Editing to add comments that were somehow lost when I inserted photos... grrrr
Over the years many folks have wondered why nobody seemingly had their order requests for Ischia Black with USDA filled. I spent the day at Wolfskill with Jon and Dennis on August 19, 2014 and decided to check out the Ischia Black specimens. One was completely missing and the second and only one remaining was in very bad shape with maybe 15" of growth for the season on the best shoot (see first photo below). I mentioned it to Howard (the general orchard and fig manager) and he said that he had some others in pots that he planned to plant in the new block (should be planted by now), but I doubt they are doing great as this accession is heavily infected with FMV and grows slowly.
I got a couple of plants in 2014 and they have grown slowly and I have not been able to take cuttings off of them yet. But I decided to buy some cuttings from Herman (Vasile) who had originally obtained his from USDA about 15 years ago. I grafted these onto Brown Turkey rootstock on November 20, 2015 and today up-potted some of them. The best ones have about 15" or so of growth in just over 3 months (see second photo below). The rootstock were very rootbound and I expect growth rates to be better now that they are in larger pots.
I encourage everyone to give grafting a try for such difficult varieties.


Thanks for looking!
Over the years many folks have wondered why nobody seemingly had their order requests for Ischia Black with USDA filled. I spent the day at Wolfskill with Jon and Dennis on August 19, 2014 and decided to check out the Ischia Black specimens. One was completely missing and the second and only one remaining was in very bad shape with maybe 15" of growth for the season on the best shoot (see first photo below). I mentioned it to Howard (the general orchard and fig manager) and he said that he had some others in pots that he planned to plant in the new block (should be planted by now), but I doubt they are doing great as this accession is heavily infected with FMV and grows slowly.
I got a couple of plants in 2014 and they have grown slowly and I have not been able to take cuttings off of them yet. But I decided to buy some cuttings from Herman (Vasile) who had originally obtained his from USDA about 15 years ago. I grafted these onto Brown Turkey rootstock on November 20, 2015 and today up-potted some of them. The best ones have about 15" or so of growth in just over 3 months (see second photo below). The rootstock were very rootbound and I expect growth rates to be better now that they are in larger pots.
I encourage everyone to give grafting a try for such difficult varieties.
Thanks for looking!
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