Wrong seeds/plants for sale

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by taboule

As far as other types of plants ill-suited for the locale: this past summer I saw fig trees for sale at a local nursery. Beautiful plants, with tiny fruits, in big pots, for around $100. These are fruits trees to grow in the ground, no way these would survive our winter outside.

Thanks again for a good discussion.

Actually, fig trees are very possible in our locale IF you know how to appropriately manipulate the growing conditions and are willing to put in the effort. My dad in Metro West has four or five he's been successfully overwintering for decades.

Check out this place located not too far from us -- http://www.figtrees.net

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by taboule

Hi, thanks for all your feedback, I didn't realize this was going to strike a chord ;-)

Some comments back:

1) Yes, one of the first rules is "buyer beware." I am fairly new to onions and did my homework learning what short/long day meant. However this particular type (Granex) was new to me and the only/first seed I found that early, so I let my guard down -was too happy to find them and even thought about starting them on new year's day;-)

2) Salt, I have little room left and want to maximize my ROI. This is true for both growing the seeds indoors and transplanting in the spring. My main worry is really the labor/effort to plant the couple hundred little plants, spending hours hunched over -last year it got hard on my back,despite having developed an efficient technique.

3) Worth, thanks for your explanation WRT the mechanics behind the short/long differences. Had to read it a few times -brains are still cloudy from sleep and a hard/long work week. What I think you also said is that temperature also affects growth, and I get it in the case of long types in a southern zone. But in my case (short day type in a north zone): small plants goes in the ground in spring, say april after last frost, with the longest days still ahead, why would it not get big? I think you implied that it is possible to get good size.

One inclination is starting the walla walla's inside (any day now) and sowing the granex right in the ground in april. Smaller investment, and what I may end up doing -thin some to eat green and see what happens to the rest.

As far as other types of plants ill-suited for the locale: this past summer I saw fig trees for sale at a local nursery. Beautiful plants, with tiny fruits, in big pots, for around $100. These are fruits trees to grow in the ground, no way these would survive our winter outside.

Thanks again for a good discussion.

I read on an Oregon sight that mentioned Long Day (Short Night) like they were implying maybe it was the short night that triggered the bulbing stage.

Also I am curious as to how much light does it take to make that long day.
Could I not put a flood light on mine and you cover yours up?

Another thing that has caught my attention.
If the onion goes dormant and comes back to life it thinks it is in it's second year and goes to seed.
Why then do they sell dormant onion bulbs.
Every one I have ever seen planted goes to seed the first year.
What you want to have is an onion as big as it can get the first year before it goes dormant.
This is where I dont understand why the short day onions are going to seed the first year like they say they do in a long day zone.

Worth

[taboule]

F'sDaughter, I remember reading about this in a previous post you made, most interesting. It appears most of this is container growing, brought inside for the winter. Or smaller trees where one can cover/insulate them.

Here I was referring to folks who, thinking fig is a "fruit" tree, would plant it in the ground like they would an apple tree and forget about it... then be disappointed come spring.
But yes I agree, with special/extra care and limitations, it could be done.

Does your dad grow in-ground or in pots? I knew an old Greek fellow who grew a big fig plant, in a large pot on casters. He had a sky-lit family room opening through sliding patio doors to an outside deck. In the fall he simply wheeled his tree inside.

Both DW and I are mediterraneans who grew up eating figs, and making jam in the fall. My family had a few very large trees (both black and white) on a land we owned when I grew up. We used to climb them in the summer, sit in a crotch, and gorge on ripe fruit.

Thanks for bringing up sweet memories.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by taboule

F'sDaughter, I remember reading about this in a previous post you made, most interesting. It appears most of this is container growing, brought inside for the winter. Or smaller trees where one can cover/insulate them.

Here I was referring to folks who, thinking fig is a "fruit" tree, would plant it in the ground like they would an apple tree and forget about it... then be disappointed come spring.
But yes I agree, with special/extra care and limitations, it could be done.

Does your dad grow in-ground or in pots? I knew an old Greek fellow who grew a big fig plant, in a large pot on casters. He had a sky-lit family room opening through sliding patio doors to an outside deck. In the fall he simply wheeled his tree inside.

Both DW and I are mediterraneans who grew up eating figs, and making jam in the fall. My family had a few very large trees (both black and white) on a land we owned when I grew up. We used to climb them in the summer, sit in a crotch, and gorge on ripe fruit.

Thanks for bringing up sweet memories.

I grew up on them too and as far as I know there is still an old fig tree my grand father planted way back sometime in the early 1900's growing at the old place he lived.

Worth

[Father'sDaughter]

Dad has two in pots and at least two or three in ground. The pots go into the basement. The in ground trees used to get buried, but now he either wraps and digs out the root ball enough to lay them down, or just wraps and leaves them upright. I don't think he's ever lost one.

[Gardeneer]

There are different kinds of fig tree. And it is very easy to propagate by rooting cuttings.

I new an Italian man in CT who had a fig tree, overwintered for many winters but he had a technique to lower the branches and wrap them with burlap and other insulation.

Gardeneer