My Ficus auriculata is starting to produce fruit!

[Fouquieria]

I was out watering today and noticed that at the base of the trunk, near ground level, my Ficus auriculata (Roxburgh fig) has a cluster of figs.  I've read they are edible and not bad tasting.

-Ron-

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

No fair!  You didn't post pics!

Jerry

[Fouquieria]

Here's a pic of the fruit Jerry.  This is a young tree.  I've only had it about four years and it is at least four times the size as when I planted it.

Additionally, here is a similar tree but when mature it has much, much larger leaves...Ficus dammaropsis.  I got this seedling from El Blanco (Jeff White).  It has doubled in size since I planted it out in March.

-Ron-

[Peter]

Looking good Ron!

[Tropicalken]

I have a huge tree of this fig, which I planted over 30 years ago. It would be even larger if I did not have it severly pruned every other year. It constanly produces copious fruits which eventually fall to the ground. I read somewhere that the fruit is edible when pollinated by a very small wasp located in it's native habitat. This wasp supposedly is not found in the U.S. and so the fruits do not ripen. Interestingly, after all these years of having this tree, I had about five figs that seemed to ripen up. They became larger than the immature green ones, and turned a dark deep brownish red color. Who knows what caused this?. It only happened on those very few out of hundreds that are on the tree. Perhaps we have a new pollinator.

[Eric in Orlando]

Ficus auriculata is a great tree. We have a huge one at Leu Gardens that Mr. Leu planted decades ago. It produces huge amounts of fruit every year but they are spongy with no taste. The rats, raccoons and squirrels don't even eat them. Most of them are produced at ground level.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/leu4510....2

[LJG]

Ron, I have both these trees too. Great plants. I bought my F.D. from Ron Lawyer last year and planted it in the ground in April. The thing was growing like a weed. It got to about 4 feet high and had branched into three. Then some careless gardener dropped someone on the main stem. Broke it right in half! I wanted to kill him. These things are so touchy while rooting I figured I had lost it. Now after two months the thing is growing again and the spot where if was broke in half is showing two new buds.

[paulgila]

ron i got one of those same f.d.s form elblanco,as did

mattyb & palmgrover(bob weas).mine is similiar in appearance & size to yours.these are great plants!

[raimeiken]

I know this post is old but does anyone know where I can get one of these plants? would love to try growing it in my climate here.

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

I just got a couple from woodlanders.net in South Carolina.

The ones he sent were recently , severely frost damaged by temps of 11f .

He swears they will recover.

So far no green growth. Just sticks.

But I've heard that these guess can take a punch like Tina Turner and keep on singing.

Jeff

[raimeiken]

holy crap! Thanks for that link! I've been searching all over google and other forums for this plant and that website never popped up. I'll be getting some from him.

Thanks!

[raimeiken]

Before I order....Does he guarantee that they will spring back up? What if they don't?

[fastfeat]

I just got a couple from woodlanders.net in South Carolina.

The ones he sent were recently , severely frost damaged by temps of 11f .

He swears they will recover.

So far no green growth. Just sticks.

But I've heard that these guess can take a punch like Tina Turner and keep on singing.

Jeff

11F? No way they're coming back.

[raimeiken]

yeah 11F is too cold. Maybe I'll wait until later this spring and ask them before I order

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

He said they were in a greenhouse where the heater failed.

He swears they will grow back. I've scratched them and there are green under the bark.

I had no choice, I had ordered them , then called to find a shipping date. They had already gone out. That's when I heard about the defoliated plants.

Call and talk to the owner... he seems pretty honest.

Btw, he stops mail ordering in March... so...?

Jeff

[raimeiken]

he stops mailing in the beginning of March? that's odd, it seems like the perfect time to start shipping plants out.

[Josh76]

I'm really interested to know if anyone has a F. auriculata plant that produces viable seed. I've bought thousands of the things on the internet from various sources and had a germination percentage of less than 1%. Apart from India, does anyone know of another location where there is a pollinator for this plant? Thanks

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

I bought 500 seeds and got a grand total of one that germinated.!

[fastfeat]

Never tried this one from seed. I used to buy Ficus seed from Park Seed Co (in sealed foil envelopes). Not sure if they're still around tho...

[raimeiken]

I just got a couple from woodlanders.net in South Carolina.

The ones he sent were recently , severely frost damaged by temps of 11f .

He swears they will recover.

So far no green growth. Just sticks.

But I've heard that these guess can take a punch like Tina Turner and keep on singing.

Jeff

Any updates on the plant if they sprouted new leaves?

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

I just got a couple from woodlanders.net in South Carolina.

The ones he sent were recently , severely frost damaged by temps of 11f .

He swears they will recover.

So far no green growth. Just sticks.

But I've heard that these guess can take a punch like Tina Turner and keep on singing.

Jeff

Any updates on the plant if they sprouted new leaves?

Yup... All sprouted and grew from right at the the soil surface.

One is about a foot tall with 5 leaves, One is about 5 inches tall with 2 leaves and the last one has just started sprouting.

BTW... Woodlanders no longer lists them for sale.

There is one listed on ebay.

Jeff

[raimeiken]

I just got a couple from woodlanders.net in South Carolina.

The ones he sent were recently , severely frost damaged by temps of 11f .

He swears they will recover.

So far no green growth. Just sticks.

But I've heard that these guess can take a punch like Tina Turner and keep on singing.

Jeff

Any updates on the plant if they sprouted new leaves?

Yup... All sprouted and grew from right at the the soil surface.

One is about a foot tall with 5 leaves, One is about 5 inches tall with 2 leaves and the last one has just started sprouting.

BTW... Woodlanders no longer lists them for sale.

There is one listed on ebay.

Jeff

yeah I wish I had ordered one now from woodlanders. The one from eBay is way too expensive. $69 for a small cutting...

I don't know where else to get one from

[Geoff]

Here's a shot of Huntington Gardens F auriculata fruiting... never tried the fruits... sort of assumed they were inedible. Last shot is of a nice tree in San Diego Botanical Garden

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

I just got a couple from woodlanders.net in South Carolina.

The ones he sent were recently , severely frost damaged by temps of 11f .

He swears they will recover.

So far no green growth. Just sticks.

But I've heard that these guess can take a punch like Tina Turner and keep on singing.

Jeff

Any updates on the plant if they sprouted new leaves?

Yup... All sprouted and grew from right at the the soil surface.

One is about a foot tall with 5 leaves, One is about 5 inches tall with 2 leaves and the last one has just started sprouting.

BTW... Woodlanders no longer lists them for sale.

There is one listed on ebay.

Jeff

yeah I wish I had ordered one now from woodlanders. The one from eBay is way too expensive. $69 for a small cutting...

I don't know where else to get one from

Once mine get big, I understand that they are fairly easy to propagate... send me a pm next year... i should have some.

[raimeiken]

how much growth did you get on yours so far this year?

I finally put an order for two. They should be shipping them out beginning of October. I'm excited!

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

They are all about 8 ft tall! And I bet they will add another couple feet before winter.

Awesome looking plants with huge elephant ear looking leaves.

Grows much faster than ficus dammaropsis.... which no snail itself.

[fastfeat]

Rarepalmseeds.com has Ficus auriculata seed on their latest availability list.

http://www.rarepalmseeds.com/wholesale.shtml#rosids

[raimeiken]

They are all about 8 ft tall! And I bet they will add another couple feet before winter.

Awesome looking plants with huge elephant ear looking leaves.

Grows much faster than ficus dammaropsis.... which no snail itself.

thats awesome news! I wished I had pulled the trigger earlier this spring. Do you have yours planted in ground or in pots?

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

I have 2 in pots and one in the ground ,

Jeff

[raimeiken]

I finally got my ficus auriculatas yesterday from woodlander really nice size and healthy too.

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

Wow! That's nice compared the the ones I got.

They were frozen 4 inch sticks.

But in 7 months they have put on a little growth as you can see in my current photo.

[raimeiken]

holy crap! Any branching yet? I hope I get a lot of growth from these here since it's a lot drier here. I'm really worried when summer hits, those big leaves might fry up.

Do you fertilize yours by the way?

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

I think your summers are way more humid than ours... you get rain in the summer..... lots! We don't see any rain from April to Oct most years.

Year I fert with lots of Osmocoate when I first pot up. When its growing fast I water with miracid. Monthly.

[raimeiken]

Yeah this past summer was very unusual here. We got so much rain and I loved it! Usually it's mostly very hot 110+ deg days on end with no rain in sight.

[DoomsDave]

Hey, Fouq, your pictures aren't showing.

Maybe post them again, so we all can salivate?

[raimeiken]

Here's an update on how my plants are doing.

I planted one in ground late last fall and kept one in a large pot to see how they'll do.

The one in the ground go hit with frost and freezing temps during our winter and froze back to the ground. The one in the pot was underneath a citrus tree so it survived

Here's what they looked like back in the beginning of March

The one in ground just starting to awaken.

here's the one in the pot looking much better than.

And here's what they look like today

The one in ground taking off! it seems like theres a new leaf every few days! It loves the full sun too. We had a few days over 100f a couple weeks ago and it wasn't phased by it at all.

Here's the one in the pot. The leaves on this one look bigger. It could be from being in different soil conditions.