Is any member familiar with this seller? I found him on the other web site (Gw) but I would like to know if anyone has done any kind of transaction with him and what is his reputation: PVSUCCESS19@aol.com

I have emailed him but when he answered, there is no signature and this aroused doubts.
I would appreciate any input

what's his GW handle ?

Garden web

Wondering the same thing...

I talked with him via email and he had a good offer but the shipping was way too much. I mean 50 to ship to Thailand is too much considering it should only be 15-25. i have paid 32 but that was for books that weighed over a kg

I finally bought some Black Madeira cuttings from him. They arrived and looked fine. He even added a couple of extras. He charged $20 for 8 cut tins, including shipping and added 2. If they are Black Madeira it is a good deal!
Only hope that since he was selling Black Mission and Black Madeira, that I do not end up with 10 Black Mission. LOL (Black Mission is not so bad but I have it already)
It happened before I was familiar with this Forum and ordered Peter's Honey, and Kadota from TyTy and ended up with another 2 Brown Turkey (had 2 already).
I tried to get informations before I ordered and than took a chance! Time will tell. The name is "Victor Gonzales from Escondido, CA". Does that ring a bell to anyone?

Sal, your info regarding tyty is awful! I am truly sorry.  I am afraid to remove my large pile of leaves ad the plastic cover from my B. Madeira (it was a graft I did on my tree's root) I am going to wait a bit longer...

I just got an unsolicited email from this guy through gardenweb wanting to BUY Black Madeira cuttings from me......that is interesting as he is trying to sell Black Madeira cuttings:)  

Thanks for the input. As I said before, I might end up with BM. I will keep an eye on it.

He did include his name and address if you want it.

I'm glad I passed on his BM offering...

Funny he seems to offer BM and Mission interchangeably when he was offering fig cuttings, I hope he knows the difference because I just ordered BM from him.. seems like he must have one big tree if he sent to all the people he offered to this year.
 patriota is his GW name..

If he has BM to sell why would he be asking to buy BM cuttings from me?  It isn't like he was even trying to buy in bulk, he just wanted 4 cuttings.  That is the problem with things like this...people will buy them, grow them and sell or trade them and they will turn out to not be BM, just increases the confusion.  

That person was spamming ads on many threads on the GW Fig forum for their Black Mission and Black Madiera cuttings.  Seems very shaky.

I traded twice and received cuttings both times.  The multiple varieties I received all look as if they could have come from the same tree but that remains to be seen.  That said, he is a friendly guy and time will tell what I got.  I'll update with pics when I get some distinguishable leaves.
Neighborhood Fig Watch,
Timothy

Hey Timothy can you send me 3 cuttings of each of your best trees and I PROMISE I'll send you cuttings of my pink sparkled bubblegum flavored figs. Don't worry if they are labeled BT that means they are "berry tasty." Seriously though I do have Raspberry Latte. I'll check to see if I can get some cuttings off of it for you.

Haha those bubble gum figs sound awesome. Do they really sparkle? I don't have much left to offer, just my house or my soul...or maybe you want both. Lol
Seriously though, thanks on the offer, I'll definitely take you up on it if you have any. Let me know, maybe there's something I can send you.
Tim

Well I got the cuttings in the mail from him today, they look like good cuttings, just no way to tell if they are what he says they are. He said these were the last two he had left.... so who knows. Guess I'll find out in a couple of years.

Gonna add bubble gum figs to my wish list too!!!

Gloria, Black Madeira leaves are unlike those of most other figs including Black Mission.  So, well into the first year you will be able to compare your leaves to those of young Black Madeiras others have posted on the forum.  This will give you an idea of whether you have been scammed or not.

Thanks Rewton, I hope they are legit not only for me but because we have sent a few emails back and forth and he seems like a nice guy.

TimmyGreen if you want panache cuttings i'm going to get some from a local tree in a month or so. PM me then if you are interested...

Thanks justa, will do. Fwiw, I agree, he seems like a nice guy and I'll be honest, I'm really not confident there's any foul play. I think it's worth giving the benefit of the doubt. And we'll see what we got when we get leaves. I'm inclined to think he's just a guy w a fig addiction like some others in this world hehe.
I got a reply from him shortly after my post here. I'm just presenting the details. He sent a nice email offering to pay for the cuttings.
I wish him and all of you the best and a merry Christmas!

When I received mine, there was a green tab labeled "Black M".  (would that be Mission or Madeira: he affirmed to have both)
The deal was for 8 Black Madeira cuttings but if they are Mission I will still be happy. Hope they are not BT because that would really .....disappoint me! (BUBBLE)

I said I would update with pics when I had some so I had one cutting in particular which has sprung out leaves very quickly so I thought I'd post a couple early pics.  As far as I can tell from comparing to other pics on the internet, the leaves seem consistent with Black Madeira.  Not sure if it' too early to tell but maybe others with more experience could confirm.
Timothy
 
 

I hope mine show signs of life soon....
Would be interest to hear if he is offering them again as he said I was buying the last ones he had...

Gloria
Did you ask to buy Black Madeira or Black Mission?
I asked for Black Madeira but the cuttings I received has a white-moss-like on the bark. A household in my vicinity has an old Black Mission and the bark has the same white-moss-like appearance. Time will tell. At the moment the cuttings are beginning to root.

Tim, those leaves look identical to my BMadeira from UCDavis... very cute, hope you are on the right path.. Best luck.

Haha lol Grasa thats the first cute fig tree I've had!  It's blushing.  Thanks, hopefully it will survive the winter in our dry home.  A bunch of the cuttings had real strong root development but this is the only one that has put out leaves.  I potted the ones with good roots even though they don't have leaves yet, we'll see if that was a mistake.  One has a little mold because I covered them with a bag for humidity.  Hope yall have the same great and hopeful signs!  FWIW, I've been talking to Victor, aka, PVSUCCESS19 and he seems genuinely interested in figs and seems to have caught the fig fever.  I have far less concern than previously and if they don't pan out, it's just as likely that he bought them as the varieties he's advertising and they just weren't what he was told, because he doesn't seem to know a ton.

I think He said he got his plants a couple years ago from a local grower who has stopped selling.  So not sure he would know one from the other personally.  Again, seems genuinely nice though.

timmy
It is not a question of judging but at the beginning I was looking for references and later reassurance.
When we do not know and we admit it, there is nothing wrong if we inquire and ask questions around us.
That is how I found out about many good people but also about tyty.

Well said, editing my post.

Sal,
I bought only Black Maderia... glad to see yours are looking correct, he emailed me right after I got them letting me know if there was any problem just to contact him..

Some of my other varieties are getting roots. Will update with pics if they push out leaves.

I have to admit that the cuttings were fresh and now they are rooting really well but I guess we will have to wait and once they fruit we will be able to establish with certainty if we got the "real thing".

Just a quick update since I imagine a bunch of people are going to be looking back at this post suddenly ;)  ...
The leaves on the plant pictured above have continued to develop and still look very similar to pics I've seen of BM leaves.  I'll post an update pic when I have a chance.  Also, one other plant has a leaf that I'll post here.  It's a three lobed leaf.

Some cuttings grew well... others not so much.

He emailed me a few weeks ago desperately seeking cuttings, right away, to replenish his trees, which he says were lost in the fire.  I told him that he would have to wait until the fall, because all my new growth is too green to take cuttings.  He said OK, and I haven't heard from him since.  He was a little bit pushy about it at first, but I guess I might be too if I had lost all my trees in a fire.

He went to Sue's last week I believe.  I'll mention this thread to Sue.

I invited Victor and his wife Maria up to my place to get some of my excess trees too Paul. They were evacuated in the recent fires and lost 10 of their new starts. The older trees I believe survived. I gave them 6; Green Ischia, Dominicks (I have 5), LSU Purple, Black Greek (I have 5), Genoa, and I forget the other. They were very nice and very thankful for what I had to give...and excited to get more. Maria was a bit horrified that I live where I live and live alone...aren't you afraid of snakes? Hahaha, no I'm not. You're not on city water? Ah, no I'm not. It was funny: city girl vs country girl.

Thank you for your multiple courtesies, I am continuing my effort to expand fig collection, Sue was generous beyond call of duty.  Feel free to reach out to me in the future for anything you need. I will be at the Fig Fiesta in August.