Kuromitsu Cutting for Trade

TheInvertedFlower

Well-known member
Offering 5 node Kuromitsu cutting (purchased via FigBid).
For this particular seller : I took the time and effort to independently verify through my own network that the original source has multiple fruited Kuromitsu mother plants and is a well-known nursery with about a decade of credibility

ISO
  • White Baca
  • Byadi Jordan
  • San Francois
  • SFF
  • Long shot, but open to a few other truly special / rare figs - at this point have bought most others that I'm interested in and are accessible

Notes / Transparency
  • Cutting was purchased and shipped from a US seller.
  • I took extra steps to verify the original source, which aligns with sources used by some well-known FigBid sellers.
  • I also confirmed with the original source that the US seller did in fact purchase Kuromitsu from them. Interestingly I was also able to verify the seller through my network.
  • I have not fruited this variety yet, so unable to guarantee and standard disclaimer applies that there’s always a small chance of honest mix-ups or intentional mislabeling somewhere along the chain.

P.S. Sorry, none available for giveaways at this time.
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I have noticed alot of those going around now also. I traded some mario varieties for a kurume kuromitsu and a kuruama. There are a few people on figbid that have never sold anything and have no reviews either and now they are selling kurume cuttings, also notice one seller has a handful of kurume cuttings, all of the same size and caliber and has them all listed at different buy now prices . Idk about you but its little things like this that make me unsure about the authenticity of these.
 
@Figsee @ktrain @BNaula1

Great observations and questions. Before I say anything, big grain of salt disclaimer : I’m a fig newbie.
This is only my 3rd year growing figs, and most folks here know way more than I do about figs!

For me this is strictly a hobby, so I try not to overthink it. If something turns out wrong or boring, that’s just part of the learning curve.

That said, in my day job I spend a lot of time dealing with vendors, sourcing, and supply chains. Where I’ll openly admit I know nothing is USDA rules for live plant material, so if I’m off anywhere below, that’s on me. This is just me trying to connect some dots.

What I think is going on
  • AFAIK no one in the US has fruited Kuromitsu yet. Interestingly, the first FigBid seller (Highly reputed - Jad_TreesofJoy ) seems to be the only one who has actually grown it here. Most other material appears to trace back to Asia. Apologies to any/all sellers, if I'm wrong about this and you are growing it in US already and selling cuttings from your trees.
  • The Asian fig community is massive. I’m in a few groups over there, over hundred thousand members! And very active. Totally different scale than what we have here when it comes to the fig community.
  • The Kurume series is popular and widely grown there. Among serious collectors it’s closer to Black Celeste or Verdolino here, desirable but common.
    • Benimaru is the exception
  • Pricing context for the Kurume series in Asia
    • Cuttings: 100–300 baht (about $3–9 USD)
    • Young air layers: under 900 baht (about $25 USD)
    • Benimaru recently hit about 20,000 baht (roughly $550–600 USD) at auction, which tracks given how rare it is.

Where I'm guessing (and could be wrong)
  • I’m pretty confident no one suddenly discovered a big Kuromitsu tree in the US. AFAIK only Trees of Joy was growing it here.
  • Some of what’s floating around will almost certainly turn out to be Iraqi (the Thai equivalent of Brown Turkey in terms of supply).
  • Thailand exported about $5B USD of produce and plant material to the US in 2024, so exporters there claim be very familiar with USDA processes and claim they can ship compliant material. I'm no expert here and cannot attest or contest this.
  • A lot of growers were honestly shocked to see their cuttings selling for $100+ per stick here when locally they’re sitting on plants priced at about 1/100th of that and are familiar with USDA processes.
  • Easy to see why some tried selling direct and have zero figbid ratings. I would verify them on the Asian social media groups and not figbid to make sure that I do not end up with a ton of Iraqis.
  • What they don’t have is credibility in the US market, since most buyers here aren’t plugged into Thai groups where reputation and history are easy to check.
How I personally approached my purchase. Not saying this is the right way, just what made me comfortable :
  • I only wanted to buy from a US seller.
  • From there, I wanted to know who the original source was. Otherwise, pass.
  • I checked the US seller through other long-time Asian collectors in the US.
  • I also had a local friend independently verify the original source, and they checked out.

Could I still end up with Iraqi? Yep. 🤣
Do I think the odds are low? I do!

Mainly because the source has been selling figs for 10+ years and has a reputation to protect, and the seller is someone I know through my network.

Final Thoughts :
  • If I were a reseller, I wouldn’t bet on popular/great Asian figs.IMHO the odds of any of these becoming another White Baca are slim. They’re grown in big greenhouses and propagated at scale using single-node grafts, then multiplied quickly. Kind of wild how fast supply shows up once the tap is opened.
  • We’ve already seen keeper Asian figs, Dato Syed Elias’s NV, TC12, CDA series, etc., that are now easily available
  • As a collector, I’d buy the great sounding Kurume, FigFun, Purple Blue, Haficha, Stella Siam figs etc. happily. If I were a reseller, I'd probably stay away from them as the chance of making a quick buck is slim on most of these.

Anyway, I might be wrong, I might be overthinking it, and in a few years I’ll probably laugh at this post. For now I’ll just enjoy the hobby, root my sticks, and hope they turn into something tasty. Worst case, I add another mystery fig/Iraqi to my collection.
 
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@Figsee @ktrain @BNaula1

Great observations and questions. Before I say anything, big grain of salt disclaimer : I’m a fig newbie.
This is only my 3rd year growing figs, and most folks here know way more than I do about figs!

For me this is strictly a hobby, so I try not to overthink it. If something turns out wrong or boring, that’s just part of the learning curve.

That said, my day job is as a global tech exec, so I spend a lot of time dealing with vendors, sourcing, and supply chains. Where I’ll openly admit I know nothing is USDA rules for live plant material, so if I’m off anywhere below, that’s on me. This is just me trying to connect some dots.

What I think is going on
  • AFAIK no one in the US has fruited Kuromitsu yet. Interestingly, the first FigBid seller (Highly reputed - Trees of Joy) seems to be the only one who has actually grown it here. Most other material appears to trace back to Asia. Apologies to any/all sellers, if I'm wrong about this and you are growing it in US already and selling cuttings from your trees.
  • The Asian fig community is massive. I’m in a few groups over there, over hundred thousand members! And very active. Totally different scale than what we have here when it comes to the fig community.
  • The Kurume series is popular and widely grown there. Among serious collectors it’s closer to Black Celeste or Verdolino here, desirable but common.
    • Benimaru is the exception
  • Pricing context for the Kurume series in Asia
    • Cuttings: 100–300 baht (about $3–9 USD)
    • Young air layers: under 900 baht (about $25 USD)
    • Benimaru recently hit about 20,000 baht (roughly $550–600 USD) at auction, which tracks given how rare it is.

Where I'm guessing (and could be wrong)
  • I’m pretty confident no one suddenly discovered a big Kuromitsu tree in the US. AFAIK only Trees of Joy was growing it here.
  • Some of what’s floating around will almost certainly turn out to be Iraqi (the Thai equivalent of Brown Turkey in terms of supply).
  • Thailand exported about $5B USD of produce and plant material to the US in 2024, so exporters there claim be very familiar with USDA processes and claim they can ship compliant material. I'm no expert here and cannot attest or contest this.
  • A lot of growers were honestly shocked to see their cuttings selling for $100+ per stick here when locally they’re sitting on plants priced at about 1/100th of that and are familiar with USDA processes.
  • Easy to see why some tried selling direct and have zero figbid ratings. I would verify them on the Asian social media groups and not figbid to make sure that I do not end up with a ton of Iraqis.
  • What they don’t have is credibility in the US market, since most buyers here aren’t plugged into Thai groups where reputation and history are easy to check.
How I personally approached my purchase. Not saying this is the right way, just what made me comfortable :
  • I only wanted to buy from a US seller.
  • From there, I wanted to know who the original source was. Otherwise, pass.
  • I checked the US seller through other long-time Asian collectors in the US.
  • I also had a local friend independently verify the original source, and they checked out.

Could I still end up with Iraqi? Yep. 🤣
Do I think the odds are low? I do!

Mainly because the source has been selling figs for 10+ years and has a reputation to protect, and the seller is someone I know through my network.

Final Thoughts :
  • If I were a reseller, I wouldn’t bet on popular/great Asian figs.IMHO the odds of any of these becoming another White Baca are slim. They’re grown in big greenhouses and propagated at scale using single-node grafts, then multiplied quickly. Kind of wild how fast supply shows up once the tap is opened.
  • We’ve already seen keeper Asian figs, Dato Syed Elias’s NV, TC12, CDA series, etc., that are now easily available
  • As a collector, I’d buy the great sounding Kurume, FigFun, Purple Blue, Haficha, Stella Siam figs etc. happily. If I were a reseller, I'd probably stay away from them as the chance of making a quick buck is slim on most of these.

Anyway, I might be wrong, I might be overthinking it, and in a few years I’ll probably laugh at this post. For now I’ll just enjoy the hobby, root my sticks, and hope they turn into something tasty. Worst case, I add another mystery fig/Iraqi to my collection.
There are deffinetly some authentic kuromitsu in u.s it was sold by jad in 2023 as a tree hes 100% legit.
 
There are deffinetly some authentic kuromitsu in u.s it was sold by jad in 2023 as a tree hes 100% legit.
My friend, if I were a betting person, I'd say at this point there are probably atleast 100 or more authentic Kurume's including Kuromitsus in the US...
 
VJ,
I know for a fact that there has been fruited Kuromitsu in Maryland this past summer. A personal friend of mine has it planted in ground and has fruited it from that inground planting. Fruits are absolutely gorgeous. and are said to have a great taste with notes of persimmon. I would have sat out the Kurame craze if it wasn't for the personal reference I saw.

I would suspect a flood of overseas cuttings here or coming with the prices being realized and observed by the over seas fig communities, as you stated.
 
VJ,
I know for a fact that there has been fruited Kuromitsu in Maryland this past summer. A personal friend of mine has it planted in ground and has fruited it from that inground planting. Fruits are absolutely gorgeous. and are said to have a great taste with notes of persimmon. I would have sat out the Kurame craze if it wasn't for the personal reference I saw.

I would suspect a flood of overseas cuttings here or coming with the prices being realized and observed by the over seas fig communities, as you stated.
Im curious what the other rare varieties you are interested in on your 5th bullet point.

@DCallahan Appreciate you sharing that! Now I'm going to give my Kuromitsu sticks a lot of TLC :) . And yeah, totally agree on the flood part.

On the other figs you asked about, nothing too exotic honestly. I’m rooting a few based on personal recs from folks who’ve been into Asian figs longer than I have. Some FigFun stuff, Purple Blue(most growers who grown both rate it higher than the Kurume series), Haficha. No Siam Stella yet, but a stable variegated Stella does sound interesting.

I was briefly interested in Deep Purple, but the uncaprified feedback coming out of Asia hasn’t been great. Plus the whole discovery / labeling thing got messy fast if you've been following the latest back & forth with the discoverer on social media.

@ktrain @figologist Byadi Jordan has actually been circulating in the Asian fig community for a few years now. The interior looks noticeably different from the Byadi (Trees of Joy) version.

It jnever really caught much attention or a hype cycle over there, so I’m not sure how widely it spread, even though it’s been around for a while. I also don’t recall anyone there calling it the standout or best fig in their collection - more of a interesting/good fig than a unicorn. Ofcourse I have not followed every post on every Asian forum - with the hundreds of fig forums out there.

{Update 2/8 Price in Thailand seems to be about 450 baht = $15 for young airlayers from sellers who can verify with pictures/videos.. Not the most popular fig there - maybe it is the climate or ;) }

1770537403224.png

P.S.: Sharing a post on it from way back in 2022 from a Vietnamese fig group
1770507455471.png
 
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@DCallahan Appreciate you sharing that! Now I'm going to give my Kuromitsu sticks a lot of TLC :) . And yeah, totally agree on the flood part.

On the other figs you asked about, nothing too exotic honestly. I’m rooting a few based on personal recs from folks who’ve been into Asian figs longer than I have. Some FigFun stuff, Purple Blue(most growers who grown both rate it higher than the Kurume series), Haficha. No Siam Stella yet, but a stable variegated Stella does sound interesting.

I was briefly interested in Deep Purple, but the uncaprified feedback coming out of Asia hasn’t been great. Plus the whole discovery / labeling thing got messy fast if you've been following the latest back & forth with the discoverer on social media.

@ktrain @figologist Byadi Jordan has actually been circulating in the Asian fig community for a few years now. The interior looks noticeably different from the Byadi (Trees of Joy) version.

It jnever really caught much attention or a hype cycle over there, so I’m not sure how widely it spread, even though it’s been around for a while. I also don’t recall anyone there calling it the standout or best fig in their collection - more of a interesting/good fig than a unicorn. Ofcourse I have not followed every post on every Asian forum - with the hundreds of fig forums out there.

P.S.: Sharing a post on it from way back in 2022 from a Vietnamese fig group
View attachment 18822
I'm gonna try rooting Deep Purple this year too, so maybe I can do a side by side comparison :D
 
This variety was soo scarce a month or so ago and now I see them everywhere. Did cuttings fall off the back of a truck somewhere?
People are buying them from overseas and selling them here for a major profit. Kind of messed up since they don't know if it's truly the correct varieties of the kurume series. I bought some from an over seas seller in Thailand but there's no way in hell I'm going to try and sell them on figbid until I have fruited the varieties and I can get cuttings off my own tree


All the ones being sold on figbid are not from trees grown by the sellers
 
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