Thursday, February 25, 2016

Crazy about Black Madeira figs

My quest to attain Black Madeiras has started since I first learned about them a couple of years ago.



In my quest I've begun the hoarding... eh hem, I mean collecting of varieties from various growers and sellers.

6/27/15 - Ebay figrific Grafted Plant Black Madeira - $90 - Alive and doing well
8/27/15 - 2 Cuttings from Amazon Daniel Mitre - $20 - Both Cuttings are small but alive
12/20/15 - 3 cuttings from Ebay seller sgtwardog - $25 Currently rooting hopefully they are real
1/29/16 - 4 Cuttings from Amazon Daniel Mitre - $40 - Currently Rooting
2/18/16 - 4 Cuttings from Ebay seller rfactor12 - $64
2/18/16 - 3 Cuttings from Ebay seller Churl82 - $67
2017 - Black Madeira prepayment for a 4 rooted plants grown by webaisles greenfingardens - $60
2/26/16 - I have a trade in place for some BM cuttings for an air layer of my I-258 with a forum member. I'll probably be grafting these.
2/26/16 - And finally one Black Madeira Plant from KK on Ebay - $140 ( I know these are legitimate BMs)
2/29/16 - Just got one cutting from Cindy on the forums. I will graft this one as well and try to root what's left after I cut off one node.

No one said this hobby is cheap. That's over $500 total on Black Madeiras from different sellers. Why you ask? Obsession maybe? Maybe because if you talk to anyone that has a true Black Madeira the edge of their lips curl up and their eyes roll back into their head to fantasize about the last BM that they tasted.

It's almost orgasmic.

Daniel Mitre Black Madeira: (7 Month old Cuttings) Super slow growth. I thought they died off a couple times but luckily left them in the humidity bin and both came back to life.





Figrific grafted Black Madeira:

KKs Black Madeira

Grafted Black Madeira's on Gillette and Desert King Rootstock: I used cuttings from Rfactor12 and Churl82 from Ebay as the scion.

I hope they take and maybe this year I can finally taste a Black Madeira.

3/4/16 Update:

Showing some signs of life. There's a little bud beginning to grow on the left side of the BM scion.

6 comments:

  1. How are your Black Madeira fig trees doing?
    I'm contacting Figrific to see if they are still selling.
    Once you get to eat a BM, please post how it tastes!
    Thanks!
    Hau - hautran@bellsouth.net

    ReplyDelete
  2. The fruit seems to have stalled a bit on my BM. My fault really I've been hitting them with too much nitrogen. I should really focus on just phosphate this time of year. So the plants focus more on the fruit than new vegetative growth.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Ben,

    Is bm a tough one to grow from cuttings?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Are the black madeira fig leaves the only kind to have the single lobe spade looking leaf? Or is there many fig trees that have this kind of leaf pattern? Thanks so much

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Ben,

    I want to buy cuttings of KK Black Madeira, can you please guide me? I dont mind buying it from you cause your my teacher when it comes to this new path i have followed :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Ben,

    I grow figs by seeds with high success. I wonder if you can send me (swap) some dried figs to grow from seeds.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete