouse.
Update 2017/02/07:
Looks like a mystery has been solved. We've had a fig tree in the garden for 25 years or so. It used to bear reasonably well, then got crowded out by a pecan tree and a mulberry, plus fence and compost heap and gate.
For whatever reason, this year it's producing, and given my recent enthusiasm for figs, it's going to be subject to "renovation". There's some accessible fruit, and today I noticed one ripe fig:
From what I can make out, it's a Cape White. So...
Update 2017/05/29:
No, it's not. The shape and colour of the fig, and the shape of the leaf make this a Calimyrna of some sort. Which explains why it was able to generate a seedling?
This is getting quite interesting....
Avignon fig tree [Dauphine?]
The latest addition to the fig trees in pots orchard, labelled Avignon fig.. A bit thin and spindly, but healthy.
Green and purple fruit. This is my first "complicated" fig, a San Pedro type that requires caprification for the main crop.
Proper name for this everywhere else is Dauphine.
Update 2017/01/16:
Description from "The Fig" by Ira Condit (1947):
"Dauphine (Ronde Violette Hative, Adam, Pagaudiere). The Dauphine is commonly grown at Argenteuil near Paris for the fresh fruit market. It came to California in the Chiswick collection as P. I. No. 18912 but has not been planted commercially.
Breba crop good; figs medium to large, broadly turbinate, with short, thick neck and short stalk; eye large, open; surface glossy with pruinose bloom; color violet-purple; meat thick; pulp strawberry; quality good. Second-crop figs medium, oblate, mostly without neck, similar to brebas in other characters; quality fair to poor."
Update 2017/01/20:
Moved (point of being in a pot) and strapped to a stake to improve its posture:
Update 2017/01/20:
Moved (point of being in a pot) and strapped to a stake to improve its posture:
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