Thanks for sharing the picture. It is good looking fig fruit. "Giant Black German" is the name mentioned in a few threads on Fig4Fun forum. I tried to root this past winter and it did root but did not survive.

hrhcsh...

Can your "German Giant" the same as the "German Black Giant"? If you can, please post as many photos of the trees, figs, leaves, and more information about this variety.

How long have you been growing it, and in what climate zone? How did you overwinter the tree? How long did it take to get figs?

This is a relatively new variety, and there isn't much cultural information to be found.

Thanks for the fig thread.

Frank

It could be a German Black Giant :>) I am in zone 7, NE Alabama. this is supposedly the coldest place in Alabama. I am in a valley between Lookout Mountain and Sand Mountain so I guess the cold air settles here in the valley. I started it from a cutting, this is the 3rd year. It had figs on it last year but they did not ripen before our first freeze. To over winter I mulched heavily and then slipped black pipe insulation over the sticks. I will not be able to do that this year, it has gotten too big, so I am planning to use bungee cords to pull it together and wrap with bubble insulation then stuff with mulch. I think if I can get the wood hardened off, that I will not have to go through so much trouble in the future :>) There are people around here with HUGE fig trees so I know they will survive the winters once they get established.

hrhcsh....

Thanks for filling us in on some of your cultural details, and climate conditions. So....you are growing this variety in ground. Interesting. My tree will be grown, eventually, in a large container, along with my other trees, then stored in a shed for the cold Jan-Feb months. How I wish I had a large, cool garage! There are also very large, and old trees growing here in The Bronx, NYC, and have grown this way, without protection, for decades. Trunks on some trees are 6" in diameter. Some die-back may occur in bad winters, but this self-pruning seems to make the trees grow that much stronger.

Do you like the flavor of the figs this variety produces, and do they compare to other varieties in quality? Closed eyes? Splitting/souring?

Just curious. I like to know what to expect.

Frank

Frank

I don't know how to post more than one photo at a time so there will be 3 views. this is the leaf

This is of the tree you can get an idea of the size by comparing it to the wire cage next to it, the squares are 6 inches and the height of the cage is 5 feet

Frank, since this is the first year I have gotten a fig from the tree I cannot answer all your questions :>( so far I have only had one ripen. I just happened to be walking by it and spotted the ripe one and it was perfect..I like to pick my figs very soft. it was sweet, the eye did not seem to be open...it was not split... but it might have if I had not found it when I did.. You can see in the photo of the cut in half fig.
I have a limb pulled down and covered with potting mix and mulch, so I hope to have another one started for next year :>)

hrhcsh....

Thanks for the quick pics...and thanks for giving me some details of your growing conditions. My tree and yours look just about the same. Big, light green leaves that sort of "cup" towards the top surface of the leaves, seem so similar. May I ask where you got your tree? There cannot be too many of these trees around. If it's the original "German Black Giant"/"Grosse Schwartze Feigue" ("Giant Black Fig")it came from Stuttgart, Germany, not too long ago. Some say it's a "Brown Turkey" variant, but some say it is distinctly different, and sweeter. Time will tell.

I have a single stem tree that's about 4 ft. tall, and it is a very vigorous grower. It sprouted figs a the end of July...too late in my short-summer climate for them to ripen, so I pulled them off. I've read that as young fig trees put on some age, and settle in, they will start to push figs earlier in the season, and they will ripen earlier. So....there's some hope for me...but, in the future. Next year, I will re-pot my tree into a large, 18 gallon container, and let it do its thing.

In the past, I neglected to do this as a routine, but now, I top dress all my trees 3 times/season with a handful of granular limestone. Figs hate acid soils and many fertilizers turn soils too acidic, and the trees and figs suffer. Now with the limestone dressings, my trees have improved greatly, the leaves look a lot healthier, and the quality, and the flavor of my figs has definitely improved.

Good luck with the "GBG" fig. Next year you will probably see some big differences. Photos of this variety on the Figs4Fun Forum, show this to be quite a prolific bearer.

Thanks again, for the information.

Frank

does anyone have any cuttings of this variety the can share? I have a few fig trees you may be interested in. please contact me if interested in trading.

i live in shenzhen,china;i am looking for some different figs,someone who want to sharing or trading fig cuttings,please add my msn:yg_zh@msn.com,thanks.