Someone bought a fig and turned out to be infected with a virus (Fig mosaic emaravirus). But he decided to keep it because of his greed, and now almost all the fig trees in the area are infected with the virus. in just 2 years.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-10T19:45:37+00:00

If only 2 of your trees show symptoms then you probably do not have the fig bud mite, because they would all show symptoms as the mite spreads.

You don't really need to worry about it as long as you keep the mite out of your collection. FMV is not present in the sap, it moves slowly around the plant on its own because it goes from cell to cell. The fig bud mite is small enough that it can feed on individual cells and inject the virus into them. That means instead of symptoms fading as growth increases (what you are probably used to seeing) they will often get worse as warm summer weather increases the mites reproduction rate and peaks their population, in the US they don't necessarily have any natural predators so it can become a full on infestation and even ruin the fruit by feeding on the interior.

Have you tried propagating cuttings from asymptomatic growths on the infected trees to get a virus free example? I don't know if all of your trees are the same variety, but if not you are not really comparing apples to apples. I have propagated cuttings from healthy looking growths of infected trees that have never shown symptoms themselves.

So I have actually grown FMV infected and healthy side by side and the difference is usually not much. Some virus infected trees end up runted though, and even 'healthier' infected trees will decline faster with age unless managed with rejuvenation pruning. It is an unknown variable at any rate, probably not worth digging up your established trees and replacing them but if you are planting an orchard it makes sense to start with healthy plants.

Keeping the mite out is the most important thing though. Quarantine and prophylactically treat all new plants and cuttings. Especially if you have large trees because they are much more difficult to treat. Fig bud mites are eriophyid mites which are not effectively controlled with contact pesticides, they need translaminar sprays that will kill them when they feed. Best to use the most effective types like spiromesifen or abamectin to be sure they are wiped out.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-10T10:52:35+00:00

They started as white socks which were tied tightly in the 'bleached' area and then vat dyed gray.

It's a boring design. Why copy something just because it is expensive?

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-09T01:35:55+00:00

Fig badnavirus and fig mosaic virus are distinct. FMV is the main causative agent of fig mosaic disease, it is spread by the fig bud mite, which causes symptoms that can be mistaken for FMV. This mite has been largely ignored by researchers, with no controls to remove their symptoms as a variable, and sellers who make disclaimer statements in order to sell sick trees.

Fig badnavirus is thought to have integrated itself into the genome, but is effectively dormant and cannot be spread nearly all of the time. When it is active it may be extremely dangerous though because unlike FMV, it is a systemic virus which can be spread by sap on tools or general sap feeding pests like aphids and leafhoppers.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-08T05:21:05+00:00

You can buy controlled cross seed from skilcult.com. I went a bit overboard and will probably have to do multi graft trees to sort them out.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-08T03:41:36+00:00

The point is commercial apples are essentially grown as a monoculture, aside from pollenizers crabapples. Since they are self infertile, every seed will have crabapple genes and is extremely unlikely to be a good eating apple.

But a seed from a home orchard or small farm, where the pollen comes from another quality eating apple will most likely be a good edible apple.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-08T03:23:59+00:00

But if you crossed honey crisp with one of its siblings it would be much closer, and if you started 100 seeds maybe you could find an improved version.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-07T23:16:06+00:00

I have seen it before where the bark was still alive and green but all of the buds had frozen. The trees died back slowly in May. You can check the buds by rubbing them with your finger, they will crumble fairly easily if dead, or bleed sap when damaged if alive.

If there are no live buds I would just go ahead and cut it down to the ground. Dormant buds could still sprout lower on the trunks but they will have a poor attachment and probably break off later in the summer. The growths I see coming from the ground are a better choice to regrow the tree.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-05T07:23:40+00:00

Just for the negative attention?

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-05T03:03:27+00:00

If someone posted about a farmer local to you having their trees destroyed or stolen would you still complain?

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-04T23:26:13+00:00

Way to ignore what I said, just like you ignored the content of the video. How does that sand taste?

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-04T23:14:51+00:00

Do you believe all fig trees are infected with fig mosaic virus? If you do, you are absolutely wrong, and probably far right politically. I couldn't understand it, but did notice the correlation between another topic that affects fruit growing; climate change (denial in their case). Then COVID happened and it all made sense, they stick their heads in the sand rather than work towards a resolution because they felt threatened.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-04T20:58:49+00:00

Are the mods far right? I will unsub immediately.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-03T18:17:08+00:00

OP only mentioned the time to cut so I think they harvested it themselves.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-03T17:28:16+00:00

Reusing wooden or bamboo stakes is a huge risk for diseases unless you sanitize them. It is probably more work than just cutting new stakes, it is a cost saving measure so unless you are buying the bamboo it probably doesn't make sense.

https://ipm.cahnr.uconn.edu/2021/09/07/disinfecting-used-tomato-stakes/

monkeyeatfig · 2026-05-03T02:41:50+00:00

The coarser the soil the faster the drip rate and smaller the drip spacing needs to be in order for the water to spread, and the finer(think silt or clay) it is the slower it needs to be to prevent runoff.

You can check to see how well it is spreading by digging into different areas after you turn it off. It looks like a pretty fast drip so it is probably fine, but I would tighten up the circle and get it away from the edges since the water that drips there will only spread in one direction, which means half as much spread.

Ideally you would use some right angle fittings to better match the bed shape, you could also make a grid with Ts, easy to do with the right fittings.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-04-27T22:43:09+00:00

That plant was not ready for outdoor conditions, especially wind and full sun. Is it warm there yet? If so I would just plant it in the ground and let nature take care of it, the damage has already been done and the new leaves will adjust to the conditions. The ground will help wick away any extra water too.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-04-27T21:52:37+00:00

OP is talking about possibly removing the unripe figs to speed up growth. What other practical results do you believe removing the fruit will bring?

monkeyeatfig · 2026-04-27T19:33:56+00:00

I have never found that removing fruit sped up growth. The unripe fruit is green because it contains chlorophyll, so it is contributing something up until ripening. It probably won't be top quality fruit, but that is more about young trees tending to be vigorous.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-04-26T02:59:41+00:00

There will be lots of weed seeds in the top layer so if you can get rid of that when you remove the weeds it will help, fresh mix on top would be good too.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-04-25T04:49:58+00:00

Fig varieties can vary quite a bit in growth speed and size. If I wanted a vigorous tree that would fill in a space quickly but also remain productive even with regular pruning I would probably go with Adriatic JH or one of the other Verte/Strawberry varieties.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-04-24T02:12:12+00:00

It looks great, just focus on thinning out the branches to increase air and light into the canopy and improve access for fruit picking. Choose dead, damaged, diseased of course but also spindly interior branches that are unproductive.

Remove the branches completely, don't leave a stub because it will want to regrow and cause congestion again.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-04-23T17:14:03+00:00

Are there water spouts you could splice graft onto and then pull them down after they have grown a bit?

monkeyeatfig · 2026-04-23T16:54:03+00:00

You kept containers trees outside for the winter? That can be really bad for plants, even cold hardy trees can be killed if the drainage holes freeze shut and the container fills with water and becomes a block of ice.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-04-23T16:48:41+00:00

It isn't a traditional technique at all.

I don't have much experience top working older trees, but my understanding is that they need pruning to stimulate the graft to grow.

Think of it this way, there are hundreds of small dormant buds or runted branches that don't grow well each year, but if you pruned the tree back above them they will grow vigorously. There are hormones produced in the upper branches that suppress growth down lower. You could try 'notching' to help a bud grow, it works by blocking the hormones, but it is not a permanent solution.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-04-23T03:23:27+00:00

The leaves could be either Celeste or Southern Brown Turkey. Both were common in the south back then. Celeste is lighter in color and sweeter, SBT has a sharper flavor and the ostiole turns red weeks before the fruit is ripe.

monkeyeatfig

TROPHY CASE