I have this BI,From UCDavis ,it is 3 yrs. old,and it was very sick with fig mosaic from the start refusing to grow despite all my eforts,Manure ,etc.
This Spring started leafing in May and it was dyeing down instead of growing.
So i thought it is a looser.
The single stem was very sick with every leaf distorted by FM,and yellowingout and dyeing.
I noticed a growing tip at the ground level next to tree.
I took a chance and cut out the main trunk completelly leaving only the little incipient grow bud .
That Bud grew very fast and turned in a much healthier tree as you can see,and all fig mosaic signs went away.
I thought is important to share with you this experience.
The new bud defeated,the deasese,and is growing on as a normal tree now.
It has 5 figs on it and one is getting ripe now.
This is the Variety,that all others are judge against at UCDAVIS,when it come to flavor.
I really wanted to have it and now i do.
.
UPDATE:Oct:10:2007
We ate this fig today and results are:
It was 50 gram in weight
It got 10+ on a scale one to ten when judge against all other figs(at least 50,varieties)we (Me and wife)Tasted.
Exceptional Flavor and sugar,from the first fig,it ever had.
Bad Points:It is very challenging to grow this one due to havy FM,infestation.
But if you think you are up to it ,then if succesfull you will never regret.!!!!!!

Herman,

That tree does look very nice and healthy, and I hate to be the wet blanket, but --- I suspect that the FMV will re-assert itself next season. It will certainly be interesting to see how if fares over the coming years. It does lend some credence to the idea that its poor performance is, in fact, due to the virus, and that it is not just an inherently poor grower. 

Hi Jon:I am not getting offensed by the remark that the FM,will atack back.
It can be true and i Know this is your Honest Thinking,and i appreciate it.
On the other hand the fig fruit was so superior that i will do anything to keep this tree Happy and alive.
I will keep you posted,because i keep this one doesn't matter what.
Best Regards

Herman, I agree that the fruit is first rate. That is why I keep the tree. I  might try my "over-fertilizing" technique next year to see if that will force better growth. I worked on my Black Madeira a few years back.

Herman, Any update on how this tree ended up doing? 

Hi Guys:This last year the fruits did not ripe on Black Ischia,and now I uncovered it ,from the winter protection,and it is again dead close to soil line.
And last year it was not growing much.
It suffers in container,and it suffers inground.
I think the fig mosaic,makes it suffer all the time,and especially it adds to the adverce conditions,in cold climates,in such a way,that it will never produce much fruits,even if it survive year after year.
This problem i generally true for most figs imported from California UCDAVIS collection.
Of course there are exceptions,like,143-36,and Excel,doing very well here so far,despite having the deasese.

Herman would you say the Black Ischia is still a worthy fig consering the issues it has with FMV and not being very productive? The reason I ask is because its one of the figs on my wishlist just wondering if its even worth it.

I concur with what has been said.  Black Ischia is a weak tree and in containers this tree grow very slowly.  Even with a long hot summer and no die back during winter.

Nelson:If you can find an European source of Black Ischia cultivar,then by all means get some cuttings.
They might not have the same strain of FMV.
They might not have FMV at all,so the plant will be much more healthy.
But if you know for sure the plant is a cutting from the original Black Ischia tree in UCD collection,I would avoid it because it is a waste of time.
H2

Thank you Herman appreciate your honesty.

That is too bad. I am hoping it may do a little better in my warmer climate down here in FL.

Jon, have you had any better luck with this tree since the original post?

First the BI is an excellent tasting fig and worth the effort to grow it in my opinion.

Herman first perked my interest in this type fig 3 or 4 years ago.
I had a plant and killed it indoors several years back ,last season i recieved 2 plants from members and one is slowly coming out of dormancy albeit slow, the other is in Ten being bottom fed with nutrients and some heat and is currently about 15 inches tall hope to get it back one day.
I tried last year to get some scion from UcDavis but they had none to ship, this year i passed and will try again next season.
My goal is to get as much scion (not easy) to try and propagate in a aero system i have and want to try and root some fresh green shoots in it as well once i can get some from propagating or plant i have currently.
It will take some years i figure to do any of this as i know from several plants as well as others have posted here it probably suffers more than any other type of cultivar with FmV. My Maderia is doing well and look forward to seeing how it grows this year .
Its a goal of mine to one day have ischia growing well in a container and will keep trying with this type to do so for years to come.
In meantime at least i have other plants that are producing well and i get to enjoy the figs. For now i have plenty of time to experiment and perhaps one day i can catch a branch or shoot that will grow better than it normally does.
I can grow fig plants in containers with no problem its easy for me but this one gives me a difficult challenge which in a synical way i enjoy so i dont give up i figure time is on my side for now.  ; )
Best Health

John,

I was growing the trees in containers in Houston.

Jason,

My in ground tree struggles a lot, but an In pot tree is doing much better. Not attributing the performance to being in the pot - it just happens to be in one.

Hi Jon :I was answering to a question,to how Black Iscia is doing here in NJ,in a relaive cold Climate.
My experience with it in no way is true for people in warm climates.
In warm climates,I am sure the tree can do a lot better,and when is about the quality of fruit,it almost do not have a rival.
So Svanessa is doing the right thing growing one and I am sure she will have success,when tree gets older.
H2

Bumping an old thread to see if there have been any recent discoveries about successfully growing this fig. I learned about fmv almost concurrently with buying some cuttings of BI. Oy!

I live in So. California, about 5 miles from the ocean in the low foothills - the avocado belt. In my area the winters are mild. According to an older neighbor, there have been perhaps 2 light frosts in about 40+ years. In summer it generally is not hot.

From what I have read about taste, I would like to grow this fig. Assuming I can get these new cuttings to root, is it worth trying?

Thanks.

 Hi. I'm new here at the forum and have been enjoying a lot of reading.
I have grown a fig from a seed and got nothing for 8 years so I let it freeze.
Little did I know about the problems with growing from seeds.
  So this year I have got four plants ordered from Brugmansia in Quebec.
  I think I caught fig fever.
  Now back to the topic. Has anyone tried grafting BI to different rootstocks to see how that would affect FMV?

Welcome to the forum Gina and sammy.

Bill,

Do you have an update?

Hi Tim.

Yes, I grafted three pieces of BI total. Two failed, one took. The one that took, grew about 4 - 5". It had actually grown two branches but I managed to knock one of the tender green shoots off while maneuvering the pot around too close to my house (Grrr). So, the one shoot survived till the end of the season. It is now buried under mulch along with the rootstock.

If it survives winter storage and starts growing in the spring, I intend to put an air-layer on the root stock under the graft. The root stock is Brown Turkey by the way. Got it from Tractor Supply back in the spring. I plan to leave the BT root stock under the BI in hopes that the BT will provide some vigor to the FMV infected BI.

I'm thinking of trying a couple more grafts with the BI in particular, sometime this spring. I'm hoping these efforts will be helpful in getting the BI to grow more vigorously in spite of the FMV (as mentioned above).

On a similar note. I had similar success with two grafts of Black Madeira (also from UCD). I intend to grow these on the rootstcok they are grafted onto as well.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of my grafts last summer. I will do my best to remedy that next growing season.

Bill,

That sounds pretty intense. Glad it worked out and look forward to seeing the results in the spring

Tim.

If you haven't tried grafting yet. You should do yourself a favor and do your homework while it's still cold out. Then come spring you'll be fired up about exercising your new skill :-))) . That's exactly what I did winter before last.

EDIT: In fact, I encourage anyone who is vaguely interested in grafting to do the same as mentioned above. It adds a whole new dimension to your propagating efforts. It is SOOO worth the little effort it takes to learn this ancient skill.

Very interesting thread.  I bought a "Blue" Ischia from Hirt's Nursery, a tiny stick of a thing.  Amazing, actually, it is still alive.  I understand that "Blue" Ischia is a synonym for Black Ischia, so I put this in a pot to try to keep it a bit separated from the rest of my figs. And, as you can see, like Jon, several of my figs are also not dormant, yet, despite temps in the high 30's for several nights.  In fact, some of my figs never really go completely dormant while young - the new leaves just push out the old ones.  Some of my stone fruits are the same.  Will be interesting to see how it does, and if it starts showing signs of FMV.  Not sure where Hirt's gets it's fig budwood from, but I suspect UCD.  Maybe not, and I could always ask. 

I have a Blue Ischia from Hirts as well. I received mine on November 24 2012 and its was smaller then yours, but its grown to 2 feet fast. I don't know exactly why Hirts Garden named it Blue Ischia. The Blue Ischia Hirts sell seem to be tissue cultures, meaning the FM virus should have been eliminated. Hence the name change. But that's just a guess.