Breeding Figs: How To Grow Fig Trees From Seed [COMPLETE GUIDE]

This video is a complete guide on how to grow fig trees from seed. Be sure to follow my series on breeding figs below, where I show you how to hand pollinate figs and grow your own genetically unique fig tree at home like a professional breeder!
Follow my series on BREEDING FIG TREES here: • The Fig Breeding Exper...
In addition to the complete process for harvesting fig seed, cleaning them and testing them for fertility, we also test various mediums for germinating fig seeds for growing fig trees from seed. There is a clear winner!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 Introduction To Growing Fig Trees From Seed
0:38 Results From The Fig Hand Pollination Experiment
3:13 Harvesting Fig Seeds From Mature Hand Pollinated Figs
5:30 Sterilizing Fig Seeds
6:16 Smyrna Fig Taste Tests
7:10 Cleaning Fig Seeds Before Planting
8:11 How To Test Fig Seeds For Fertility
9:40 Fig Seed Hand Pollination Fertility Results
11:26 Planting Fig Seeds In Various Mediums For Germination Testing
15:32 Where To Germinate Fig Seed For Best Results
16:45 Dry Needle Fig Pollination Results
17:26 Germinating Fig Seed After 3 Days!
18:26 Fig Seed Germination Test Medium Results
24:36 Adventures With Dale
If you have questions about growing figs from seed, tips on growing fig trees in general, want to know about the things I am growing in my garden, are looking for any gardening tips and tricks, or have questions about gardening and organic gardening in general, please ask in the Comments below!
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© The Millennial Gardener

[@mgfons]

Your fig seedlings look great. I hope you get some keepers. I started germinating fig seeds from a Palmata Hybrid DFIC0023 fig last December, and some of them are over 2 feet tall now. I used a soil mix of about 70% pumice 15%coconut coir, and 15% peat moss. Also, I noticed if you soak the seeds for 3 days, they germinate really fast. Since then I started germinating fig seeds from dried figs like Afghani dried figs, Turkish dried figs, Greek, Chinese, Kashmiri, Iranian, and Armenian, and they all germinated. The only ones I couldn't get to germinate were dried Black Mission figs.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Do you colonize the fig wasp? My concern with growing seedlings from dried figs is the likelihood that any were pollinated by a persistent caprifig is very low, so I'd anticipate almost all female offspring to be smyrna.

[@mgfons]

@@TheMillennialGardener I live in Oceanside, California and fortunately we do have some fig wasps around here. Yes, I agree that most of the offspring from the dried figs will be Smyrna, but since we have the wasps here, I am hoping they will get some ripe fruit. Also, I recently germinated some seeds from common figs (Smith and a Corky's Honey Delight fig), and both of them germinated as well. I posted pics on the FB group, Fig Fanatics

[@NMW80]

@@mgfons that’s awesome wow I didn’t think the dry figs would be viable seeds. I thought they would dead due to sterilization but that’s great I’m so trying it now.

[@aubryoakes7108]

Thanks for posting this series. I got some cuttings from my dad, have them growing away in my garden, and now I'm looking into getting them to develop fruit. Your videos are a gold mine.

[@stevegudgel1519]

Did not imagine that hand pollination was possible. Just amazing! Hope you successfully germinate a new variety.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I knew it would be possible, but I didn't think I'd get it right the first try. I spent more hours than I care to admit reading through fig breeding studies and abstracts trying to figure out what they did, and the general consensus was it is not easy to pollinate and germinate figs. Well, this method *works* and it's shockingly easy, all things considered.

[@danielle2451]

Thank you so much for this video. I have some ideas on some different plants that would be interesting to cross-pollinate, but I don't even have the plans yet. I'm so excited for seeing how this project pans out over years to come. It seems like it'll be a fun one to keep coming back to

[@thor4594]

I have tried all these methods. I have found the direct sow in soil works the best. However the seeds in the root riot pellets in a humidity dome do very well also!! and last a long time till you can up pot them as long as you keep them moist and a very very light fertilizer. (The vermiculite has a down side. You have to fertilize it and transplant them very young.) I also bury them in soil about 1/2 inch deep so when they root it’s deep and when you water you don’t have to worry too much about plant movement or root exposure 👍🏻 I am currently seed starting BNR and BM and UP in Ca. 9b. 🌞 Nice job on the artificial pollination!!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I assume you colonize the wasp, so you get natural crosses?

[@thor4594]

Yes we get the fig wasp naturally here in central Cali. I have 1 male fig tree but it’s not very big, he’s still in a pot.

[@violetstewart954]

Violet

[@JacobSimpson]

That's awesome! I can't believe how well they germinated. I'm gonna try this next year!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

If you don't have a persistent caprifig, start looking this fall. It'll be cuttings season before we know it, so now's the time to get a persistent caprifig. Since you get pollen from the breba crop, it takes 2 seasons to get pollen, so keep that in mind. I've been planning this for years.

[@JacobSimpson]

@@TheMillennialGardener is there a specific variety you would suggest? One I have in mind right now is C1 and was used by the LSU breeding program I think. I also was thinking about D3-9 and DFIC 8. Just wondering if you've heard of any of those or have any you would recommend.

[@airlar4857]

Another fantastic fig video.. thx for sharing! 👏

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks for watching!

[@artbyrobot1]

Great job on this series. Very very helpful.

[@zachmandoooo]

Thanks for putting out this video. I've been wanting to sprout some fig seeds too.

[@kingjames4886]

very nice! seeds tend to germinate much faster and easier when they're fresh, probably helped you a bit.

[@Storesdavidal]

Thank You For This Informative Video.

[@sylvia10101]

That’s pretty cool! Thank you for sharing. 👍

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks for watching!

[@tomjones4318]

Wonderful info and experiments. This will come in handy when I'm ready for perennials. I'm clearing land now to make room.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Awesome! That's exciting!

[@dsa2591]

This is fascinating. I don't think I'd ever try it, but it's fun to watch.

[@mouhsoft15]

I live in a mediterranean climate region and I collected some fig seeds in august 2018 stuck them in a lil pot filled with used soil and somehow they all germinated well transplanted the biggest of them into their own pots and kept uppotting them slowly. Fast forward to 2023 which was 5 years later they put out figs for the very first time and im waiting to see which is male and which is female i have like 4 or 5 of em left from the original batch

[@PestratorProductions]

This is amazing. Thank you so much for all of the information!

[@amysnipes4245]

Very cool! I can't wait to see how they progress.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Me, too! Hopefully, they start putting on some decent growth so I can transplant. Thanks for watching!

[@omargjuarez1]

Awesome video thank you!

[@nickya6733]

My fig seeds are sprouting I’m excited to see the results I collected some from a tiger fig can’t wait to see if there’s any different variations

[@garybarkley2286]

Nice job man one heck of an accomplishment congratulations

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you! It's been very time consuming, but really rewarding. I'm really happy so far. Thanks for watching!

[@hussainal-asaad6045]

Your videos are excellent. Thanks and keep up the good work.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you! I really appreciate that. Thanks for watching.

[@lahibjaddo9554]

Brilliant video. Thanks

[@hamidbenabbou6886]

Good WORK ! CONGRATULATIONS 👏

[@feklee]

That was fun to watch! I found ripe figs on the floor yesterday in Hong Kong: Ficus Altissima. Now I want to plant them. Seeds in a glass all sink to the bottom, so optimistic. But I wonder: Why all this trouble with separating the individual seeds? Why not simply put the fig fruit directly into soil? I understand that seeds of stranglers are normally spread by animals who spit them out or poop them on top of other trees or structures. In fact, the other day, a friend mentioned that it may be necessary for these seeds to go through the digestive system of an animal.

[@justincentraltexas]

Great video!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks for watching!

[@TheNCGardener]

That is very interesting! Can't wait for transplant time.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Me, too. It may be a challenge to transplant such fragile plants. Crossing my fingers!

[@lamnguyenimggroup]

Thanks so much for sharing i had failed few time to grow by seeds. I will be trying again.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

This method definitely works. If you copy my methods exactly, you should see success. I think the humidity chamber I made outside out of that plastic container really helped create a good environment for germination. Thanks for watching!

[@lamnguyenimggroup]

@@TheMillennialGardener thanks previous time i had made the seeds without the Hydrogen 3%. I will be trying hydrogen 3% this time.

[@muskatll]

Hi! I am extremely impressed with your tutorials and knowledge. There is so much material here. Thank you! I have a very sick fig tree in the ground and want to find info on how to help it. Can you point me to which video I should look at first. It's had water and sun but no food. Just gave it an organic balanced feeding after watching one of your videos but really want more on in ground figs. Thank you again.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you! I really appreciate that. I'm glad to hear the content is helpful. Yes, I can give you a lot of info on figs. I first would direct you to this video, which explains how I plant my trees and why adding compost and mulch every season is so important: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJCQkn-ueLR8brc Then, I strongly suggest you watch my series on fertilizing. It's a lot of info, but it will explain everything you need to know: kzbin.info/aero/PL1gY7BoYBGIFNbJEUdApbh_E57uNBLG2j At this point in the year, I would suggest you not fertilize your fig trees anymore, because fertilizing this late can cause a flush of green growth, which can be damaged in freezes. You'll want to prepare for next season, and begin fertilizing immediately around your last chance of frost date in the spring. Start off with 2-3 inches of compost, then another 3-4 inches of a natural mulch, around 2 weeks before your last chance of frost. Then, give it a nice feeding of granulated fertilizer, bone meal and a big glug of soluble fertilizer to help wake it up immediately after last frost. That will get you off on the right foot.

[@jamesfrederick.]

Yes this is epic love this series

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Glad to hear you enjoy it! Thank you for watching.

[@borracho-joe7255]

Very good info. I have to think the seeds that germinated in the old potting soil will have a leg up compared to the others in the vermiculite mainly because they will not need to be transplanted as soon.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks. This is why I tried so many methods. I wanted to hedge my bets that something would take. I think my problem with the vermiculite will be transplanting. That's going to be a challenge, for sure. I'll be sure to document that in Part 4.

[@CynthiaWord-iq7in]

​@@TheMillennialGardener yes you guys. But let's bit discount the value if vermiculite in draining soil later as figs need a lot of perfect everything to grow almost autonomously forever, blistering sun from 10-2pm, then partial shade the rest of day...living phosphates...never forgetting figs proliferating, sweetening, swelling, split open easily in rainy season, need drainage too.

[@TheRonnierate]

Please clarify pollination process and narrow forge success. Very interesting! Thanks!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

The pollination process is discussed as part of the series. You can watch the whole series here: kzbin.info/aero/PL1gY7BoYBGIHWDFykCI-TRAt-Gm45Wwyw If you watch all 4 parts, you'll basically know everything there is to know about pollinating and growing figs from seed. My seedlings are 6-12 inches tall now and will be up-potted once it starts to warm up some.

[@TyOtis]

Wow amazing work. Congrats!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you!

[@ArcOfTheCovenant]

Been growing figs in midwest Wisconsin to be exact. For Years now. Summer they are outside winter inside. My tree fruits and matures around end of August here. Got about 20 off it this year. Still have a few stragglers.... amazing fruits though. All 20 of them were very good.

[@nickya6733]

I’ve just started experimenting with fig seed growing let’s create some new types of figs 💪

[@silverfoxes65]

Great experiment!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you! I appreciate you watching.

[@mambizzle4606]

Extreme fertilization!

[@roshann103]

You nailed it🔥

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you!

[@JeannetteShoreland]

Amazing!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks!

[@furtherbeyond]

That’s so cool!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks!

[@jana73827]

I agree with your opinion of peat and coco coir causing fungus. I bottom water which keeps the top surface of your potting mix a little dryer. After planting, I always sprinkle my seed trays with ground cinnamon which is a fungicide. Since I’ve started this I’ve never had damping off.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Interesting. Maybe I need to try cinnamon.

[@butterflyj685]

Unfortunately, most cinnamon sold at grocery stores in the US or most places nowadays isn't from the bark of a true cinnamon tree.

[@FknNefFy]

Good video thanks- You “damping” (dampENING) is just cause they STAYED too wet -figs like to be in drier soil in between watering. Same with all seedlings

[@RailgunBlaster]

This is amazing

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks! Have you seen my recent update? The seedlings are getting big! kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3W4oXWZfLClh9E

[@faintvids7352]

Amazing information, thank you. If I plant seeds obtained feom black Madera variety, what can I expect? How close to the parent plant it can be? High chances new plants will be close to black Madeira or they can be totally different?

[@SeanKroner]

Awesome job! I hope you hit a home run a make a tasty new cultivar. :)

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you. I hope so, too. It's hard to get good tasting cultivars, but you can really increase your chances by using the best tasting parents. That's why I selected the varieties I did. Fingers crossed!

[@mgstrip]

awesome

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks for watching!

[@dolph9913]

Yumm

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks for watching!

[@TheYehat]

Storey, W.B. 1975. Figs." In: Advances in Fruit Breeding, Purdue Univ. Press, 1975, pp. 568-589. Gives all the details how it should be done. Vermiculite there, too. Also grafting on a good mature stock to speed up the development and fruiting and save space and care. Hope this is your next steps :)

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Grafting is not something I would participate in. Grafting figs, in my opinion, is a bad practice, because figs have a tendency to die down to the ground, and do so easily and readily compared to most trees. I believe it is a recipe for disaster. I try to keep my figs on their own roots. It will take a long time for these seedlings to have real wood on them, so keeping them on their own roots, I believe, is the best course of action for now.

[@TheYehat]

@@TheMillennialGardener I totally agree from general growing perspective that it is not a good practice. Here however the concept is to breed and evaluate a lot of seedlings, which on their own roots will produce figs in 6-7 years. For that purpose it seems highly beneficial to speed up that and to save also the space and care for lots of trees. It is up to you of course, I just pointed to a good source who documented the process exploited by the research programs. Keep going! And thanks for sharing.

[@Sara-od2li]

I was givin an unknown pastilier cutting and I live in Oregon. So my question is to and fertilize this do I need to buy a male fig tree? I was wondering if there were male flowers and female on the same plant? If I do need a male plant what would you recommend for this one? Thanks

[@evaczarnojanczyk1432]

I find that pouring hot water over peat pots/potting medium helps prevent damping off when planting seeds.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I did that. The peat pellets were hydrated with boiling water. The problem is that the pellets aren't designed for growing trees. They're designed for very short-cycle annuals, which "outgrow" disease. These baby tree seedlings will be tiny for months, and those little peat pellets are too unstable and hostile of an environment. The vermiculite is the ticket, for sure.

[@huckfin1100]

So glad he said flick them I would have never thought of it ha ha ha !

[@josephlarsen]

It'd be cool to get a hybrid of a few cold hardy figs to try and create an even more cold hardy tree that doesn't die back each winter.

[@thefishfin-atic7106]

I'm curious; you harvested your seeds in September, but planted them out in the heat of summer. Did you dry them, freeze them, or some other thing in between those dates?

[@kokoalle]

How did you water in the vermiculite? Was it with a sprayer or did you use a watering can to keep that moist

[@charlesmaeger6162]

In ancient days you hear about figs in the Middle East (hot, dry, low precip. summers) It would seem that fig trees, to self propagate, would use their dried out figs that fall to the ground.This dried fig (within the seeds) begins to get buried over time.Then it starts to rain and eventually there's the natural process of germination. This is out from the dried out figs that have fallen to the ground.

[@ddthompson42]

Listening to you taste figs is like listening to Peter Griffin do a live read for Weston's Golden Soda Biscuits 🤣

[@Athabina]

Great video! So do the seeds from White Madeira figs grow as White Madeiras or as a different variety? Does pollination mean that the mother fig is only one parent of the seedlings?

[@TheMillennialGardener]

No. There was only ever one White Madeira #1 tree. Every other White Madeira #1 tree in existence is an exact clone of that original tree from propagated cuttings. Every fig seedling, on the other hand, is a unique cross between a mother and father, just like people. Imagine if a man and a woman had 10 kids: all 10 kids would share certain traits with their mother and father, and some will resemble one parent more than the other, but ultimately all 10 kids are entirely unique individuals. It's exactly the same with plant breeding. They're all cross-pollinated children, just like human babies are cross-pollinated. It's weird to say, but that's how it is.

[@bobbyquinn2156]

Of course you'll want to propagate by cuttings 9/10 times, but this is very interesting. Will have to experiment someday.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Propagating and breeding are two very different things. Propagating from cuttings only clones a tree. Growing from seed requires cross-pollination, which means every seedling is a genetically unique tree. Growing from seed creates new varieties of figs. You cannot do that by propagating cuttings.

[@fiorenzalon5521]

I have a few different types of fig plants. That have been handed down from generations. One tree I absolutely love is a tree with large green and pink fruit. It is such a sweet fruit like honey. Is there a way to find out the type (name) of this tree. The leaf is also more cut then my other trees. Not sure how to send pictures. Thanks for your videos, your knowledge and your time.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Unfortunately, it's not really possible to be certain of what variety of fig it is unless you know it exactly. Sans DNA testing (and the DNA database on figs is extremely limited), there are countless thousands of varieties of figs, and many are very similar. What you're describing sounds similar to Kadota. You may want to look up that variety.

[@greencityfarms7717]

how long did it take from planting to germination? amazing video

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you. It varied widely from as little as 3 days for some to over a month or others. Some seeds are still germinating months later.

[@greencityfarms7717]

Amazing thank you so much

[@jacktdelaney]

because of the damping off issues, do you believe that vermiculite would work well for rooting cuttings? I've tried coco coir and peat so far with moderate success, but never full vermiculite.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I had this very thought a few weeks ago. I will be finding out this season! I may do a blend of vermiculite and pine bark fines as a medium.

[@nujaret2349]

WHAT IF YOU HYBREED SMITH AND HARDY CHICAGO FOR GOOD TASTE AND FOR COLD HARDY WEATHER

[@jedd.5407]

I was worried when you hit them with hydrogen peroxide full strength (3%) that the seeds would be destroyed. Looks like it worked and you may have some offspring to pass on at figbid. Thanks for videos!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

3% OTC peroxide is pretty weak, honestly. For thin, green leaves, it could be caustic, but for a fig endocarp with that big, thick shell, I was pretty confident that a few minutes soaking wouldn't harm it. It really ate through that fig gel and made cleaning so much easier.

[@dr.j5642]

If you're going to hand pollinate, I highly recommend you getting DFIC 0023. That is an incredible variety to have. Very different

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I've had a lot of success with Saleeb, and I'm sticking with it. Good quality pollen, plenty of it, time-tested and proven to be parthenocarpic. If you hand-pollinate, you must make sure it is a persistent caprifig.

[@jeremybyington]

I tried this last year from and got the seeds from a bag of dried figs. about 75% were unviable, floating at the top of the water but 4 dried figs gave me enough viable seeds to experiment with. I got them growing and realized some of the seedlings looked vastly different. I used an app to determine that there were weed seeds in my potting soil. I pulled out all of the weeds as they grew and after a month it became apparent that I planted all of my seeds too deep and everything growing was a weed. If/When I try again I will be germinating them on a paper towel first to avoid the mystery.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Ah. I'm finding fig seeds shouldn't be buried. They should, literally, be sprinkled on top of the soil. One word of caution: my concern with growing seedlings from dried figs is the likelihood that any were pollinated by a persistent caprifig is very low, so I'd anticipate almost all female offspring to be smyrna. If you don't colonize the wasp, you may not come away with any edible figs.

[@lindaberri593]

I planted seeds from dried fig only one seed sprouted do you think it will bear fruits and how many years it needs thank you

[@billyd7628]

about 5 years

[@MrGigi-dz9cv]

What i did, was take fig pulp, and put it in the groumd. After 2 days, there seeds that sprout.

[@davydwalker8554]

Any update on this project?

[@clemenciasegura4993]

If the plant from which the fig came is a hybrid, how will the fruits from the new plants grown from that hybrid fruit, taste like? I've always understood that the fruit won't be the same as that from the parent plant.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

"Hybrids" when you discuss fruit trees mean a cross between two different species. These figs are not hybrids. They are cross-pollinated. All figs are cross-pollinated. There are no self-fertile figs. Therefore, every individual seed that has been fertilized from any fig will be a unique tree. Just like people, every seed is unique. You won't know if the tree will be a male or female, and you won't know how the fruit quality will be until you try it. When breeding figs, you'll probably throw away 95% of the offspring, because they'll either be male or low quality fruit.

[@flouserve]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏bravo

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you!

[@flouserve]

@@TheMillennialGardener There is no need to, the truth is that germinating a fig tree and more of the smyrna variety is complicated. Here in Spain this type of fig tree does not abound, so the problem only remains for the area of ​​Europe and Asia that has them, although I know that in my province the Arabs brought varieties that must be pollinated, which is still done in the Alpujarras of Granada. Personally I have a wild fig tree that gets water from a spring 30 meters deep, I have never watered it with what is clear where it gets the water, nor has it been pruned, except for a branch that is cut because it bothers, and it continues to give a lot of black figs, with a very red interior. In my house I have a specimen in the garden and now several in containers, of which I hope to have a harvest of figs in a couple of years, of course the weather sometimes helps and others kills, like these days when we have very high temperatures, even so the commitment is there. What I like about your specimens is the vigor that those trees have, here it is only seen in adult trees, the rest look like spaghetti. In short, I hope that those figs continue on the right track for a long time. All the best

[@PalsLivesLife]

Since you hand pollinated the parent figs, does that mean the seedlings are going up bear figs that need pollination as well?

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Fig pollination is extremely complicated. I put together a detailed series that lays it all out here: kzbin.info/aero/PL1gY7BoYBGIHWDFykCI-TRAt-Gm45Wwyw The short story is, *all* figs require pollination for the seeds to be viable. If you want to plant the seed and you don't have the fig wasp colonized nearby, you will always have to hand-pollinate. If all you want to do is harvest the fruits from the female tree and you do not have the wasp colonized, in order to have persistent female seedlings, you must cross a female fig with a persistent male caprifig. Roughly 25% of the seedlings should grow into females that can ripen figs without pollination. But 100% of all females will require pollination for viable seed. If you cross a female fig with a male caducous caprifig, all female figs will require pollination just to have the fruit ripen. That's why I generally don't advise growing out wild fig seedlings. The chances of getting a persistent female is extremely low.

[@milensapunov6012]

Hi, where can I buy exactly these 2 types of seed and the same soli for best results? Thx!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

You can't buy the seed. I had to buy a male fig tree, hand pollinate my female trees and save the seeds manually.

[@davecphotographyuk]

How are the trees doing now?

[@xuanmai1479]

Helo Mr Can you tell me The yellow long neck fig tree I s self fertile.TIA

[@TheMillennialGardener]

The short answer is Yellow Long Neck will fruit for anyone that grows it. The long answer is figs aren’t actually a fruit. They are a syconium, so the pollination requirements are different than true fruits. Whether a fig will fruit for you depends on if they’re male, female, caducous or parthenocarpic. For the general population, they can only grow female figs that carry a genetic mutation for parthenocarpy. All the figs I grow sans my male fig and one smyrna type are parthenocarpic females. For more info on fig pollination, see this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5iQXnWIlKarfZI

[@geoprava8031]

Germinating seeds from a single fig tree or fruit can produce both female and male plants, or just one type? I accidentally planted over 100 seeds, and now I have over 100 large plants. What will happen to them? PS All the figs from last year (there were few) and from this spring have fallen, but now I have 5 large figs that have started to ripen

[@billyd7628]

some plants will be male caprifigs some will be female. it depends what the genes of the seed rolled when it developed.

[@juanrios9846]

How do you hand pollinate figs??

[@TheMillennialGardener]

The entire series playlist is linked in the video description.

[@chaseveeefex5740]

How do you decide which get bagged? Just when they get close to ripe?

[@TheMillennialGardener]

The figs bagged in yellow bags are the figs that I hand pollinated. I bagged them in yellow immediately as a marker so I can keep track of them. The figs bagged in green are just normal figs beginning to ripen.

[@chaseveeefex5740]

@@TheMillennialGardener very cool! Do you have a video explaining the difference of hand-pollinated and normal figs?!

[@snakeslayer831]

Somehow it seems that wasps are essential for fig pollination

[@deanlollar8241]

How do you pollinate them???

[@TheMillennialGardener]

All steps are performed in my series on fig breeding here: kzbin.info/aero/PL1gY7BoYBGIHWDFykCI-TRAt-Gm45Wwyw

[@bity7655]

Can I use seeds from dried figs?

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Most would probably be destroyed. Even if you could, you wouldn’t want to, because the likelihood they were pollinated by a persistent caprifig are extremely low. Any tree grown would likely be a smyrna and useless to the average grower.

[@raydioz]

I've got fig seedling growing all over my place, corner to coner, bcos the rats raided my fig tree. I always thought figs had to be cloned.

[@cerverg]

From my experience, the best way is to plant a whole dried-up fig (skin and all). They like dirt with limestone not too rich with organics (definitely don't use compost or anything that rich). They may sprout after the winter is over so don't get disappointed if it's not a quick process

[@TheMillennialGardener]

So far, I've been pretty impressed by the germination rates. Planting the entire fig didn't cross my mind, but I wanted to check for fertility by viewing them sinking in water. Because I need to overwinter these seedlings, I really wanted to clean the seeds, too. I guess we'll see how things progress.

[@justinrobertsendoftheage]

HOW MANY YEARS DOES IT TAKE TO GET ACTUAL FIGS

[@pwu8194]

I have a fig that just broke open. I will try to germinate that.

[@miyojewoltsnasonth2159]

*I'm new to growing figs, prompted by buying a dozen for $1.* Is all the washing/sterilizing from 0:01-8:11 REALLY necessary? I'm thinking of simply planning to plant the seeds with pulp, cover with dirt, and water until some plants sprout. Would this method I plan to use NOT work? Anybody know? Thank you in advance!

[@billyd7628]

technically not, but cleaning the seeds helps ward off fungi that might dampen off seedlings and reduce your success. i've found soaking with hydropgen peroxide after straining seeds to remove the pulp very effective in killing mold and other microbes. this results in all the seeds being nice and sterile and most germinate without a hitch no mold at all. and are also stable in storage.

[@miyojewoltsnasonth2159]

@@billyd7628 Many thanks for your advice, *@billyd7628!* I've grown more "typical" things for about a decade (tomatoes, green peppers, radishes, carrots, etc.) and last year got a few cherry trees and peach trees to sprout. I've never had any problems with mold (at least that I'm aware of). Is mold a common problem with figs that needs preventative measures that the things I've mentioned growing don't need?

[@billyd7628]

@@miyojewoltsnasonth2159 not for fig per se i haven't tried figs yet, but I've always had some trouble germinating certain seeds especially in paper towels and bags. but doing that method has turned things around and along with replacing the papers every week and also squishing the papers to let out extra water it has made mold problems zero. but also had mold problems in pots aswell and the sanitizing certainly helps. no mold in pots anymore. this is for stuff like fruits guava, pomegranate, dates, papaya seeds fruit seed typically has more sugar residue that mold will colonize. i dont sanitize my pepper seeds or anything else and get no mold.

[@miyojewoltsnasonth2159]

@@billyd7628 Thank you once again for sharing your experiences with different types of seeds, it's much appreciated! I'm guessing it will be better to try and prevent mold rather than getting surprised and watching it grow. Thank you, *@billyd7628!*

[@johnoshiro8885]

I think peat is too acidic. You might need a medium that is more near pH 7 like rock wool.

[@OudomOfficial]

Your fig tree so good, Can you share some to me?

[@TheMillennialGardener]

It's going to take probably 2 years for these seedlings to grow out to be large enough to have fruiting wood on them.

[@OudomOfficial]

@@TheMillennialGardener Sound great 👍

[@jazradcliffe2286]

Did you use store bought figs?

[@Noah-rr7vp]

Did you even watch the video??

[@TheMillennialGardener]

No. I am developing a breeding program. Planting seeds from grocery store figs will probably not produce a fig that will ripen fruit from you. You can follow the breeding experiment here: kzbin.info/aero/PL1gY7BoYBGIHWDFykCI-TRAt-Gm45Wwyw

[@mazinnarbas7565]

I have 7 month old fig tree but not produce fruit yet..how old fig tree will produce fruit..my fig tree is about 2 m high...I from south east asia...

[@snakeslayer831]

It is best to grow figs plants from cuttings .it guarantees you the same quality fruits plus it bears fruits within months whereas from seed it may take up to five years to fruit It might be best if you remove the apical bud to prevent plants growing too tall

[@wind592]

Are figs true to seeds or are new varieties created? If not, could they be male or female?

[@TheMillennialGardener]

No. Figs are cross-pollinated. Every seed is genetically unique. You must grow from seed to get new varieties, and all seedlings are new varieties. The only way to clone figs is via cutting propagation. 50% will be male, 50% will be female. Males are inedible. Watch my first video on the series to learn all about the process: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5iQXnWIlKarfZI

[@wind592]

@@TheMillennialGardener Now im more excited to plant seeds . its like a lottery you dont know which variety youll get. Thank you for a clear answer

[@ellseykaygardens]

I just checked my baby negronne fig tree and there are baby figs! Now what?? 🤣

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Unless you live in a place where it's warm all winter long, any figs that form this late in the year won't ripen.

[@ellseykaygardens]

@@TheMillennialGardener 6b - so too late for this year! Also they are less than 1cm big. Should I pick them off or leave them? Thanks!!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

@@ellseykaygardens I would remove them. They'll only slow down the other fruits from ripening. I'm in 8A, and pretty much anything that sets after late July won't ripen. I'd imagine your cutoff is somewhere around 4th of July.

[@ellseykaygardens]

Thanks for the advice! I should be clear - these are my first ever figs to set! Nothing else on the tree to ripen (which is why they are making me so excited! I didn’t expect anything this year)

[@KenFullman]

But you're in California, which is sub tropical. So I doubt I'd have any joy here in the UK :(

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I'm in North Carolina.

[@matttk421]

The next best thing to eating a fig is listening to someone else eating a fig! lol

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks for watching!

[@KamarulzamanbinHajimohammad]

Tidak ada perterjemahan bahasa 😮

[@danielarriaga5716]

If you do this all the time then why did you say you THINK the hydrogen peroxide will destroy the jig gel. Shouldn’t you know if you’ve done this before.

[@RainbowWarriorChris]

Would you like to sell me extra seeds and I'll grow them out and see what we get?

[@billyd7628]

buy some Smyrna figs from the store the dried ones and take seeds from a couple of them

[@cmt6136]

life is short. To wait for a fig tree growing up from a seed is too time-consuming. I prefer growing fig cuttings and it really saves a lot of time waiting for the plant to grow up.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

That depends what you consider to be worth your time. If everybody believed life was too short to breed plants, we'd have nothing to eat. All the fruits in the grocery store we now love - apples, oranges, mangoes, avocados, etc. - barely resemble their wild ancestors, because human beings have spent countless generations saving the best seedlings and creating new varieties. Breeding is a passion project, and we need to be *very* thankful for the breeders, or else we'd be eating pretty terrible tasting wild fruits. Have you ever seen a wild banana and wild citrus? They're generally inedible because of all the seeds. Fruits like citrus, avocados, apples, peaches, etc., generally take 10-15 years to grow from seed to fruit. A fig is pretty amazing because you can fruit them from seedling in 2 seasons. They're actually one of the fastest fruiting fruit trees in the world, because they actually aren't a true fruit.

[@pibblesnbits]

​@@TheMillennialGardener Life is too short. This is why we have GMO foods lol. Just playing, I totally see the fun in making your own fig varieties by doing crosses!

[@jaredhammonds8255]

I like to do both. I have 3 propagated fig trees but I want to start seeds. Why? Time will pass whether I do it or not so I can make use of that time while enjoying the trees I already have. I can always give some away too

[@midkiffsjoy]

Meh. Life is too short... but I'm still gonna be here in a year, and a second, etc. Might as well take an afternoon to plant a fig tree from seed with my kids that they can point to while eating jelly made with it's fruit on a biscuit and say... remember when we planted that? That was fun.

[@cmt6136]

​@@midkiffsjoy a fig cutting often takes 4-6 months to grow up really strong. This might or might not be because I use shorter cuttings for propagation. You can see my videos of my baby fig trees in cups. I like to root fig cuttings in transparent cups so I can observe their roots growth.

You'll have 50% chance of having male fig trees and ones that bare bad tasting fruits.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I intend to try and raise about 20 seedlings, which should give me around 5 common female figs. If I walk away with 1-2 good varieties out of this trial, I succeeded.

[@tetsuookami]

Worst case scenario you have rootstock for a graft

[@AyZeD]

It's probably better to do clones rather than seeds, half your seedlings will be male plants with shit fruit, and you won't know for a few years lol

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Cloning doesn’t accomplish the goal of making new varieties. I want to develop new breeds, and the only way to do this is by growing seedlings.

[@AlxnderNZ]

Ooerr that’s a bit rude.

[@khaledgorila]

why

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I'm not sure what you mean?

[@AlxnderNZ]

@@TheMillennialGardener you know, “breeding” figs… growing figs from “seed”… all a bit Castlemaine 4X, I need a cold shower every time I read the title.

[@6kbps]

are you high

[@AlxnderNZ]

@@6kbps I was, yes.

[@jamesfrederick.]

Yes this is epic love this series

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!