snipped the post - now do I top or bottom post????

Duncan,

some information about our fig:

firstly some dodgy photos I just rushed out and took
http://www.chelsworth-lodge.nildram....s/DSC00058.JPG
http://www.chelsworth-lodge.nildram....s/DSC00059.JPG
[you do not require the heap of scrap wood around the pot to ensure growth
:-)
we are currently installing an en-suite and this is from stripping out the
original room]

The pot is about 20" high and 50" in circumference.

As you can see from the photo the crop of 'indicator weeds' is green and
sprightly so no food or water required at the moment.
Just to upset you there are currently more than 60 small figs on the ends of
the branches.

The pot is on a large South facing patio but is not up against any wall to
give shelter and reflected heat. However our garden is very toasty in
spring, summer and autumn and the tree tries to produce two crops a year.

I think some confusion has arisen because not everyone picked up on the fact
that your fig is in a pot.

AFAIK the fig is used to fighting for sustenance in arid poor soil, so
majors on long reach intrusive root systems, and in open ground will reach
out and grab any nutrients going and then grow (build plant 'muscle and
fat') to prepare for the hard times to come. When the hard times come it
will fruit to try and get its seeds carried to more favourable locations. In
the UK the hard times rarely if ever come, so it grows big and green with
little or no fruit.
[When I was a kid we had a fig tree in our garden in Essex and it would
produce at best one or two figs a year.
ISTR this was an offshoot from a friend's tree which suggests figs can
reproduce by spreading and shooting as well as by fruiting.]

Strategies are, therefore, to constrict the fig so it thinks hard times are
on the way. In open ground you surround it with rocks and rubble to contain
the roots, and don't feed or water because there should be enough in the
surrounding soil to keep the fig going - make it feel 'at home' in harsh
conditions.

In a pot, things are a little different. There is no water coming in from
the surrounding area, and no food either. If you left the fig in a hot pot
in a hot spot it would eventually shrivel up and die, however tough it was.

[Cue for joke about Irishman who had just managed to train his donkey to
live without food or water when it died :-) ]

In a pot, you need to keep the fig well watered during the summer when it
will lose moisture through the leaves and need moisture to swell the fruit
(if you are lucky enough to have any). If you do not water (from my
experience of unitentional neglect) the fig is likely to drop first its
fruit then its leaves to conserve moisture, and to start growing again once
it is watered with a new crop of leaves and fruit.

I don't feed or water during winter or spring, whilst the tree is dormant,
but if I remember I feed the tree at the start of the growing season with
Phostrogen, chicken pellets, or anything else to hand. Which reminds me - I
should feed the poor thing as it is showing signs of a really good crop :-)

I note that you are already watering and feeding - this may be too early
unless there are signs that the soil is very dry. Until there is a lot of
heat and a lot of leaves you shouldn't need to water.

You say "Last year, when I had mucho leaves and no figs, I didn't water very
much" - suggests that (assuming you had 'much leaves' throughout the growing
season and the tree didn't drop them during late summer) that your tree is
having it too cushy - it has loads of food and enough water so doesn't feel
the need to fruit. This in turn suggests that you should not feed it, and
only water it sparingly unless it shows signs of distress. Eventually it
should use up the store of food in the pot as it grows and reach a balance
where it feels the need to reproduce. Once it is producing figs, then feed
and water to make sure the figs grow large and juicy.

Several things I haven't checked and can't remember seeing in previous
posts:

(1) Is your fig Brown Turkey? If not, you may have a variety which will only
fruit in a greenhouse in the UK so all the above advice is pointless.
(2) Is the fig in a very sunny and reasonably sheltered spot? AFAIK it will
require a hot spot to fruit properly. South facing with all day sun is good.
(3) How large is the tree in relation to the pot? As you can hopefully see
from my photos the proportions of tree and pot are much like those of an
average pot plant, and the tree doesn't seem to have grown much in size the
last couple of years.
(4) All the fruit seems to be on the tips of the branches on my tree - ISTR
it fruits on old wood so I presume you haven't been pruning it?
(5) Watering 'not very much' - is this not more than twice a day, or not
more than twice a month?
(6) Is the pot on a patio or other hard standing? I assume there is no
chance that a root has sneaked out of the bottom of the pot and is happily
grabbing food and water from the garden?

Finally, the good news is that figs are not a 'one shot' crop like apples
and plums - the trees can produce several crops a year so the lack of fruit
now may not mean no fruit this year.

One strategy would be not to feed and water at all until the tree shows
signs of distress - yellowing leaves etc. - to see if you can brutalise it
into fruiting. A really brutal method would be to leave it until the leaves
drop through lack of water, then give it some water and tell it "fruit, damn
you, or else". Of course, it could just die on you out of spite.

A more subtle, psychological approach would be to get a new Brown Turkey
tree and plant it in a small to medium pot near to the other one, and see if
this one will fruit - you may just have a duff tree for some reason. If both
trees will not fruit then it is probably something to do with the location.
If a tree in a smaller pot will fruit then your pot may be too large, and
require a few seasons of growth and neglect before the tree will fruit.
[The psychological bit is to go past muttering "Your little friend seems to
really like it here - look at all those figs!" whilst fingering a pruning
saw.]

In conclusion, I am no expert.
We bought a nice pot and planted a fig tree in it.
It seems to like it and produces quite a lot of figs.
We have a South facing garden near the Suffolk coast so have very warm and
dry conditions with mild winters.

I suspect if I fed it more consistently during the summer the figs would be
bigger and jucier, but I can't hack having to feed and water things every
day (or more than once a day) apart from our cats, and although neighbours
are very good about feeding our cats when we are on holiday (we reciprocate)
I don't think it is reasonable to also give them a complex feeding and
watering schedule for the plants as well. So anything which doesn't thrive
on neglect doesn't thrive :-)

One final suggestion - instead of the 'indicator weeds' which seem to grow
naturally every year in our pot despite ocassional pulling out you could
plant some annual bedding plants in the top of the pot. This would achieve
three things:
(1) They would warn you if the pot had dried out by wilting before the tree
had to drop leaves to get your attention.
(2) They would use up nutrients from the soil to reduce the amount available
to the tree
(3) The attractive display of flowers might distract you from the lack of
figs.

Phew - what a long ramble!

Best of luck, and keep us in touch with progress.
If you can post a picture of your tree on a website and give us the URL it
may also help us remote dignosers/bullshitters to make more suggestions.

Cheers
Dave R