Hi Northtexas,others will advise.
My opinion for starters if you have tasted your friends mission fig i would ask for a sucker out of ground from his tree or get some wood from his tree to propagate.
Sounds like his tree is doing well there near you in that climate.
I have seen pictures of fig plants right next to house but are the roots invasive is what 1 might consider if they are i would not plant next to house, i cannot answer that i grow in containers.
If you grow next to fence pick fence area that shields it from North winds in winter to help protect it some.
Also pick area where it gets good amount of sun.
Hope others post there experience especially from your climate Texas.
Martin

I went to three nurseries Sunday and none had any. I went to another today and they had choices between a black Italian, LSU gold, or LSU purple. I settled on the black Italian although it had a lot less figs on it than the LSU varieties. I was hoping it is the same thing as a black mission. Does anybody know?

Look at the tag. If it came from Becnel's Nursery in the Beaumont area, it is not a Black Mission. It is an heirloom black Italian fig that came for the New Orleans/Bell Chase La. area.

Dan

.......forgot to mention that Brazos Nusery sells this same fig. see link below

Dan

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Italian

The tag says Brazos Citrus Nursery. It says the nursery is in Texas. Guess I got the heirloom black italian variety. Looks like a great fig according to that link. Nice big and sweet! Thanks for the info.

I have one of these Italian black figs in my collection. It will produce figs for me this year.....although not in July. I'll post my opinion on this cultivar when the figs ripen next month.

Dan

I planted it around 35 feet away from the house in full sun. Will that be far enough away not to cause any foundation issues down the road? How big and how fast will this tree grow? Hopefully this black Italian variety will do well in Texas. Thanks for all the help and here are some pics of my new friend :)

Here is one showing one of the succulent fruits.

Here is one showing the little guy planted in the lawn.

Nice looking specimen although it looks like it needs water and probably a "little" fertilizer to carry it through the summer. Next year start early with the fertilizer and it should respond well. Great find.
"gene"

Thanks Gene, I have to admit some of the other trees looked like they had better leaves that were not discolored at the nursery and much more fruit. I liked the shape of this one so I took a chance on it. I watered it in last night and got really lucky and we had a nice rain after I planted it. We will see how it does.

Congrats on the purchase of your first fig tree. Here's some advice to help you get your tree off to a great start........

Keep the ground ALWAYS moist (not soggy wet) so that your tree develops a good ROOT system. NEVER let the ground completely dry out for the first year or two of an in-ground fig tree's life. This is very important and a very simple practice that many people overlook. Do not do what those who grow figs in containers sometimes do.....judge watering needs by waiting for the leaves to droop. You will be rewarded with a nice tree that bears fruit rather quickly.....if you keep that ground ALWAYS moist (mulch helps). Moist ground is more important than fertilizer; but, they sure do love a little fertilizer in their diet. Your tree will continue to develop a root system into the fall and early winter after the leaves fall. Next spring fertilize your tree a couple of weeks BEFORE bud break and watch how your fig tree responds!!

Dan

Ok Dan, thanks for the tip. I put mulch around it when I got home from work. I will definitely watch it like a hawk and keep the soild moist. Everybody is so helpful and friendly on the fig forums! Thanks to all that have helped.

I wanted to start some Fig trees too. I just planted two trees one called Black jack and the other is called Brown Turky. I bought it from Willis Family Orchard in GA by mail. The trees arrived to me very healthy and they have all the varieties. They sold out of 1 Gallon tree but they have 3 Gallons and up. I paid around $30 per tree. I debated on whether to plant it in Pots so I can take it inside in winter but I opted for outside and I am planning to hang Xmas lights on the trees in freezing weather. I live in Zone 7 in Maryland. The problem with Zone 7 is that even when the frost danger is gone and the Fig tree flowers even one night freeze can kill all the flowers. A neighbor of mine told me that Xmas lights protect his fig trees from freezing winter months and any occasional freezing night when he hear on the news he turns the lights on and keep doing that until all danger of freezing is gone.

CAN YOU GIVE US A NEW PICTURE AND UPDATE ON YOUR ITALIAN FIG TREE? I HOPE YOU PACKED IT REALLY GOOD FOR THE COLD WEATHER WE HAD THIS YEAR AND YES, YOU DID NEED TO WATER IT REALLY GOOD OVER THE WINTER BUT JUST ONCE EVERY THREE WEEKS OR SO DEPENDING ON YOUR SOIL.. YOU DON'T WANT TO OVERWATER IT IN THE WINTER, BUT YOU DO NOT WANT TO DRY IT OUT EITHER!! I PACKED MINE WITH LEAVES I GATHERED FROM ALL MY NEIGHBORS WHO WERE THROWING THEM AWAY IN PLASTIC BAGS.. COMPLETELY COVERED MY TREE'S AND WILL BE TAKING THEM ALL OFF TOMORROW SINCE IT'S GETTING WARM FOR A FEW WEEKS IT LOOKS LIKE.. I LIVE IN NORTH RICHLAND HILLS OFF OF DAVIS BLVD AND LOLA.... I COULD ALSO GIVE YOU CUTTINGS YOU COULD ROOT FOR NEW TREE'S OFF OF A OLD ITALIAN FIG TREE THAT IS WELL OVER 20 FT ACROSS AND 17 FT HIGH.... LET ME KNOW..

Here is a pic from my newly acquired Italian Black: