I bought two tiny one-day-will-be fig trees in Lidl the other day.
They are about 30 cm tall at this stage, but apparently very healthy,
with nice new leaf buds, and healthy looking rootballs. Having done my
research in Hessayon's Fruit Expert and a couple of other books, I have
potted them in large pots, with a load of stone for maximum drainage,
in a compost made of some garden soil, some of my home-made compost, a
little bought multipurpose, and some gravel for extra drainage. I
firmed the trees (each to its own pot) well in their compost, watered
them with a little liquid multipurpose feed. They are now located at
the base of a SW facing wall which gets the sun a great deal of the
day, is sheltered from the elements by another wall jutting out, and
from too much rain by being just under the overhang of the roof. They
also rest on gravel, which should ensure they never have wet feet.
The label - which says eff' all else - states they tolerate
temperatures from -4 to +40 which amply covers (especially at the lower
end) the kind of temp we get here.
My first priority is that they would thrive, and get to a respectable
size - time and TLC will do that. My second priority would be that
they set fruit, which I understand is best done by restricting their
roots - which will be the case when the trees have grown and their
roots are restricted by the pots.
My motivation is the nostalgia of my parents' huge figtree near the
chicken coop - though I suspect I'll never get the pure honey gooey
uber-ripe fruit it used to give...
But I live in hope..
Has anyone here who is growing or has grown fig trees successfully to
the point of producing fruit any advice on dos and don'ts?
TIA

Cat(h)

On 31/7/06 16:05, in article
, "Cat(h)"
wrote:
snip
Has anyone here who is growing or has grown fig trees successfully to
the point of producing fruit any advice on dos and don'ts?
TIA

Last autumn, my step son cut down our fig tree right back to the base where
it disappears under stone flags in a courtyard. There's wasn't one leaf to
be seen. This year it's over 5' tall but isn't going to fruit. However,
normally, it fruits very well in this sheltered and sunny spot. I hope you
haven't over-potted them, though? Too big a pot can mean too much wet
compost just slopping around the roots and rotting them off. That said, fig
trees grow very quickly so they might well grow into their new homes fast.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(email address on website)

Sacha wrote:
On 31/7/06 16:05, in article
, "Cat(h)"
wrote:
snip
Has anyone here who is growing or has grown fig trees successfully to
the point of producing fruit any advice on dos and don'ts?
TIA

Last autumn, my step son cut down our fig tree right back to the base where
it disappears under stone flags in a courtyard. There's wasn't one leaf to
be seen. This year it's over 5' tall but isn't going to fruit. However,
normally, it fruits very well in this sheltered and sunny spot. I hope you
haven't over-potted them, though? Too big a pot can mean too much wet
compost just slopping around the roots and rotting them off. That said, fig
trees grow very quickly so they might well grow into their new homes fast.
--

Ahem. You may have a point... The very uninformative label which came
with the wee trees said "mini 10 l pot". Now, to be frank, I went well
above that, selecting handsome frostproof clay pots about 60cm high and
40 cm diameter in the top opening. That's WAY larger than 10 litres.
However, I think I addressed the drainage issue reasonably well, and I
know that fig trees grow very fast, so I hope I won't live to regret my
choice of pots.
I'll keep my toes crossed... Thanks!
Cat(h)