I was shocked when a few of my UC Davis cuttings that are just budding out had tiny hard little grape flower clusters. Of course I removed them immediately. It made sense to me because cuttings are actually canes, that if left on the vine, would be fruiting this year. I don't need your photo to be in focus. Those are clusters! They look exactly like the ones that first form in the vineyard, and exactly like the ones forming on my cuttings. It hurts to do it, but pinch em off!! Good luck with your vines!

You don't need to remove the figs from the tree. You should be able to enjoy some fig crop in your zone this year. Just keep these in the sunny location and provide the provisions as required (watering and fertilizing). Watch for potting up to a bigger pot when needed as the root mass becomes big fot the pot.

Cnid, thanks for quoting me.. I am not sure if I just expressed myself poorly or if I have been misquoted... Cutting the buds won't stress the lily plants in the sence that it will grow poorly and you risk killing it. Deadheading (e.g. the removal of spent flowers before seed pods can develop) will indeed make offset production more prolific. My guess is that this is a natural response of the lily to multiply in case it's intended cause of reproduction (seed) can not be completed. There are other ways to increase offset production. If you stress the lily, such as keeping it pot grown/root bound, and going through mild draught cycles (within reason) will also result in heavy bulblet production. E.g. again probably a defence mechanism that if the bulb survival is questionable, it will spend energy on creating bulblets. This being said, it does not mean that deadheading a lily is stressfull. In fact, deadheading the lily, gives it time to concentrate on bulb enlargement and offset production rather than setting seeds. I know that some growers will cut the flower buds of young immature lily (1st or 2nd year from scaling/bulblet production) so that they are prevented from blooming the first year. This should only be done after the lily has grown to full size and the flower buds have started to form. At this time, you can cut the buds off. The result of this removal of buds will result in energy being put into bulb growth. A small immature (10 cms) lily bulb allowed to bloom will grow to full size slower than a similar sized bulb which is prevented from flowering the first year. Let me say, however, that you do not need to remove the flower buds of "flowering sized" (14+ cms) lily bulbs you buy in stores. The above applies to young bulbs which are just reaching flowering size. In my mind, there is nothing wrong with letting the buds open and flower even on young lilies. However, typically this is limited to one or two flowers so the loss if you remove buds prematurely is really negible and therefore I prefer to do it although I do not always carry through with it (it is SOOOOOOOOOO hard to remove the buds). In a patch out in front of our house, I had this tested on a grand scale when the #&*!@$^%@$%@ deer ate the buds just as they started to develop a few years ago. The stems were left (only the buds removed) and the patch next year was outstanding. Much bigger and better than before. I take this as proof of the theory. In other words, removing the buds while they are green and immature will not stress your lily to the point where the survival is put at risk. On the contrary, it probably helps the plant develop the bulb for next year. However, do not cut too early. Make sure the lily has grown to mature size. Usually you can wait until the buds have started to unfold away from the stem (e.g. no longer a tight group at the top). Stress appear to improve bulblet production, and so does deadheading before seed production can take place (but I am not saying that deadheading is stressfull to the plant). Kenneth Walnut sized lily bulbs (10 cms) just reaching flowering size. That year, one of the 3 bulbs had one flower The patch of lilies the year after the deer attack. The stems the previous year were very small and immature. The show was vastly improved

hmmm. No aphids? How about herbicides sprayed recently? Where did you get the mulch? Have you had your soil tested recently? If you can eliminate other causes and you're pretty darn sure it's lacking ca, you can possible get some water soluble ca online or from a hydro shop. Or 2 other ways to get Ca into the soil quickly--- One way is to take a large yogurt container, put an inch or 2 of DOLOMITE lime in it with a cup or 2 of white vinegar, give a good stir, let sit overnight uncovered, and then use the liquid(not the sediment that sinks to the bottom) at a rate of 4 TB/gal of water. Or... mix a pound of Ca(OH)2 (SLAKED lime) in five gallons of water, then let it sit over night and siphon off the supernatant w/o disturbing the dregs and use the supernatant to water with at a rate of 1 qt/sq ft or 8 oz/6' pot. Kevin