Grow mission fig from seeds?

13 years ago

I was just sitting here munching some dried California black mission figs and it occurred to me to wonder if I could plant the seeds and get fig trees?

I already have a few fig trees that I started from cuttings, but not mission figs.

I'm pretty sure these are parthenocarpic or self fertile, but I cannot seem to find anywhere if the seeds will germinate or how to do so.

Note: I don't care if they don't "come true" from seed, just if they are viable at all. I have plenty of room to experiment growing unknowns.

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Comments (7)

frozenjoe
13 years ago
Fig seeds are only viable if the fig was fertilized by a fig wasp. In America the wasp only exists in some parts of California. Most likely the seeds in your Mission figs are not viable, though some of those figs may have been fertilized and have viable seeds. I don't think that it will be possible to tell which dried fig was fertilized or not. And viable seeds do not grow true to type. Every new seedling represents a brand new variety. Calimyrna fig trees must be fertilized to produce fruit, so the seeds in Calimyrna figs are viable.

Joe
crispy_z7
Original Author
13 years ago
Maybe I am misunderstanding "parthenocarpic". This just means that the plant doesn't need a pollinator to set fruit, any seed produced IN THOSE fruit are probably not viable?

Maybe I should have figured this out the time I tried to plant a grocery store banana to get a banana tree..
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frozenjoe
13 years ago
It's kind of confusing how figs work. Here's a link to Ray Givan's website that explains it some more: http://www.raysfiginfo.com/figsex.html

But yeah, persistent figs like Mission and most of the varieties that we grow will be able to set and ripen fruit even if the fruit has not been pollinated. That fruit even has seeds in it, but there are no fertilized embryos living in the seeds. They will never sprout and grow.

Wikipedia states this about the term Parthenocarpy: "In botany and horticulture, parthenocarpy (literally meaning virgin fruit) is the natural or artificially induced production of fruit without fertilization of ovules."

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Nelson E.
12 years ago
Crispy if your that curious take some seeds remove all the pulp and put them in a cup of water, generally seeds that have been caprified will sink to the bottom and seeds that have not been caprified will float as they are empty. Figs dont come true to type via seeds so if you want a black mission the best bet is to get cuttings or a plant. But if you want to try for fun by all means.
crispy_z7
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for the answers yall, I think I understand how figs work now.

I just have a strange obsession with planting any seed I come across. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't.
orchidguyftl
11 years ago
I have grown many different figs from seed. Usually fresh figs are best. Most dried figs are dried at such a high temperature that the seeds are not viable.
When growing from fresh seed spread on paper towel to dry for a day or 2. They seem to propagate the easiest and best in fresh sphagnum moss is mostly sunny conditions and can take about 3 - 6 months to start up
greenmd09
6 years ago
@orchidguyftl(z11FTL FL) I know this post has been a while, but have your seed-grown figs produced fruit? And if so, how long did it take for them to fruit?

I have some fig seedlings growing that came up naturally from the dropped fruit on my fig tree. I read that figs grown from seed will likely produce a male tree with inedible fruit; and the chances of getting a female tree with edible fruits are slimmer. I'm not sure if I should keep the seedlings or throw them out before they get any bigger.

Thanks