Details: Fig Boss Fall Fig Tree Sale, 2025 Cutting Sale & New Fig Book - Fig-ure it out: Choosing a Fig Variety
- Ross the Fig BOSS
- 5 days ago
- 9 min read
Hello everyone! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your fig-growing journey.
I am very happy to make a few announcements:
To avoid common inquiries.
PLEASE READ ALL OF THE DETAILS BELOW.
Starting at 9 PM EST on Wednesday, November 12th, and ending on the 15th, you’ll find over 75 varieties of fig trees listed on my sale page here. Over 50 trees will be available in larger 4-gallon sizes. These have been growing in their pots for 1-3 growing seasons.
The annual Fig Boss fig-cutting sale of 2025 will go live on Sunday, November 30th, at 2 PM EST. In 2024, the sale ended 2 days after going live. Check out the sale page here.
On the blog, inventory quantities will not update or be available for purchase until their respective sales begin. Prices, varieties, and listings will be updated over the next few days. Please be patient.
To help you choose a fig variety, I’ve created a stylish and substantive 15-page booklet, available in PDF format, titled “Fig-ure It Out: Choosing a Fig Variety.” Purchase your copy here.
Excerpt from the booklet:
"If you've looked beyond Lowe's, Home Depot, or the average nursery, you've discovered thousands of fig varieties to choose from, making the selection process overwhelming. You may already know this is an important decision: the variety you choose greatly impacts both the quantity and quality of your harvest. You might be surprised to hear that after eating my first home-grown figs, I didn’t enjoy them. The right variety in the right conditions can be a game-changer.
Remember, every variety has different genetics determining a fig’s size, shape, color, flavor, texture, and ripening time. Heck, even whether they’ll ripen at all. What's the point of a fig tree that you can't enjoy the fruit from? That’s why I created this booklet: to save you time, money, and effort, so you can have the same wonderful fig-growing experience I’ve had."
Details of the Fall Fig Tree Sale:
I’ll have fig trees available in 3 sizes. Each tree is growing in nursery “trade” gallon pots.
1-gallon treepots (4x9 inches)
2-gallon fabric pots (8x8 inches)
4-gallon plastic pots (10-12x10-12 inches) - Grown for 1-3 seasons. Most of these trees will sell out immediately.
Inventory will be updated when the sale goes live at 9 PM EST on Wednesday, November 12th. I can’t take pre-orders. To be fair to everyone, they’re offered first come first-served basis. I apologize if you missed the variety you were looking for. Trees will be available again in the spring.
Shipping
To ensure each tree fits inside its box, the trees in larger pots (4-gallon) must be trimmed back to a foot in length. They're transitioning into dormancy now due to the recent frosts in my area, so most of the trees will arrive without leaves, and if they do, they’ll likely be yellowing with brown spots. This is normal. Packaging and shipping will start immediately. I expect most orders to be in the hands of UPS by November 17th or 18th.
Planting
Fall and winter are the best times to plant fig trees in warmer USDA growing zones (8-11). Making use of the remainder of the warm days before winter, they’ll expand their root systems into the surrounding soil, giving them a head start on the next growing season.
Critical: If you live in a colder growing zone (5-7), wait to plant until the spring and place them in a winter storage area. You can repot them into a larger container at any time, but it’s best to also wait until the spring. Just make sure you don’t overwater them! They’re susceptible to overwatering when dormant and defoliated.
Don’t forget these winter protection methods before planting in cold growing zones: Fig Trees in Zones 5, 6, & 7: A Masterclass on Hardy Fig Trees in Cold Climates
Winter Storage
Before placing fig trees in winter storage, they should be defoliated and properly dormant. This usually occurs naturally after a couple of hard freezes.
Don’t be afraid of frost! Low temperatures are of more concern.
Wait until the forecast predicts nighttime lows below 15°F before moving them into storage.
Young trees are no exception. They, too, should be allowed to go dormant and placed in winter storage. Keep them away from temperatures below 20-28°F, depending on how lignified they are and how recently they were rooted.
Water each pot thoroughly and mulch the surface of the soil before placing your fig tree in storage.
They need a temperature-stable environment (e.g., garage, shed) between 15°F and 50°F to prevent premature waking from dormancy.
Details of the Cutting Sale:
If this is your first experience with rooting, fig cuttings are a great way to start. Figs are one of the easiest plant species to successfully propagate from cuttings. You could even stick them right into the soil of your permanent planting area. A quick guide on rooting is also detailed further down the newsletter, but if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Ordering
To order, visit the store. It can be found on the navigation bar at the top of the page at any time. There, you can add items to your cart and check out like you would on any other website. The inventory for each variety will be updated on November 30th at 2 PM EST. That way, the sale is offered to buyers fairly on a first-come-first-served basis.
For orders to Canada or Europe, please contact me before ordering. I cannot ship outside the US, EU, or CA.
If you have a special request, contact me so that I can determine if an accommodation can be made.
Due to limited inventory and the demand for certain fig varieties, I expect some to sell out in minutes, hours, or days.
If you're concerned about missing the opportunity to buy a specific variety, I suggest checking out promptly. Adding it to your cart does not reserve it for you.
I will not have more inventory to list at a later date.
What You Will Receive
When purchasing one order of the variety you choose, you are committing to buying 1 set of 3 cuttings.
I will not sell 1 or 2 cuttings from a particular variety. No exceptions.
95% of the cuttings will be 12 inches or more in length and can be cut in half for potentially double the number of trees or a total of 6 cuttings. That's 36+ inches of wood per set of fig cuttings.
Before ordering, please contact me with any questions regarding size, caliper, or lignification differences. I will try to note any in each listing description.
The photo of the cuttings in the listing is an example of what you will receive from this particular variety and is not the actual set of cuttings you will receive.
Shipping Information
All orders will be shipped USPS Priority. $15 for each order.
I will ship to locations anywhere in the US. I cannot allow local pickup. Packing and shipping will start immediately. It takes a long time to pack the orders. Please be patient.
Tracking will automatically be sent to your email address.
Choosing a Fig Variety
Choosing the right variety makes a world of difference, which is why I created the booklet mentioned at the beginning of the article. Please put in some effort to research the varieties suited to your location. If you're still stumped, feel free to contact me, and I'll make sure you're choosing the best experience figs can offer. Below are some additional guides:
If you have 25 inches or more of rain annually or 2.5-3 inches each month during the summer or fall, grow fig varieties suited to humid climates:
If you're in zones 4-7 and plan to plant your fig tree in the soil, grow hardy fig varieties:
If you have less than 160 frost-free days, grow early ripening or breba-producing fig varieties:
Related: Early Ripening Fig Varieties
If you live in a hot and dry climate, grow the best-tasting fig varieties. You've got the perfect climate for figs. Consider a wide spectrum of flavor profiles, textures, and harvest times. You'll want to grow breba-producing fig varieties and late varieties to fill in the gaps.
Related: The Best Tasting Fig Varieties
Storage
If your fig cuttings aren't being rooted shortly after receipt, they should be placed in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator until you're ready. The cuttings will be packaged in two partially sealed layers of plastic to allow some air exchange, preventing anaerobic conditions. I've had cuttings stored this way in the crisper drawer of my refrigerator for up to a year. However, the fresher they are, the better your chances are of success.
Handling
Some growers lightly scrub their cuttings with water or soak them in a 10% bleach solution before rooting. This will remove pathogens, overwintering pests like scale, and cosmetic debris.
Additional Concerns
I prefer to sell cuttings from healthy fig trees growing in the soil compared to cuttings taken from potted trees. There are numerous advantages. For example, cuttings from healthy fast-growing suckers have higher amounts of carbohydrates stored within them, and they rarely display symptoms of Fig Mosaic Virus (FMV). However, FMV resides within all of my trees. It's in all fig trees unless they are lab-grown.
During pruning, fig trees leak a white sap. If the sap is left to dry on the cuttings, it may dry into a black color with an oily appearance. This is not mold. It's cosmetic and can be scrubbed off if you desire.
However, white mold may be found on the surface of the leaf scars (where the leaf was attached to the branch). I do my best to remove any leftover leaf material, but some inevitably remain behind. Scrub lightly at these locations to remove any leftover leaf material and mold.
Rooting Instructions: A Hybrid of the Fig Pop and Direct Potting Methods - My Preferred Method
Wrap them in parafilm by stretching and wrapping the parafilm around any portions of the cutting above the soil line. This helps retain moisture and protect the cutting.
Make a new cut on the bottom close to the bottom node and score the bottom of the cutting, exposing the cambium and hardwood, promoting callus formation and root development.
Optionally, you can apply a rooting hormone like Clonex to encourage root development.
Plant the cutting in a one-gallon treepot, typically a four-inch by nine-inch pot, but a more traditional 6-7-inch container will work well also.
Label your pot. I like to cut strips off vinyl blinds to create affordable tags.
Place the pot inside a produce bag, which helps trap humidity and maintain the ideal soil moisture.
Secure the bag with a rubber band, ensuring a tight seal around the top of the cutting and that 1 or 2 nodes are above the bag.
Using this rooting method, perfect soil moisture is maintained during the beginning phase of rooting, preventing rot and mold, a grower's number one enemy. Transplanting is also unnecessary. This simplifies the overall process and increases the likelihood of successful rooting. Keep the cuttings in a greenhouse or suitable environment with a consistent temperature, and avoid watering them for at least a month.
Remove the bag. Once the new growth is growing strongly or hardening, that's a sign the roots are too. This could take 2 weeks or 3 months.
Fertilize and adjust the soil moisture.
Remove any figs that form.
To read more about rooting fig cuttings, click here.
Common Pitfalls:
Wrap the tops of your cuttings with Parafilm or Buddy Tape to avoid using a humidity dome and risking the death of your cutting when adjusting them to normal humidity levels.
Avoid up-potting or disturbing the tree while it's still at the beginning of the rooting process. The roots are easily damaged at this time.
Invest in high-quality lighting for indoor rooting setups. The sunlight coming through a window is not enough.
Make sure your rooting environment is preferably 75-80°F, and keep the soil moisture consistently moist. Not wet and not dry. A heating mat can help considerably.
For thicker cuttings, I suggest that you pre-root them. Either wrap them in moist sphagnum moss or moist paper and place them in a plastic bag. Position them in a warm place until you see root initials, then place them into a pot with your rooting medium.
Guarantee & Delivery Issues
If there's a delivery issue, please inform me with photos right away. I'll make it right.
In the rare event of a labeling issue, contact me with photos of the tree's ripe fruits cut in half. I guarantee that your fig tree is labeled correctly.
I also guarantee that the fig trees or cuttings you receive will be something I would be delighted to receive myself. I am committed to offering only the most healthy, sizable, and from the most well-established fig trees from my collection.
