FWIW: There is a rumor I read once, that Black Jack is just a sport of Black Mission. The main difference between the two is the growth of the trees, Black Jack being a more natural semidwarf, black mission eventually getting rather large as figs go. Or so I understand. My personal experience with Black Jacks and Black Missions is that the fruits look and taste exactly the same.

raisemybeds, Many fig obsessions (mine included) started with the quest for "a" fig that will produce in a person's location. Many fig trees later, you are lucky if you have that "one" fig. That a friend has a fig that produces in your area, and is willing to give you a piece, is a gift of great worth. All figs are not the same; they can vary greatly in their requirements. New England not only doesn't have the late season heat (which Chills mentioned is needed for ripening), it also has a short season. So finding a suitable fig is not easy. This fig apparently will ripen fruit under these conditions - wow. You'd think that since figs have been around so long, that we'd know all of them. Not so. Many have been handed down, and not widely grown. These figs can be lost so easily. The owner dies and his "special" fig is lost. And believe me, a fig that fruits in New England is a special fig, whether it is a commercial variety or a family gem. Figs do not need fertile soil to thrive. In fact in Europe they are given the "poorer" sites. It is said that better tasting figs and a hardier plant are the result of poor soil. On the other hand many folks on the Forum lavish love on their figs in the form of manure and swear by it. If the fig in question needs to be winter protected (as Chills said, a question for your friend) another option might be to put it a pot. I keep many of my potted figs, unprotected, in an unheated garage over the winter. This will also give you the option of putting the fig in an area that is unavailable to an in-ground plant (driveway, patio, etc.). I hope you will decide to take the fig (wonderful fruit) and let us know how it is going.

Please remove the sign. I said shade not darkness. Take 4 or five stakes or piece of wood, push them in ground to make a triangle or a square shaped structure then cover the top part of that structure with shade cloth or bird netting. ONLY the top part not the whole thing, you want your plant to be in a shaded or semi-shaded area. If you don't have stakes or... you can place a bigger pot of some sort of object to decrease the sun's intensity. DO NOT mix the Osmocote into the Iron solution. Osmocote is spread on the ground around the base of the tree/plant. It DOES NOT mixed in with water. I believe that you said you already added 1/4 cup of iron. First, it's way wayyyy too much for your plant, if you just spread that around the plant (did not mixed into water) I would go and try to remove as much as possible. Too much fertilizer (which Fe is one) can kill your young plant. 2nd, I would not recommend to feed it diluted Fe solution more than once a week. And sine you have already added the Fe (from the previous post) don't add anymore Fe. You can buy MG all purpose fertilizer and dilute that (read the instructor and use half of what it says on the box) for a faster fertilizer. But again, if you add too much or liquid fertilize too often, you can kill the plant. Figs in ground don't really need any fertilizer or .... so just go easy on fertilizing this tree. Grown and kept in a pot is a different story. So the lowest temps is only below 50F during winter? does it go below 32F? Navid

Looks like it has already been heavily pruned once before. Like a chainsaw to those main two main branches. If you look at the interior limbs they are very skinny and trying to reach sun. That tree needs heavy pruning and the center opened up to allow light inside. As mentioned, you won't get fruit the next year after the pruning. If the cuts are large in diameter you may have to put something to seal the cuts to stop diseases.