Exibit A:
The one on the left is a Stella (thanks Jason!) rooted 4+ months ago and growing vigorously.

Exibit B:
The one on the right is a Cuenca Black Giant( from huge tree in the gardens of the Museo de Cuenca, Ecuador) grafted onto a Sicilian Red rootstock 1 month ago.

This fig from the Cuenca tree was HUGE.  It was too high up to pick, and at first I thought it was a black Bartlett pear. 

How big is HUGE?   Any way you can put some comparator / reference size onto the description?  Like a baseball?  Inches across?

One of the figs I'm interested in is Colombre Nero (aka Columbaro Nero, and probably a lot of similar names in different dialects.  Might also be the same as Culummu Niuru (Sicilian dialect), which I was just lucky enough to buy some cuttings of... they arrived yesterday, and I can't wait to grow it and find out).  It's alleged to be "fist sized" black figs.  I wonder about Martin's unknown black fig (also supposed to have very large black fruit), and this other unknown from Cuenca, if they're the same / closely related.  The fruit look similar, but can't tell from the leaves yet.  I'll be real interested to see what your fruit look like when you get some!

Mike

Hi Mike,

Sorry about the lack of specificity but that thing was 20 feet up in the air. The picture was taken with a telephoto lens. All I can tell you is that when I first saw it, my reaction was "holy sh*t".  
Ok, it may have been the size of a child's fist. Like a Bartlett Pear, but black. 

Did you get the Culummu Niuru from Tatyana? I am in the process of ordering that one as well.
Frank

Wow, thanks for sharing.  Of course, another benefit we've talked about is that you can make greater use of a scion (i.e., using a single bud for a graft).  You could have sent me part of that stick! ;)

Hi Frank.  I got it from Lidia (aka Lidiya).  I just got them set up for rooting today (they arrived yesterday).  Got a few others on the way here as well.  I'll post pix once they're big enough.  It'll be interesting to see if there's any matchup among these giant black figs.  Maybe a couple of them (or more) are really the same.  

If you're growing that Cuenca unknown, then we should compare notes once these trees are big enough (and they make fruit), to see if they're similar.  I don't have Martin's unk, but it would be another one to compare also.  I think several other members here do have clones of his tree.

Mike

Hi Frank,
           Is there any particular reason that you picked Sicilian Red for your rootstock?

Is your Sicilian Red a vigorous grower or have some other trait that makes it a good choice as grafting rootstock?

Thanks,Barry

Mike, no doubt. Looking forward to comparing results.
Barry, Sicilian Red was a particularly aggressive grower for me last year, but I could have easily used Atreano, Sal's Corleone, LSU Gold, Vista or MBVS or several other varieties as they were equally strong growers (6+ feet).

The Cuenca Black Giant  is now 4 1/2 feet tall in less than 6 months and spitting out figs like coins from a busted slot machine.
I hope the taste is as good as it is fast growing. I hope it is not a BT and if it is a BT, I hope it is a good tasting BT

frank, that fig remind me of my Genovese Nero... the mature leaf, and the shape and pink pigment of the fig. GN is suppose to be big enough to eat with a spoon..

Frank, really cool fig.  Nice job, I hope it is delicious!  Let us know.

Look nice Frank,
so per your thread title,
What are your thoughts on rooting vs grafting?

Gregg, if all my grafts were as successful as this one, I'd be ecstatic. Unfortunately, most of them failed.

Pete, if this turns out to anything close to Genovese Nero, I will do a happy jig.

Great looking plant Frank .

John

Update

pssst....frank.....you forgot to tell us how it tasted.

pssst...sorry. They are sweet. My wife liked them, so that's an endorsement, but they ain't RDB's. 

Why are we whispering?

LOL quiet reminder.
So, it wasn't quite like a Genovese Nero? I was hoping that it was awesome for you.