GB 097 Figs from Cuttings, Zinnias
27:03
SPEAKERS
Debbie Flower, Julie Barbour, Warren Roberts, Connor in SF, Farmer Fred
Farmer Fred 00:00
Garden Basics with Farmer Fred is brought to you by Smart Pots, the original lightweight, long lasting fabric plant container. it's made in the USA. Visit SmartPots.com slash Fred for more information and a special discount, that's SmartPots.com/Fred
Farmer Fred 00:20
Welcome to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. If you're just a beginning gardener or you want good gardening information, you've come to the right spot.
Farmer Fred 00:32
One of the easiest fruit trees to grow are figs. And for the adventurous gardener, you can start a fig tree from a cutting. We have the details. Looking for a colorful summer annual flower that's sure to bring a smile to your face? Grow zinnias. And they're easy to grow, too. One of the most widely adaptable shrubs to grow across the country is the Philadelphus also known as the mock orange with its very fragrant flowers. It's definitely a show for the nose. And it's our Plant of the Week. We get tips on how to protect new or young plants from the blazing heat of the summer sun. It's all on Episode 97 of the Garden Basics podcast, brought to you by Smart Pots and Dave Wilson Nursery. And we'll do it all in under 30 minutes. Let's go.
Farmer Fred 01:23
We like to take your questions here on the Garden Basics podcast to find out what's on your gardening mind. The number to call is 916-292-8964, that's 916-292-8964. And we are talking with Connor in San Francisco. Debbie Flower is here as well to help out in answering the questions. And Connor, what are you trying to do this week?
Connor in SF 01:46
Well, Fred, I'm trying to grow some fig cuttings in this cold and foggy climate. I recently acquired some Desert King fig (cuttings). I'd like to take a shot at growing them, but I'm not sure the best way to do that. What kind of medium do you guys recommend using and how much water? You know whether I should be adding some humidity? I'm curious what your guys thoughts are on this.
Farmer Fred 02:05
My first reaction would be: Do you have figs growing around you?
Connor in SF 02:10
Well, what I did was I acquired some figs from a native plant store in Marin that I saw. They had a beautiful fig tree growing there. And so I thought if they could grow in that climate, I might also be able to.
Farmer Fred 02:23
Was this nursery inland or on the coast?
Connor in SF 02:27
It was on the coast, right near the entrance to Muir Woods over by Mt. Tam.
Debbie Flower 02:33
Did you notice anything about the specifics of where the plant was. Was it on a slope? Was it facing south? I think of figs as needing lots of heat.
Connor in SF 02:44
Yeah, you know, it was, it's it's I don't believe so. It's right near Muir Woods there. But it had a lot of sun. It did have a lot of space. But I understand it's pretty foggy and cold up there near Mount Tam.
Debbie Flower 02:58
Well, it's worth a try. If you found it in that kind of an environment and you have a similar environment. I'm assuming, is that correct?
Connor in SF 03:05
Yeah, yeah. And so I'm in San Francisco where it's, you know, definitely foggy here near the coast. Right. Right. But I did get get some cuttings from from that tree. So I thought I could give it a shot.
Debbie Flower 03:17
And you got those cuttings recently?
Connor in SF 03:20
Yeah, just in the past week, probably a week old. Oh, I have them in a plastic ziplock gallon bag with paper towels right now, but I'm worried that they would rot in that setup.
Debbie Flower 03:33
Depends how much moisture is in there. I'm wondering do you have the very tips of the branches or, or how long are they? Do they have leaves on them?
Connor in SF 03:43
One of them had a set of leaves. The rest were just wood. They're about, I'd say, eight to nine inches long. I have half dozen of them. And yeah, I just wrapped them in some paper towel and in a Ziploc bag.
Debbie Flower 03:57
That's actually recommended. Some people recommend it as a way to get the tip of the cut end to what's called the callous. Callous means it's starting to grow undifferentiated cells, it'll look lumpy, maybe white, maybe tan. I tend to just stick the cuttings, Ficus carica, which is the edible fig, is easy to propagate from cuttings. You want something that's about six to 12 inches long, so you're right in there and about a half to three quarters of an inch diameter, which if you've got wood from last year, that's probably how thick it is. The leaves I would remove and any green tissue at the tip I would remove. That tends to just sort of leak liquid and dry out the cutting. So I would get container media soilless mix, you could use a seed starting mix and moisten it, put it in containers. I would cut a new bottom to that cutting unless you see the callus, if you saw it already. That's great, then just leave it alone. But if there's no callous, it almost looks to me like bubblegum, not colored, not pink or anything, but a bubblegum wad, sort of, on the bottom of the cutting. If you see something like that, leave it on, if not, cut a new bottom just a half inch or an inch or so into that cutting, stick it into the media, you're going to need pretty deep pots, you might use number ones, sometimes called one gallons, because you're going to want to bury about half of that six to 12 inch long cutting. And then yes, you do want humidity. So you can do that with a plastic bag over the top and a rubber band around the container. And you want to keep it at about room temperature. If the top of your refrigerator has space to put those pots with the plastic and the cutting and the plastic on top up there, then then that's a good place because it adds a little bit of heat. The refrigerator exhaust heat out the bottom and it comes up around the outside. And that just adds a few degrees of warmth. I've used waterbed heaters to put under the pots if you have access to one of those. Or, when I'm propagating, I use an official heat mat. But for Ficus, which is relatively easy to root, I wouldn't worry about the bottom heat. I mean, check the moisture periodically after you stick the cutting. You always water after planting, always, always always. And let it drain, before you put the plastic bag over the top, although drainage will continue. Put it on some sort of a base. A plate would work, so that any more moisture that comes out doesn't mess up your house. And, check after a week or so that it's still moist, I would give it two to three weeks to root. And the way you're going to check if it's rooted is to take the plastic bag off and pull up on the cutting, you don't pull up just a little bit because the soil and the nodes and such could could be just nice and tight with that cutting media in the container. And that might provide resistance, you're gonna have to give it a pretty generous tug. And if it comes straight up, then it's not rooted. If it provides resistance, then you may have rooting. And then you can, if the buds start to grow, that is not necessarily an indication of rooting, that's an indication of the buds which are dormant, they react to sun and temperature primarily. And so if things get warm, the buds may start to grow. Anyway, you can just leave them alone, but it doesn't necessarily mean you have roots. So I would get give it two to three weeks and try and if you don't have roots you can try again. If you pull it out and the bottom is all squishy, then it's rotted and there was too much moisture, you can cut a new end and try again.
Farmer Fred 07:52
And Connor, I've got good news for you about the Desert King variety that you have there. According to the California Rare Fruit Growers Association, it's a highly vigorous tree, and it is best adapted to cool areas such as the Pacific Northwest. And I think you qualify for that.
Debbie Flower 08:08
Yeah, that's wonderful news.
Connor in SF 08:10
That is great news. I've been taking notes. Thank you both. This has been really, really helpful. I've been debating what method to choose. I think this has been really good advice. Oh, thank you.
Debbie Flower 08:19
Thanks for calling.
Farmer Fred 08:20
Now, where are you going to grow it? Do you have enough room to grow a fig tree?
Connor in SF 08:24
You know, I'm gonna start them in probably about five gallon pots. And then you know, I have a good amount of space in the yard here. So I'm gonna see where it goes from there.
Farmer Fred 08:36
All right, you can start them in fives. But Debbie, wouldn't you move it up to a larger pot,
Debbie Flower 08:40
Ultimately, probably a 15. Or even a half barrel would be great. If those black pots are going to be subject to direct sun at all, I would paint them white, or wrap them in aluminum foil. Because the media inside a dark plastic pot. If it's hit directly by Sun, it will it only takes a half hour to heat up to 140 degrees and that is root killing temperature. So you want to put something on the outside, a bigger pot, or white paint. I've done it with students you wash the pot off, let it dry and then you just paint whatever, I let them bring their own colors. Paint some sort of light colored paint on the outside to reflect the sun. Or if you can stand it and your neighbors can stand it, you can wrap it in aluminum foil, but that's kind of a tacky look, unless you have some great way of, I don't know, designing your foil.
Farmer Fred 09:33
Or surround it with other pots
Debbie Flower 09:35
Surround it with other pots. Yeah.
Farmer Fred 09:37
Connor, Good luck, sounds good. Good luck with the desert King fig.
Connor in SF 09:42
Thank you both so much. And thank you for all the great advice on this show. I really, really enjoy it. Thank you very much. Thank
Farmer Fred 09:47
Thank you, Connor, you're welcome. Bye bye.
Farmer Fred 09:53
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Farmer Fred 10:52
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Farmer Fred 11:38
We're at a local nursery talking with Julie Barbour, Master Gardener. And Julie, the weather's gonna get hot pretty soon here. What are some ideas for protecting our plants from too much summer heat?
Julie Barbour 11:50
The number one thing is if you bought a plant that has a trunk that's visible to the sun, it probably won't develop a canopy large enough in time to protect that tender new trunk from those intense summer temperatures and direct sun that we get. You can do a couple of things that are really gonna help. Number one, repurpose your frost cloth from last winter. Don't wrap the tree; that's not what I want. Don't put it on top of the tree; that holds in heat. I'd like the frost cloth to be in front of the tree, to block that setting sun from four to say 7 pm. Then use tree-safe paint. You use indoor paint, not exterior paint. And you can buy it at the nursery. It'll say tree-safe paint or you can mix your own. The recipe is half paint, half water. The lighter the color, the better it is. No special tools are required to put it on there.
Farmer Fred 12:41
A paint brush.
Julie Barbour 12:42
There you go. And I usually start about an inch above the soil line just because I don't want to get dirt in my brush. And how far do you paint up is always the question. I want you to paint up that trunk until it starts to branch out. At that point it should have enough of a canopy. Now some of us have tree roses or things that are meant to be tall and skinny, maybe a Rosemary that looks that way. Definitely paint those trunks, definitely count on drip irrigation. Sprinklers are going to hit it and hurt the trunk. And definitely stick to organic fertilizers and your mulch.
Farmer Fred 13:16
I'm sure you can tell we're at a local nursery. Then the other tip, too, about the paint. Be sure it is interior latex paint and you can mix it diluted 50, even 50 to 60% with water.
Julie Barbour 13:28
Yep. And you can have a little bit of fun even though white is kind of ideal. If you've got pink, yellow, blue. Go for it.
Farmer Fred 13:33
Anything with a lighter, pastel shade.
Julie Barbour 13:36
That's it. Yeah. And you're you're cutting it with half water so it's gonna be a nice pale color.
Farmer Fred 13:40
I won't even mention that I'll use patio umbrellas to protect some of my vegetables in the late afternoon.
Julie Barbour 13:47
That's okay, just make sure that umbrella is not on top of the veggies. That holds in the heat.
Farmer Fred 13:53
Yeah, exactly. Julie Barbour, Master Gardener thanks for the quick tip here.
Julie Barbour 13:58
You're welcome, thank you.
Farmer Fred 13:59
The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast has a lot of information posted at each episode: transcripts, links to any products or books mentioned during the show, and other helpful links for even more information. Plus, you can listen to just the portions of the show that interest you, it’s been divided into easily accessible chapters. Plus you’ll find more information about how to get in touch with us. Leave an audio question without making a phone call via Speakpipe, at speak pipe dot com slash gardenbasics. it’s easy, give it a try. And you just might hear your voice on the Garden Basics podcast! If you’re listening to us via Apple podcasts, put your question in the Ratings and Reviews section. Text us the question and pictures, or leave us your question at: 916-292-8964.916-292-8964. E-mail: fred@farmerfred.com . If you tell us where you’re from, that will help us greatly to accurately answer your garden questions. Because all gardening is local. In the show notes you’ll find links to all our social media outlets, including facebook, instagram, twitter, and youtube. Also, a link to the farmerfred.com website. And thanks for listening.
Farmer Fred 15:19
Here on the Garden Basics podcast we like to bring in Warren Roberts, the superintendent emeritus of the UC Davis Arboretum to tell us about a Plant of the Week. A plant that looks good or smells good or has wonderful flowers. Today's plant, Warren, is, for some of us, a confusing plant, but for others it's a very common plant. One of the common names is mock orange, and the botanical name is Philadelphus.
Warren Roberts 15:45
Yes, and mock orange is a common name for a number of unrelated trees and shrubs. Basically, they all have light colored flowers, white usually can have a very nice fragrance, for example, Pittosporum tobira, which is native to Asia, and the flowers smell almost exactly like citrus blossoms. It may even have the same pollinator because they're from the same area; citrus scent is more. And then Choisya ternata, which is a relative of orange from Mexico, is sometimes called mock orange, Philadelphus coronarius, which is native to Europe and Southeast Asia; the most usual name is mock orange. Now, confusingly, Philadelphus coronarius is sometimes called a sharinga, usually pronounced sh r imga, which happens to be the name for lilacs (Syringa). Why are lilacs, and Philadelphus, often called with the same common name. Well, it turns out the stems of both of these species are easily hollowed out once they're mature. The pan pipe which was evidently invented by the Greek nymph Syrinx is the connection with that. Whether or not Philadelphus or the lilac for that matter, were used to make panpipes, I don't know. Usually they're made of cane. But there's the connection. And when somebody told me when I was a little kid than a lilac was called syringa, I didn't believe him because I knew that the mock orange had that name, as well. So Philadelphus coronarius is the most widely cultivated species, but it has relatives in various parts of the world. I think there's 65 different Philadelphus species, and some of them in Mexico. The Philadelphus mexicanus enters into the hybrid ancestry of some of these select forms, you can tell if it has the Mexican ancestry because at the base of the petal, there will be a little pale purple spot. And my favorite of the lot is a hybrid between those two, and some other species, I think, and it's called Belle Etoile, meaning a pretty star. And it was developed by Lemwand in France, I believe. And it has a very pleasant fragrance to me, more pleasant than Philadelphus coronarius, which has a kind of a sinister edge to it. In my experience, from a ranching background, occasionally you come across a carcass of a deceased cow. And with a passage of time, there's an odd sort of sweet fragrance that emits from this. And I've noticed that fragrance in some lupines and some of the narcissisus have that smell too. But basically, if you don't have that ranch background, you wouldn't really notice it. But Philadelphus, it has a nice name. It was named for one of the Ptolemy Greek rulers of Egypt. Ptolemy, the Second Philadelphus was his name. And his ancestor was one of Alexander the Great's generals, who was left in charge of this, this large territory that the army had conquered. So Philadelphus has an interesting story. It's related to the hydrangeas, the deutzias, and our own California native, Carpenteria. Within California we have two species native: Philadelphus lewisii, which has several select forms, and Philadelphus microphyllus, which is a desert mountain shrub here in the West. It's an old fashioned garden plant that is deciduous but certainly worth growing, because of the especially fragrant flowers.
Farmer Fred 20:03
I guess we should point out, though, that is it only the coronarius that smells like dead cow?
Warren Roberts 20:10
Yes. Okay, good. Not, not strongly. So it just says that little edge. And you know, fragrance is a matter of well, matter of taste. the Latin phrase, non mis putana est, There's no arguing about taste. And so I actually like the smell of the Philadelphus but a particularly this one, Belle Etoile, which has a fruity and a more delicious fragrance.
Farmer Fred 20:40
I love the smell of fish emulsion in the morning, but that's just me.
Warren Roberts 20:47
You probably want anchovies on your salad. Thank you very much. Right? Well, I do. Okay, well, good. All right.
Farmer Fred 20:54
Warren, let's talk a little bit about the University of California Davis Arboretum. The COVID-19 situation has put its annual plant sale in sort of an online situation. And this might be something for those of you who are listening to the Garden Basics podcast, say within 50 miles or so of Davis, to take advantage of, is the online plant sales that are going on during April and May at the UC Davis Arboretum. It's a rather extensive list of plants, isn't it Warren?
Warren Roberts 21:26
Oh, yes, there's hundreds and hundreds of different things that are mostly grown right here in the Central Valley of California with with its challenging climate and water. So yeah, so many different kinds of things, shrubs, perennials, even a few trees, succulents. It's a wonderful, wonderful list of plants and you can get it online.
Farmer Fred 21:50
Find out more about the online plant sales going on there and the times of the sales and what you have to do to pick them up at the Arboretum website, which is arboretum.ucdavis.edu . Philadelphus, the mock orange. A widely adaptable, aromatic shrub, we'll leave it at that. But most of most of them smell good.
Warren Roberts 22:15
They really do. Yes, yeah.
Farmer Fred 22:18
The nose knows. Alright, the plant of the week, the mock orange. And Warren, thanks so much for telling us about the Philadelphus, the mock orange,
Warren Roberts 22:28
You're certainly welcome. It was my pleasure.
Farmer Fred 22:34
The Dallas Morning News had an editorial about the Coronavirus' potential effect on us, the mental effect to us, as well as our collective well being. The editorial said while it may not be as obvious as job losses and Coronavirus fatalities, the nation is on the cusp of a spiraling mental health crisis. According to the experts, the article talked about the need for more innovative delivery of mental health services to those in need. Well, that just might be all of us. And that leads me back to site one of those six daily quarantine or shelter in place questions that you should ask yourself every day. Number six on that list was "What beauty Am I either creating, cultivating or inviting in today"? Well, how about inviting in the sight of a window box or large pots of zinnias outside your bedroom window? Natural beauties such as flowers has a calming effect on us. Wouldn't it be nice and soothing that the first and last thing you see each day out your window are the bright spring, summer and fall blooms of zinnias. Right now is zinnia growing season. Nurseries have a good stock of zinnias available right now. But if you want an even more dazzling eye catching varieties of happiness, plant several of the more unusual zinnias that you'll find at the nursery seed rack. There are literally hundreds of Zinnia cultivars available. Heights range from six inches to between three and four feet tall and they come in a wide variety of flower colors. And if you have some trepidation about growing from seed, let me reassure you, zinnias are among the easiest of all flowers to grow. You can plant zinnias seeds where you want them to grow. And May and June is the best time to plant them. Zinnias do best in full sun, but they can put on a colorful show in an area that gets maybe four to six hours of direct sun a day. Plant them not too deeply, about quarter of an inch deep. Cover them lightly, firm the soil, and keep moist until the seedlings emerge and that'll just be in a few days, definitely less than a week. Then you want to thin them to stand perhaps nine to 12 inches apart after they're just a few inches tall. And don't let that word "thinning" scare you either. Thinning just involves removing a plant. And if you don't want to throw it out, well, plant it someplace else. The bright blooms of zinnias make them a favorite of hummingbirds and other pollinators as well as beneficial insects such as bees, hoverflies, and mini-wasps. Don't worry, these wasps don't sting. They just go after the bad guys in your garden, like tomato hornworms. Well, after the hummingbirds and beneficial insects have had their fill of the nectar, seeds will develop as the flowers mature and that attracts a whole host of seed-loving birds, like sparrows and finches. And you know what else is great about zinnias? It's the wide variety of flower shapes that they have. Recently I planted a wide variety of red zinnias seeds, several different varieties of red zinnias with different flower shapes and differing heights. Those red varieties that I planted include Dreamland Red, which gets about 10 to 12 inches tall, Magellan Scarlet 12 to 14 inches tall, and then the other varieties start getting taller. Red Spiders get 18 to 24 inches. Cinderella Red is 24 inches, and Parks Picks is a deep red Zinnia that gets a whopping three to four feet tall. If you go to the notes for today's show, there's a link there to Park Seeds as well as Johnny's Seeds, that can show you some of the amazing zinnias varieties that are available when you plant from seed. And when you're done enjoying them in the garden, or even while you're enjoying them in the garden, bring the flowers indoors. Zinnias make wonderful, long lasting cut flowers. It's spring and summer happiness for both the outdoors and the indoors. Zinnias will bring a smile to your face and everyone else that sees them. And you know, a smile is a good start to better mental health.
Farmer Fred 26:37
Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday and is brought to you by Smart Pots. It’s available just about anywhere podcasts are handed out. And that includes Apple podcasts, I Heart Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Podcast Addict, CastBox and Google podcasts. And for Northern California gardeners, check out this podcast: the Green Acres Garden Podcast with Farmer Fred, also available wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for listening, subscribing and leaving comments. We appreciate it.
