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Fig Mosaic Talk!!

16 years ago

I was observing my figs for a few years now.

What i learn is in contradiction with what the fig literature is saying about fig Mosaic.

First observation is that the fig mosaic does not move from one tree to other without human intervention(Grafting,infected shears).

I also learn that it must be more than one strain of fig mosaic.

The most damaging is the strain coming with the UCDAVIS cuttings.

I havefigs that came with fig mosaic from other soyurces and they grown just fine and produce good harvest,The figs from UCDAVIS i have about 15,of them,some for as long as 4 years,and none is taller that 20 inches,and produced no more that one handfull of figs,if at all.

Two of this figs are the best i like in taste.

They are Adriatic and Col de Dame.

Last year they gave me a handfull of figs each and i love the flavor.

I planted them in the best position 2 foot from house and in south of it.

This year they again had dead branches within 6 inche of grownd.

They started growing and show more fig mosaic than last year.

Adriatic has only 3 fruits,and Col de Dame has none as we speak.

So I think I will have to look elswhere for this two cultivars,that have a different origin than UCDAVIS,because it might come with a fig mosaic that is easyer on the tree.

Once i find and grow new trees from new sources,then i trow the Adriatic ,and col de Dame from UCDavis.

I also want to discard this Fall all the ucDavis cultivars that are older than 3 years and did not fruit as they should.Peace

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Comments (3)

gene_washdc
16 years ago
Herman,
I agree with you in regards to figs from UC-Davis. Of all the figs I've gotten from them over the last 5 years, none have ever grown or produced sufficiently to warrant keeping. IÂve gotten other figs with mosaic from other people that have preformed fine. I donÂt know what the difference is Â maybe youÂre right that those from Davis have a different and more dehabilitating strain of the virus.
chills71
16 years ago
Of the varieties I have (mostly all from DAVIS) Calvert is the variety which seems most strongly affected by FMV. (btw Calvert produced a breba this year, but it was dry and fibrous when it finally fell from the fig).

Brown Turkey, Golden Celeste and UCR 143-36 show signs, but they are not badly affected. One of the BT is worse than the other.

I have an unknown (probably Brown Turkey) which shows no signs of FMV (at least I haven't noticed any in almost 3 years). It is not separated from the other figs by much more than about 10 feet of distance (and it is the only one in the ground).

~Chills
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Ciao Martin, I like this thread, its quite informative and great pictures. yes the FMV I personally think everyone has its kinda inevitable, but the plants will grow nice anyway, any ugly leaves i just pluck off, I don't like to look at them, and its my Interior and exterior decor coming out in me I like things to look pretty as well. I will look real closely to my tree's and look for the FMV. Just keep babying the figs, they will be just fine. Ciao
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Almos all of my black figs (BT, Mission, un-id's) have at least a few spots of FMV. My Celestes (about 15 that I rooted from a tree on the Texas coast last year) have no sign of FMV. Of my 100+ white figs of various varieties( all un-id'd types) Most do not show signs of the mosaic. Mostly, it's the dark figs, with the exception of my Adriatics, which do show signs. My osbourne sorta-look-alike (my Delta Golds) have a few spots, also. Overall, the plants look great. It is just that alot of leaves have a mosaic appearance. I keep my trees spaced to where the leaves never touch each other. I have way over 500 trees now, between 2 and 4 growing seasons old. I quess that it is inevitable that FMV is going to jump to where ever it can. It must not be too detremental to the trees because I have several very young trees ( 2nd season) with small figs on them. I have a theory that maybe the dark green chlorophyll fades off the leaf in the hot sun and the lighter yellow takes over a leaf due to the fact that the darker the leaf the hotter it gets due to sun ray absorbsion. It gets hotter than blazes up here in Northern California. Maybe the leaves shed the darker chloropyll so the leaves stay cooler. Just a theory. Is this a big headache for nurseries or do they just tell their customers that the tree has FMV and that is that?? I mean, is there such a thing of a California fig tree nursery that does not have half of their trees spotted with FMV??? It seems to me that if you grow fig trees in quantity, you just have to live with it. What do you think, Diego?
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Like everybody else, I don't like this fig mosaic virus. It's my wish to have trees that don't have this disease. Once you start collecting, there's a huge risk you'll come across a diseased cutting/fig tree. If you are selling or trading cuttings, don't sell, don't trade 'clones' that would carry this FMV into other people's back yards, so to speak. Not all trees have this FMV. There are some countries where it's very hard to spot a tree with FMV symptoms. It's not because they are asymptomatic. It's because the infection is not there.Or perhaps some of the viruses that belong to this collection of viruses that is known as FMV, are not present. And the 'signs' don't show. The truth is, research on this subject is in its infancy. http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nurspest/fig_masaic_virus.htm This post was edited by jesj1852 on Wed, May 8, 13 at 16:24
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Thanks for the confirmation. Many online pictures in research articles are in black and white or others show spots, so I wanted to confirm. Yes, it helps to get second (and third) opinions. I wanted some real world comments from fig growers especially if someone's come up with a workable solution to the mites. My next door neighbor has figs, too, so I don't want to be the source of mass infection. Thanks to both...
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castlemaster
16 years ago
Interesting observations

Here's some info I found surfing. The quote from ucdavis is a bit ironic.

"The virus may be transmitted by vegetative propagation of infected cuttings from diseased trees and by budding or grafting of infected propagative buds or scions. The successful transmission of the virus by an eriophyid mite, Aceria ficus Cotte, has also been reported by Flock and Wallace (6). The virus is not sap or seed transmissible."
http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/pathology/pathcirc/pp64.pdf

"The mouth parts of the eriophyid mite are so small, it can penetrate plant cells without causing cell death;"
http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/TRA/PLANTS/erio.html

"COMMENTS ON THE DISEASE
Black Mission is the most seriously damaged cultivar; Kadota and Calimyrna are the least affected. Ficus palmata, or trees derived from seedlings having F. palmata as the male parent, appear to be immune to mosaic. The fig mosaic is vectored by the eriophyid mite Aceria fici; feeding by a single mite is sufficient to transmit the virus to a healthy seedling of F. carica. The virus can also be transmitted by grafting, but it is not seed borne.
MANAGEMENT
For tree propagation material, choose trees that do not show symptoms of mosaic. Examine propagated young plants carefully for symptoms of mosaic before planting them in the field. Never plant fig cultivars that are propagated from mosaic-infected trees. Controlling fig mites may help reduce incidence of this disease."
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r261100611.html

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