Why are these so hard to root from cuttings?
What do the figs taste like?
Where did you get yours?
What's the closest thing to one.

I love answering questions with more questions, please entertain.

Who said they were hard to root?

I think they are middle of the road when it comes to rooting them.  I think the closest fig they taste like is sicilian black.  Juicy but not overly sweet.  As a matter of fact they were easy to root but difficult for me to get past the rooted stage.

are sicilian black and sal's corleone the same fig?  I think Belleclare listed them both as BC31, yes?  or am I mistaken?

Jason,

No they are not the same,one is black and other purple,one has 5 lobes leaves and one has Three lobes leaves.
JR say they are the same because he is a salesman,and he doesn't have Sal Corleone and,sell Sicilian Black and imply is the same as Sal Corleone.
Not that Sicilian Black he sell is not a good fig because it is an excellent fig,but is not Identical to Sal Corleone.

Hi Herman,

JR does have Sal's Corleone, I sent him one last year. He may not have any for sale yet, but he does have it. I thought Sicilian Black was a different fig too, perhaps he is commenting on the similarity.  

How does the Sal's Corleone do in the rain/humidity?

noss

Hi Noss, I have not had any problems relative to too much rain or water. My SC is planted in ground and loaded with figs. My problem has been late maturing figs, but the tree is only 4-5 years old and seems to be maturing faster this year. It is planted on the SW side of my home and even my leaking gutters has not bothered it. I think if you have a heavy clay soil that may be more of an issue.     

Herman,

Thank you for describing the characters of these two cultivators. 

I speak to JR via the phone every couple of weeks, either he calls me or I call him. This afternoon we were talking about some dark Italian verities and Sicilian blk, Sal's and Blk Tuscan figs came up in our conversation. 

To make it short, he was not trying to sell any fig trees to me. As a matter of fact he said he does not have either one for sale now. 

I myself don't have either one of them in my collection but on the other hand I do have couple of hard to find varieties.

Navid.

This thread is getting better by the year!  In my experience soc has done better for me in the rain than sicilian black, but it's still not one of the better split resistant figs in my possession.  Genes sal is much better in the rain.

Hi BLB,

Does that mean the fig hasn't split and/or soured when ripening in rainy weather?  I'm wondering because it has quite an open eye, the pictures I've seen and it gets a neat, star-shaped splitting pattern at the eye.  I've notice other figs get that star, as well.

I'm glad your figs appear to be maturing faster for you this year.  We do have  clay soil, but I've been keeping my young trees in pots.

Thanks,

noss

Ed,

I have grown them both in ground and in pots.  They both split on me in various degrees.  However, they are both great tasting figs.  I took them out of the ground and they are currently in pots.

Navid:When JR is aked if the 2 figs are the same,he is answering like he answered to you:yes they are the same.
He gave this answer to people for a long time,for years I mean,and many people bought the Sicilian Black, he had,thinking they have a Sal Corleone .
In the past Sal Corleone was sold for $100+,so many people could not afford the high price so they bought the Sicilian ,black for a fraction of the Price,because JR said it is the same fig.
The true is that is not the same.
It is similar in qualities,and faults but is not identical.
So if a person has Sicilian Black that is what he has,and not Sal Corleone.
I personally have both of them and like both of them,just as much.
Noss:Here it does split a little at the eye but doesn't sour.
In your climate,It might not sour also,because it is hotter and it will ripe faster,so the faster it get ripe the smaller the chance to get spoiled.
It is really a middle to late fig here,and it takes a longer time to ripe,compared to Sal(gene strain)here in NJ.
It does get ripe but it will love longer Hotter Summer

Hi Herman,

I hope that would be the case that it will not sour easily and we sure have llllooooonnnnnngggggg hot summers here, for it!

What makes some figs get those neat star-shaped splits at the eye like that?  Not all figs do that, that I can see, anyway.

I have a Sicilian Black, but don't know if it's the same as JR's and it has a few little figs on it.  If they stay on the little tree, I'll compare them to picture of the Corleone.  The little tree sat and sulked over the winter and spring and recently decided to grow and it's shooting up now.

Noss,

As herman said, my experience is that there may be a slight splitting near the eye, but no souring. I have other figs that split wide open and are not edible if they get lots of water, but Sal's Corleone manages water very well. 

I didn't have much trouble rooting the Sal's C.

It was not hard to root Sal's Corleone. Also, fig friend Leon have id it as similar to the Aldo variant meaning Sal's C = Aldo.

JR's memory is not what it used to be. His Sicilian Black fig IS NOT the same as either Sal's C or Sal's EL.  I am the one who discovered this cultivar at JR's place and I personally tracked down the heritage of this particular fig. His description of this fig was taken from Ray Given's book on figs. JR told me that himself in a convesation I had with him in his office. That book is his fig bible. He had ZERO growing experience with this fig when he first had it for sale.


Here is the history of JR's sicilian black fig (AKA Robin's Sicilian Black)............

Paully:Aldo looks like Sal Corleone,but it has a main visible difference here.
It exhibits Fig mosaic virus leaves deformation,and grow much slower compared to SAl Corleone.
So if one person wants Sal Corleone the Best bet is to get a Sal Corleone and not an Aldo.
The results in harvest quality and quantity can be very different.

I am growing Aldos in-ground, it appears to have figs starting to ripen now!

Agree and concur with Dan and VS.  I have both Black Italian and Sal's Coreleon BC #31 growing in my yard.  My BI came from Dalton and my BC #31 came from Georgi.  They are not the same fig.  Cheers

I was at Adrianos yesterday and he had one ( S/C ) that needed another day or two to be just right. Looked very tempting!

Can't wait for my main crop to ripen on my S/C.

One of my best looking trees in my collection.

OK, Like Dan Said,maybe James Robin really believed totally that the 2 figs are the same,and that is why he said so.
Maybe because he is at the old age ,he did not see the difference.
So if so I retract and apologise to him ,for the remark ,about the sales man intent.
Yet now we have to be cool and realize that these 2 cultivars are different,tho ,both come from Sicily,as origin