Here’s the story of my Black Madeira.

In the spring of 2013 I received one cutting from UCD. I rooted it and within three weeks I put it into the ground in full sun. During the summer it barely grew and did not yield any figs.

I left it unprotected during the winter month. It died down to the soil level and I was very concerned that it might never come back. Sure enough it sprouted in the spring and came back more vigorously than ever before. I had the chance to taste one fig earlier this summer and it looks like it might ripen one or more before the season is over.

I noticed that when it came back the leaves looked much healthier than in the previous year.

I will continue to report on the progress of this plant. I am thinking of providing it with some protection this winter to protect it from winter damage.

The location where it is planted is full sun where it is baking all day in the Texas heat. Temperatures in the sun could go higher than 110 on some days.

Here are some pictures of my Black Madeira . The first piture shows the almost totally dead plant in early spring except for a small green shoot at the base.

The other pictures (taken today) show the all new growth from the soil line and the totally dead center shoot .

 


 
  
    
   

Sas,
Thanks for sharing your pictures and info.
As I noted in the OP, your observation has been the normal experience. The anecdotal information is that once the roots get established the growth from below ground level will be healthier than the existing above ground branches. Eliminating the existing stem and branches after heat treatment is part of the planned procedure in this experiment.

I would like to thank Rafed and Calvin (Cis4elk) for their generous contribution of an Air Layer and Rooted Cutting to this experiment... Thank you.
The air layer and cutting have been growing in the perlite mix for several weeks and are fertigated every 2 days with a Flora Nova Grow nutrient solution @ 1-1/2 tsp per gallon of water with a pH ~ 6.0.
.
Heat Treatment will begin once the containers are full of roots.  

Pete, thanks for the update.  Please keep us posted on the progress.  The Ischia Black will be the real test.

Great plan and execution.  What do you feel is the optimal pH range?


I hope you're going to publish this in a good journal. 

Glad to help out. Good luck!

I love it! Good luck Pete. There are plenty others in line to wanting to get rid of their FMV.

Mike in Hanover, VA

Pete, thanks for the update.  I'm still interested to see how this does.  (And yes, I agree it could be helpful to lots of folks, but I still think especially helpful to those who grow figs in relative isolation... unless some of those 8 or so viruses also survive in other hosts).  Great experiment... can't wait to see how it pans out!

Paul, yeah, I guess Ischia is a good puppy name (as long as you don't mind naming a puppy after an island).  It sure is a cute little guy!

Mike 

Paul,

That's an impressive amount of nodes on each of those cuttings.  Good luck with them.

You're welcome and thanks...

Bob C,
IMO, the optimum pH for cuttings and young fig plants should be 5.5 to 6.5 with a temperature of 72*F to 78*F, warm and slightly acidic. It promotes best absorption of nutrients and reduced microbial growth.

Frank,
The close inter-node spacing is usually an indication of poor growing conditions (culture) and or a compromised cultivar.