I have several seedlings. Some have had decent fruit, some not much fruit, some capri-fruit, and some no fruit. It is still fun to play. I have about 10 more seedlings from last year that came up in various places in the yard, so I am going to grow them out for a while and see what happens - just for fun.

I quess it is good to add a liitle suspense to the growing of fig trees. I would have bet the farm that this tree was going to give up a fig or two this year. As long as you have the room , why not. I wound up with over 40 caprifig trees this year. Interestingly enough, when I decided to just plow them under, I couldn't bring myself to do it. It was like trying to pull the plug on your lepor-riden relative.
So I keep them in a corner by themselves, tending to them until the day comes that I find someone who will adopt them. FF

Correction. The above picture is one of my Black Mission fig trees. I posted the wrong picture. This is the 4 year old seedling. Again, this is last years picture. It is now 5 feet tall.

Hi-
I'm very interested in the seedling topic as I have a 4-yr-old seedling that I transplanted to a gravel driveway area that had been abandoned years ago. I kept my fingers crossed for its survival and pretty much left it alone. To my amazement, it LOVES where I planted it and has grown to probably 10 ft tall and 12 ft across- VERY healthy. It also has borne wonderful figs- small green (with a slight blush on the sunny side) and the inside is VERY red and flavorful.
Is a seedling a new fig genetically?
You speak of caprifigs- would someone please describe how you know they are caprifigs?
When I figure out how to post pix- I will as I have many good ones.
Thanks- Christy

I second that question....how do you know one tree is a caprifig? Do the fruits just not taste good?

As far as planting seeds goes....I suppose only people who love to fish would really understand the urge to spend the time and effort on the suspense factor. I LOVE to fish, especially in ocean....why? Because I never know what's going to come up on the end of my hook....it could be nothing. It could be something I don't want there (like a barracuda), or it could be DINNER! :) How many hours does it take to catch a whopper? Who knows? Some people spend years, some have beginner's luck, and others keep trying because it's the suspense factor. Every time *could* be THE time that they catch the "big one"! Now, I'm not a sporting fisher(wo)man by any means, and to be honest, I seldom go. But I do enjoy it for the same reasons I would enjoy planting seeds from my favorite fig trees! :) I have all the time in the world to wait, so it doesn't bother me one bit. What if something good comes out of the several hundred tries I make? It would be worth it then, right? :)

~ Erin

There are 'some' edible caprifigs, but most are not!
The caprifig is the male fig that is considered only fit to
be eaten by a goat - hence its name. They (together with
the unique fig-wasp) are essential for figs that need caprification
(otherwise green figlets will just fall off)
and for the seeds to be viable.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ray Givan: The Weird Sex Life of the Fig

Here's my little fig seedling from a bird- fabulous flavor and very prolific!
Anyone want to guess what it is- I just call it my Sweet Satchel. Thanks- Christy

Sorry about so many posts but I'm just learning how to add pix. Here's another one of my Sweet Satchel seedling fig- you can probably tell I need to add more immitters on my drip system as this fig has grown way too big for its britches- and in a gravel pit, no less!