I have this fig! Bought from Diggersclub vic. Stunning tree, stunning fruit. We are in south eastern Melbourne, near gateway to Yarra valley. Our fig is seven years old, we keep it pruned to about 2 metres high and wide. Fruit is now larger than my fist!! It will grow "breba" crop in spring/early summer, then a much bigger crop to ripen in mid autumn. I realised this was an old post-hope you still have the tree!! If not diggers club will

No, I go over the border into sth-east Qld occasionally and it's as dry as a dead dingos up there. We do get dry spells and we were even on restrictions a few years ago but we have nowhere near the population of the Gold Coast (Surfers, etc.,), and so not the demand on the supply. Rain has been fairly plentiful the last few years; the lawns might just start to brown up and a good storm would come over and cure the problem. I'd say we've had sufficient to keep the lawns and mature plants happy, about once a fortnight on average. I stick mostly with native plants though, and after settling them in leave them (with a watchful eye) to exist on what falls from the sky. I think our saviour is the Lamington National Park and the Nighcap Ranges N. P. plus other rainforest areas in the mountains to our west. Every afternoon, nearly all year, storm clouds gather out there and often come our way with a bit of precipitation. Maybe if we hadn't destroyed most of our rainforrests we mightn't be in this drought, or maybe it wouldn't be as bad. By the way, land prices are soaring here now and the population is rapidly increasing. Just hope they never destroy those forests.

Aha ! I live in Hoppers, which is the other end of Melbourne, still, I'm sure we could arrange a mututally convenient time. As to the question of cost, there are laymans alternatives that can be used. Various hobyyists suggest an empty fishtank that's closed on the top, but has 2 circular holes on the viewing side (front side) so as to allow for manipulation of the process. For sterilsation, you could use an ordinary pressure cooker (costs about $40). You could use ready made solutions of MS and get pre-mixed calibrated concentrations of Cytokinins like BAP and Auxins like IBA or NAA (Naphthalene Acetic Acid), that way, we only need a measuring beaker instead of an expensive weighing scale. There !! - Hae I cut down costs or what ! Now, I think the costs can be justified by a hobbyist. Regarding light and heat - a good growing spectrum of light is given off by ordinary tubelights and I've literature where, the auther used a combination of flourescent lighting and incandescent lighting to acheive a good balance of heat and light. Alos, we would need circulation inside the fish tank, to enable uniform distribution of the heat (we're talking about 25 to 27 Deg C). This can be acheived by using a Computer fan placed inside the fish tank. The fan costs about $15 (I have one).

Hi, we are new to this forum and live Central Vic. same thing no watering permitted outside due to our water restrictions. just getting started and having fun collecting succulents and cacti.have had a large amount donated to us and have been potting up and after reading the entry on pruning jade, and have rescued all the bits we threw out thinking they were no use, the plant itself was massive. so will be keen to see how it responds to being ripped out of the ground in 30+ degree heat.