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Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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Posted by herman2 6b south n.j. (My Page) on Sun, Aug 26, 07 at 15:17
This year my Marseilles black,is first to ripe main crop again,One week earlier than Sal's and Hardy Chicago.
It is also so productive that it has up to 15 figs,(main crop) on every branch that grew this year.
The cultivar does not care about the last week of continuing rain,and the figs are as healthy as one can be,due to close eye.
This fig is only 4 years old and produced ripe figs from first year from cuttings.
Wonderfull dark strawberry interior,with wild flower honey flavors.
I am sure it deserves a spot in any East coast backyard and maybe all over USA.
The bad thing about it:IT is very hard to root it from cuttings.I have two friends i gave to and they had the same problem.
Presently i only have one rooted cutting,out of at least 20 i started this early Spring.The rest died.
I have to find another method of multipling.(maybe layer).
If anyone is interested to get the one little tree i have Email me.
Here are some picture taken today:
On the plate the group of two figs is Black Marseilles!!
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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| Herman, Sent you an e-mail on FF e-mail form. Let me know if you get it. |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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I did not received,anything.The garden Form,form,does not work.
I changed my setting and now you can see my Email in top of fig forum Email form. |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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| Herman, Tried again - pasted your e-mail address directly into my e-mail. |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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| Herman, What are the other figs on the plate? They all look so healthy and sweet.Congats. Anthony |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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| What have the cuttings been doing, are they rotting or dessicating (or just doing nothing?) *as the one rooted seems to be spoken for already...lol* ~Chills |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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| Herman, I sent you an email too. To your Yahoo address. Let me know if you received it please. Peg |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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Antonio:The three fig group,is Gene Sal's,the four fig group is Hardy Chicago.
The one white large fig is Megaceleste wich i allready discarded,Because it was splitting very badly when raining,
(and here we have a lot of rain.Of course,it was dry when i harvested that one fig,but it doesn't happend often.
But if one wants the tree it can be had from George in north Jersey(gorge),or Pitangadiego(Jon in San Diego)
Chills:My Marseilles black Cuttings rot very easy. |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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| Herman, it is hard to tell from the pics but how large is your BM tree? It looks gorgous. |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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Jose :I weighed two of them and both were 30 grams 60 grams for two.
What is important for us here in the north east is the fact that they stay so healthy despite one week of continuous rain that ended last friday.
I know you do not have that problem and you can grow any fancy varieties you want as long as it does not need caprification,but on the east coast is different.
We grow what can resist cold and rain without spoilage.
Our goal is to find those varieties.Hope this will help |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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Herman:
Is it no surprise to you that the leaves on the Black Marseilles, Hardy Chicago, and Sal's fig are similar. Even the fruit looks very similar as well from the photos. With my BM, I noticed the early leaves are like HC and Sal's but as the tree matures, the Black Marseilles middle lobe gets a little longer than the others. Is this the case? Is there a noticable difference in the flavor between these three figs? Just curious. BTW, BM looks to be resisitant to mosaic virus as well. Regards, Leon |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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Leon :It is not surprise.All the fig you mentioned are different one from another.
For Example:This Morning,I was Taking out a couple of figs from Marseilles black and from Hardy Chicago(Sal's doesn't have any ripe yet,HC only a few,Black Marseilles a lots,ripe.
I was taking exactly the figs i was posting in the picture of BM two days ago.
The results are.Marseilles Black is normal sweet,and,Wild flower flavored,while the Hardy Chicago wich has a larger eye was affected by the last week rain,so it was partly sweet and partly soured.
Keep in Mind that Hardy Chicago is my oldest fig now and I know it taste very well sweet and flavorfull(about the same flavor to me,as BM),but only in normal circumstances,not when ripening under rainy conditions.
Sal's has a shorter Wider central lobe,and another difference is that ,when is getting ripe,The fig get swollen but did not change color only very late in the ripening process,wile HC,changes to a brownish mixed with black pigment right away.In Fact the Sal's misses the black pigment alltoghether.
And you are right Black marseilles has a slightly different,leaf shape and it is indeed fig mosaic resistant.
Also HC is tolerant,to FM,while Sal"show it the most but can very well live and produce with it just fine.
I am talking here about the HC,coming from Hartman's,Plant co ,wich is similar with the HC,coming from EL,but more vigurous.
All In all There are very small differencies in Flavor(I am still not very good at it),
But There are visible,significant differencies in adaptation,resistence,to deasese,and tolerance of wet climate.
Also the weight differ slightly:
Marseilles black is 30 grams
Sal's is 29 grams
HC is about 28 grams.
Also the color of the leaf differs,with BM,having a paler green leaf,with a white powder in top,similar wit a genuine Celeste. |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.!
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Here is evidenceWhy Marseilles black,is leading in my fig trial.
I harvested,MB,this morning.
In top of the plate a fig is cut to show interior.
That fig was eaten on outside skin by ants wich diged large holes in the skin and meat.
But the interior never spoiled thow it started to get ripe during the rain that ended last Sat. morning.
I ate that fig,because i do not mind the ants holes,and it was as good as the best possible candy,but a nature candy really.
This is happend rarelly in my rainy wet climate here in NJ.
Other cultivars will sour,and spoil,or crack open and loose flavor.
The second and third,picture will show you what Happened to other cultivars,in the same frame ov time.
Second will be Brunswick and third will be Excell from Ira Condit Collection.
The Excell is complettly turned upside down with Eye larger than Three eights of an inch,with male flower potruding outside of it,and other complettely cracked lenght wise as you can see.
It is a mess. 
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RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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| Herman's BM (I call it Marseilles VS) Is definitely very, very much more vigorous than my Hardy Chicago, Sal, or Dark Portugese (which is quite similar). The others are slow growing, while BM grows 10 feet a year. |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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Hi Herman:
Thank you for the information on this fig. What a fantastic discovery. I will continue to compare as well with my HC and Sal's. It certainly looks like Marseilles VS is very much a distinct variety. |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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- Posted by gorgi z6b NJ (My Page) on
Thu, Aug 30, 07 at 14:34
I concur with Herman that MB is one good potential tasting
fig. Last year I had 1 small first little late fig with
just average taste. Three days ago I harvested: 7 IH, first time ever fruit from a looong almost discarded,
specimen. Got 50 breba, 50 main. Main tasted much sweeter
that breba. First time to produce a honey drop AFTER
harvest. Now I know where the 'I' in IH comes from... 2 Tena (my first; green with white insides). 2 HC 1 Golden Celeste, my first (bleached-white-everywhere). 1 QP (still big but, unusually split open). 1 Calvert, my 2nd this year, both split, I like the
deep RED insides color, though. 1 Vista, unusually split, probably not fully ripe too.
Very dark skin. All the above tasted average or average+. Also,
1 BM, larger than last year (~1.5") long less stem!
Alas, also pecked by some (getting smart bird).
By FAR, it was the best tasting fig from all the above... Regards,
George (NJ). |
RE: 2-Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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- Posted by gorgi z6b NJ (My Page) on
Thu, Aug 30, 07 at 14:50
Guess I need somebody to proof read my postings.
Correction Re: IH;
Now I know where the 'I' in IH comes from...
= =
Now I know where the 'H' [aka Honey] in IH comes from... |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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| gorgi...does your Calvert seem particularily affected by FMV? (and is it a UCDavis rooted sample of Calvert?) ~Chills |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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Chills:I can tell you that mine is also very very sick with fig mosaic.
Hopefully it will go away somethimes it does. |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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I am in need to correct my statement about Marseilles vs black as never souring.
This year I had a few fruits that did sour,because the awfull bad raining and cold year we had.
Other figs did bad to,and soured,even worse than it:
Paradiso,Violette de Bordeaux,Mary Lane,Hardy C,Sal's (Gene),Etc.
This year was a year that tested my figs like no other.
In the end I think it was welcomed for my selection Process ,because Now I have a couyple of selection,that did not sour or split and did ripe just fine,but I am not going to anounce their name yet,because they are very young and small ,and I can't cut anything out of them for cuttings.
So I will rather keep the finding for myself for now.
Well: I did shared the findings with only a few collectors,wich gave me free cuttings in the past,and I intend to make a rooted cutting for them first.
Also this selections have to be exposed to the harsh winter here to see if they are cold resistant,before saying that they are.
Best Regards to all and a Happy New Year,and Cristmass!!!!
VS |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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| Here in the PNW, the Desert King is the most prone to spoilage. It is a very productive 'breba' crop fig, but any moisture at all and a lot of souring takes place. Usually we have dry weather in July, but I would not recommend this fig for the SE. Needs dry weather. |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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| This reinforces my theory that there are 2 different figs named Desert King in the US. My DK is planted in ground and has similar fruits as shown in an Herman's previous post http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg072043541873.html While the recent post describing the Gillette rescue, (along with Desert King), is showing a fruit that looks different from the inside in color (darker). And this is not the first time that I see Desert King pictures showing such differently colored fruits.. The link to the Gillette post: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg1214390014100.html?13 Size and weight seems different as well.. the DK I have has some fruits reaching 60 grams, but usually they are around 40-45 grams or less, and Condit was talking about an average of more than 80 grams... Finally, even if I have only been able to observe DK with fruits for the last 3 years, and although I live in a very humid region, the DK has resisted pretty well so far and needs quite a lot of rain before starting to sour, like any normal fig would... Eventually, even the most resisting ones, when close to ripen would sour in case of lot of rain, no ? Etneo |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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One of the problems here, is that a lot of my 'fig finds' were from Old trees in Tacoma and the ID was pretty much whatever the owner thought of them.
I do think I have Desert King, but it may have a close cousin tree.
The tree I was calling Negronne, was sold by Gurneys' as a Dwarf fig. Well, to be sure, it is no dwarf.
Having seen other pics. of Negronne, I am sure that is not what I have here.
The Brunswick is the one tree that is so unique in leaf type that I'm almost 100% sure of that one, and it does have very large figs as well. Brunswick Fig 
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RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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| Herman, Regarding your Black Marseilles being so difficult to root, this could be an instance where tissue culture might be considered. There are labs in this country which will custom culture plants, and if the price is somewhat high you might be able to get some "investors" interested.....Elder (Lou) |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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- Posted by hlyell 8 Jackson, MS (My Page) on
Sat, Dec 20, 08 at 23:32
| I'm wondering about the issue of Marseilles VS being difficult to root. Down here in the deep South where we can simply stick a fig twig in a pot of soil in the spring, set it in the shade, water it now and then, and end up with a rooted plant...Marseilles VS hasn't been difficult to root. Have I just been lucky? |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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Air layering is pretty sure to work.
Just wound a stem about a foot to eighteen inches from the end of the shoot, and treat with some root hormone, then put a 'baseball' sized handfull of moist peat moss around the shoot and cover with some saran wrap. Tie it on with some garden green flexible tape. This way the fig can root gradually w/o drying out. The wound should cut about half of the stem diameter. Also works on Muscadines.
Of course layering works good, but if a tree is in a container, that can be hard to do. http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/ornamentals/airlayer/airlayer.html |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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| Etneo -- DK overhere in British Columbia, Canada is considered a blessed fig tree. It is the only tree that can give a bountiful harvest of quality figs. It starts to ripen in late July till August. During this period there is hardly any rain and even if there is rain, I am not concern as a mature tree it is VERY productive. So like you said "souring happens to others too" - I fully agree that a few sour figs is non issue compare to the bountiful harvest that makes up the difference. I have a Gilette and DK is a better quality tree. Also, taste wise Gillette is not even as good as brown turkey. It is a productive breba tree. |
RE: Marseilles Black,Leads in my fig trial so far.
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To Elder:Yes Marseilles vs black is hard to root from Cuttings,but i found out that is very easy to root from Layer.
It does forcefully grows fast roots when airlayered.
So that problem is resolved,in a different way.
It is true is a little more work than sticking a cutting in a pot,but it is OK for me.
I concluded that many hard to root shrub will be easier to root with the root layers.
I am trying Rose of Sharon this year,as I have a doble flower Red and white unique Rose of Sharon ,wich I tried to root from cutting with no success,till now.
Happy Holidays
VS |
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