This morning,i discovered another beauty almost ripe of Black Madeira,pretty big in size.     Marius

How'd you get that quarter to sit there?  Balance act!  Your tree and figs look beautiful!
Suzi

Thats what i want a tree that grows money !
Really though fig looks nice cant wait to hear your impressions when it ripens.
Thanks

I have to admit...this is a special fig,special taste,special everything....

It sounds wonderful.

Marius, do you think Black Madeira is the same as Fico Preto?

How different is it from your VdB?  I keep hearing how it's so tasty, but nothing about what it tastes like.  

Gina,I DO BELIEVE they are the same.   Shah8,VdB is a great tasting fig but taste different than BM.The best way do make a difference between these 2 cultivars(or any others) is to taste them by yourself...so...don't trust anyone,when it's about taste,...just be the judge !!

Just gets very hard to get an example for yourself.  How many Black Madeira trees do you think there are in the South, especially minus TX and LA?  At least, with Socorro Black, I know it's basically a strong raspberry taste with a jam texture.  Bourjasotte Black, a strong, tangy strawberry taste.  Someone even described Col de Dame as having mango accents.  Given how much it costs to get a BM, and the low vigor of the tree, I do think some sort of basic description of the flavor is warranted.  Lastly, my hobby is puerh tea, where there is a substantial dictionary of tastes and textures, etc, etc, and given the substantial capital investment in acquiring and aging large amounts of tea, this is a rather important aspect and thus not optional.  I chose to ask for a contrast with VdB because everyone has easy access to that fruit, and there isn't as much to describe, just what's the difference between the two.

Shah try UcDavis for madeira scionwood or send Jon email for madeira sometimes he has plants he will sell or put one on waiting list when they want something specific.
Iv'e seen them @auction as well from reliable members from this forum although there not a dime a dozen.
If you truly want one bad enough it can be gotten with a little searching and or patience.
As for taste thats very subjective for me Madeira is a combination of different berries. What one likes another may not mind you.
VdB can easily be had from various nursery's .

Actually, that was kinda what I wanted.  Just the basic taste!  As a puerh drinker, I'm quite well aware of just how much any one thing can taste like so under one circumstance, and not so under a different one.  

Thing is, online searches about Black Madeira is unusually fruitless when it comes to any real sense of flavor, with the nadir being Dennis saying I-258 is similar in taste to BM, but more acid and then immediately contradicts himself, that BM doesn't taste like I-258 (in gardenweb).  I think now, I will definitely attribute the same flavor description easily found for boujasotte gris to BM + notable superiority in texture, ?taffy?

I have a half a dozen air-layers of Black Madeira that will be taken in a few weeks. E-mail me if interested.

Marius,

Looks good.
Haven't had the chance to come by but I hope I do soon.

This fig is a beauty! Where is that Francisco to tell us if Black Madeira is same as Figo Preto???

so yum

that is one great fig!!!

i have read lot of stories about how hard it is to root Black Madeira. however, i have not had any issue. growth also was not an issue. i had one long dormant cutting from UCD in the spring. i cut it into 3 pieces and they all rooted. they all grew rather well, i fertilized it at low strength through out the spring and part of summer. 

now, the next part is if it will survive the winter, but today it hit over 80 here. so far it looks like we are going to have another mild winter. 

they all put on figs this year. i knocked them off since they were rooted this spring. 

it might have been a beginner's luck, but i'll knock on wood and hope this luck continues. i placed another order for Black Madeira with UCD, if i get them again, i'll see if they will root as well this year as it did last. 

Hey Pete, I have 4 cuttings going since 11/16 and no Roots yet. Two in baggy with sp moss and two in cups with 50/50 perlite pro mix.

mike, 

i don't keep my cuttings in the bag forever :) if they do not show root, but still looks good (no mold, no rot) after 4 weeks, they go into cup. usually they will root sooner or later in the cup. 

Pete that is what I am thinking about the two In the baggy

I think fig taste depends a lot on the taster and also depends on the stage of ripeness and whether or not you eat the skin. VdB has a little raspberry after flavor for me here.

The taste of Black Madeira is more complex with multiple flavors. It almost strikes me somewhat like a full-bodied (port?) wine type flavor/black raspberry/concentrated jam. It can be pretty potent is allowed to reach full ripeness (I split aluminum soda cans and put them around the figs and branch so the birds and squirrels don't run off with them--using duct tape to put the cans back together). 

Scott

[QUOTE=Gina]It sounds wonderful.

Marius, do you think Black Madeira is the same as Fico Preto?[/QUOTE]

Is this a mistake, using the name "Fico" with "Preto"?  Italian and Portuguese can be great friends but combining the names like this is probably not original.  I see this combination used also in http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1274036773&postcount=1

Here it's called 'Figo Preto' http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Figo-Preto-5445944 which would seem appropriate (Portuguese equivalent of the Italian word Fico, both meaning "common fig").  And Jon calls it by this name here when showing a photograph of the mother tree http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Portuguese-trees-5091607 as well as Sue at http://www.susanvanderveen.com/FIGS/Preto/Preto.html

My father's parents immigrated to California from Madeira, Portugal.  I'd like the Portuguese heritage of this fig retained, please.  Now, the funny part is that when I visited Madeira for a week in 2004 I don't recall seeing a single fig tree.  Maybe I noticed them and wasn't surprised and I've forgotten.

Jon, I don't see this listed in your variety listing.  Is that because you haven't gotten to it or are you treating it as 'Black Madeira'?

jon's db does have a description of Figo Preto. here is the link to the pictures.

http://figs4fun.com/Thumbnail_Figo_Preto.html

i heard this is slightly different from the UCD Black Madeira. something about more adapted to the environment it's growing in. more likely to ripen with less hot summer days or something.

Thanks, Pete.  It was late last night and I didn't go down the list far enough and missed it as well as Figo Branca.

My grandmother's family was lighter-skinned than than most Portuguese so they were commonly referred to with the surname of Bronco.  I have very limited knowledge of the language (perhaps a third of my vocabulary is not suitable for public use plus I can't write it), but is branca the feminine version of white?

My mother's family was from São Miguel...branca is white..the label is simply calling it a white fig..the preto name implies a black common fig, I am aware of 3 - 4 "preta" named ones on the islands that are medium sized black figs with light to dark red insides

Jack, I just used one online translate (http://www.babilon-translator.com/altavista-babelfish-translation/) and it translated branco as white and when I tried branca it said "no translation found".  However, http://www.bing.com/translator translated both branco and branca as white.  How well do you know the language, Jack? Is branca a feminine form such as would be used in Spanish?  I usually associate fruit as a feminine object so I'm just curious how this all works.

Yes, it means white, most things that bear fruit I believe are considered female!

Jack, it depends on what language, as I understand, a bridge in German is Male, whereas in Portuguese is Female... 

in Portuguese, we have many male trees and fruits, it comes to mind a peach tree is  pessegueirO, male, and its fruit  PessegO, also male...  and AbacateirO, but the fruit is AbacatE, also Male, so, one must know that language to know it for sure.Do not trust Google translation _ it is confusing - too many ---> horrible mistakes.   As to the Figo Branco, there is a Typo in Jon's listing.   It should be Figo Branco. Hope this helps...  

Forget the gender of the fig.. can someone confirm if this Figo Preto is Black Madeira?

Obrigado, Grasa! :)

From what I've read over the past few days, nobody can confirm that Figo Preto is identical to Black Madeira and some say Figo Preto requires less heat to achieve ripe fruit.  I don't know if the genetic testing done at the USDA lab at Davis is being done to the level that can distinguish differences between such similar labs, but it might be helpful.  I will try to test them out here and report back in five years. ;)

I would start with an email to one of the researchers at Davis and see if they know. They have always been very helpfull and responsive for me. I asked a researcher in NY who is looking at DNA traits