Just want to say I'm glad I have one.
Hopefully I will enjoy some fruit off it next year.

Well I appreciate Jon and VS explaining this to me.  I had some Vista cuttings and I screwed them up months ago.  I've got several different strains of Mission and I really don't know if any are Vista because I assumed they were the same fig.  Now, I know they are not the same and will correct myself.  I had 3 Mission fig trees in the ground.  I removed 2 and left one.  I'm getting ready to dig the other one up because it keeps dying to ground every year and it does produce about 4 or 5 figs a year.  I'm gonna place it in a huge pot and keep it indoors this winter hoping it will get taller.

I have a couple of trees labled "Mission" but the leaves look like my 10 VdB fig.  I love the taste of Mission and VdB.  I am hoping some of these are Vista.  I also got some Mission cuttings from a nursey in CA last year.  Some have rooted and are in small pots in my garage.  I hope some of these trees are Vista, if not I'll keep looking for one for my collection.  Jon, if you have one for sale this summer let me know.  thanks!

What do you guys do to make fig-skin-pics look so artificially  blue???!!!

Tyty nursery will steal these photos and start selling the Blue mission fig trees.

Ok, since Bass's comment and photos....I'm gonna raise a question.

Here goes, how close is Negronne to Vista?  I have 1 Negronne and 1 Petite Negra planted in ground.  The leaves on my PN are HUGE and so are the fig.  I've already picked 3 brebra from my PN and Negronne, figs weighing 35 and 38 grams. 

So, how related is PN to Vista?

Ruben,

The chain of custody is pretty good. I bought the original Vista tree, and supplied the cuttings directly to USDA/UC Davis. They have tested multiple samples, as I understand it, so a mis-label is not likely to have gone un-noticed.

DJ

I have several "Mission" or "Black Mission" figs, and they are all similar, but as with my many Celestes, etc., they are different in performance. "NL" stands above the rest. Some are pretty nasty.

I do have Vistas available, if you want one.

I believe (can't prove) that if Negronne and VdB are/were different figs at one time, they have both been sold under both names, so that when you buy one, it could be either, or maybe something else that is also similar or identical, such as Beers Black, Hardy Black, Petit Negri, Petite Negra, etc., etc. They `

Gorgi

The dark skins tend to react differently with the digital camera, depending on the lighting, and are often bluish as a result. Some day I will have to investigate why that is so. Photographing dark skinned figs is a challenge. Also, many dark sinned figs have a white blush or film on the skin, which we tend to not notice when we see the dark skin. This also plays into the difficulty of photographing them.,

Jon, you have mail!

I would also,point out that mistakes in describing the details of certain figs,are made often,by The Germaplasm site:
For example,the sentence:
"two green figs with amber flesh ‘Verte’ and ‘Calverte’"

I Know Verte and Calvert with deep Dark red  almost burgundy ,flesh,not ??Amber??
And if so,I wonder what Verte and Calvert they tested ,that had Amber interior?

Dennis,

Growing my Black Mission fig in a "bush" form rather than in a "tree" form has helped my Mission fig better survive the winter in my yard. It died to the ground each winter I forced it to grow in a single trunk tree form.

@Jason....."Black Mission does piss poor here with rain. Swelling and splitting galore."

I do not ever recall my Black Mission figs ever swelling or splitting due to rain. Maybe they just never fruited at a time of heavy rain......I'll have to watch that more closer. The eye on mine is tight and always bug free.  My strain is a local strain of BM that "could possibly" originate from the Spanish that once owned and settled in pre colonial Louisiana (i.e. even before California). My tree is FMV free and the figs look just like the ones that come out of California.  Fresh dead ripe BM figs are awesome tasting and IMO a standard by which to rate/compare the taste of other figs.

My problem is not with fruit quality (which is excellent); rather, it is with getting my tree firmly established and productive due to it being rather "tender" even way down here in my warm zone 9 climate.  

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

@herman2,

My point exactly. I have seen more than a few such descriptions on their site which clearly go against the findings of people such as Eisen and Condit.

Hello Dan, I kept the best of the 3.  Two had FMV and did not grow that much while the other was growing strong.  The figs were excellent tasting.  It just kept dying to ground every year.  Mine never split on me like they did on Jason.  I might leave mine in the grown this year but give it more protection than others.  Its amazing how fast they grow once the ground gets hot. 

Say Dan, I heard you have a strain of BM that does not have FMV.  Is that so?

Dennis,

Yes my stain of BM is a local strain and it does not have FMV. And yes, contrary to the belief of some, there are isolated fig trees of different varieties of figs (some entire orchards too) in Louisiana that DO NOT HAVE any FMV. Figs have been grown in South Louisiana before colonial times and I for one do not buy into the claim that ALL FIG TREES have been exposed to the Mosaic Virus.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Dan--has anyone grown a cutting from your FMV-free Black Mission near other trees that have the virus? If so, did it ever get the virus? I'm just wondering if your strain is immune to it, or can carry it without showing any symptoms, or simply hasn't ever been exposed. Given the number of people in your area who grow figs, it seems probable that somebody must have at least one tree with the virus, and given the number of bugs that can spread it, it seems inevitable that sooner or later some hungry six-legged vector is going to show up at your place for dinner--if it hasn't already.

Hey Dan, I think its that black Louisanna swamp soil that you guys have that keep the virus away.  The trees I get from Dalton and JR have jet back sandy dirt.  In my zone we have a lot of clay soil.  Tilling it with Nature's Helper seem to give a good compostion for figs in my experiences.  I think my in ground BM might pull through.  If not, I have a few other BM around that's growing strong.  thanks,

I absolutely agree with Dan That not all specimen of one said cultivar are infested with FMV.
There are isolated single trees out there,separate from other cultivars,that can be very old(hundreds of years),I mean here, in Europe,Asia and northern Africa.
That is why I am still looking for a Black Ischia healthy and clean of any disease,and hope I will find some cutting of it someday,doesn't matter if it comes with no name,as I recognize it looking at my poor ,ill Plant,that is still 10 inches after 8 years,of growth.

Ok, I see your point Dan and VS.  I think those clear strains are out there.  One reason why I buy a lot of unknown black figs....you just never know what you might find.  I found a few black fig trees in my area.  The problem is there is a fence around them and I haven't found anyone who owns the property.

Two words Dennis: GORILLA GARDENING!

;-)

I say "midnight requisition!!". lol

GORILLA GARDENING.....now I can get up off the floor and stop laughing.  I asked my wife to go with me at night and I would hold the flashlight as she goes under the fence to pick some figs.  She just gave me this very long cold stare!  I told her....the flashlight puts out a lot of light!  Again, the cold stare.  Then I said....ITS FATHER'S DAY WEEKEND AND THIS IS WHAT I WANT!    She said, "I don't think you want to spend Father's day in JAIL!  But if you want those figs, YOU JUMP THE FENCE!

Then I said, what if I hold 2 flashlights?  She told me to shut up and go to bed.  Oh well, I tried.

Dennis,

I can see you;

My is this a big dark fig? And it is soft too.

Are those wings on this fig?

 Crap, it's a Bat!

LOL @ 'Gorilla Gardening'.

I myself just went on my 3rd drive by of a lot with huge dark fig trees. The lot is closed, but unoccupied, weeds up to my waist, but those trees were calling my name and I started doing runs first at night and now both day and night. I've managed quite a few cuttings, hopefully something good.

I have two victims on my street that I might just hit one of these nights, a huge pomegranate orchard was just spotted today on a street over and added to my list of Rogue Cutting

I can see it now, Chuckchuck, you in your Ninja fig-stealing outfit, sneaking through the city on fig raids.....

I can just see the expressions on the cops' faces as you attempt an explanation as to why you are dressed like that, carrying a sackful of figs and cuttings.  ROTHLMHO!

Dennis, I've been known to give several of those cold and deadly stares a time, or two.....  But mostly it's Mike giving me a, "You've GOT to be kidding," looks.  :)

noss

:)
I usually don't mind that, if they do ask I can tell them I'm taking some samples because I thought they were poison ivy and they had rub against my legs one time and wanted to verify their species at my University.
If it was the owner I would tell him I was cutting some because they tripped me when I was walking on the side walk, and if he doesn't let me have some I'm gonna sue him. LOL.

It's usually nothing very sophisticated, I usually don't even park, just drive up, walk to the side walk and take a 4 or 5 foot branch, without any figs if I can help it. 20 seconds, I'm on my way home.

Dennis, You didn't follow up with "if you really loved me, you's do this for me...? Might be time for a trade in. It's not like you were asking her to walk on hot coals. This is a serious matter... I mean, we're talking FIGS!!