I am pretty new for fig grow, this year is my first yeat to harvest fig, I have one Petite Negra, 3rd year, got 4 small fig, slowly riped, at the same time, my chicargo hardy also the 3rd year, show up more fruits and riped quicker, My best fig is the one from North China, fengtai beijing fig, also, year 3rd from bareroot. The tree produced a lot of huge sized fruits, very juicy, start harvest every day starting the end of August. Still have a few to pick, I feel like the ripe depend on the temperature, one day hot like 80 degree, the fig size is boosted, I have to pick it otherwise, the bird got them. I am going to write down the ripe schedule next year for reference. Wendy

While this is up, I want to add my two cents. ;) How quickly the first true leaves grow depends. They can take a really long time to grow, or they can grow really fast (like the day after they sprout). There are a lot of factors: - Warmth (this is a big one) - Fertility (if you've got wood chips in the soil, it's probably going to slow the growth by taking nitrogen out of it; if you don't have wood chips, you shouldn't need to worry about this much, if at all) - Light - Watering (if they dry out a certain amount, they won't grow as fast, and if they're too wet too long, that's an issue, too) - Shock (If the plants are shocked, such as if their leaves get scorched, they may grow more slowly.) With my seed-starting method (I grow them outside on a table in full sun, and take them inside when it's too cold outside), what makes the difference most is temperature. If it's cold, they take a long time. If it's warm, they grow true leaves very fast. I'm sure there are other factors I haven't mentioned.

It's easier to remove a stain when it's fresh or not dried on yet. If the stain is set (dried), it's best to pretreat with a stain remover and let it sit for a while to let the enzymes do their work (a few hours or overnight). Exposing the stain to heat will make it impossible or close to impossible to remove. Like Cavimum said...it all depends.

CW, I'm really not trying to give you a hard time. It's just that I take this exchange of info seriously. People come here to learn, and, when someone presents themselves as a professional, their information is likely to be depended upon and (I believe) should have a good solid basis. When a professional makes a recommendation that seems...well..."off the wall", I think it's important for that recommendation to at least be questioned. Otherwise, bad information is likely to prevail and people can become misinformed. I've written a few things on here before that, when I looked back, I realized were not well thought out. I try really hard to make that the rare exception though. If I ever write something that runs strongly counter to currently accepted standards, I try to provide plenty of backup or rationale. If I didn't, I'd expect multiple people to question the recommendation. My analogy was not meant to be condescending, but to illustrate the logic pattern behind the recommendation to routinely fertilize once every five years.