Recently received Zingarella/Gypsy from a very generous forum member. Has anyone had any experience with this fig and can you tell me if it is the same variety as Sal's Corleone, Aldo's Fig, Black Weeping, etc. etc.? Thank you.

No not the same not even close.  No stripes on Zing, no splitting and tastes much better in my opinion.  

Thank you WillsC. Do you have any photos of yours?
Is it a productive variety? What size do these figs attain? Thank you.

Leon,

I just got the zing cuttings from Rafed this winter.  It grew great and hit 5' this summer and has quite a few figs on it.  The size was average but you know young plants.

 

 


This picture was taken July 7th.

 

Thank you. Nice photos. You're right, it looks like a different variety than those I listed. Even the leaves appear different. Is that a quarter in the photo or a nickle?

It's a nickle 

Not the same. Gypsy is excellent, better than SC. Main crop is productive. I am not able to say the same for breba crop productivity. I would keep tree protected next season to get a good crop of brebas. The main crop is late and because the brebas are so good tasting, its worth keeping it. Note, SC ripens some main crop here not Gypsy(so far). My tree is over 5 yrs old.

Wills, I hate to start up another discussion about fig leaf shape being characteristic for a given variety but my Zingarella/Gypsy leaves look different than yours.  I'll try to get them posted tonight or tomorrow.  Mine do somewhat resemble the SalsC leaf shape with three lobe leaves dominating and some having minor 4th and 5th lobes as well (this is from memory).  Yours seem to have longer more narrow fingers with a more serrated edge.  Mine came from Gene Hosey who said he obtained it from Richard Watts.  I looked for some pics on the forum of Zingarella leaves and a short search gave me these three links:

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1278140689&postcount=1

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=21238624&postcount=1

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1269105428&postcount=22

Pics in the first two links show leaves that look very similar to mine.  The pic in the 3rd link looks like it could be a bit different (more serations?) but these are the first leaves from a rooted cuttings so it's hard to say.

Unfortunately, I haven't had a fig ripen off of mine yet though it is loaded with green figs right a the cusp of swelling.  I'll post pics of the fruit when it does ripen.  I wonder if there is more than one variant of Zingarella/Gypsy or possibly mine is not true to type?  If anyone else has a mature Zingarella I would be curious to see its leaves.

Steve,
Same here. My leaves are like in the first 2 links you posted. but not like WillsC's.

Steve,

Have no problem with you bringing it up.  People that get upset about people questioning varieties usually do so because they think with their wallets not their heads. 

I will take more recent pics of the Zing and I will ask Rafed where he got it.   Greenfig who was your source?

Steve,



Rafed said his came from a "reliable source" and mine matches his (just to show there was no cutting mix up)  he does not want the source mentioned on the forum but will PM you the name.   

I do believe climate might have something to do with leaf and fruit shape.
In my opinion both type of leaves are different than Sal Corleone,so Zing is not Sal Corleone.
Mine has the three lobe leaves,as predominant.

When accounting for the fact that my Zingarella is planted in partial shade and many states north of Florida, its leaves look similar to Wills' Zingarella:
 
The source for my Zingarella is Vinnie Johns.
Compare my typical Zingarella-in-semi-shade leaf above to the bottom right semi-shaded leaf of Wills' tree. Even the lobes within the lobes are virtually identical.
However, look all the way to the left on Wills' Zingarella at the slow-growing leaf that looks somewhat more typical of a Sal's Corleone.
 

The Zingarella leaf in my post above was located about halfway down the tree and photographed a month ago. The Zingarella leaves below were photographed today. Below, the top photos show the uppermost leaves that get the most direct sunshine, while the bottom photos show the most shaded leaves. Obviously here, less sunshine correlates with thicker lobes and fewer lobes:
 
 
 

    

Here's the leaves from my Zingarella/Gypsy and they are pretty much as I had remembered.  Most are 3 lobe but some have two additional minor lobes.  Overall, they are quite different from the ones that Tony and Wills show.  When I do get fruit to ripen (might be next year) I will post it here.  Edit: I looked at the plant again, and these pics.  Like Tony I also find that the leaves that get the most sun exposure tend to have 5 lobes altogether and the ones that are more shaded tend to only have 3 lobes.

That is interesting...
Leon, can you post a photo of your newly acquired plant please?

Leon's new plant is an airlayer from my plant.  I would be interested to get a better look at the leaves from Herman's Zingarella and from others who have had this variety for a while.  Oh, I'd like to see the leaves on yours too, Greenfig, since yours came directly from Richard Watts.

Paully's  plant came from Watts as well.  It seems there are two versions the Watts version and the version that came from a "well known source" that I was asked not to mention on the forum.


Tony who was your source?

Mine is also from Vinnie.  I don't have any photos and it's dark outside but mine looks like Steve's, etc.

For the record, I've never got upset when someone said my leaves looked different.

With respect to the relationship between Zingarella and SalsC I found this note on Gene Hosey's East Coast Figs web-page; this web-page has been taken down because he is no longer growing figs.  I assume VS is Herman2, maybe he can confirm.  So, yes, it sounds like there is a lot of similarity to SalsC but they are not identical.

Wills, did you see pics of Paul's Zingarella from R. Watts?  Are the leaves different from the R. Watt's trees that have SalsC type of leaves?

Steve,

No.......Paul is having computer issues and was on his wife's machine.  His computer should be fixed today and he said he would post pics.  


The one I have is the best fig I have tasted so far...granted have only sampled 40 or so varieties but very impressed.  Have not had another one since the first couple as the coons seem to like them as well.   

Greenfig - yes those leaves look like a pretty good match for mine.  So all indications so far is that there is a type of Zingarella distributed by Richard Watts that looks very much like SalsC but behaves a bit differently in terms of rain resistance and fruit color.  Then there is another type as exemplified by Wills with a different leaf shape and excellent taste.  Wills, if you have any extra cuttings this winter from yours I would be interested in comparing to mine.  Likewise, I would be happy to send you cuttings of mine.  Didn't know the Zingarella story would turn out to be so complex, lol!