Are 'Black Medeira' fig trees overrated?

[ExpertPruning.com]

I hear of this legendary-tasting variety of fig called 'black medeira'

I live in coastal southern california and I believe I'm in the right place to grow these trees.

But are they productive? Are they finicky?

I have a black mission fig tree in a pot, and was likely going to add a brown turkey fig to my garden. Would black medeira be a better pick?

[CA Hockey]

At a previous oc crfg meeting on figs earlier this year, the speaker mentIroned that certain fig varieties are best suited for specific locations. He mentioned black Madeira as being outstanding for inland areas. He felt that they didn't develop appropriate taste close to the coast. He recommended prieto (sp?) fig for coastal climates.

There are a lot of online resources on figs . It sounds like you can get outstanding tasting figs if grown in the right environment.

[greenman62]

At a previous oc crfg meeting on figs earlier this year, the speaker mentIroned that certain fig varieties are best suited for specific locations. He mentioned black Madeira as being outstanding for inland areas. He felt that they didn't develop appropriate taste close to the coast. He recommended prieto (sp?) fig for coastal climates.

There are a lot of online resources on figs . It sounds like you can get outstanding tasting figs if grown in the right environment.

my thoughts exactly.
as far as them being climate specific.
different varieties will do better in different soils, moisture, sun etc...

I have a celeste, black mission, and another (un-named white)producing...
the mission is pretty good, but it doesnt produce the massive amounts the clestse does
the white grows like no fig ive seen before and produces large sweet fruit
and it kept producing till November.
the celeste has been a bit of  a letdown. the fruit is rather small
and this year it started very late. (i have an old strain i think. there are several)
We did have a ton of rain all spring and early summer, i think delayed the fruit.
i  have 5 more that i started less than a year ago
i would have to lookup the names, but most are growing painfully slow compared to that white.
i will probably graft a couple onto that white, if for no other reason, i dont have the space for 5 more trees.
especially figs.
one is a VDB (Violete de Bordeaux) supposedly one of the best.
mine hasnt fruited yet though.

look at nullzero's post here
i would agree with him on at least these  ive tasted...

JH Adriatic , LSU series, VDB...

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=782.25

i had asked several people about growing a black fig in the south
these were the  most mentioned.
Petite Negri, VDB, Scott's Black, Negronne, black madeira

BM should do OK from what ive read.

you can ask over at Figs4Fun forum. those guys are the experts.
http://figs4fun.com/

BLACK MADEIRA
http://figs4fun.com/Var_B_info.html#BLACKMADEIRA

[fyliu]

figo preto was supposedly discovered in the Point Loma area in San Diego. That's really coastal since it's a peninsula. Its taste and growth habit are really close to black madiera any many people believe they're the same.

[ExpertPruning.com]

Since I have a black mission which gets quite sweet and jammy, I was thinking of getting a brown turkey fig tree to balance the sweetness of the black mission with a more light and juicy brown turkey.

What do you think? I'm also curious as to how well it would grow comparatively to the legendary specimens you mentioning.

[Mftek]

Black Madeira is number 1 for a lot of people. Once you taste one you’ll understand why. Strong berry like flavor that lingers.
Black Madeira is a very slow grower, if your able to obtain a bmkk “kk” strand of the variety it is known to be a more vigorous grower.

Figo preto and I-258 are very similar to black Madeira, some can’t tell a difference.
If I were you I would opt for either a Preto or I-258 as they are  much healthier and grow faster. I-258 being the healthiest of the bunch.

Another great fig to consider is a strawberry verte.

Mike

[AnnonaMangoLord45]

I'd go for flanders, those things are delicious, and suited for the coastal climate Cheers!

[forumfool]

I recommned a violette de bordeaux. It's smaller size if space is an issue. Tastes excellent. Will also 2nd strawberry verte and throw in panache which looks great (striped) and tastes great. Brown Turkey is the least popular among the fig forum growers.

[harveyc]

Black Madeira and Figo Preto are the same.  People can debate it a lot based on their small samples of 1 tree of each, etc. but they are clearly the same and the formal variety name is 'Violeta'.

Some people have come up with the idea that trees from Keith (KK) are more vigorous.  Keith indicates in his auctions that he go this cutting originally from Jon Verdick and Jon got his originally from a college garden down in San Diego that no longer exists but it is the original source for Black Madeira as far as I can tell.  Someone in the UK bought a cutting of Black Madeira from me and said it grew to 5 feet or so the first year.  That is not typical for Black Madeira but happens some of the time.  If I root 12 cuttings I will usually get at least 4 or so that are vigorous.  I don't know why.  I have grafted Black Madeira onto more vigorous varieties for rootstock with very good results.  I have a video "grafting considerations" at www.youtube.com/Figaholics where I show a comparison between one of my grafted Black Madeira next to one growing on it's roots.

Black Madeira is definitely one of my favorite varieties and it should do well for you.  I grow 350 varieties at present and I would say Black Madeira is in my personal top 10 but people's taste preferences vary widely.  I saw Flanders mentioned above and that's one I got rid of last year, but I know of others who like it also.  Italian 258 mentioned above is also great.  Black Madeira seems to produce later into the fall than most varieties, I just picked 5 or 6 fruits on November 2nd.

[starch]

Thanks harvey! That is a great review and endorsement. I bought a lot of cuttings from you last year including Figo Preto and so many rooted and are growing extremely well for me. Figo Preto (Black Madeira) is definitely the slowest growing out of all the figs I got from you, which I was certainly expecting based on many accounts of its growth habit.

[ricshaw]

I think Figs 4 Fun makes a good point:
http://figs4fun.com/basics.html

"In my experience I have developed a personal theory about fig taste. I have learned that my wife and I have very different tastes in figs.
Many people like dark colored figs. This was my original place on the spectrum.
Many people like light colored figs, I discovered these figs later in my experience.
Some people will eat any and every fig. I am almost here, now, but there is one remaining obstacle.
The dividing line seems to be between people who love Brown Turkey figs...
... and people, like me, who hate Brown Turkey figs.
I have two fig trees, grown from cuttings sent by people who were convinced that if I ate "their" Brown Turkey, I would be persuaded.
What I discovered was that one of these was a Celeste and the other something akin to Marseilles: both very nice figs, and doubtless why these people liked "Brown Turkey" figs."

[harveyc]

I think Figs 4 Fun makes a good point:
http://figs4fun.com/basics.html

"In my experience I have developed a personal theory about fig taste. I have learned that my wife and I have very different tastes in figs.
Many people like dark colored figs. This was my original place on the spectrum.
Many people like light colored figs, I discovered these figs later in my experience.
Some people will eat any and every fig. I am almost here, now, but there is one remaining obstacle.
The dividing line seems to be between people who love Brown Turkey figs...
... and people, like me, who hate Brown Turkey figs.
I have two fig trees, grown from cuttings sent by people who were convinced that if I ate "their" Brown Turkey, I would be persuaded.
What I discovered was that one of these was a Celeste and the other something akin to Marseilles: both very nice figs, and doubtless why these people liked "Brown Turkey" figs."

The Celeste that Jon wrote about there is not actually Celeste at all.  He later named it Mega Celeste, but it's not actually related to Celeste.

More to the point, though, is that John Preece, the research leader (top dog) at USDA's repository at Wolfskill, has told me twice that his favorite fig in the collection is California Brown Turkey.  Both times I shared with him the typical view of the elitist fig crowd.  He smiled in response.  I think it's great that people have different taste preferences, though sometimes it leaves me puzzled.