General description of figs, tips for caring for ficus indoors, recommendations for breeding, pest and disease control, curious facts, varieties.
Reproduction of figs in indoor cultivation
Like many representatives of ficuses, figs can be propagated by rooting cuttings, using cuttings (root suckers) or by sowing seeds.
The first method is used by flower growers more often. Usually, cuttings from branches growing in the lower or middle section of the tree, on which there were already fruits, are used for blanks. Such branches are cut in the winter, while the process of the movement of juices has not yet begun (vegetation). A semi-lignified shoot is selected and the top with 3-4 leaf internodes is cut off from it, while trying to keep the length of the workpiece 15-20 cm. Such a cutting should have two cuts: the one below, made obliquely, located under the bud at a distance of 1, 5 cm and the upper one is straight, located above the kidney at a height of 1 cm.
Since milky juice will ooze from the workpiece for some time, it is either washed off under running water or the stalk is placed in a container with water until it ceases to stand out. Then, planting is carried out in a pot filled with peat-sandy soil or a mixture of 2/3 leaf earth and 1/3 river sand. The substrate is pre-moistened. The workpieces are covered with a plastic transparent film or glass container. The pot is placed in a warm place (about 25 degrees Celsius) with bright but diffused light. All care for the cuttings will consist of daily airing and watering the soil if it begins to dry out.
After 4–6 weeks, the cuttings are rooted and transplanted into separate prepared containers with drainage at the bottom and more suitable soil for further growth.
When the fig ficus is quite old, it is propagated by layering. On an elongated shoot, just below the leaf, a shallow incision is made and a pebble is inserted there, then the cut is sprinkled with a powder root stimulator and covered with a layer of sphagnum moss. After that, this moss must be secured with a harsh thread. All such "construction" is covered from above with a transparent plastic bag. When root shoots grow through the moss, the shoot should be separated just below the winding from the mother figs and planted in a pot. A cut on an adult specimen is coated with petroleum jelly so that it gives new branches growing on the sides.
Pests and diseases of fig ficus when grown in rooms
Figs, like many representatives of the genus ficus, will invariably suffer from violations of growing conditions, and weaken, becoming a victim of attacks by harmful insects such as scale insects, mealybugs and red spider mites. Each of the pests has its own "symptoms", but most often then a thin cobweb is noted on the leaves, formations in the form of small whitish lumps resembling cotton wool or on the back of the leaf blade of brownish shiny plaques. In this case, you can use folk remedies, which must be wiped off the leaves on both sides. They are soap, oil or alcohol solutions. But it is better to spray with insecticidal and acaricidal preparations. After a week, this treatment is repeated again in order to completely destroy the newly formed and remaining pests, as well as their eggs.
Problems in the cultivation of fig ficus are also:
- blanching of the color of the leaf plates and a decrease in their size, poor growth occurs due to a lack of nutrients;
- with insufficient illumination of the fig ficus, the shoots are stretched, the foliage becomes smaller and acquires a yellow color;
- if the humidity of the air decreases, then the ends of the foliage begin to dry out;
- on the condition of the leaves, both strong drying and frequent flooding of the substrate immediately affect.
Interesting facts about ficus caricum fig
Fig is considered almost one of the most ancient cultures, which was known even in the lands of ancient Arabia, from where it was brought to Phenicia, Syria, and then to Egypt. If we talk about the XIII century BC, then the ficus fig played an important role as an agricultural crop of the kingdom of Pylos. But the fig tree came to the vastness of the American continent only in the last years of the 16th century.
If we turn to the text of the Bible, then it was with a fig leaf that the first people (Adam and Eve) covered their nakedness. Figs are often mentioned not only in the Book of Genesis, but also on the pages of the Old and New Testaments. The fruits of the fig tree have long been known for their properties to mankind. So just a handful of fig fruits can satisfy a person's hunger. But in medicine, the properties of figs are used, with its help, drugs are prepared that help in the treatment of angina and various colds, can be used as a diuretic. Helps with anemia and diseases of the cardiovascular system.
But since the fruit of the fig tree contains a lot of sugars, it should not be consumed by people suffering from diabetes mellitus and inflammatory bowel diseases.
On the basis of fig leaves, modern preparations are made, such as: "Psoberan", which helps in the fight against alopecia areata and manifestations of vitiligo, "Kafiol" is considered a natural laxative.
Figs can be dried, because even as a dried fruit, fig syconium contains many useful substances and almost 50-77% sugars. It is customary to cook jams and preserves from such berries. If we mention the Andalusian Coin, then it is customary to bake fig bread in those places. Also, fig fruits are well preserved.
However, it must be remembered that until the fruits are fully ripe, then, like all representatives of the genus of ficus, they have milky juice, and therefore they are unsuitable for food.
Varieties of varieties of figs
Below is a list of small varietal varieties of figs that are recommended for indoor cultivation:
- Sochi 7 it is distinguished by large fruits, reaching almost 60 grams by weight, the color of the peel is yellow, fully ripening is completed in August, bears fruit once a year.
- Honey - the weight of the fruit when weighed it can be 70 grams, the color is yellowish-green, its shape resembles a pear.
- Kadota. This variety is distinguished by fruits of a large mass (about 100 grams) and sizes: 5-9 cm long with a diameter of 2, 4-2, 8 cm. The peel of the fruit casts a yellowish-green color, but the flesh with a golden tint, the shape is correct - pear-shaped rounded contour, surface with slight ribbing. Differs in a self-fertile property (that is, the plant itself can pollinate with pollen of the same variety), on young shoots, fruits are often formed the second time in a year.
- Sukhumi violet. Fruit weight is average, not exceeding 50 grams. The surface of the fruit has slight ribs, the shape of the syconia is asymmetric and pear-shaped. The skin color is blue-violet, but the flesh is an appetizing red tint. The taste is pleasant, the sweetness is moderate, the variety is self-fertile, the harvest is once a year.
- Dalmatian. Fruiting twice a year (July and October), while the fruits of the 1st crop can reach 130 grams in weight, and the second no more than 65 grams. The shape of the fruit is pear-shaped, but with a slightly elongated outline, there is an expansion at the very top. The color of the peel is light green, the pulp is rich red, the taste is moderately sweet.
- Adriatic white. Fruiting occurs in June and August. The weight of each syconium does not exceed 60 grams. The shape is slightly elongated, rounded. The color of the peel is pale yellowish green. The sweetness of the pulp is rich, the taste is pleasant.
- Seedling Ogloblin. A plant of this variety was obtained from a parental pair of specimens that are cultivated only in room conditions. The fruits are distinguished by the property, ripening in autumn days, to persist throughout the winter period, but their weight and size do not increase, but as soon as spring comes, they begin to grow and by the onset of the summer months they take on a normal value. The shape of the fruit is pear-shaped, with a moderate sweetness pulp. When fully ripe, the peel is yellowish-green in color. When propagated by cuttings, young figs of this variety reach adult fruitful age at 2–3 years of age.
- Gift of October. A variety bred in the Crimea in the process of robot breeders of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden. The fruit is a rounded syconium, with a slight elongation at the top, somewhat reminiscent of the Kadota variety, but its taste is more pleasant and rich.
You can also distinguish the following varietal plants of fig ficus, suitable for indoor cultivation: Uzbek yellow, Sary Alsheronkiy, Sochi No. 8, Kusarchaiskiy, this also includes Muason and Black Pearl.
