What a beautiful garden! What type of soil did you put the cuttings in?

Thank you, Terry, that's very kind! I have a huge yard (by S. Calif. standards, over an acre), and this is my little sitting area by the pool. The soil is EB Stone's Cactus Mix. Makes for a nice, well-draining mix. I use it for almost all my potted plants (except my blueberries). It is very reliable and performs very well for me in a lot of different situations. So tickled to see the cuttings starting to leaf out :-)

Patty S.

Hello Patty,

Did you plant petunias in the fig pots for a reason? Do they help keep the soil cooler?

You have a beautiful garden and it looks so peaceful and relaxing.

noss

Acutally, yes, there is a reason, noss, good guess :-) I'm using it as a "mulch" to keep the soil a little moister (and cooler), and to provide a little pop of color. Petunias (and most other annual flowers) are not huge nutrient demanders, so they don't steal macro-nutrients much from the fig trees. It helps to keep the moisture retained in the soil, as we're fairly dry here in S. California (although the last month or two you'd not believe that, lol!) We actually get all our rain in the winter out here, it's just late in coming this year. From about April/May through November, we frequently get NO rain, and that's our warm time as well. So, growing an annual in the pot, or succulents can help screen the soil from the sun, and keep the pot a bit moister. I also usually use Osmocote 14-14-14 in my potted fruit trees and occasionally a few other fertilizers/micronutrients depending on what's growing in the pot (less for figs, more for citrus, for example).

And, my husband was asking for some pretty color in this area (nixed the succulents, which was going to be my preference). He likes to go out here and have his coffee in the mornings. So, I gave him some lovely 'Supertunia' Red petunias by Proven Winners. This is a new cultivar that is a prolific bloomer and has a trailing habit, so hopefully, they'll grow a bit more and start to trail out of the pot a bit.

Thanks for asking and thank you for your kind words. We were specifically going for relaxing in this area, looks like we did a pretty good job :-)

Patty S.

Hi ! I 'd appreciate if you could send me couple cuttings of this Ronde de Bordeaux Fig tree. I can send you some good Italian Fig tree cutting in return...
Eugene
Connecticut
evladi7654@aol.com

Hi Patty,

I never saw your reply to me here for some reason, but thanks for elaborating upon how you use annuals to help shade the pot and soil like that. Not just for beauty, but it does make things beautiful.

:)

noss

Same here I have 1 unnamed varity and a few named types I can trade cuttings of in the fall. I also have rooted plants in 1 gallon pots if you have some rooted plants. Good job on the RDB plants I hope they flourish in your lovely garden.

Sure, noss! We get creative sometimes, here in S. California, with our "mulch". I'm getting ready to remove the petunias, as they're pretty much spent, now. I'll put in about an inch of compost then top with bark mulch, now. Figs are getting bigger, now. Hopefully these trees will do well in these pots.

Patty S.

Folks, I am fearful that I'm going to get so many requests for cuttings that I'll not have any branches left on these very young trees. So, I want to stave off any further requests by saying I'm not planning on doing cuttings for at least a year or more. Enough time to let my trees grow a wee bit.

Patty S.