Category: The Fig Tree Guy
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My Battery Operated RYOBI Pruner
If you have to prune several trees, and each tree has 10 to 30 branches, having a battery-operated pruner is a great idea. The purchase was a bit stressful, but I survived it. I went to a local big-box store where they had them in stock and bought their very last pruner. The box contained…
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Getting Hay to Winterize Trees and Raised Beds
Here I am transporting three bales of hay from the Orange County Arboretum for our suburban garden. I first received permission from the Arboretum officials in charge to make sure I wasn’t stealing. By the way, I buy all of our vegetable seedlings from them every year because they offer such high-quality varieties. I also…
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Wood Chips for your Garden
I found this amazing mountain of wood chips off Route 208 in Orange County that has been sitting there unattended for a couple of years. Well, I go there once or twice a day with four buckets and a pair of gloves. I fill the buckets and take them home, where I use them to…
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Cuttings Everywhere!
These are the cuttings I am currently rooting at home. I use 15 Starbucks venti cups, and each cup has four cuttings being rooted in water. Not to mention Mario Fabrizi, who has his very own grande Starbucks cup. I change the water daily, and I try to handle them as little as possible. Please…
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My YouTube Channel
Just in case you haven’t noticed, I have a YouTube channel where I post videos and shorts very often about figs, Greek recipes, and the Greek language, among other topics. As of today, November 18, 2024, I have 1,720 followers. I created the channel on Jan. 9, 2013, but it remained dormant and unused for…
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My Philosophy on Removing the Apical/Terminal Bud
The apical bud of a fig tree is the growth tip responsible for producing new growth and elongating the plant. It is common practice to remove, cut, or pinch this bud to encourage earlier harvests and increased branching. While the apical bud is a type of terminal bud, not all terminal buds are apical buds.…
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Introducing Mario Fabrizi
About three weeks ago, I began rooting a tiny cutting from a large fig tree that I ‘inherited’ from a family in Brewster, NY. The cutting was very thin—so thin that I initially tossed it onto the compost pile. But then I decided to give it a chance. Normally, I root thicker fig cuttings because…