Products for pest control, fungal disease, and animal pest repellent.

Bionide Hot Pepper Wax

Lilly Miller Chelated Iron Plus

 I was looking for something else in the garage.  Found these products.  I don't know how old.  Maybe 5 years old.

Hot Pepper Wax might be reduce risk for animals chewing on tree bark and stems.  Two potential benefits.  The wax might have antidessicant properties, reduce frost damage on immature fig shoots.  Hot pepper extract might reduce chewing.

So I used up that spray on the fig trees, saturating the bark, the stem tips, and the tree wrap.

I would like to come up with a home remedy.  If I can figure out a sprayable wax.  Maybe the wax component is minimal, could as well be replaced with canola oil or neem oil.

This summer I noted Ning's ginkgo trees were not as green as the older one I planted.  Multiple potential reasons.  Ning's ginkgos were grown in container several years, until late last winter.  To avoid too much root damage, we left potting soil pretty much in place.  Mine was in more of a native soil.  I don't remember - if I gave mine some epson salts in the early Spring, too.  Maybe. And maybe some fish emulsion. 

I also noted mulberry leaves were pale.  That may be a mulberry tree characteristic.  Or this variety.  I was thinking, either magnesium (epson salts) or iron.  Or both.

I also read about iron supplements for fig trees, on an internet forum.  I was looking for some to apply during late winter.  I found this container.  So now that's taken care of too.  I prefer completely organic, but then how do I dispose of this?  It's not herbicide or pesticide, so I will use it up.  There isn't much.  Later find a completely organic source.

 Also thinking about what to use for fungal spots on the bearded iris leaves.  This year I did not use anything.  The spots were significant by fall.  Maybe it doesn't hurt anything.  In previous years, neem worked well for leaf spot and for aphids.  I found this partially used container.  I can use it up in the Spring.

Green Light Neem Concentrate

Fig Tree Progress Report.

Vancouver Brunswick Fig Tree

Brunswick ("vancouver" because the source tree was here in Vancouver) - survived move to Battleground last Dec.  New growth was damaged by late frost.   Growth this year was 7".  No figs this year.  No concerns about green twigs.  This tree is mature, all growth is well lignified.

LSU Champagne.  Height now 4'8", all of which is new, grown from cutting this year.  Rapid growth due to fertigation while grown in container.  Also chickens were housed in this spot for a few weeks.  I had pinched the top to stop growth / encourage branching.   Today I picked the first two ripe figs.  Sweet.  Concern:  About the top foot is green with minimal lignification.  Will the top survive freezing?

Atreano.  Height now 5', all of which is new, grown from cutting this year.  Rapid growth due to fertigation while grown in container.   Also the chicken issue, above.  I had pinched the top to stop growth / encourage branching.   There are 2 large figs, still green.  Will I get ripe ones before frost?  Concern:  About the top foot is green with minimal lignification.  Will the top survive freezing?

Champagne and Atriano fig trees.

Row of fig trees.

Carini.  Height now 3'6", all of which is new, grown from cutting this year.  Rapid growth due to fertigation while grown in container.  I had pinched the top to stop growth / encourage branching.   There are still 2 large figs, still green.  I have eated a few from this tree.  Early starter.   Will I get ripe ones before frost?  Concern:  About the top 6" is green with minimal lignification.  Will the top survive freezing?

Petite negri.  Did not measure.  Knee high, new growth about 6".   Planted 2012.  Slow grower, had chewing animal damage last winter.  New figs did not have time to mature.

Smith.  My fastest grower this year, although Champagne and Atreano were close.  Since I pinched the tops of all three to encourage branching, comparison is difficult.  4' Tall.  Did not grow as much after planting as those other 2 listed so far.  No figs this year.  Some concerns about  lack of lignification but not as much as those two listed.

Front - Back:  Carni, Petite negri, Smith, Sal's, Tiger.

 Sal's.   Now 3'9", of which 9"  is new.  Same frost problem as Brunswick.  Planted last summer.  About half dozen new figs this year, some of the best tasting.  It should be well established now.  I thought it might take off and grow faster, but this is a more difficult site and it was not fertigated.  No frost concern, the growth is well lignified.

LSU Tiger.  3'5", all of which is new, grown from cutting this year.  Same fertigation as the other new fig trees.  Competed with Carini for the first ripe figs on new trees.  Lignification looks better than the other new trees.

The containerized trees are spares - go keep in garage as replacements, in case the in-ground trees don't survive the winter.  They can be give-aways if the in-ground trees do survive.  They are smaller than the planted ones.  I chose the biggest ones for planting.

The potted trees did not get watered in the past 2 weeks, and are entering dormancy.  Brunswick is also entering dormancy, and the others are beginning to lose leaves / yellow leaves as well.

Container fig trees.

Smith Fig Tree Graduation. Now into the real world of in-ground FigTrees.

Smith Fig.  View of roots.

Too many trees on the deck.  With 2 Smith Fig trees, about equal size, I decided to plant one at the Battleground place.  Original plan was overwinter and wait until Spring.  However, by planting one in-ground now, I have a chance to see if it will survive winters here.  If not, I can keep the other in container and overwinter in garage.  Or not - might be too much trouble.

If it has a chance to harden off, I think it will survive the winter.  No "TLC" plant food now.  Just water to keep it alive and let roots grow into surrounding soil.

Root close-up

It is not root-bound.  Some winding roots.  This is one of the few cases of my planting without slicing into the root ball, or teasing them apart.  Fig roots are aggressive, so will have no problem growing outward.  Some references recommend intentionally confining the roots, to restrict growth.  I don't want to reduce feeding roots during Summer planting.  I did the same procedure with Carini fig.  It wilted a little.  Not much.

Smith Fig.  Now in the ground.

Fig Grove #1

I mixed a little homemade compost into the fill soil.  Not much.  I poured 2 gallons of water into the hole to soak in.  Then placed tree into hole, filled in with mildly amended original soil, watered in, and mulched with straw.

Smith is an old heritage family variety in Louisiana.  Some wriers state Smith is the best of all figs.  Some of that could be variety, soil, climate....  Will it do well here? Survive winter here?  This is an experiment.  Buff or yellow skin, red inside.

The little fig grove.  From close to distant (front to back), Carini, Petite negri (possibly re-identified as Aubique petite - via Figs4fun website), Smith, Sal's.  Behind Sal's, not visible, is truncheon cutting, now growing, Lattarula.  I may add one final tree but the spot is not perfect due to shade via a growing cherry tree on neighboring property, south of the fig grove.

This is a nice spot.  Mild grade, down-slope to west and south.  South of house, so warmer in winter.

Edit 7/25/13:  Planted LSU Tiger fig tree in the location where I had the Lattarula truncheon starts.  My goal was to dig up the Lattarula starts and give them TLC for faster growth.  However, they do not appear to have roots.  I can do much better with fresh starts, can think about that next year.  Meanwhile, the row is completed, with 3 new fig tree starts, and the 2 existing small trees started previous years.  LSU Tiger is usually just called  "Tiger".  Since Panache is also sometimes called "Tiger" - incorrectly -  it's less confusing to add the "LSU".  Which also designates the origin for this variety.