We had a cold snap that killed the 3 tomato plants that I had already planted in the front raised bed area. Amber thought we needed more tomato plants, so we planted 7 more in the row garden area. I also planted a lot of watermelon and muskmelon. The cucumber, squash, and bean that I seeded several weeks ago have still not sprouted. My fig tree rootings are all alive and growing.
I ordered some fig cuttings from figbid.com. I potted and set them outside next to a south-facing wall. I have 3 Italian 258, 2 Smith, and 2 JH Adriatic.
My new swale did a good job slowing down water runoff and promoting water insoak, but it needed to be tweaked a little to transform it from just a ditch to a gentle slope that we can take care of with the riding mower. I used a box blade on the tractor to even everything out. We also buried a 4-inch drain pipe and covered it with crushed rock. I’ll encourage grass to grow on top of the rock. All the trees I’ve transplanted seem to be doing great.
I created a swale (AKA ditch-on-contour) to catch the runoff water that flows behind and around our house. I transplanted the 11 fig trees I started from cuttings last year on the high side of the swale. The idea is to slow down the water and let it soak into the soil. After a big rain, this area might look like a pond for several days. All that water eventually moves down into the soil where plants can use it for weeks or months after, reducing the need to use extra water.
I transplanted 1 each Kadota, Black Mission, and Celeste Fig trees from pots to the ground this evening. 3 other of my rootings (Petite Negra, Nero 600m, and Lemon had died, unfortunately, probably due to irregular watering. The transplanted plants had huge root systems that were already starting to girdle in the pots they were in.
I ordered a ‘starter pack’ of fig cuttings from Chris in the North Texas Vegetable Gardeners facebook group. She sent me some bonus cuttings and I was scrounging around for things to plant them in. To get them to grow roots, I wrapped the tops in parafilm, made a fresh cut 1/4″ from the lowest bud, cut a strip of bark away from the area near the bottom bud, added some rooting hormone, and stuck it in a tree pot filled with moist high-end potting soil.
Varieties: 4 Celeste, 1 Chicago Hardy, 2 Black Mission, 1 Lemon, 1 Sal’s El, 2 Kadota, 1 Panache, 2 Petite Negra, 2 Nero 600m, and 2 Violette de Bordeaux
