Thanks, Jerry and Stephen.
Stephen, I totally agree with you about the fig fever and the minimum of three cuttings is wise. I would also add back up methods and other sources. For me, I'm practicing rooting with the coir/ perlite lasagna and the enhanced figgy pops methods on red eye unknown cuttings and Madeira island cuttings to increase the success rate when I'm fortunate enough to get a hold of those first line fig cuttings that are difficult to root and propagate. Mean while, I have five month old Hirts tissue culture figs: Hardy Chicago And Violette de Bordeaux in pots as future workhorses. Lowes 'Brown Turkey, Green Ischia, and Black Mission" in ground, to test growing conditions and as prepared rootstock for grafting practice of plan c backup.
All that might seem overboard, but the more I read about different forum members' experience with first line figs such as Black Madeira, the more I think the effort will be worth it. And it all started with the first taste of the homely Black Mission fig, whose frothy, figgy flavor and slightly, sugary taste reminds me so much of the Star Apple/ Cainito I tasted in my childhood. And now, the way that the latest star fig Ponte Tresa is described brings back memories of tasting freshly pressed sugarcane juice with a splash of orange ripe Key Lime on a past summer day, half the world away.
Yeah, I have it bad and I don't think it's going away despite the challenges.
-Dan