Well, since I'm at home the next few days, one of my black jack figs has figs ripening. Just look at the color of this fig! Isn't it beautiful?

Has anyone heard from Marie in Kansas City? She posted pics of her BJ a few years ago and her figs were very black in color. I have 7 or 8 trees and I'm hoping at least one is as comparable to her fig.

How bout those figs!!!!!!

i got a black jack, and tasted a few for the first time last year, and while it does seem better in flavor than BT, it was definitely nothing to write home about. it was a first year plant, and this year (2nd yr) its loaded, so hoping for improved taste.

My Black jack has produced for last 2 years.
It grows golf ball size black very fruity tasting figs.
I will get pictures this year, can't find my old pictures of
where I shared the pics on line before.

Doug

Here is a tip and I hope many folks are reading this.  If your figs do not have much taste, give your tree some Epsom salt or sea salt mixed with water.  But be careful, too much salt can kill your tree.

You can say that again Dennis... It's my wife's favorite fig.
This is a breba from last month...

 

Dennis, Ibought my mom a BJ. It has sone really beautiful figs on it. Its in a pot but figs have wonderful taste!

  Hey, those are gorgeous...  very uniquely colored, Dennis! 

       I was just commenting this morning to another group of fig enthusiasts about my Black Jack sport...  and that I was shocked at how incredible this first fruit from it tasted.

  To describe the flavor, it would have to be what a divinely-rich watermelon might taste like. There was no figgy-flavor whatsoever. But rather think seven year-old Watermelon/Blackberry Brandy...  and so, from here on out, I'm going to call my little tree Black Jack's Watermelon Wine...  LOL!!

I like a lot of acid in my fruit... such that it bites back; and this fig was delicious, but much more mellow, so, simply for that reason, I'd dock it half a point, and score it a 9.5/10.






The skin was very thin and delicate, not at all chewy. It just disappeared in each bite of fruit.

There were open eyes and outer-skin fractures on about half of the ripe figs, and no honey-drips whatsoever. We are inundated with honey bees and Yellow-Jackets here, and I have never seen a single fruit bothered by them.

The little tree has been a robust grower for me, and it has four or five figs on every terminal branch, (eighty or so that are yet to ripen?) so I really hope to have ripe fruit to share with the members at our get-together here next month.








Blue
  

The darker the fig the richer the flavor. Tomorrow, I'm going to transfer my black Jack's to my GH. It's over a 100 in there on some days.

Black jack or improved BT...if you had to choose one dennis

Hmmmm, Black Jack is richer in flavor but that's a tough one. I'd say Black Jack. Both would be amazing if fertilized by the wasp.

They are getting ripe! I covered the to keep the birds away.

thanks for your thoughts. i do have what may be an improved BT aka Aaron's vineland/burbank. looking forward to comparing to BJ

Dennis, are they always that shape? They have a more flat look compared to Blue's or mine...
Nick, do yo have a BJ???

simon, i do, a second year plant and its exploded this year. last year (in its first year from a local nursery) we got about 4 or 5 big BJs that look just like Dennis' pictures in this thread. identical. but, honestly, my wife was not interested in eating more than her first because it was so bland and watery. this thread gave me hope though, so looking forward to more later this summer. 

Let me know if you wanna trade an airlayer, I like having different strains of the same variety...
The taste definitely will get better, mine is on it's 2nd year in ground and it's a winner. It's my wife's favorite. I gave away a few babies to relatives...

Picked these to babies this morning!  Sweetness scale from 1 to 10:  8

Very prolific and a good fig to have.  I can only expect great things from this fig!  Moving all 8 plants into my GH today where there is more heat!  

 

i didn't know the same variety can have different strains..i guess i am still learning on this forum. thanks for the offer. if you want any of my cuttings (since i haven't tried air layering yet), let me know later in the year.

I was under the impression Black Jack was a strain of Brown Turkey or improved BT... Am I getting my terminology mixed up? 
Haha, I think we've hijacked Dennis' thread...

There are a couple of different strains of Black Jack.  No, it's not the same as Brown Turkey.  There is a Monrovia strain and another one.  The Monrovia strain has the larges fruit from its cousin.  At least that's my observation.

If you're serious about growing some great tasting figs, but this book: Chico's Organic Gardening and Natural Livings.

In the fig chapter, he talks about add salt to your soil or Epsom salt. It's an old book but priceless in knowledge.