Hey guys,

Has anyone here had any success growing black madiera in the uk?

Any fig variety can be grown anywhere as long as any special handling as needed is provided... That includes planting while taking advantage of existing or new micro climate creation in mind. It includes season extenders like Greenhouses... It can surely be done most anywhere although I would question the feasibility of doing so at the Poles....

I understand, but I'd like to know if any has done it. What method did they use, and did they encounter any problems with growing it in this climate?

Yes I have and also had fruit on their first year. I bought cuttings from Harvey. I live in the south east and you will also need a greenhouse. No greenhouse = no fruits and there is no way around it in the UK with this variety.

Cool, i have a polytunnel so if i can get my hands on it I'll grow. Did you keep it in the greenhouse during winter and if so did you have heat the greenhouse or add some winter protection?

thanks

Yes and I never heated my greenhouse. They come out of dormancy in spring and takes off just fine. In summer I usually take them out if it's not raining. But you need to have few days of 25+ C weather

You can buy from http://www.Figaholics.com . People talk about black Madeira KK all the time but my BM KK didn't produce any Fig yet. It's in it's 3rd year. The one I bought from Harvey gave me Figs in 7 months from a cutting I rooted in Jan 2016.

I've just started growing them so you could drop me a line sometime to compare what's going on. Mine are just planted this year, though, and are under 1 meter high.

I agree, BM is notoriously a slow grower. I guess it's more affordable now, but I still saw KK's tree going for nearly $200 last week. I even paid $125 for two cuttings couple of years ago, but that's what happpen when you really need something bad lol

Yes, it is very affordable now, at 2015, They was selling at $1000+ per cutting, It is much cheaper now.
Fig trees grow very fast.
I got my BM plant for $23C = $15 EURO at this spring, I plant it in ground, I do not think  that it will ripen fig in our area,  I can use it to trade for cuttings like RDB in future.

My objective is looking for few good fig trees in ground for our cool summer area, just like UK.
I got "Grantham Royal" this spring, It shocks me that this fig tree has so many figs and it doesn't need high heat, It might be good Fig tree for UK fig eater as well.

Thanks for the info. Looks like I'll be adding bm to the collection! Do you sell cuttings vinny?

Sorry, I make a mistake, It should be Italian 258 cutting, $1500.

You may be talking about when a Dal Osso fetched that on EBay

Yes, Dal Osso was bidding on more than $1000+ as well.

I think that I got my I-258 Cutting from Harvey( http://www.figaholics.com) for $10 USD ? with my poor rooting skill, I managed to kill it.

So far, My $15 USD BM grows very fast, Not sure that it is real BM or not.

Rick,
My brother got his I-258 from someone else that I don't want to mention. I got mine from Harvey and I made multiple grafts with the awesome cuttings he send. You might want to wait for his sales.

Vinny, Thanks for your info, you are right that grafting is a good idea, I might get some cuttings from Harvey next year and grafts them.
Just wonder that in UK, Do they need greenhouse growing BM?

My objective is that I am looking for few good in ground fig trees for low heat area, This is a good year for me,  My "Desert king" grows so fast and reach 9 X6 Ft now.
I got an unk cutting, It turn out to be Portuguese " "Colhões de Burro", that we can freely translate to "Donkey's Testicles", it has giant size of figs ( 200+ grams), with high productive, It ripen its fig in low heat summer here. beside I have a Portuguese Passport and now I have a Portuguese fig varieties.
Florea is another variety shocking me that how fast it ripen its figs in low heat summer here.

For BM, I-258 and almost all the top quality Figs will need a greenhouse or atleast a greenhouse head start. You could put them in ground and place a temporary tunnel over it in spring till June and then remove the tunnel to let it ripen outdoors. The thing is I found top quality Figs are top quality regardless of the climate it's grown for eg: BM, Preto, white Madeira, Adriatic jh all tastes good everywhere if we get them to ripen. But the mediocre ones like Brunswick, Brown turkey, tauro etc will only taste awesome in dry hot climate . Just my opinion. I have seen Brunswick ripened in Turkey and Israel and they looks spectacular.

Thanks vinny info.
I tried cheap plastic greenhouse, It last 1 season only
https://www.amazon.ca/Outsunny-Garden-Portable-Greenhouse-Shelves/dp/B005UVH4QC/ref=sr_1_29?ie=UTF8&qid=1504241736&sr=8-29&keywords=greenhouse+plastic
I am thinking to save up some old windows and build a small glass green house.