The BIG issue is that figs (F.carica) do NOT reproduce
TRUE from seeds! You may get lucky; but the chances
of getting the same/similar (or a better) seedling
off the parent(s) are very remote (say, 1 in a 1000?).

Known GOOD figs can ONLY be TRULY propagated though
vegative means (e.g., rooting-cuttings or grafting means).

That is perfectly fine! Im planning on trying then outdoors in my zone 4 yard, and am expecting to kill some in the process (not intentionaly of course!)

Im also not talking about ordering some F carica seeds online. Im talking about harvesting from my potted fig, or possibly trying some dried figs from the store. From what i always thought, that was not possible, because I dont have the proper pollinator wasp up here.

Yes,
I now know that I missed your main point!

Somehow and very rare, fig seeds can be vaible without
any caprification whatsoever!
There is a scientific name for that which I do nor remember.
I know nothing about the subject, but I recall
seeing some previous posts/threads about it.

Hope more expert(s) do chime in...
Good luck.

If you are interested, I have a live cutting ( rooted with leaves ). If you want to buy it exchange it contact me, I live near Montreal. It's a kadota fig tree.

The technical term for seed production without pollen is apomixis. There has been one reported case with a Celeste, that I know of. Search for apomixis or apomictic at F4F and you will find more info and links to some research that is behind a pay wall but the abstracts are hopeful. Some varieties seem to do it more than others, and pollen from other Moraceae species is also supposed to increase the rate at which it happens. There is a chance that during cellular division there could be mutations in the seeds genes so they would not all be true clones. It is a rare thing to happen, but also a rare thing for people to try and do because of the common opinion about fig seeds, so it could be more common in the future.

First thing is first. I realized that I should have posted my sources....

Here is the one stating that states Fcarica does not need the pollinating wasp.

http://www.bonsaihunk.us/info/FigPropagate.html

(im not sure how reliable this is)

Here is the one stating that figs can begrown from seed, from dried fruits:

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/fig.html

(this is from purdue, so im going to have to say it is reliable! )

Thanks for the lead hoosierbanana!

I did a bit of searchng, and I found this:

" Ficus carica has 2 sexual forms, the "male" caprifig and female tree (edible fig). The caprifig is monoecious [i.e. with separate male (staminate) flowers and separate female (pistillate) flowers. It is functionally male because it produces pollen. Edible figs contain only long-style female flowers. Since functional male trees are hermaphroditic, Ficus carica is usually considered gynodioecious rather than dioecious"

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pljun99b.htm

From what I can gather, I think it depends on if you have a "male" or "female" tree, although, that source seems to state they are either or.... Looks like im going through the rabbit hole!!

Ever since I read about "new" figs that you can name yourself, the topic of germinating seeds interested me. Also, FREE fig trees! So, I Googled, and found out if done like the below (copied and pasted from the link url), it takes 7 - 10 days. I can't wait till my figs get ripe to try this! Or maybe I'll buy some fresh ones at the farmers market!
Suzi

How to Germinate Fig Seeds

Things You'll Need

2 to 3 fresh ripe figs
Bowl
Slotted spoon

Instructions

1. Soak two or three fresh, ripe figs in a bowl of clean water for one to two days. Use your fingers to break open the figs, exposing the seeds and pulp. Return the figs to the water for an additional one to two days. Scoop out any pulpy material that floats to the top; any viable fig seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl. Pour the water in the bowl through a strainer and spread the seeds on a paper towel to allow them to dry slightly.

2. Combine equal parts peat moss, perlite and finely ground volcanic rock to create a coarse, well-draining growing medium in which to germinate your seeds. Pour the growing medium into a 4- to 6-inch-deep tray with drainage holes in the bottom.

3. Mix the fig seeds with 1/2 cup of wood ash or fine horticultural sand. Distribute the mixture evenly over the surface of the growing medium in the tray.

4. Water the seeds to settle them into the growing medium and encourage them to germinate.

5. Place the tray in a location that receives four to six hours of bright sunlight per day. Water, as needed, to keep the growing medium evenly moist; the seeds should germinate and sprout in approximately seven to 10 days.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Germinate Fig Seeds

Hi canadianplant,

Although gorgi is very knowledgable about figs (I've seen earlier posts), and even against what might seem to be impossible odds, I wish to encourage you in your pursuit of seed-grown fig trees. Figs have been around for a milion years, so somehow, they must have gotten by just fine before we growers came along. This is why I believe that figs must be able to reproduce in nature under simple conditions.

It would be wonderful to behold if you indeed carry this experiment forward, and please make regular posts regarding your results! It will be Fig Class 101 for the rest of us.

The key of course is not that you get a pretty fig tree, but that you get a bunch of ripe, yummy figs from a seed-grown tree. Here is such a great opportunity. Please post your exact techniques, and pictures are a real bonus, if you would upload them occasionally.

Exciting to see this.

Your Own trees in your location,can't supply live seeds unless you live where the fig wasp lives,or trough apomitic way.
Apomitic fertile seeds,from your tree could happen,but they are very rare occurrences,yet this is the only viable way to get a decent fruit producing tree.
Store bought fruits seeds:Forget about them producing fruiting trees,because:
Cauducous male caprifigs are used to pollinate female fig trees in California ,Turkey Grece etc!
Those cauducous male caprifigs ,will give to the new seedling the undesirable (Gene), of dropping of fruits at the point of half grown,when not pollinated by the wasp.
Also the fruits from commerce are usually Smyrna Type Females,which are themselves cauducous,(will drop fruits without pollination).
____So When a Smyrna type Female fig is pollinated by a cauducous caprifig,none of the seedlings are persistant(will keep fruits without pollination),I mean none zilk,etc,it doesn't matter how many thousands of seedlings you are going to grow.
____When a common type Female fig pollinates with a Cauducous caprifig the seedlings will be:
1/3 males, mix,some persistent and some cauducous
1/3 Females ,Cauducous (need polination to persist)
1/3 Females,Common,persistent,but Usually all are inferior to mother plant in Quality

The information on the internet are sometimes not complete and confusing,yet Summary,the above information is what I could gather to be true,so if you insist on growing from seeds grow seedling from "Common fig seeds" ,only,and not from store bought Smyrna fruits.

"The BIG issue is that figs (F.carica) do NOT reproduce
TRUE from seeds! You may get lucky; but the chances
of getting the same/similar (or a better) seedling
off the parent(s) are very remote (say, 1 in a 1000?).
Known GOOD figs can ONLY be TRULY propagated though
vegative means (e.g., rooting-cuttings or grafting means). "

So...by this logic, if seeds are germinated, a fig tree of greater qualities than the parent trees can be produced, because the genetics are nearly guaranteed to change in some way throough the next generation if the reproduction cycle is allowed to proceed? It's an interesting thought

What I find to be appealing is that you DON'T get a fig the same as the tree you took the fig from. You get a NEW variety, and that is the intrigue and the pleasure of growing from seed.

Of course, Herman, this wouldn't work on store bought figs, but would work on country produce fairs where people bring their own fresh produce to sell. We have those every weekend around here, and come August/September, there will be a ton of common figs.

Personally, I'm looking forward to this new adventure, and plan to name my NEW figs after each one of my grand kids!

Suzi

Yes it will work on Common type figs like Mission.
You will get many seedlings of Mission,from a Breba fruit(polinated).
Only Breba fruits are Female fruits the main crop are Mule,they do not pollinate.
------In Fact That is WHY there are so many Mission cultivars thaT ARE DIFFERENT ONE FROM THE OTHER.
Some are good tasting some are inferior tasting,and that is because people grew them from seeds and then sold them to Large Nurseries,as Mission Figs but they are Seedlings of Mission not Mission figs.
I can say I finally have a Genuine Mission,after I grew about 5 different ones.
Of course the Genuine Mission,is a superior cultivar with good resistance to rain,disease,and excellent taste,qualities that the Seedling don't have.

Jon, at Encanto Farms AKA Figs4Fun, found a seedling growing under a coffee plant. It was a fig. He grew it, tasted it, and named it Strawberry Latte. This is a wonderful new self pollinating varietal, and I don't think anyone should discourage the adventurous spirit in those that wish to try growing figs from seeds.

I buy lottery tickets every week. Do I win millions? No. But you never know...........

Suzi

Here is a link that might be useful: Encanto Farms

Suzi knows the magic. I'm with her. All we are saying, is give seeds a chance.

I agree with folks that it is about what could be in the chances of seedling outcomes. Any hybrid plant will offer the same issues of random differences from the parent.The ease of have many rooted cuttings from a solid performer tree is always possible for those who wish to stick with proven vs chance.

Jackhva, right! Take a chance! Buy a raffle ticket! But don't stick your neck in the mud and expect anything more than you expected.

What interests me is what Herman said that the seeds should come from Breba. Too late for that. Do I need to wait a year to try this, or... NAH, I'll try main crop figs!

Suzi

I think seeds are very exciting. But am not interested in taking big risks growing trees that are not likely to produce good fruits ever because there are already enough good figs to reward my time and money. I do however want to try and "clean up" varieties with FMV, and establish a breeding program for the Northeast.

I have mulberry cuttings saved which I will flower in water, collect the pollen, and blow it into main crop figs that I want to clone because they are affected by the virus.

I would also like to cross the best varieties for the Northeast with a persistent male caprifig in order to get a persistent male with half of its genes from Sal's or Gino's Black etc. This male would then be back crossed to the original mother, or another good mother, so that the seedlings will have 3/4 superior genes. Repeat... We cannot know how many excellent varieties were grown from seeds selected from superior figs and how many were selected from wild trees because that information was only known by the ancients. I do think somebody figured it out at some time in history and the practice was abandoned once suitable varieties were found, or still happens without the whole world knowing.

Of course I would love to start with a male that had favorable characteristics for the Northeast, such as early ripening, tight eye, cold tolerance, and soil adaptability. Because the genes of the original male will always be there, no matter how many generations and crosses between known good varieties. Sadly, that information is not available. I think Condit started with Gillette, but moved to others because they were better producers of pollen; a major oversight IMO, because pollen production is not a characteristic being selected for.

The LSU Program seemed to be a huge success for the South, and also a huge loss of promising caprifigs for future breeding.

hoosierbanana :You are nso right about I Condit oversight,and if you read his books you will find out many other situation where the program took the easy way out!.
One example is the way that the scientists worked the cuttings they received from Great Britain collection.
They grafted the received scions in multiple numbers to established caprifig trees many varieties on one tree.
In doing so,every scion grew in a Branch that took in all the diseases the other scions on that tree had.
After they fruitted the cultivars that wore considered of interest were kept and from cuttings taken from those branches that grew from those scions,they formed individual trees.
Every tree that was imported from Europe was now different than the tree in Europe.
The Difference :They were loaded with multiple kinds of viruses due to the way the scion were handled.
Now days it is said that acaria fici spread the disease and so forth.
I doubt.
That collection was man made contaminated,more than any sucking mites could do.

I started 70 seedlings last spring,the trees that are not good will be root stock. Rex

Hi Oldvt,

I hope that you give us your feedback about your experience of the 70 seedlings. did you get any male figs??

I do not have any male fig now, my figs fall off the trees at the moment , I could not get any male fig cutting, therefore I am starting at least 30 seedling in order to get male fig.

will I be able to get any male figs ???

If I get male figs: will it be active and work good for my female fig trees???

Saad Emhamed

Hello All, Hello Saad AsSalaamu Alaykum, how are your seedlings going ? I am planning to try germinate some fig seeds this spring summer here in Aus, where are you from ?

I am also very curious about the idea of growing figs from seeds. In Southern France there are many fig trees growing wild, even out if the forest, and these must have grown from seed. Were they from seeds that were pollinated by the Blastophaga psenes wasp, or did they grow without benefit of that sort of pollination, e.i. from and ordinary garden fig that had not been pollinated? I don't know, but I am intensely curious. Maybe next year I will try growing some figs from seed from my own fig tree. There is no chance that my tree will be pollinated by the B. psenes wasp, since they do not live where I live.

There is a map circulating on the internet on the habitat of blastophaga. If I find it I will post it.

I recall the wasp is present in Sardinia, N. Italy, Switzerland and I assume S. France.

It may also be possible that birds from wasp locations can carry the seed some distances.

you can 100 % grow fig trees from dry store bought figs as I have been doing it for years using an incubator makes this possible soak the seeds you get from the dry figs for 2 days and plant them. environment for successful germination 80 to 90% humidity and 28 c 14 days later for me they start to sprout

It would be interesting to know what fig type your seedling figs turned out to be (common, Smyrna, capri..)?

Also do any produce figs?

yes I do get fruit I currently have 2 that are in leaf in my home from dry store bought figs and they are a Portuguese variety Moscated . I've had Capri and common figs come from my seeds. the beauty of dry figs is getting them imported is also very easy with out hassles. and I live is zone 6b all container grown

I jumped start my trees for a longer more successful growing season as most of the trees I do have are a European variety

I have also successfully germinated black Madeira fig seeds the seedlings you see sprouting are from st. Michael's Island Portugal

and the picture to your right is my plant incubator in witch I germinate lots of exotic seeds to plants

I am still wondering if ordinary garden figs can produce viable seed without pollination. Some posts have quoted sources that say this is possible, but has anyone here actually succeeded in doing it?

what do you mean about ordinary Garden fig?

Costablaze31, by "ordinary garden fig" I mean a fig that will produce fruit without pollination. Probably a more correct term would be if I said "home garden fig." Examples of varieties commonly grown in the US would be Brown Turkey, Celeste, Mission, Kadota, Texas Everbearing, etc.

These would be distinct from varieties that need pollination to bear fruit, such as Calimyrna or imported Smyrna figs.

looking for black madeira fig cuttings in Ontario ship to Delhi Ontario thanks if anyone out there have some for sale

If figs can grow from seed, why aren't figs invasive? You'd think they would be because birds and squirrels love them...yet I have never seen a single volunteer fig out in the wild?! So, what's stopping them, exactly?

I think they are in climates warm climates where the fig wasp lives.

Early this summer I found a fig tree growing from our compost area. It must have sprouted from figs my mother brought me last summer from her neighbor's yard (we're in Northern California, about 100 miles north of San Francisco). So, apparently, viable seed can be produced from "ordinary garden figs". The tree is growing fast is already about 3 ft tall. I'll put it in a large pot and see if it eventually produces fruit. I can't leave it where it is because it is too close to the house and it's growing in a mostly shady area.

berkeleysgr8 can you post a picture of your seedling? I'd love to see what a fig tree from seed looks like early on in life. I've rooted plenty from cuttings and would like to have a point of reference.

Gred, In 2016 a friend gave me some fig seeds she found online. They were supposed to be Strawberry Verte but who knows? I planted them and they germinated readily and grew quickly. I've kept ten of them going in pots and they're all different in size, vigor, leaf shape, cold and heat tolerance, etc. This year, for the first time, one of the plants has eight small figs that look healthy but I realize they could dry up and fall off any day (no fig wasp in Arkansas). Here's what the plants looked like as babies. Two months between first photo and third photo.

The tree is looking a little wilted in this photo. It was taken in the middle of the day, on a hot summer day. The tree comes up to my hip when I'm standing next to it (I'm 5'5"). So, it's growing fast for this being the first year of growth! It's growing in an area where we throw our compostable kitchen scraps (there is a volunteer tomato in the background too), so maybe that contributes extra nutrients for the growth.

Ralph Watson, thanks for the pictures. I'm quite impressed. If I had more space I'd take a chance on some from seed figs, but I don't. Please let us know how the figs turn out.

berkeleysgr8, same goes for you. Thanks for the pics and I'd really like to know how the figs turn out on your from seed plant.

It's funny, I've been wanting to grow figs, but my boyfriend isn't a fan of seedy fruits. Maybe Mother Nature has gifted me with a decent fig tree! Time will tell. I've been trying to connect with a seller on Craigslist who has various types of rooted fig cuttings for sale. Unfortunately, there has been no response to two messages sent over a period of several days.

Ralph Watson, thank you for the photos of fig trees from seed! Yesterday I spotted two more possible fig trees from the compost area! They look like the second photo you posted. I'll keep my eye on them and see what they become.

G'day folks,

I I have been keenly following this discussion. I have grown a 2 meter fig from my compost bin it's a few years old now. It's the first time that it has decided to fruit (2 so far) This is it right? Now I can finally see if it's male or female! I'm hoping for a female.