Black Madeira on Ebay

[Claymango]

Ok I'm a little curious guys. There are like 4 listings of Black Medieras on Ebay right now...Most are from **known reputable **Forum Members here...

So why are 2 cuttings of BM going for 200 plus dollars while 3 other full plants haven't even broke 50 dollars yet... This is a bit Mind Boggling to me. Is BM better to get as a cutting compared to a plant?

[figherder]

Just depends who is bidding. With that one I just put in my max bid and its usually passed in a few hours. Not much I can do about it. I know its a supply and demand thing. If there were 100 listings for BM then the price would come down. Eventually it will and then I can jump on one.

[Yeehova]

Wow! I will offer a max of $10 right now for a cutting of BM! Who will take my offer! I really don't understand this type of bidding. I do understand that some people have money to burn and will bid anything on a passing fancy, but the price per cutting of premium figs should never be close to $100. That being said, I do want a BM. I am willing to wait until the price comes down though. It can't be that much better than a Hardy Chicago can it?

[noss]

Yes, it can. They can also be very infected with FMV. They must be delicious if people go nuts over them like they do, though. I've had two and lost both. Just collapsed and died. Wouldn't want to spend big bucks for them and have them do that.

noss

[Yeehova]

I read a post about a certain forum member saying that he bought up the remaining J F and E stock last year. I will wait to see what his result was and then probably go that route if they prove to be winners.

[COGardener]

Once JF&E has them back in stock, you can get a 3' tall tree for $30.00 + shipping.

Unless you live in California......

[figherder]

Do they get them in every year?

[eboone]

I think this is the first year they offered them, at least last year (my first in scanning fig nursery sites) they did not have it listed.

[pppldj]

This was the first year that they offered them.

[Claymango]

Poor souls who are bidding 200 plus...... especially when they have a 3-5 gallon listed on JFE... However those of us in CA can't order from there so these guys bidding probably are my next door neighbors... Dont get me wrong....the guy listing them is an incredible forum member and Kudos to him for the nice payday coming. I have some nice cuttings from him that were outstanding.

[Charitup]

I picked one up from JFE last summer. I think it was only like $25.00. Some say they are not the real thing but I am willing to see for those prices.

blessings
goss

[Brian M]

Getting a UC Davis Black Madeira is gonna be extremely difficult given the difficulty in getting cuttings.

[Altadena Mara]

At least with Harvey's cuttings, you know you're getting the genuine thing, which is probably why the price is so high.
But Harvey's grafted BM on Brown Turkey might be worth waiting for, if the root structure of this variety is as problematic as I've read. Spending $200+ on cuttings of a variety that is notorious for not rooting doesn't seem like a good investment.

[HarveyC]

All of the high bidders are from Thailand. I specifically posted on my FB page for folks not go go crazy about it. I thought one guy I know fairly well was bidding for just fun and I "threatened" to end the auction early when he was in 1st place at $220 and he said "yes please!". Some of these folks bid to possibly re-sell and I've been told by one guy that he knows some folks are willing to pay $400 for these 2 cuttings. It's insane.

I originally was not going to sell any, figuring I could make more money and deliver a safer bet for someone by selling rooted cuttings (small trees) and some grafted trees (I think growing BM grafted on BT is a good thing). But I got tired after grafting 20 of them and already had a fair number rooting and decided to sell and now wish I just sold them all as cuttings. Sure is a heck of a lot easier. But it's pretty intense with folks being very cut-throat about the whole thing.

I've been told a few times that I am "famous" in Thailand, LOL

[ako1974]

Harvey - you should probably take a trip to Thailand then. You'll get the royal treatment - fans with signs at the airport, best hotel, tour guide

[cis4elk]

They would shower you with flowers and dead rats as you exit the plane.

[HarveyC]

I'm afraid I would need a body guard! LOL

[rusty hooks]

Congrats Harvey...looks like I won't have to worry about driving over to pick one up......

BM was on my Davis list this year...and Santa dropped me a lump of coal instead

[HarveyC]

Ross, I'm not expecting prices this high for trees since I don't ship those to Thailand. Though I'm tempted to book a flight! LOL

[Yeehova]

Sounds like a good candidate for a TC fig. I am not sure why those companies snatch up the latest 'hot' fig and then cash in. Are you reading this Agristarts?

[Claymango]

Again I was just curious ...thought maybe these might be magical cuttings or something lol Harvey has incredible cuttings, so i would not be surprised if they were... he will always be my go to seller for anything Fig related if I can afford it.

[rusty hooks]

Harvey and the magic beans....errrr...figs...

I'm glad there's still hope Harvey....

[Altadena Mara]

Is there some magic trick to getting this tree to grow, besides grafting it on a rootstock? It's been said that the roots are weak and die easily. Has anyone tried mycorrhiza treatments? Pots with special potting soil? Prayers, chants, incantations? Someone must grow this variety successfully somewhere.

[HarveyC]

Jon has written that his grew fine after it was established. Gary (figgary) has had his grow well from an early start but I don't know if he has any idea why that has been the case. I believe someone wrote at one time that they fertilized their tree heavier than others and that seemed to help.

I have one Black Madeira that was grafted onto Brown Turkey on 1/13/2013. I have another Black Madeira that I bought as a small 8" tall rooted tree in July 2013. The grafted tree at the end of last year was probably about 10 times the size of the none-grafted tree. Perhaps if I fertilized my trees more heavily the small one would have grown better but the grafting sure seems to have worked for me.

The Black Madeira trees at Wolfskill (USDA repository) seem to grow okay but are fairly small, about 6'-7' tall. Maybe they could send out more cuttings if they had their trees grafted also!

[figgary]

Harvey's right, my Black Madeira has grown well from the start. The cutting rooted fast in January 2014, and I grew it in a 1 gallon pot until April. I then planted it directly into the 1/2 wine barrel, and now, 12 months later it is about 4' tall. It shows no signs of fmv. The cutting came from a long time forum member on the East Coast, who said it originated from Encanto Farms. It had no fruit last year, so hopefully this is the year. Grown organically, naturally.

[Claymango]

My poor little BM Tree from Plant Creator took a bad turn....Not sure if over watering or under watering...I personally believe I had the my grow light extremely close to the plant and with 18 hours a day of light really screwed the first set of leaves.... It had 2 leaves which became ultra neon yellow which then dropped.. I'm confident it ill bounce back as it has 4 green buds poking out and for the first time ever actually has roots that can be seen throughout the cup after 3 weeks..

[PA Figs]

I have two trees from UC Davis, both from the same cutting cut in half. One is about 2ft tall, the other is 6" tall with a single set of leaves... go figure. The Black Madeira I grew from KK's healthier tree two years ago however is 6ft tall with multiple branches, a strong trunk, and I have air layered it and taken cuttings. I think sometimes certain pieces just grow better. Similar to how I have a VdB with three equal sized branches, one is loaded with breba, while the other two have not a single one.

[cis4elk]

Last year my UCD cutting that I cut in two cuttings both rooted but also hardly grew. I sold one and gave the other to research. I also started a couple from KK, they looked fairly good but only grew about 8". This spring I used one for a graft and the other has really taken off so far, I expect good growth this season from it and thus far the leaves are large and flawless.