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Got A Black Ischia Today..Anyone Else is growing that?

Today thanks to Peter I got a Black Ischia fig tree. Excited and trying to find out how good this variety is?Anyone else has any experience with this Fig? Any comments will be greatly appreciated.  So far 2014 started good a new variety, hopefully some more will follow. Thanks.
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which peter are you talking about? if he's selling trees, may i please have his screen name?

i'm building a walled garden and i need some trees  old enow to plant out this spring. i don't wanna wait for cuttings for my first planting.
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Susie, you may know this already but Black Ischia (at least the strain available in North America) is probably the most well-known variety for being hobbled by fmv/fmd.
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oops. thank you rewton. i didn't know that.
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Kaus, yes i grow several UcDavis Black Ischia's plants in containers.
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  • BLB

Black Ischia is very much fmv affected, but also a very tasty fig, one of the best
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But the Black Ischia Jon has is that the one you are referring to Barry?  
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Originally Posted by Dieseler
Kaus, yes i grow several UcDavis Black Ischia's plants in containers.


Yes. If you get a BI, and you are a purist, make sure it's the strain from UCDavis. There are figs being sold with that name, but they are more of a Violette de Bordeaux type fig. Good, yes, but IMO not the real BI. Make sure you ask your source where it's originally from. 

After thinking I purchased it a couple years ago, twice, I obtained cuttings of the real thing just recently and am very pleased that they are rooting. ( Thanks again, kind donor. :))
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Sussie the Peter I mentioned is in Adelaide, Australia. I don't think e can post it overseas.
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Martin please let us know how did it go with the fruiting of your potted ones. I am planning put that one today in 150 liter half wine barrel. Will be good enough for 3-4 years before I need to think for root pruning.
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Gina I wish I can get stuff from UCDAVIS but because of the strict quarantine rules i need to get a permit and it will not be a easy task. Hopefuly the strain I got is good but only time will tell. Once i have some fruit in coming years I will post. Thanks.
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I have Black Ischia plants,  direct from Baud,
Last season they showed no signs of FMV while in quarantine.
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Ditto to what Gina said about other so called Ischia Blacks - imposters.

Ive had hirts, gardenovey, Jons, Exoctica nursery all turned out to be similar to Vdb so they were discarded.


Here is a well ripened UcDavis Ischia Black from our yard .
Click to enlarge or right click to open in a new window.

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  • Click image for larger version - Name: Ischia_Black_UcDavis_58.jpg.jpg, Views: 81, Size: 92170

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Will, mine is sourced from UC Davis so it is the real deal 
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I sampled a Black Ischia at Exotica Nursery in Vista, CA today. They were small and a little dry because the tree had been deprived of water this year. They had a complex, bright berry (not strawberry - just some kind of berry) flavor with a slight, pleasant tartness. They were very different from other figs I have tried before (which amounts to only 3 or 4 other varieties). I'm not sure why the guy walked me back to the big Black Ischia tree because the 1 gallon fig I was carrying around had a big stake in the pot with a sign that said "Long Yellow $5". Well, now that I got it home, I see that he removed the big sign since it was meant to identify a whole group of trees (I found it alone in a corner). The tag that was actually attached to the plant says, "Ishia". Maybe that's why he had me taste the Black Ischia? Well, I am now the proud owner of a tiny little Black Ischia, Ischia, Long Yellow or WTF.
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Funny, well good luck with it. Hopefully it is a BI. Post some pictures of the leaves and I am sure someone will tell you if it is a BI as they are pretty distinct.

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Originally Posted by cyberfarmer
I sampled a Black Ischia at Exotica Nursery in Vista, CA today. They were small and a little dry because the tree had been deprived of water this year. They had a complex, bright berry (not strawberry - just some kind of berry) flavor with a slight, pleasant tartness. They were very different from other figs I have tried before (which amounts to only 3 or 4 other varieties). I'm not sure why the guy walked me back to the big Black Ischia tree because the 1 gallon fig I was carrying around had a big stake in the pot with a sign that said "Long Yellow $5". Well, now that I got it home, I see that he removed the big sign since it was meant to identify a whole group of trees (I found it alone in a corner). The tag that was actually attached to the plant says, "Ishia". Maybe that's why he had me taste the Black Ischia? Well, I am now the proud owner of a tiny little Black Ischia, Ischia, Long Yellow or WTF.


I was debating to drive there after the Fiesta. At the end decided to skip it.
Is it worth going to that nursery? What other figs did they have?
What are the prices? 
If you do not want to discuss it here, please PM me since I may be heading to San Diego soon. Thanks!
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Originally Posted by greenfig
I was debating to drive there after the Fiesta. At the end decided to skip it.
Is it worth going to that nursery? What other figs did they have?
What are the prices? 
If you do not want to discuss it here, please PM me since I may be heading to San Diego soon. Thanks!
 
I would say Exotica is definitely worth a visit whether or not you buy anything. It's like walking through a jungle filled with exotic fruits. They have several large specimens in ground. Many of the plants they sell are air layers taken from those trees. If you go the right time of year, you can sample the fruit. They also resell some plants/trees from other growers. One word of caution I would give you is that a lot of plants are unlabelled or mislabelled. So, just be prepared for it to be messy, overgrown, greenhouses decaying with giant trees growing through the rooftops... it's a jungle.
 
Oh, and one thing I noticed today was a lot of 1 gallon fig trees scattered about with no tags at all. I asked how they kept track of what all the unlabelled figs were. He told me they had a lot of seedlings that sprout up all over the property. They dig them up and offer them for for sale (I didn't ask how much), but if they are not sold as seedlings, they will use them as rootstock and sell them after grafting. 
 
I bought three 5 gallon figs at $25 each. They were taken from air layers of good hefty branches with lots of nodes and a few side branches: Purple Smyrna, Strawberry Jam and Panache. The 1 gallon mystery fig is supposedly either Black Ischia or Yellow Long and was only $5.
 
I also picked up a couple good sized lychee air layers today at $50 each: Brewster and Pala Brewster. I sampled the big fruits from the mother trees and I liked them better than the lychees I picked and ate in Hawaii. I also got an Ice Cream Bean tree ($15/1 gallon) to replace the one the gophers killed, and a couple Catalina Cherries ($15/1 gallon).
 
If you're passing by Fallbrook on your way to Exotica, stop by and visit. I'd love to meet a fellow forum member and I'm always up for a trip to Exotica.
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there are FMV free tissue cultures in Europe.  
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